The  2020 Interfilk Quilt

updated 17 November 2021

This block was made by Harold Stein's mother. Harold had for many years spearheaded the recording of filk circles and concerts at conventions all over North America. He fought cancer for many of those years, and had lost the fight mere months before GaFilk 2020. His mom was at GaFilk in connection with the announcement of the Harold Stein Filk Archive [ https://filk.rocks/ ].

The label for the 2020 quilt, inspired by the COVID-provoked cancellation of the 2021 convention. The quilt raised $275 for Interfilk, and Myra Bernson won the raffle drawing.

The label for the 2019 GaFilk quilt, the 20th quilt made. Blanche Moakes won the raffle, which raised $208 for Interfilk.

2018 GaFilk was Flu-and-Blizzard Con. Super-Secret Guest Catherynne Valente got as far as Philadelphia, I think it was, before the airports in the Northeast shut down. Many other regular attendees from the Northeast were also trapped in the snow, and quite a few others phoned in sick witih the flu. Which is why the label features snowflakes and a simplified flu virus. Despite reduced attendance, the quilt raised $307 for Interfilk, and Harold Stein won the raffle drawing. Harold was one of the folks blizzard-stranded, so Kathleen Sloan put his name on the backs of some of the raffle tickets she bought.

For a while there I wasn't sure there was going to BE a quilt for 2017, because at the time of GaFilk I was about a week out of the hospital from hip replacement surgery and on a daily antibiotic IV regimen that was WAAY too complex to take on the road to Atlanta. The filker/quilters stepped into the breach, though, and Mongol-mailed ten quilt blocks to me at the end of the convention, along with the information that Joe Campbell had won the raffle-draw. The 2017 quilt [#18 in the series] raised $215 for Interfilk. I made two more blocks to fill-out the shape of the quilt, including an "Oy-th note" block in memory of Michael Liebmann, a concom member who had died back in the summer, following surgery for a tumor in his brain.

The label design is also a memorial to Michael Liebmann. I stole it right off the Israeli flag.

Sharon Allsup won the quilt again in 2016. Here is what it looked like at the end of Saturday night.

2016's quilt,  [#17] at only 9 blocks, was the smallest the quilt has ever been. It raised  $161 for Interfilk. BTW, the text on the label is inaccurate. This is what happens when I try to read the embroidered label-lettering on the website photo instead of numbering the quilts in THIS text block every year..

With Elizabeth Moon as the Super Secret Guest, I picked a motif out of her Serrano Legacy series of books for the label design. See, in one of the books there is this female Texas Ranger who comes to Familias Regnant territory in search of her quarry...

Mary Mulholland won the 2015 quilt; here she is with the in-progress quilt at the end of the auction & raffle drawing Saturday night.

And here is what the quilt actually looked like by the time it was sent to her.

The 2015 quilt [#16] raised $233 . The label is inspired by one of the images on the national flag of  Swaziland, where Mary is working for the United States Embassy..

Dawn Benton won the 2014 quilt, the 15th in the series. Interfilk raised  $279 from the raffle.

The label for the 2014 quilt was inspired by GoH Gwen Knighton Raftery's celtic harp

Dawn with the quilt-in-progress as of Saturday night.

Margaret with the quilt-in-progress as-of the end of the auction & raffle.	Margaret Bumby won the 2013 quilt, which was the 14th quilt in the series. Interfilk got $218 from the raffle	The finished quilt.
the completed 2012 quilt Quilt #13	The 2012 quilt raised $211 for Interfilk, and was won by Judy Bemis. About a month after I got home from GaFilk 2012 I received a parcel from Emma Bull, containing fabric which she hoped could be used in the GaFilk quilt.  It was-indeed. The top-right-corner block and the left-end block in the third row involved fabric she sent me, and the entire binding was made from her fabric as well as the brilliant red background for the label. Thank you again, Ms.Bull, and I hope you can make it to the convention some year and participate in-person.	Delivered to the winner at DeepSouthCon in June of 2012

Seanan McGuire won the 2011 quilt, which raised $318 for Interfilk.

