Airedale Rescue Quilting Bee: CENTER BLOCKS

The Town Park is a combination of 4 individual blocks drawn by the same artist but appliquéd by 4 different block makers and joined to make one huge block for the centerpiece of this year’s quilt.

ARTIST: Patty Eisenbraun

BLOCK MAKERS:

Airedale Statue – Pam Jones

Airedales Playing Ball – Rebecca Eash

Airedale Crossing Pond – Joyce Miller

Airedales in the Gazebo – Jeanne Esmond

Front of Block

Back of Block

Artist's drawing of one of the Center Blocks - Airedale Statue

Artist Patty Eisenbraun not only drew five of the outer blocks of the quilt, she also created the 4 center blocks that formed the Town Park. It is amazing how the pathway, that appears in the 4 different blocks sewn by 4 different block makers, connects so seamlessly.

Here are some progress photos of Rebecca Eash's Airedales Playing Ball:

Starting to trace design on the stabilizer

Tracing done!

Laying out the path

Starting to sew

Cutting out the pattern pieces

Auditioning Airedale fabric

Sewing done!

Kiwi taking a nap...supervising is such hard work...

The winner of Incentive #2, the PiCassieO print, "Java", is Michael Crist of Glenn Mills, PA. Congratulations, Michael! Thank you for supporting National Airedale Rescue with your donation.

Why the Last Quilt?

For the last few years, it has become increasingly harder to find volunteers to run/manage the Bee. The steering committee has done all it can, but is retiring. We want to be very clear, it is not a financial issue for the volunteers of the Bee, it is a lack of dependable people stepping up to manage and participate in the behind-the-scenes running of the fundraiser. Currently, there are NO plans to continue any managerial portion of the Bee or to create additional quilts.

The steering committee has taken on all the managerial aspects of what is literally running a small business. Each and every one of us has devoted endless hours and money to making this a successful fundraiser for NAR. Running the Bee consists of many tasks and this is by no means a complete list: finding artists, finding block makers, finding quilters, deciding on themes, preparing block packets, coordinating timelines, finding a professional photographer, securing ticket printing/ purchasing, obtaining raffle license, selling tickets (donations), having a presence at MCKC, having a blog and/or website to promote the quilt, obtaining rescue stories and photos for marketing, acquiring donations for prizes, and ‘nagging’ members to complete their jobs in a timely fashion. Many times the steering committee has had to step in and do a job at the last minute because of the lack of volunteers or follow-through.

It has been a great 17 year run for the Quilting Bee, as the largest fundraiser for NAR. We know many Airedales have been supported through this effort.

Incentive Winners

"Aire Leaps Through the Seasons" - Charles Jones, III - GA
"Table Runn-Aire" - Helena Epstein, NY
"Dive Bombing Swallows" - Lynn Mathers, WA
"Straw Hat Girl" - Cathy Gaidos, KS
"Leap Y'Aire" - Donna Cardamone, OH
#9-5 Martha Calligan, OH
#9-4 Barbara Bonfield, CA
#9-3 Judith Luckett, TX
#9-2 Lisa Panno
#9-1 Ann Cosgrove, VA
$25,000 Milestone - Patty Eisenbraun, MI
$20,000 Milestone - Judy Luckett, TX
#8-5 Sharon Rafferty, CO
#8-4 Cindy Trimble, FL
#8-3 Caroline Thibodeau, CA
#8-2 Heidi Klaus, Freehold, NJ
#8-1 Nancie Secher, CA
#7-5 Dean Incopero, IL
#7-4 Sandra Swanson, NY
#7-3 Virginia Slowik, NY
#7-2 Barbara Morrison, WV
#7-1 Katherine Appleton, PA
$16,000 Milestone - Dina Rabanal, NM
#6-5 Lisa Hedman, WA
#6-4 Marcia L. Smith, NY
#6-3 Nancy Wagner-Hislip, NJ
#6-2 Linda McVey, British Columbia
#6-1 Donna Couch Jones, AZ
#5-5 Nancy Tripp - MA
#5-4 Denise Seis, IN
#5-3 George Core - AZ
#5-2 Patty Eisenbraun, MI
#5-1 Elisa Burnsed, GA
#4-4 Christine Votel Sheffer, NY
#4-3 Wendy Hodgson, Australia
#4-2 Pam Vandergrift
#4-1 Susan Winnett, Australia
$10,000 Milestone - Paul Pistell, MD
#3-4 New England Airedale Rescue, CT
#3-3 Ginger Robinson, VA
#3-2 Jean Naragdao, OR
#3-1 New England Airedale Rescue, CT
#2-4 Nora Davidson, TX
#2-3 Pat Bently, AZ
#2-2 Robert Haney, NJ
#2-1 Frances Murphy, AZ
$5,000 Milestone - Ruth Ellen Hill, TX
#1-4 Barbara Bonfield, CA
#1-3 Debbie Butler, KS
#1-2 Carole Evans, IN
#1-1 Leah Bokovitz, OH

Explaining the National Airedale Quilting Bee

Every year since 1999, a group of dedicated quilters and Airedale lovers has gathered in cyberspace to create a very down-to-Earth work of art as a fundraiser for National Airedale Rescue (NAR), the 501c3 corporation which is the Official Treasury of the Airedale Terrier Club of America Rescue & Adoption (ATCA R/A) Committee. Almost all of the materials and every one of the hundreds of hours of labor are volunteered, so that the proceeds of the fundraiser go 100% to NAR.

The donations are in increments and each donation you make (online or by check) will make you eligible for the main quilt and/or one of four bonus wall hangings. The donation structure is set up as follows: for each $5 donation you make, you will receive one entry for the main quilt; for each $25 donation increment you make, you will receive 5 entries for the main quilt and 1 bonus wall hanging entry. For example, if you donate $50, you receive 10 main quilt entries and 2 bonus entries, and so on.

3 comments :

DukeAugust 10, 2013 at 2:11 AM
We love watching the block come to life! It's truly a work of art!
Congratulations to Michael!
lAugust 10, 2013 at 11:07 AM
I just love this ...bit by bit you can see the block become a piece of the quilt... fascinating and a great job done. great work Rebecca... thanks for taking photos as you worked. it's so interesting . and thank you Candy for doing the blog--I love it.
UnknownAugust 11, 2013 at 6:03 PM
The Center block is amazing. It is hard to believe 4 different people worked on it. It is truly a masterpiece. Thank you Quilting B. You guys ROCK!

CENTER BLOCKS - THE TOWN PARK

3 comments :