25th Celebration

MPS Celebrated 25 years as a Guild!

So of course, we had to celebrate with a Quilt Challenge that marks this milestone.
And this one was a blast!

  • In order to acknowledge our Guild’s Silver Anniversary, our Challenge quilts could be 25 of anything. We could choose what we wanted, such as 25 fabrics, 25 designs, 25 blocks, 25 images, 25 quilting lines, 25 colors, 25 embellishments, or even 25 seams.
  • The perimeter of the quilts was to be 100 inches or less.
  • Each member of the Guild received a fat quarter of Silver fabric to incorporate into their “celebration” challenge quilt, or to do something else fun with it.

Our Challenge Reveal happened at our General Meeting held on November 26, 2024. This was one of our greatest years, yet!  You can let us know in the comments below how you enjoyed the show.

You can click on any image for a larger view

Rosalie Movius-25 Paper Dolls

I made the pentagram 5 point star first. I thought about suspending it inside a circle. Then I thought to add the paper dolls around the outside (yes, there are 25 “dolls”). Betsy Sayre gave me the idea to use a wire wreath form for the circle.

Kenya Williams-25 Fabrics from my Stash

This was a fun diversion from a difficult quilt.Kenya "My Stash"

Carolyn Bahrman-25 Leaves

I had so much fun making the 2024 challenge with lots of leaves still in front of me that there needed to be used. So the future challenge quilt was added and then one extra for the Fire Dept/Police Dept Toy and Joy collection. They eventually will all be sent to that same charity. Thank you for “CHALLENGING” us each year.

Linda G-25 Dresden Points

What does MPS bring to mind? Oh, sew fun! Fellowship, Rewards, Sharing, Cooperation, Support, Inspiration, Education, Social, Friends Craftsmanship, Gifts, Joy. Each of the Silver points holds an element of what MPS means.

Lisa Poehlitz-25 Austrian Crystals

This was a challenge – bling is not in my comfort zone! The white and blue fabric with silver metallics are left-over from a mystery quilt. I was given a pattern called Ice Crystals that included this design and others and I decided a quilted pillow top would work well. Friends I was quilting with suggested the blue flange and the Austrian Crystals. They twinkle at night when the light catches them! I love how it turned out!

Jean Moore-Vollmer-25 Blocks

‘WAITING’—I designed, made and quilted this little quilt while I was waiting for biopsy results on my left breast. I completed it in 4 days. My rules for the quilt were that each row had to have at least 2 circles and a square showing the colors used. To complete the rainbow, I put an additional row of purple on the back. The quilt can now be called ‘DONE’ as I have breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. Screening mammograms are important at any age.

Christie Frey-25 2-inch Sawtooth Star Blocks

Bought jacket in second hand store. Wanted to lengthen the body and add interest to the back panel. Removed the band and added 20 stars band and then reattached the jacket band. Added the remaining 5 stars to back panel and connected the stars with strips of fabric which I embellished with big stitch.

Terese Scollard-25 Silver Flying Geese

Found the pattern on a trip to Tennessee a few years ago and thought it would work well for the challenge and silver fabric. I had to insert 6 silver geese to make 25. I thought the silver, black, white with a touch of gold would be a nice presentation for winter and the holidays. And arranged the colors so they would go from dark to light and back so a centerpiece would stand out. Some of the fabrics were from the auction, some purchased. Cut 2.5 inch strips. Did not label it because I made it reversible and used a silver floral print on reverse. Couldn’t have done it without the Creative Grid corner clipper. Tricky to get the measurements for the moving placement of the geese to form the elongated “S” shape.

Teresa Koster-25 Flying Geese-

This is totally not what I had planned on making. I planned on doing twenty-five 1/4 inch seams. But when that wasn’t going work out, I saw this pattern and I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do.

Cheri Shea-25 Fabrics

My table runner was created in honor of my grandparents. A 25th anniversary plate was given to me that had been given to my grandparents. The rose material was chosen to honor my grandmother who raised the most beautiful roses on her farm.

Mary Jo Ackerman-25 Diamond Crystals

I started out by making folded star hot pads and found out it was so fun. They are made with Prairie points laid out in circular pattern. I will use it as a centerpiece at Christmas. The silver fabric inspired me to use the blue fabrics to create a sparkly holiday piece. It could also be a wall hanging.