The tiara on the label is in honor of Seanan having won the John W. Campbell award at the 2010 WorldCon.  Unfortunately I never got a photo of her with the quilt. Quilt #12

Sharon Allsup won the quilt, shown here nowhere-near completed. As I recall, she was one of the last five or so people to buy raffle tickets.  The quilt raised $243 for Interfilk.	The label for the 2010 quilt. Quilt #11	The completed 2010 quilt

Kathleen Sloan,  having won two quilts already (and given one away) continues to buy raffle tickets but writes friends' names on them.  Brenda Sutton was the lucky recipient of Kathleen's generosity this year.  The quilt will actually be one full row longer than this; there were two more finished blocks turned in on Sunday and Margaret has already made enough additional blocks to finish the fifth row.

The 2009 quilt raised $212 for Interfilk . Quilt #10

AAaaaand, here is the finished quilt.

Brenda Lively won the 2008 quilt, which raised $274 for Interfilk.

Since this was the ninth edition of the quilt, I had a bit of fun on the 9-patch square I made for the label. Quilt #9

I forgot to update this page with pictures of the 2007  Interfilk quilt until JUST before the 2008 convention.

Kathy Horning won the 2007 quilt, which raised $234 for Interfilk. Here she is with the work-in-progress on Saturday evening

The 2007 label turned into a tribute to Dave Alway, who died just after reaching home after the convention. Quilt #8

And here is the finished product.

By way of a bonus /apology, here's what had me distracted: making a quilt to raffle at FilkOntario to help pay the expenses of the N'early Music Chorale.

This is the finished quilt, hanging across the entry to my hall. The center section is composed of portrait-blocks showing all sixteen members of the Chorus; the blue-white-red stripe border around it is inspired by the Union Jack; the fabrics making up the large triangles are various dandelion prints (both realistic and abstracr); the next border is a print featuring Canadian flags; and most of the outer border is music prints from the stash accumulated for the Interfilk Quilt done at GaFilk.

Detail of the outer corner: an enlarged version of Dave Alway's "Duchy of Filkhaven" button design.

I'd been experimenting on this quilt with some fabric which was treated so that it could be run through an ink-jet printer, then ironed to heat-set the ink.  It makes GREAT quilt labels, as well as allowing the transfer of all Debbie's lovely portraits onto blocks for the front of the quilt.

And the winner was... Peggi Warner-Lalonde, who had the idea to DO a raffle-quilt for this.

Sherman Dorn won the 2006 Interfilk Quilt, Here he is shown with his daughter Kathryn and a preliminary display of the blocks from Sunday afternoon. The 2006 quilt raised $250 for Interfilk.

The label for the 2006 quilt. Quilt #7

And here is the final version of the quilt.

	Kathleen Sloan won again in 2005. She had given her 2003 quilt to Jan DiMasi, who was battling breast cancer at the time. Kathleen says, though, that she's KEEPING this one. Quilt #6
Shirley Frantz won the 2004 quilt. This year it was even less finished than normal by the time of the drawing, but we basted-up a dummy so she could get her picture taken with it. A LOT of the blocks this year were done by the Younger Generation: Talis Thorndyke Love, Carly-whose-last-name-I-missed,  Gavin Knighton, and at least one other whose name I missed totally.	The Label. Margaret has obviously rediscovered her stash of embroidery threads...	Here is the finished product, which got shipped just before St.Patrick's Day. This one raised $260 for Interfilk. The kids were so prolific in block-making, that there are four left over with which to start the 2005 quilt.

Kathleen Sloan gloats over FINALLY winning an Interfilk Raffle Quilt at GaFilk Five (Jan. 2003)

AAnnnnnnd...here's the finished product! (Which was actually shipped to her only about a month after the convention. This may be a new personal best for us.) Quilt #4.

