Quilts in “Half a Day” (Jan 17 – March 31, 2014)

The story of Eleanor, mirrors the process of constructing an heirloom quilt. Her life, like a patchwork quilt has been assembled from pieces collected over time and has blended into an inspiring and beautiful story. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and quite early on began sewing on a small, crank-handle toy sewing machine. Seeking out any available fabric, she discovered her Aunt Edna’s chicken feed sacks, allowing her hours of stitching time. By thirteen, she polished her skills up on her mother’s newly purchased green Elna sewing machine. Her childhood brought out an enterprising spirit that was expressed in persistent tenacity. Eleanor’s dyslexia helped the developed her extraordinary ability to make difficult things simple. Teaching others became a way for her to impart her passion for learning. As a young woman, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Edinboro State College. Her graduate work at Penn State University culminated her preparation to be a special education teacher, and she began teaching for the Pittsburgh school system. In 1967 she met and married Bill Burns and the process of piecing together her work with family life began.

With her easy-to-learn techniques, incredible expertise and delightful sense of humor, Eleanor Burns has turned her love of quilting into a career. Over thirty years ago Eleanor Burns introduced her first Quilt in a Day book, beginning a quilt making revolution. She invited all types of sewers to participate in an age-old tradition using her unique style; a diverse combination of cutting and sewing applications which replaced scissors and templates with rips and strips, bringing rotary speed to patchwork. She also introduced an incredibly rapid stitching system, applying the method of assembly line sewing to piecework. Her concise, step-by-step directions were easy to grasp, allowing anyone to be successful at making a quilt. Eleanor Burns gave quilt makers techniques that compacted months into merely a day, a quilt in a day. Today, as she continues to passionately devote herself to nurturing and motivating thousands of want-to be quilters with needed self-confidence, her name and techniques have become synonymous with quiltmaking. Eleanor has published over 130 books and patterns. Many of the quilts feature her own lines of fabrics from Benartex. Eleanor is also the celebrity spokesperson for Baby Lock’s line of quilting machines, the Quilter’s Dream Series.

Known as Quilting’s First Lady, AccuQuilt is proud to claim Eleanor as one of their designers and greatest advocates of AccuQuilt. She loves the results she gets when using her GO! and GO! Baby! After all, “Better Cuts Make Better Quilts” and allow you to cut and make a quilt in “Half a Day”.

Click image below to view complete quilt.

Bohemian Rhapsody 2002 (88" x 88") Ricky Tims

Bohemian Rhapsody’s undulating symmetry is loosely based on a traditional Diamond in a Square. The urns and other appliquéd motifs create large circular effects. This quilt is made with original 100% cotton hand dyed fabrics, machine pieced, machine appliquéd and machine quilted with silk and rayon threads.
Time Warp 1999 (82" x 82") Ricky Tims

A vortex appears to warp this traditional center diamond design. “Caveman” piecing from hand-dyed fabrics gives a hand painted feel to the quilt. The trapunto is embellished with bobbin embroidery. The entire quilt is quilted from the back with “bobbin quilting” using metallic decorative threads.
Dad’s Lone Star 2002 (92" x 92") Richard Tims and Ricky Tims

In 2002 my dad attempted to make a Lone Star quilt. As he pieced the star, I designed a setting and we agreed that I would do the appliqué and quilting. Each element of the quilt was done on the machine and includes piecing, appliqué, trapunto, outline bobbin embroidery and piped binding. I wonder if the world has ever seen a father/son quilt?
New World Symphony 2002 (90½" x 90½") Ricky Tims

New World Symphony is a traditional Trip Around the World quilt. This contemporary variation is accomplished by using original 100% cotton hand-dyed fabrics. The diverse colors of this quilt represent cultural, ethnic, social, political and religious differences.
Simple Gifts 1996 (88" x 88") Ricky Tims

Simple Gifts expresses Ricky’s reverence for traditional as well as modern technique through simplistic design based on the traditional Amish Diamond in the Square brought up to contemporary standards. Simple Gifts was selected as “Juror’s 101st Choice” by Jue Culvey for the “Best 100 Quilts of the Twentieth Century”.
Viva Violetta 2007 (58" x 58") Ricky Tims

Viva Violetta is one quilt in my series of Rhapsody quilts. The word “rhapsody” means great joy, rapture, enthusiasm and elation, and the quilts in this series reflect those definitions because they include a variety of designs, colors and techniques. When stitched together, they create a unified piece that evokes energy and excitement.
Lifelines III 2012 (50" x 50") Ricky Tims

This quilt is an improvisational patchwork technique that asks the question “What if I did this?” to create a spontaneously designed, free-form, curve-pieced quilt. The words created by the stitching around each letter in the dark border around the center medallion represent feelings I experienced as the quilt headed towards completion.
Asternoon Delight 2009 (36" x 44") Ricky Tims

This quilt combines two of my artistic passions – photography and quilting. The original photo was edited in Photoshop then printed full-size on fabric. The details are all embellished by free motion quilting.
Bears in Bertie’s Log Cabin 2004 (53" x 53") Ricky Tims

When asked to make an original quilt for an issue of Fons & Porters Love of Quilting, I decided to make it in memory of my maternal grandmother, Bertie Marie, whose sewing machine started my quilting career. The quilt features traditional Bear Paw and Log Cabin blocks but uses contemporary hand-dyed fabrics and metallic threads.
Self Portrait 2012 (22" x 22") Ricky Tims

This quilt was created for the Faces Issue (June 2013) of The Quilt Life Magazine.