Karen Yandell-25 Pieces in the Block

Used the challenge fabric and two other fabrics with silver in them.
When I found this block with 25 pieces I knew it was the one! Used a silver metallic thread for quilting and one silver sequin and bead in the middle piece.Karen Y "25 Pieces"

Karen Sandberg-25 Pinwheels

I purchased the Lil’ Twister ruler and discovered it would perfectly fit the 25” x 25” guidelines along with a bright 5” Charm pack of bright colors. Thanks to Marcia Sanderman for quilting it for me.Karen S "Twisting Pinwheel"

Linda Howarth-25 Cups of Tea

The idea just came to me as I was drinking a cup a tea. Done!!

Janet Tranbarger-25 One-Inch Squares

I design most of my quilts and love to include rainbow colors. Had a lot of fun making this quilt.

Nancy Watts-25 Fabrics

I enjoyed drafting this pattern and putting it together. The name “Melting Pot” signifies our wonderful guild of very diverse and talented people all mixed together like the spiral in the quilt.

Theresa Bezayiff-25 Silver Friendship Stars

I made 25 silver friendship stars surrounded by the colors of our logo. It is 25″ x 25″. It symbolizes the many friends I have made these 25 years.Theresa "25 Years of Friendship"

Ruthann Marquis-25 Pieced and Silver Wedges

I blatantly broke the rules with this challenge quilt! I wanted to make something other than a small quilt and my project just grew as I worked on it!
I was inspired to use the modern crazy-piecing technique in Quilting Modern and made lots of black, gray and white pieced “fabric” to make half of my wedges and use the silver challenge fabric for the remaining wedges. I played with the straight line quilting and carried on the wedge shape in the outer borders. I left one of the short edges on a slight angle, just for fun. I now have another delightful reminder of our quild’s Silver Jubilee Year!

Ruth Turler-25 Hexies

I found this pattern on a free table at one of my guild meetings. The pattern had 18 hexies- and if I added two more rows, there were 25! I loved doing the English Paper Piecing and added a light batting and backing, also by hand. Then the challenge was how to quilt it and hang it. I remembered learning about a framing technique I saw in a Creative Sparks seminar last spring. The quilt is quilted to the “canvas” ( I used the silver challenge fabric for this) and then stretched over stretcher bars. I love how mounting this little quilt proclaims its status as ART!

Becky Swick-25 x 25 inch Quilt

As a newbie quilter in the 90’s, I was inspired by Sisters Quilt Show and TV show Simply Quilts. Mary Ellen was a frequent guest artist showing her log cabin designs. She was a hoot! Her instructions were simple: Sew whatever you call 1/4”, best strips are 1 1/4” unfinished, and use tomato red somewhere! This pattern was her favorite and it had long been on my bucket list. A real brain teaser as you think 3 sides ahead of each strip. I had to really search my stash for 90’s calico fabric and was challenged with discerning values as well as finding fabric. I hand quilted it in Baptist style! I would like to do a wool quilt in this pattern…!

Marcia Sanderman-25 Silver Dots, Corners, and Boxes

I recently became enamored with the folded log cabin block. I’ve had Sarah Kaufman’s book, Folded Log Cabin Quilts, for quite some time. I had started a small 4 block project years ago. I finished this little project to see if I wanted to use it for this project. Finishing it convinced me to move forward.
I chose to intermingle silver strips among black and gold strips. There are traditional log cabin blocks and courthouse square blocks in this project. This block is built on a foundation square of lightweight muslin. I quilted it with a silver metallic thread.

Marilyn Henderson-25 Holly Berries

Inspiration for this Silver Bells quilt came from the 2022 American Patchwork calendar. The quilt is also 25″ x 25″.Marilyn "Silver Bells"

Jessica Cutright-25 Animals

“Rainbow Bridge” My quilt represents at least 25 of the pets I have had over the years. There have almost always been at least 1 dog and several cats at the same time. There was a goldfish at one time, a rabbit, and an opossum (didn’t have a button for that one. I used intense ink pencils on the silver challenge fabric. I like the way the silver shines through the rainbow. The finished wall hanging measures 15 x 16. This is currently hanging on my bedroom door. The sun over the rainbow is a gift from a Thursday Sewer at ACE. The idea of using buttons is because I sat beside Carolyn as she did her challenge quilt.

