Winners Coming Soon

Winning quilts, the new OQM Challenge Exhibit, and a new challenge coming soon. I'm thinking about a Gee's Bend Look-Alike challenge. Do you think that would be fun?

I was inspired to make the quilt above in the early 2000's when the Gees Bend quilts first came to the attention of the quilt world. The amazing quilts of Anna Williams of Baton Rouge, LA had a big influence on me too. This "Rooftop" style quilt was so much fun to make.

CHALLENGE: "If You Were a Quilt, What Would You Look Like?"

If you were a quilt what would you look like? Would all your points match? Or is your style a little off-beat? Are you a classic traditional quilt or a quilt with surprises? Or maybe a bit of both. It's something to think about! Make a quilt that represents your answer to this question.

Here are the details:

1. Your quilt may be any size, any techniques, any materials. If you can photograph it, you can enter it.


2. This Challenge is open to all quilters; you don't need to have your own Gallery at the OQM. One entry per quilter. No fees.


3. Email 2 photos of your quilt to karen@onlinequiltmuseum.com by midnight on October 31, 2010. One photo will show the whole quilt, the other photo will show a detail that you like.


4. Include your name and the state or country you're from. Include the title of your quilt, and if necessary a few words or a sentence about why the quilt is like you.


5. Include your email address. (It will be kept confidential, but I may have to notify you if you win the Challenge!)


6. The quilt photo entries will be displayed in an Exhibit at http://www.onlinequiltmuseum.com/, so you agree that it's okay for me to put your quilt photos and name on the Internet.


7. By entering, you certify that you did, in fact, have fun making this challenge quilt.


8. Three winners will be chosen by a panel of impartial judges. Prize packages will be full of quilty delights.


9. So take a look at your stash and start thinking! If you were a quilt, what would you look like? Tell your guilds and quilting buddies about this Challenge! Quilters, wind your bobbins, get out a new rotary blade, have fun!

QUILT SHOWN: "Waverunner" by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, http://www.bumblebeans.blogspot.com/, Copyright 2010. (Used with permission.)

How to Sign Up for Your Own Quilt Gallery

This new website is very user-friendly. I want to show you how it works.

Go to http://www.onlinequiltmuseum.com/. On the home page, in the upper right corner, click on "Sign Up."
Step 1. Fill in your contact info. Your address and phone number will remain private.

Step 2: Enter your email. Your user name is not your email. Make up something else. Also make up a password.
In case you forget, tell us your mother's MIDDLE name and/or your birth city.

Step 3: Enter a title for your Gallery. You can change it whenever you want to.

Step 4: Read the Agreement and Releases and check as you like.
Step 5: Now you will be directed to Pay Pal. The fee for a Gallery is $4.95/month, payable every three months. You may cancel whenever you like. Simply go to "Contact Us" and choose "Delete Gallery" from the drop-down menu. If you have more than one Gallery, tell me which one to delete.
Step 6: When you finish with Pay Pal, you will be redirected to the OnlineQuiltMuseum. Now you can set up your Gallery. There is a tutorial for that too. :)

How to Manage Your Quilt Gallery at OQM

Creating your Gallery and making changes to it is a very user-friendly process. Here it is, step-by-step. Once you get used to it, it's a piece of cake.

To create or make changes to your Gallery, first Log In.

Enter your User ID (not your email address) and your Password.

To upload a photo of yourself or to verify (or change) your contact info, click on Exhibitor Info.

Above, you can see how to upload your portrait. Click on Browse and choose from the pop-up window which of your photos you want to use. Click on the photo, click on Open. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on SAVE. Always save your changes. You can come back and change your photo whenever you want.

To create or make changes to your Gallery, choose "Galleries" (above).

First you need to tell the Museum which Gallery you want to work on. If you have just one Gallery like in this example, that is an easy choice. Select Gallery (shown above), then Edit (shown below).

Fill in the blanks below with the text that you would like in your Gallery, as instructed. You can change it any time you choose.

Always remember to SAVE your work (by clicking at the bottom of the page).

Choose a quilt photo that is representative of your Gallery (maybe a nice close-up). This will appear above your portrait at the top of your Gallery page. Click on Browse and upload as described above.

To add or delete quilt photos, click on Quilts.

Select your Gallery from the drop-down menu, then click on "Get Gallery Quilts."

To add a quilt, click on ADD QUILT. Later you may want to come back to sort your quilts.

For each quilt, you will fill in this page below. Enter title: "Name of Quilt" (Detail of little fish.)

Include the description (little fish) so that if you want to change or delete it later, you'll be able to identify this quilt from it's title in a listing.

Click on Browse (above) to choose the photo to upload. You can see this process below. Click on the photo you want, then click on OPEN.

Always SAVE your changes.

You will get really good at this, I guarantee it!

Tips for Taking Great Photos for Your Gallery

You can take great photos of your quilts with your digital camera.

• Taking photos outside (especially on a hazy day) is best. But you can experiment with your flash or set up near a window.


• Take a shot "straight on" to get the whole quilt. It's hard to see a quilt on a bed.


• Take one or more close-ups too.

The technical stuff is incredibly easy.

• Look at the "Quality" settings on your camera. Choose: Email or Website or UGA or 640 x 480. Those are all the same (the lowest resolution).

But if you have large files, they can easily be made email-friendly. With a few clicks on Photoshop, you're done.

As a last resort, email them to me and I'll resize them for you.

Online Quilt Museum - Call for Quilt Photos

Coming Soon: http://www.onlinequiltmuseum.com/. The museum will have Exhibits focusing on a wide variety of quilt topics, and Galleries featuring the works of individual quilters.

I'm hoping you will have your own Gallery in the Online Quilt Museum. It may energize your quilting to see all your quilts on exhibit in one place. If you have a blog, website, Etsy or eBay store, you may link to them from your Gallery and bring more traffic to your sites. You may indicate if some of your quilts are available for sale (include your email so people can reach you). Exhibit as many quilts as you like, and make changes to your Gallery whenever you want. The fee is $4.95/month (via PayPal), and part of the fee goes to support World Vision.

At the moment I'm looking for quilt photos of the following (see below). These will be included in Museum Exhibits. (You don't need to have a Gallery to participate, and it's free, of course.)

• One-Patch Quilts: These are quilts made from one shape: squares, trianges, diamonds, hexagons, etc. All the pieces are the same size (except for any setting blocks around the edges of the quilt). A full quilt photo and one or two detail shots (if available) would be great. Include your name, where you live, and the name of your quilt.
• Group Quilts: These are quilts made by more than one person, such as a Block of the Month quilt, or a quilt made from blocks from a group of friends. Please include the name of your group, where you live, and the name of your quilt.
• Optical Illusion Quilts: Have you made one of these?
• Log Cabin Quilts: And any variations: Pineapple, Courthouse Steps etc.
• Also take a look at the first OQM Challenge: "If You Were a Quilt, What Would You Look Like?" You have until the end of October to email your entries. Details are on this blog.

Please email your photos to karengriska@optonline.net. Thanks.

Quilts above by Karen Griska.

Welcome to the Quilter's Lounge!

Quilter's Lounge

One nice thing about a cyber museum is that the Lounge very comfy! This is where we talk about quilt stuff. C'mon over and have a seat! It's not as empty as this photo might suggest!
Leave a comment. :)