I really like the themed small quilt projects that quilt guilds and informal quilter groups are taking on. At the recent Northwest Quilting Expo the Central Oregon group of Studio Art Quilt Associates showed their whisper quilts, a quilt group displayed their 12 by 12 inch color quartet quilts, and the original Twelve by Twelve group showed off their 2012 themes.
My favorite Twelve by Twelve theme was maps – no surprise since I used to deal with geographic information. And this was my favorite quilt in that theme.
What a great idea to link birds and maps, given birds’ ability to return to the same places over thousands of miles. Click on the image to see the map fabric used for the bird’s body.
Here are just two of the whisper quilt groups. Each one had three participants, with the quilts on the left the initial ones.
While they’re hard to read, the tags on each quilt give the makers’ explanations of design choices made.
Another group of four had this color quartet display. I don’t know if this is a formal group, but I loved seeing the different ways the starting fabric was used. I believe they did eight colors, including off-white. Now that must have been a real challenge. Here are the blue and orange creations.
Other groups were represented as well, though no common theme was discernible to me. The Vancouver (Canada) Modern Quilt Guild was well represented, as was High Fiber Diet, a professional fiber artist group.
I’ve participated in only a few common theme projects, but would love to try a group effort. What have your experiences been with the group stuff?
The Snarky Quilter 
My small group of 9 women did a round robin this year. Each of us started a medallion quilt with a center, and then passed it for additions of 4 border sets. So each of us participated in 5 quilts, including our own. They really turned out spectacularly, given the range of skills and the trepidation with which some entered the project. But the group enjoyed it so much that we unanimously agreed to do another one next year. The next one will be miniature medallions, no larger than 18″ on a side when finished.
I know I’m not ready for a miniature medallion! My traditional guild has done some round robin type quilts, but they seem to drag on a bit as participants have real life issues that delay their round. I was wondering about some online block exchanges and bees as well.
My sister has done a few online swaps with mixed results. I don’t know she would do it anymore, but it worked well in her life at the time.