This all started with the observation of all the finger and fiber crafts going on around the filk circle at the first GaFilk. Besides my own (Margaret Middleton speaking) patchwork project, there were Margaret Bumby knitting, Dell Stinnett doing Hardanger embroidery, Kathy Horning with needlepoint, and somebody else doing counted cross stitch (probably Melissa Glasser). That’s enough for a show-and-tell panel for next year, I observed to Brenda Sutton during the DeadDogDinner Sunday night.

A couple of hours later, she came back with how-about the craft panel actually make something at next year’s con? My response was: everybody do their thing on a square of fabric ahead of time and we could come up with something.

The eventual result, you can see. We spent most of  Saturday at the back of the program room, with two sewing machines, an ironing board and iron, various quilting notions, and [a last-minute inspiration which paid off big-time] a modest but eclectic palette of fabrics out of my and Brenda's stashes in case inspiration struck on the spot.

The second year, I brought along a supply of ready-to-decorate blocks, which proved very popular. Decorations-added included rubberstamped dandelions by Kathy Mar, a stamp of the FKO logo, and a cat applique'. Seeing the format in person inspired several other folks to do squares-within-borders blocks using the fabrics brought by Brenda and me. Melissa Glasser brought a small counted-cross-stitch kit which she did at the convention and then set borders to, to bring it up to the 8" square size we use.  The quilt's size varies from year to year: 4x5 blocks for the first one, 4x6 blocks for the second, 5x5 blocks for the third, back to 4x5 last year. Realistically, 5x5 or 5x6 is about as large as can be conveniently hung on a wall or used as a lap quilt while traveling. So far, we've had only a few carryover blocks

Brenda Sutton works on a block representing the WierdFamily in 2005; Bill Rintz looks through pictures of past quilts while Kathryn Dorn works on a block in 2006. 
Margaret Middleton stays handy to answer questions from either.

WHAT TO DO FOR THIS YEAR

THE BASICS

• Do your thing on a n 8.5 inch square of (preferably cotton) fabric, or order one of the kits to decorate.
• Stack that together with an 8 inch square of low-loft quilt batting and a 9 inch square of backing fabric. Be precise in the centering, since the back and the front have different seam allowances.
• Quilt the stack together, leaving at least a 1.5 inch margin un-quilted all around.  Use a plain running stitch or machine stitching.
• Sign your block just inside the quilted area.
• Bring or send the block to GaFilk or to Margaret Middleton or to Brenda Sutton

(Those of you familiar with quilting have probably recognized the early steps of Georgia Bonesteel’s lap-quilting technique in these instructions.)

THE DETAILS (Margaret speaking)

As I worked-out the basics, quite a few technical questions occurred to me. I’ll list them, with my answers. If I’ve missed anything, email me the question and I’ll respond, and add the set to this page.

How much (tremble) quilting do I actually have to do?
Outline Your Thing. Mark and stitch the outline of a 5 inch square around Your Thing, if it doesn’t fill up that much naturally.

Why the 1 3/4 inch margin, and how do I manage it?
The margin is needed so we can fold the batting and backing away from the stitching line when we start splicing the blocks together. Look up Lap Quilting With Georgia Bonesteel at your library for more details, if you want.  To mark the margin, measure in from each edge of the fabric square 1 3/4 inches and use narrow masking tape to mark the lines, leaving a 5" square window open in the middle. You can quilt right up to the tape, then pull it off and leave no pencil markings. Or you can buy or borrow a quilters' washable marking pen to mark the lines.

What if My Thing runs over the 5 inch square?
Don’t outline whatever extends into that 1 3/4 inch margin. Find some interior lines to stitch instead. Pin a note to the block reminding us to finish the outlining once the block is spliced to surrounding blocks.