Deb Messina-25 Banned Books

When I started thinking about my subject for this year’s MPS Quilt Challenge (25 things) – I realized I wanted this project to have meaning on more than one level. Yes – I wanted to include 25 things in celebration of our 25th Anniversary as a Quilt Guild (a fabulous accomplishment). However, as is my practice for these challenges, I also wanted to use this challenge to express my feelings about something of social importance. The project should focus on a topic I’m passionate about. Book Bans became the perfect topic for my MPS Quilt Challenge project. The books featured in this project are the first 25 books listed on Ali Velshi’s Banned Book List. Many of the books included on this rapidly growing list – are shocking to me for their inclusion. Who among us didn’t read Romeo and Juliet, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, or The Handmaiden’s Tale in high school? That bit of silver that’s framing these 25 books celebrates the silver anniversary of our Quilt Guild. It’s also a reminder that there’s always a silver lining. The more attention these books get because someone decided to ban them, the more people like me are drawn to read them.

Wendy Miller-25 Flowers

I was raised on having flowers for birthdays and special occasions, and grow my own flowers in a garden. The silver fabric supplied is seen in the vase and the basket.

Judy Liebo-25 Handmade Dorset Buttons

Dorset buttons and lace were used in the 1600’s to adorn our clothing, so it seemed appropriate to use them to celebrate 25 years of sewing in our guild, Metropolitan Patchwork Society. Each button started out as a plastic ring which was covered with Pearl cotton. I found odd bits of lace and yarn to embellish the buttons and turn them into flowers. There are a total of 25 Dorset buttons…one for every year of our guild’s existence.

Carol Christ-25 Sheep

I like to take regular sized patterns and make them miniature. It was a challenge to make the tiny blocks inside the sheep! The black sheep on the front has the 25th anniversary fabric, as does the backing. And the 25th sheep is on the back side. He’s a little shy.

Amy Akenson-25 Pantone Colors

I kept coming back to the idea of a quilt that showed the changing of fashion/style over the 25 years, and I knew the Pantone Color of the Year had been around awhile. It turns out that 1999 was also the first year they started (for 2000), so it was a perfect fit. I used Kona solids and some online tools to find the closest match for each color that I could. I intended to make it look like color swatches or paint chips for each year, although I had to adjust some borders a little at the end. I chose to do very simple quilting to focus on the colors and geometric shapes. Around the time I was trying to decide where to incorporate the silver fabric, Krista Moser sent out a newsletter focused on making piping for a border accent and I thought it would be a fun skill to learn. I’m happy with the overall design and the things I learned while making it!

Lenore Rylander-25 Circles with Beads

This quilt represents 25 years of quilting on the River of Life.

Lisa Roberts-25 Shapes Appliqued on Black

I think the shiny silver fabric was the inspiration for some sort of “star”. I just started cutting and playing with pieces until I had an arrangement of 25 that I liked. Then I fused them onto the black background and stitched. The star represents the energy and bright future for MPS in the next 25 years!!

April Campbell-25 Dear Jane Quilt Blocks

Inspired to do a modern take on blocks from the Jane A. Stickle quilt. I’ve always wanted to make a full one but realize I probably never will because I have so many ideas for things to make. So this was an opportunity to make a mini sampler version. It was great fun. The black and silver combination is not something I would normally lean into but I love it.

Deb Brookens-25 Fabrics

Front is from MPS program by Candyce Grisham – back is just my favorite block.

Kim Draper-25 Silver Points

When the 25th Anniversary quilt challenge was mentioned I didn’t feel I could be all that enthusiastic since I had only been part of the guild for the last two years, but I was encouraged by my small group to find something that felt right to me and met the guidelines. I finally settled on looking for a winter scene and found the inspiration in a magazine. It ended up taking longer than expected to make so instead of a 3 part table runner I now have a single wall hanging. It also took a little tweaking to come up with 25 points instead of 24. This was only my second time doing paper piecing and my first time making prairie points.

