The Winners have been chosen! Congratulations to everyone who entered-there were so many beautiful quilts to choose winners from! Below you will see the top ten quilts as voted on by YOU, the MQG Membership. In addition to the beautiful quilts, we raised $1,200 for Wild Earth Allies! Over the past three years, MQG members have used their sewing skills to help us raise over $3,850 to donate to charities supporting sustainability around the world with our annual Make-A-Difference Challenge! We’re excited to announce the 2024 challenge will, once again, benefit Wild Earth Allies. The theme of this year’s challenge is POLLINATORS. Let’s celebrate the silent partners of farmers everywhere who help create a third of our food supply and sustain our natural world. What is the Wild Earth Allies group? Wild Earth Allies is a non-profit organization with a mission to protect vital areas of our natural world for the benefit of wildlife, habitats, and people by inspiring collaborative action. Founded in 1981, Wild Earth Allies joins forces with local organizations and individuals to protect wildlife and habitats that are so vital to our global sustainability. The MQG’s Make-A-Difference Challenge is designed to bring awareness, support, and conversation surrounding sustainable actions within our communities and even our own sewing practices. Sustainability includes environmental impact but also takes into account the economic and social well-being of current and future generations. We encourage participants to think about these principles while either constructing their quilt or open dialogue with other makers about this topic. 2024 Prizes & Winners! 1st Place Grand Prize: Metamorphosis by Stephanie Ruyle sponsored by: Artist Statement: Using the butterfly as a metaphor for physical transformation was an obvious choice after the deaths of 3 people who changed my life. Never one to step away from creating improvisationally, I pieced this quilt using various techniques but without a sketched design or pattern. I needed the ability to solve its evolution during construction. To both enjoy and struggle with making decisions about fabric type (quilting, garment, solid, prints), thread ( cotton, metallic, wool, silk) and quilting in the moment of creation. It needed to be unique in every way, just like the people whose lives I am honoring. One Spagetti 12wt Mini Spools Full Collection: 12wt Double-gassed 100% Egyptian Cotton and One Fruitti Collector Set: 30 variegated color mini spools of 12wt Egyptian Cotton 2nd Place:No Plan Bee by Barbara Lange sponsored by: Artist Statement: It’s getting lonely out there. If the bees go extinct – so do we. Within 3 years. There is no plan B to bees. FQ Bundle of new Speckled colors, Starry Jelly Roll, 1 Yd cut of Juicy in Shell, 1 Yd cut of Teddy and the Bears in Goldenrod, 1 Yd cut of Lets Go in Shell, 1 Yd cut of Push Pops in Lipstick, 1 Yd cut of Applique Menagerie in Peach, Ruby Star Gem Patch, Ruby Star Phoenix Patch, Sew Thoughtful Notecards 3rd Place:Damsel by Susie Bonder sponsored by: Artist Statement: I was inspired by an image of a damsel fly on prairie clover with the sun from behind with its simplicity of design and yet strong imagery of a prairie dweller we may not even notice. Modern techniques of bold yet simple color theme using ombres to depict a natural environment, use of negative space, and theme – the theme of Pollinators of preserving our nature. Quilting and hand-embroidered accents are used to show the warmth of the sun and the breeze moving across the prairie. The detail of the damselfly’s wings are hand stitched with metallic thread. 1 Moda Layer Cake of Maeve fabric by Crystal Manning, 1 Ruby Star Society Speckled New Colors charm pack, 1 Moda Layer Cake of Playground Fabrics by Amarilys Henderson, 3 large spools of Aurifil 50 wt 100% cotton thread, 1 Cathe Holden’s Sew Cute Pin Set, 1 set of 10 Clover Wonder Clips, 1 pair Clover Thread Clippers, 1 Clover Hera Marker, 1 Dritz Seam Fix Seam Ripper, 2 packs of Sarah Hearts Premium Woven Labels, 1 set of Sarah Hearts Premium Patches, 1 Moda Cupcake Mix Recipe Pattern, 1 Moda Cake Mix Recipe Pattern 4th Place:Bees Are Not The Only Pollinators by Donna Tardiff When we think of pollinators, It’s bees who seem the gladiators. But prehistoric plants were pollinated by Flies and beetles. Who knew? Oh my! Ants pollinate a rare plant in Spain, Flies pollinate where few bees remain. Moths and bats are inadvertent pollinators. Their bodies acting as pollen donators. Hummingbirds and butterflies love the flowers, Spreading pollen for many hours. This serious issue I represent, With playful and whimsical intent. In eight of the blocks there is a motif, That I hope provides some comic relief. But the importance of creatures great and small, Should remain paramount to us all. Aurifil’s 50wt Best Selection box features 45 small spools of 50wt thread. Specially curated to include a warm, medium, and light tone in each of the rainbow hues. Spools arrive in a custom fabric