Harrisonburg Fundraising Quilt Along starts today!

FOLLOW ME @ivory_spring on Instagram IF YOU HAVEN’T. Instagram is where I best interact with quilters, and where I share the latest news!

***

TODAY IS THE DAY we kick-off Harrisonburg Fundraising Quilt Along! Be sure to watch Pat Sloan’s video today if you haven’t! Pat also did a fantastic video last Saturday on fabric choices & organization for Harrisonburg quilt. Links are in the project page (link below).

A little fun fact for you – Pat and I chose Feb 14 to kick off Harrisonburg Quilt Along for Virginia’s travel slogan “Virginia is for Lovers”. The slogan has been in used since 1969, and a notable marketing icon in the last 50 years, who knew?

Project Page for Harrisonburg Quilt Along – https://www.ilovetomakequilts.com/harrisonburg-quilt-along-to-support-the-virginia-quilt-museum.html 

QUILT HISTORY

Below is the photo of the original quilt that is in the collection of the Virginia Museum.

From the director of Virginia Quilt Museum:

Mary Spitzer Etter of Harrisonburg, Virginia donated her family’s entire quilt collection to the Virginia Quilt Museum in 1997. The collection contain 27 quilts, most of which were made by Mary’s aunts, the Spitzer sisters. Their names were Sarah Josephine Spitzer (Walters), Margaret Melinda Spitzer (Jones), and Ellen Rebecca Spitzer. It is unknown if the other two Spitzer sisters, Hannah Spitzer (Brown) and Jane Spitzer (Evers), did much quilting. Of the quilts completed by the Spitzer sisters, there is a single initial embroidered on the front of quilt to mark who made each quilt. Ellen Spitzer’s daughter, Irene, also completed three pieces of the collection. Some of the quilts contain blocks that were done by Mabel Spitzer, Mary’s mother. These blocks were then quilted by either Berta or Effie Long, Mabel’s neighbors. There are a few quilts not made by a Spitzer, yet they were still made by relatives of the Spitzer family.

The blocks of this quilt were pieced in many colors. There is Muslin backing and cotton batting. It is heavily quilted in a cross-hatch design. A lavender “E” is embroidered in the corner.

QUILT ALONG BACK STORY:

A little over a year ago the Virginia Quilt museum shared a photo of the Mary Spitzer Etter quilt at Instagram.  Immediately Wendy Sheppard and Pat Sloan were texting each other that they loved the quilt.. which lead to .. don’t you think it would make a great Quilt along?  Both Wendy and Pat are Virginians. 

About a year ago they wrote to the Executive Director of the Virginia Quilt museum, Alicia Thomas, to propose doing a quilt along with the pattern. She said ‘yes’! 

Wendy has re-created the pattern from photos of the original quilt and has called it ‘Harrisonburg ‘ for the location of the Virginia Quilt Museum. She is using all her navy and cream scraps for a stunning scrappy version like the original.  Pat is going to sew along during the quilt along using her Benartex fabric, Sleepover.  Both are using their beautiful Aurifil thread collections.

PATTERN:

It is currently an exclusive release only available at the Virginia Quilt Museum. Paper patterns are making their way to the museum as we speak. So if you are wanting to purchase the paper version, give the museum just a few days to post the link to purchase the paper version. If not, pattern in PDF is available NOW by clicking HERE.

ALL PROCEEDS FROM PATTERN SALES FOR THE DURATION OF THE QUILT ALONG AND LIMITED TIME THEREAFTER WILL BENEFIT THE VIRGINIA QUILT MUSEUM

QUILT ALONG DATES:

Please follow along Pat Sloan’s You Tube videos for the quilt along.

• RUNS: Feb 14, 2023 to April 11, 2023 (Tuesdays)
• Quilt size: 78″ x 93″
• Pattern required:
• Schedule:  1 row a week, then the border, and wrap up

MY QUILT ALONG QUILT:

Scrappy blue and cream will be me color palette. Here is a snapshot! I have used almost 350 different fabrics!

Pat will be using her Sleepover fabrics for her quilt. You may purchase Sleepover fabrics HERE:

Thank you to those who have purchased the pattern to support the museum. I hope you will join this fun Quilt Along!

***

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great rest of your week!