This quilt won Judges Choice Award at the 1994 American Quilt Association annual quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky in April of this year. The Paducah show is a prestigious world class quilt event in which only carefully selected entries from all over the United States and many foreign countries are allowed to participate.
Previous to it's entry in international competition the quilt had been on display in Japan, in San Antonio's sister city of Kumamoto as part of a cultural exchange program, in which the quilt's designer taught the techniques used in it's construction to some two hundred Japanese quilters.
The quilt was designed by Valerie Chaplain Arcement who moved to San Antonio, joined the Greater San Antonio Quilt Guild and began quilting in 1983. Since then Ms. Arcement has chaired several committees in the Guild and served as President of December 1988 to Dec 1990.
The actual hand quilting was accomplished with four hundred and forty six hours of volunteer work by quilters at the Institute of Texan Cultures, many of whom are Greater San Antonio Quilt Guild members.
Techniques Used: The designs depicting San Antonio symbols were created using the Hawaiian Applique technique of folding a square of paper into eighths, drawing the design on one eighth section and cutting out the design with the paper folded. (Freezer paper was used
After the design was cut, the paper was ironed onto the white applique fabric and the design transferred by stenciling with red fabric paint. (Prior to transferring the design, light weight fusible bond material (Wonder Under) was fused to the back of the white fabric.) The transferred design was then carefully cut out with small pointed scissors and an Exacto knife.
When the cutting was complete, the design was ironed onto the red background fabric and the edges of the design were hand embroidered by volunteers with a blanket stitch using white DMC cotton embroidery thread. The blocks and border were assembled with a sewing machine
Because the design is unique and original, and because of it's history in Japan it's winning a Judges Choice Award in world class competition in. Paducah, the Guild has chosen to keep this quilt in it's membership collection