Thursday, June 3, 2010

News Around the Quilting Frame: Judith Baker Montano's book wins award; AAQI gets new supporters

Raise those needles high in tribute to a fine woman whose work resulted in an award winning book. Congratulations Judith Baker Montano and Dragon Threads for winning this prestigious award. Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles recently reviewed Judith's book and featured Judith's guest blog. Below I've posted most of the press release from Dragon Threads publisher Linda Teufel. -- Dawn

Dragon Threads, publisher of textile arts books, has received the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award™ for Best Craft Book for the book Fibreart Montage: Combining Quilting, Embroidery & Photography with Embellishments by internationally-renowned quilt artist Judith Baker Montano.

The book features full-color photographs of the newest mixed media techniques perfected by Judith Baker Montano, a leading expert on crazy quilting and embellishment.

Named in honor of America’s most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ recognizes excellence by independent publishers. Publications, grouped by genre, are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. The Benjamin Franklin Awards™ are highly competitive and are regarded as one of the highest national honors in small and independent book publishing.


More than 4,000 publishers submitted books to be considered for the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ this year. All three finalists in the Craft category were quilting/needlework books.

Linda Teufel, owner of Dragon Threads, was on hand to accept the award at the Benjamin Franklin 2010 Awards™ presentation ceremony held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, on May 24, 2010. “I am thrilled about winning this award,” said Teufel. “It is an amazing honor for me, Dragon Threads, and author Judith Baker Montano!”

Dragon Threads has been publishing sewing and quilting books since 1994. This has been an especially exciting year for the company as Fibreart Montage also won the 2010 International Book Award in the Crafts/Hobbies/How-To category, given by JPX Media.

Fibreart Montage: Combining Quilting, Embroidery & Photography with Embellishments by Judith Baker Montano is available at http://www.dragonthreads.com/.

Other news happening around the quilting community:

The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative Gains Allies


Through the "Rose of Sharon" Project conceived by quilter Sharon Pederson and her Nine Patch Media business partner Elizabeth Phillips, the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative will receive support. Companies partnering with Pederson in the Rose of Sharon project are supporting the AAQI. These Rose of Sharon partners include Martingale & Company who will publish Sharon Pederson's Rose of Sharon book due out this fall, Island Batik who is coordinating a "Roses of Remembrance" BOM (block-of-the-month) for quilt shops with fabrics used in original quilt, and Aurifil who is offering two Rose of Sharon thread collections.



Pederson's project premiered at the recent International Quilt Market in Minneapolis. More than 850 different blocks were digitally submitted by designers in 11 countries last year in an EQ6 online contest hosted by The Electric Quilt Company. Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims selected the final top 12 designs for Pederson's "Roses of Remembrance" quilt. Designers were asked to share their connection with Alzheimer's (if any).
The AAQI is very pleased to have these generous allies in the fight against Alzheimer's. The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative is a national, grassroots effort to raise awareness and fund research. It auctions and sells donated quilts through the Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt project and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $407,000 since January 2006. Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer's.

For more information on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative or to make a donation, contact Ami Simms at AmiSimms@aol.com www.alzquilts.org.

In addition, AccuQuilt is offering licensed Rose of Sharon Go! and Studio Dies for all the Rose of Sharon appliqués, and Oklahoma Embroidery Supply & Design (OESD) has digitized Rose of Sharon blocks for machine embroidery and/or appliqué. Nine Patch Media has created a Rose of Sharon instructional DVD.

3 comments:

Yvonne said...

Since I bought mine from Judith herself at a retreat, loudly applauding here. (Interfered by my attempting to pat my own back for doing it!) It's a lovely book, and very inspiring. Kudos to all who contributed to the book for this award.

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS

WELL DESERVED.

mzjohansen said...

I have been dithering about spending the money on this books - looks now I will have no excuse not to ! Also - I loved your post on Words of Gold - I too have several books to review of that genre and I think I could probably fit my thoughts about de-cluttering, almost word for word , to your post! Very well done - Thank you !