2010 AQG Quilt Show Ribbons

I was asked to make the show ribbons for the Arkansas Quilters Guild show this November. Of course, I said yes. You know I like to 'do my part.' So, for months, I thought and thought about what kind of ribbons to make. Being a fan of the Stampington magazines, I thought I would make something out of paper rather than fabric and since the show is being held in a library with the theme "Quilts and Their Stories" - well, a book seemed in order. But, how to make a little book and a ribbon?

The timing is just one of those weird things that happen, but one day I was checking out a blog I like which belongs to Julie Collings. She has a wonderful blog...check it out by clicking here. If you check out her Previous Posts...click on Artful Thursday's #22 - Cupcake envelope book tutorial. I did. And just as that thunderbolt hit me, I knew I was going to 'borrow' her idea and make these little books for the quilt show. They are easy and great fun. But, how to attach the books to the winning quilts and what about the ribbon part? That's when I decided the 'ribbon' needed to be also used as a 'bookmark' and you can see in one photo how the back cover of the book slides into a slit cut into the bookmark. This holds the book in place. And, not showing (behind the right edge of the flower) is a two inch natural clothes pin which clips the whole thing into place on the winning quilts. (I tried it on one of my quilts and it WORKS!)

This took me a little while to work out in my head. I even had to ask advice from my friend, Tom. He said I had a good idea and to just 'go for it.' So, I did. Like I said, I wanted to use paper to make everything. So, I gathered some ledger sheets from an old ledger given to me by my son-in-law. It's from 1913 to the early 1920's and was in his family clothing store 'attic' for years. (I have thousands of pages as there are two ledgers here and each is six inches thick.....and not to worry, he kept the best and prettiest to save.) Some needlepoint canvas appeared in my life, thanks to Brenda, so I decided that would make a good 'base.' Natural colored coffee filters seemed like a good idea and I found some black cupcake liners at Michaels. Black crochet thread for the sewing of the books and the closure with a black bead and colored brads. Colored papers for the flower circles and the front of the books, etc. A nice vintage button from my collection was sewn on for the center of each flower. No two alike.

There is purple for Judge's Choice, in honor, and in memory, of our dear friend, Sharon Heidingsfelder. (Sharon would be tickled to see that I used the brown envelopes I saved when we helped her husband clear out things from her studio. I saved a huge box of them in several colors...not knowing what I would use them for. Well, now there are more options than I thought!) Yellow for Viewer's Choice which is our Founders Award. There are nine categories, so there is a 1st (blue), 2nd (red)and 3rd (white) place ribbon for each of those. Then, there are four Honorable Mentions (green)to be used wherever needed. 36 ribbons in all. Whew!

I suppose since I used so many 'ingredients' I already had...you might call these 'green' ribbons as I really like the idea of using things already on hand as much as possible. As you can see they are 16 inches long. The flowers at the top are large and the ledger pages DO add a bit of extra interest. I'm glad I chose to use some of my buttons as I think they, too, add a neat touch. So, there you are and I have one large job checked off my to-do list. I hope the winners like them.

If you are interested in the quilt show....or live in the area and want to enter....you may check out the quilt show information at the Arkansas Quilters Guild website here.

Oh, I forgot to say this.....I found that little typewriter stamp at Michaels the other day. $1. Ticked me to find it as I thought it would look great on the cover page of the little book. And, I placed a little note inside the front cover of each book to let the recipients know they can stash some little fabric swatches from their special quilt in the front and back pockets of the book cover...remember these are made from envelopes...so there is that 'storage' ready-made! Hopefully, each winner will 'write their own story' on the ten little pages in each book!

Be sure and visit Julie's blog and make some of these yourself. I have since made some from envelopes leftover from gift card boxes, maybe I'll show you some of those soon. At least a million things you can have fun doing with this idea. Thanks, Julie!!! Now, y'all have some fun with them too......and take care. pat