Missouriana, 2013 Missouri River Quilt Guild Raffle Quilt

To commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of the Missouri River Quilt Guild, Missouriana was themed to things representing the heritage of the State of Missouri and of home. Block names are inked in permanent pigment ink on the quilt top; and the blocks are named for cities in Missouri (Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Springfield), landmarks (Ozark mountains and trails), the State bird (bluebird), State flower (hawthorn), State tree (dogwood), State symbol ( Missouri mule), Old Missouri (river) and other symbols of home life in Missouri.

Blocks designed exclusively for this quilt include the 18” appliqued dogwood by Vicki O. who learned back-basted applique from Jo Morton. She used Michael Miller Fairy Frost fabric for the petals. 

Eva S designed the quilt and machine quilted it on a stitch-regulated Gammill machine.  Her original blocks include the Missouri mule and the flying geese that fly around two of the large corner blocks. Eva used Caryl Bryer Fallert’s ombre fabric to achieve the smooth transition of light to dark in the geese. This is Eva’s first time to submit a quilt to a major show but has won ribbons for her quilts at the Missouri State Fair.

Members of Missouri River Quilt Guild were asked to create the traditional blocks. Making some of the old block designs was quite challenging and gave us all a new appreciation for our predecessors who did not have modern equipment and computer programs to properly size block units.

The background fabric of the quilt is Moda’s Kansas Troubles line. The central medallion consists of modern foundation-pieced dogwood blocks with vintage hand-appliqued and pieced dogwood blocks at the top and bottom. These are surrounded by Eva’s version of ribbon-embroidered hawthorn blossoms on hand-appliqued stems. The medallion is surrounded by a variety of blocks having to do with Missouri and home: various versions of Dogwood; Ozark Mountains; Missouri Star (3 different blocks with same name); St. Louis Star; Ozark Trail (2 different blocks); Jefferson City; Missouri Daisy (2 different blocks); Missouri Puzzle; Spirit of St. Louis (modified); Homespun; Old Missouri; traditional flying geese (many live in Missouri year-round), Burr Oak (about to take over our forests), Weathervane (if you don’t like the weather here, just wait ten minutes); Bluebirds Flying; Columbia; Missouri Cornfield; Indian Paintbrush; Honeybee; Spools; Bluebird on Branch; and Springfield. Many of these blocks were found in an out-of-print book entitled Missouri Samplings, compiled by Boonslick Trail Quilters’ Guild, Columbia, Missouri, 1980, and others in Electric Quilt 7. Eva used EQ7 to plan the quilt design. Techniques used include hand applique, hand piecing, template piecing, foundation piecing, strip piecing, hand embroidery, ribbon embroidery, and permanent pigment inking.

The quilt culminates in a border found in EQ7 and made in blues, greens and the background fabric to represent the many rivers and lakes found in Missouri. A block called Old Missouri (which looks like a bridge) happens at each of the four corners, intersecting the rivers and lakes. The quilt is bound in a variety of blues and greens. The quilt back was pieced using leftover fabrics from the top and features embroidered labels containing the name of the quilt and each of its creators.

Missouriana has been juried into the American Quilt Society Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky, in April, 2013. The quilt will belong to a lucky raffle ticket holder after the MRQG Quilt Show on June 1-2, 2013.

As you can tell there are some very talented ladies in our quilt guild. If you'd like to buy a chance on this quilt send me an email and I will in return, email you my snail mail address. Chances are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.  One lucky winner will be drawn at our quilt show (of which you all are invited) on June 2, 2013