Can I applique a piece of needlework fabric onto the cotton, once I’ve done my embroidery thing ?
Yes. Just outline the applique’d piece same as if it was embroidered direct on the cotton.

How about crocheted or knitted pieces?
Same thing. Center the item on the 8.5 inch top square and stitch it down, then outline with quilting.

What sort of fabric should I use?
Cotton solid colors, tiny-print calicos, or (the newest wrinkle) "Textured Solids". Ask the clerk at the fabric store to show you some.

How do I make my signature permanent?
Most decorative would be to go over it with embroidery thread or liquid embroidery paint. (Ballpoint pen ink is actually pretty indelible on fabric...)

How do I keep the stack of fabric and batting from shifting?
Lots of little safety pins. Start at the 4 corners and the middle. Keep adding pins in open spaces until it feels manageable. After you figure where your quilting lines are to go, move pins as-needed so you won't be stitching across any.

I don’t sew at all but I want to contribute.
Find a print fabric at the store with a picture you like which will fit inside an 8" square. Make a paper pattern that size, to be sure. Ask the clerk to cut you just enough fabric to get a 9" square centered on your picture (the extra is for seam allowances when we splice the blocks together). You can use some of the rest of the fabric for the back or you can get another fabric entirely (get 1/4 yard). Or, you can order Margaret's Handy-Dandy Filk Quilt Kit (see above) If you are feeling brave enough, get back with me (Margaret) and I will coach you through the stitchery. Or  you can put the arm on a friend who DOES sew to stitch around the outline of your selected image.

I sew, but I’ve never quilted.
Quilting is really big just now. The library will have lots of books on it, and the local fabric store will have even more. Singer has published a really good one (on quilting by machine, natch) with excellent photographic illustrations.

How do I get less than a whole quilt’s worth of batting?
Go in with some others and buy a quarter yard of 45" batting-by-the-yard. That will be enough to do 5 blocks. Or order the H-DFQK mentioned above and detailed below.

MARGARET'S HANDY-DANDY FILK QUILT KIT

Contents:
Top = an 8.5" square pieced of various fabrics.
You can decorate the square however you want: embroidery, fabric paint, applique,...(see samples below)
Back = a 9" square of random fabric from the same stash.
Also: one square of batting, a card-bobbin of quilting thread, and a quilting needle.

Since GaFilk has accumulated such a stash of fabric for this project, I'm changing the rules on ordering the block kit.
I'm only charging the cost of the shipping now, but that has gone up to $1.00 US.

I can take PayPal now: send the money to msminlr@gmail.com,
 This has been upgraded to-where I can take payments funded from a credit card, but that means they charge me a 30 cent fee on *every* transaction, not just the credit card ones. So if you order by PayPal, the kit cost will be US$1.30 (which is still cheaper for you than buying a stamp for the envelope to mail me the dollar) and I'll absorb the percentage charge.
Or you could order it the old fashioned way, by sending a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope
(the 6x9 size), with 2 Forever Stamps on it.

This is a block from 2004's quilt. It came from Francine Mullen of Tulsa, OK. She cites her inspiration as Anne McCaffrey's book "The Ship Who Sang"

To make this block, a tatted round was applique'd onto a block-top square.

These "OY-th Notes" were done by Mike Liebmann

SAMPLE BLOCKS, AND INSTRUCTIONS

(A) Mark 1.75” in from the outside edge of the kit block, all around. 
(B) Decorate the block inside that square however you want. The blue and white block on the right is done with cut-out shapes from other fabrics heat-fused in place, then anchored with zigzag machine stitching. This is how we do a lot of the made-at-the-convention blocks. The block on the left was pieced in crazy-strips around a central piece containing a picture.
(C) Stack and quilt the fabric, batt, and backing together. [Be precise in your stacking, as they are different sizes deliberately. It is important to line up the center points.] Leave the outermost 1.5" un-quilted, so the blocks can be connected.

Link to Interfilk  ||  Link back to GaFilk