Shulamit Ron

 Shulamit is past chair of Israel's Quilting Association. The quilt at right was commissioned for a wedding in the U.S., and is pieced, appliqued, and embellished with her line of rubber stamps. You can see more of her work, and her stamps,  at her Canaan Art website, www.CanaanArt.com.  Shulamit lives in Kadima, Israel, and  can be reached at shulamit@CanaanArt.com

Joan Garland

Joan, who is from Lawrenceville, Georgia, is one of my favorite people! On the left is her first original quilted creation: A scrappy challah cover, 21" x 21".  The dark background fabric had a subtle dragonfly print, which she traced with gold metallic thread for the quilted central motifs. The quilted vines in  the outer area were a design built into her Husqvarna sewing machine. Joan used  commercial quilting fabrics, but I can also imagine this done with family neckties, or other heirloom clothing.  Joan gives away a lot of her Judaica to friends, but as for this one, she says --- "I actually like how it came out and I'm going to use it myself!" Joan  can be reached at Jagarland@bellsouth.net

Update: The second picture is her latest challah cover! Very brave! (Lame is tricky!)

Ann Baum

 The huppa was made by Ann for her daughter Carolyn's wedding. "Carolyn sent out twenty 16" squares of fine cotton, and got these sixteen back," Ann explains. " It worked out great, since twenty would have made it entirely too big! The blocks included everything from poetry, to scanned photographs, to paintings, to children's art --- all from very special people in her and her husband's life. It was very meaningful for them. I just banded it together with a hand-painted cotton fabric that Carolyn chose. Carolyn installed grommets, as I wouldn't have dared!"  And speaking of hardware, the caterer brought the chuppah from the synagogue to the reception, where he hung it vertically from a rack using---oy!---duct tape!?  "I couldn't believe it myself!" says Ann. Her email address is sierrarob@aol.com
     

Elsa Wachs. An outstanding  painter and fiber artist.  www.Elsawachs.com.
 

Stacie Chappell makes customized Judaic quilts, and other uplifting and innovative art.   An example is at http://www.staciechappell.com/quilts.html.
 

Susan Schrott  is a Westchester, New York-based actress, psychotherapist, and an artist, who makes extraordinary, joyful, visionary, and sometimes huge art  quilts, many Jewish-themed..  This one is called "Apples and Eve." See more at  at www.susanschrott.com.   In 2003, she created an inspiring project in honor of her daughter's Bat Mitzvah. Students from her Temple drew pictures with fabric markers, which Susan sewed into four large quilts. Those quilts were donated to schools and hospitals in Israel. View them at http://hstrial-sschrott.homestead.com/quilts_Of_Love.html. Contact Susan at Sbfschrott@aol.com.
 

Linda Horowitz

My buddy Linda Horowitz, of Arcadia, California, thought my kippot were funny---but apparently, not funny enough. So, while she was between jobs, she bought a sewing machine and implored me to give her kippah classes. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The first is for her car-crazed son. The second: He also likes motorcycles.  The third is for her synagogue treasurer (plastic penny button on top).  The fourth is for a retired Air Force pilot. The fifth is for her husband, when he works the synagogue bingo games (Another plastic coin on top). Linda's at LPHMktg@aol.com.  

Lori Weiss

When you're talking about machine-embroidered quilts, nobody does it more exquisitely than Lori.

The first image above is the immaculate signature quilt she made for her son Adam’s bar mitzvah.  The hand-appliquéd pomegranates symbolize the 613 commandments that are said to be in the Torah. The seeds were created by reverse appliqué. Each fruit took almost two hours to complete, and the quilt itself more than a year. The Hebrew lettering on bottom means, "From Generation to Generation.'"

The second image is a pieced, quilted, signed, legal ketubah, marriage contract. "The bride provided me with the text, in English and Aramaic....I scanned the text and printed it on treated fabric [See 'Resources' page.] "I had to do some clean-up, but it came out remarkably well. I then backed the text with an interfacing so it would be stiff enough to write on. The 'tablets' were appliquéd, using a wide satin stitch.  Since the text was tablet-shaped I had to come up a design to accommodate that form. I thought the tree of life/menorah design would work, so I drew it for her and she approved it. I added the two doves to symbolize the bride and groom. The embroidered chai was from 'Stitches by Sue' [See Resources, Machine Embroidery.]  The biggest challenge was appliquéing all those leaves!!! There were hundreds of them!"

The ketubah  was signed by all the parties at the wedding. " I provided a pigma pen and practice fabric."  The owners framed it between two pieces of glass..

Lori's article about another wonderful machine-embroidered quilt, signed by guests at her son's bar mitzvah, appeared in the Spring, 2003 issue of American Quilter Magazine. Lori, who is from Coral Springs, Florida, can be reached at lfweiss@MYACC.NET

Sharon Bolton

This Phoenix, Arizona quiltmaker brings boundless energy, enthusiasm, and kavannah to her Judaic quilts. Check out the gorgeous machine-embroidered grapes on her pyramid quilt,   '40 Years they Wandered,' made for the New Shul in Scottsdale, Arizona. And I'm wild about  her fruity Sukkoth mat. They're at http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewAlbum.asp?AID=1438248&Page=1. Contact Sharon at  zoomama@swlink.net.
 

Leah Allman

Leah Allman of Peabody, Mass., made the extraordinary “Masada Mosaic” on the left in 1999. The  54" x 54" wall hanging is based on a tile floor found in the ruins of King Herod’s palace at Masada  “The design was drawn into the computer. Each section was numbered and printed as a  full-size template. Traditional and reverse appliqué were done by hand. There is also machine piecing and extensive machine quilting, to simulate the composition of the tiles,” says Leah. The quilt won a Second Place Red Ribbon in the Theme Wall Quilt category for Professionals and Amateurs, at the 1999 American Quilters Society Show in Paducah, Kentucky.

Leah's second quilt , at right, is titled, "They were Slaves in Egypt". It measures 53" x 57". Leah took a nontraditional approach to construction here, too. She hand-painted one piece of fabric in sky colors, another in desert colors, and sewed them together. These became the background.  Triangular faces for each pyramid were freehand cut from contrasting batik fabrics. She butted the raw triangle edges together, and glued fabric strips to the back for stability, using Roxanne's applique glue, to create each pyramid.  More rectangles were cut, butted, reinforced, and glued to create the  slabs hauled along the ground. She cut people, statues, jars, the Pharoah's face, etc., from Egyptian-themed commercial fabrics.  All these raw-edged items were glued the background.  Batting and backing were added. Finally, she "machine fantasy quilted" everything--- appliqué, embroidery and machine quilting simultaneously through all the layers!   Dark brown thread, straight stitched over and over, created dimensional bricks within each pyramid face. Couched twine represents the heavy ropes of bondage. For more information on this fascinating quilt, write to Leahquilter@comcast.net. 

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