box. 5th Place:Bumble Home by Kaitlin Rim sponsored by: Artists Statement: Conserving habitat for ground and debris-nesting bees is integral to species conservation. Inspired by bumblebees’ improvisational and organic nest construction, this quilt was created by improv-piecing a striped background and iteratively layering improv inset circles to represent the wax pots in which bees initially develop. After emergence, pots may serve as scaffolding or can be reused to store pollen, nectar, or waste. Here, hand-stitched Sashiko panels fill the space in open pots. A dense background quilting design provides a sense of dimension for the non-quilted circular shapes. $50 Gift Card to Stitch Supply Co., 1 Stitch Supply Co Large Pink Project Bag, 1.5″ Striped Webbing Assortment as pictured, 2 Glitter Quilt Binding Spools, 1 Ruby Star Society notebook set, 1 Moda Cozy Wonderland charm pack, 1 Ruby Star Society Dog Park charm pack, 1 Ruby Star Society Starry mini charm pack, 1 Ruby Star Society Rise and Shine mini charm pack, 2 packs Lolly Tags as pictured, 1 My Sticker Collection Sewing Sticker tin and stickers, S Is For Sew vinyl sticker, 6th Place:Pollinators! by Jenny Wagner sponsored by: Artist Statement: English paper pieced using a pattern by Kitty Wilkin entitled “Pollinate.” The top took 5 years to make, by hand, and I enjoyed playing with the colors of the flowers, which I imagine to be an imaginary variety of Lantana. The flowers and bees are a happy representation of a fun and easy summer. Quilted on my domestic BabyLock Sashiko machine. $100 Gift Card to DuckaDilly 7th Place:The Pathfinder by Jeanne Eileen Garcia sponsored by: Artist Statement: Cervids are pollinators, too! While typically associated with bees, butterflies, and birds, pollination also involves larger mammals like deer, whose interactions with their environment can have significant ecological impacts. Deer play a role in pollination through their feeding and movement patterns. As they forage for food, particularly on flowering plants, pollen can attach to their fur and noses. Moving from plant to plant, pollen is transferred, contributing to the reproduction of various flora. This piece sheds light on the broader, often unseen, relationships within nature and the need to protect these connections to ensure the sustainability of our natural world. 1 Butterfly Gardens Handmade Thread Cone Stand with telescoping vertical rod and rubber grip pads on the bottom. 8th Place:You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone by Susan Wilson sponsored by: Artist Statement: An original fabric collage, inspired by what was left of a deceased Tiger Swallowtail … three wings, the rest of the body likely devoured by ants, found resting outside my studio door. They were so beautiful I picked them up and photographed them. Later, I decided to recreate the most colorful piece, a lower hindwing, in fabric. My intention was to stay as true to the image as my fabric stash would allow. The scaly wings were surprisingly hairy! How to represent THAT in fabric? I used countless fabrics, a few specialty trims – even selvages – to get the desired effect. 1 Happy Box by Crimson Tate: 20 coordinating fat quarters, a modern quilt pattern, notions, and Crimson Tate swag. 9th Place:Eucalyptus Visitor by Ruth Smith sponsored by: Artist Statement: More than beautiful, monarch butterflies contribute to the health of our planet. While feeding on nectar, they pollinate many types of wildflowers, including flowering eucalyptus. Where I live in coastal California Monarchs congregate in eucalyptus groves.The poster-like design for this quilt calls to us to protect the Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) by preserving their habitat. The non-native eucalyptus has been targeted for eradication, which in turn is contributing to a steady reduction in the western Monarch population. Leaves are inserted curves; embroidered and beaded pods sprout from the stem, while the applique butterfly was inspired by Japanese stencil prints. 1 half yard bundle of Elizabeth Hartman’s latest Kitchen Window Wovens, 1 Bunny Bunch pattern, 1 Cats In Pajamas pattern, 1 Berry Season pattern. 10th Place:Pollinate THIS! by Carolyn McKibbin sponsored by: Artist Statement: When I’m not quilting, I’m gardening. In my garden my favorite thing to do is watch pollinators like hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and flies fluttering and buzzing from flower to flower. My garden is an official Monarch Waystation, registered at MonarchWatch.org. This means I provide the monarch butterfly’s host plant, milkweed, as well as a number of nectar plants for my region such as aster, baptisia, cleome and violets. Many of these flowers are shades of purple, pink and blue, which inspired this quilt. My dad is a beekeeper. In the background is a nod to his deep, golden honey. Scissor set, includes one pair each of KAI 7150 6″ Professional Scissor, KAI 7100 4.5″ Professional Scissor, and KAI 7205 8″ Professional Shears.