Liz McElhinny-25 Stars

My original design was 25 Friendship Stars made with the silver fabric “sprinkled” over the quilt front. I changed my mind after the 3” stars were made and decided they needed a bit more interest. I reviewed my UFO blocks and found a 12” block I had made in 2021 from the MODA Winter Frost sew along. The Jack Frost block became the center and the friendship stars became the border. The border allowed 24 blocks to surround the center block with coping strips. (The 25th Friendship block is on the back with the label.) Quilting was done in the ditch with a walking foot and some additional ruler work in the center block. The Friendship Stars are quilted with a light grey thread. As a founding mother of MPS, I am thankful for the many friendships and learning from our MPS community. Congratulations to our Guild and here’s to many more years together!

Nancy Killingsworth-25 Silver Dots on the Label

I drafted the design and sewed multiple trees months ago. As happens, I got involved with gardening and hiking and forgot about the trees. But then there was talk about the challenge with my small quilt group. It was easy to share their enthusiasm. Jan Cornutt suggested I consider adding a touch of red. I am very happy with the simplicity of the piece. Just like a quiet, snowy night.

Heather Pool-25th Day of Christmas

The silver fabric represents the color and opaqueness of the sky right before it snows. Because the Danish people have celebrated Christmas on the 24th, they go out on the 25th and walk about and visit friends.

Peggy Morrow-25 Houses

I was inspired by a blog post where someone made a full-sized quilt with tiny houses. The designer created their houses with a rubber stamp pressed onto muslin which was no longer available. I found my free house paper pieced pattern online. I don’t recall where I found it. My plan was to make a quilt using all the Kona Cotton solids available at the time. I purchased many different Kona charm packs in different combinations of colors to ensure I had variety. The sky, chimney, roof, window, and door are the same fabric for uniformity. I confess I lost interest rather quickly. I may revisit this design at some time. One house is made from the silver anniversary fabric.

Dianne McDonnell-25 Eight-Point Stars

When I received the book, “The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns” by Jinny Beyer, I learned that there is a difference between 8-Pointed Star blocks and stars blocks with 8 points. There are pages and pages of 8-pointed star blocks in the book; so when our 2024 Challenge Quilt theme of “25 Somethings” was introduced, I knew I wanted to try making 25 of these blocks. I knew that I wanted the center block (“New Millenium”) to be the feature and found 24 more blocks to go with it. Having the parameter of the quilt perimeter being no larger than 100″ added another challenge. I had to find a way to fit 25 stars into the quilt. Using my EQ8 program, I was able to come up with a design that worked and got busy printing my patterns for each block. There are sixteen 3″ stars, eight 6″ stars, and one 12″ star. I learned that making 8-point stars in 3 inch blocks is hard! One of the blocks has 32 pieces. One of the 6″ blocks has 48 pieces. So it took awhile to complete this quilt. I like the quilt, and there may be more 8-Point Stars in my future. Just not right away.

Jan Cornutt-25 Teal Fabrics and 25s

I started my plan by naming all the “gifts” I’ve received by being a MPS member but that was overwhelming! haha I ended up with a very traditional quilting tribute to a wonderful group! Thanks for encouraging me to do this! (I submitted this 9 minutes before the deadline!)

Betsy Sayre-25 Friends and Inspirations

This tree is what I see as I do my independent swim exercising everyday. The 25 stars are named for my friends that are my community of family of choice at the swimming pool. The tree branches and trunk carry 25 sentences that say, “I am enough”; and then I added 25 more powerful words on the branches. I am thinking of doing something similar for my community of quilters.Betsy "I am Enough"

Stacy Schmidt-25 Different Fabrics

Using the Misted Pines quilt pattern as inspirations, I decided to make this quilt for our challenge. The pinwheels were made out of the silver fabric we were given. I tried to quilt 25 squirrels on the back, but only got 21. Stacy "Misty Pines"

Bonnie Snow-25 Pieces in 5 Friendship Stars

I like friends and you are all my new friends since joining the guild last year. Bonnie "Friends"

Resource List (arranged alphabetically)

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1 Comment

  1. I am blown away by the creativity and skill of our quilting friends!
    Bette K

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