Show Ribbon Quilts
by Annamaria Tadlock & Lani Blackford
Photos courtesy www.ShowThrow.com

 

When Lani Blackford went to college, she left behind a room filled with horse show ribbons. Two rows or ribbons wrapped around her bedroom, draped the lamps, mirrors, and picture frames. When she moved out she didn't want to leave the ribbons, and boxing them up out of sight was too painful.

Lani recalls packing up the ribbons, "So many competitions were brought immediately to my memory. I wondered what should be done with all of my treasured awards. My heart broke as each of Speedy's triumphs were tossed into the box. I recalled all of those hot summer days spent practicing, late nights braiding with friends, 4:30 am schoolings in empty arenas, all those falls when I got sand in my pants, and the countless hours hauling to shows and lessons with my mom and sister. But I knew that it would be ridiculous to hang all of these ribbons in my college apartment.

People have been fashioning seemingly useless items into art quilts for a long time. The most popular time for this was during The Great Depression when quilts and table cloths were made from cigar ribbons, political ribbons, and any other scraps of soft fabric. As an avid quilter, Lani's mother knew of the Depression-era quilts and suggested that the ribbons be used to make a quilt.

Lani used her ribbons to make several small quilts and experiment with patterns. She brought them with her to horse shows, even though she felt that she needed more practice on her ribbon quilting. She'd used up all of her ribbons and a sampling of different styles-- some that worked well, and some that didn't. When other people saw her ribbon quilts they would tell her what a great idea it was.

"People commented on them everywhere they were; they remarked that it was such a good idea-- 'Mine are all in the attic,' they said with a touch of remorse. Sometimes people asked me where I had them made and how much it had cost. "

Lani began to donate her quilts to charities, offer them as prizes at a series of schooling shows she hosted, and give gift certificates as Christmas gifts to her clients. “I knew that people wouldn’t complain as much if the quilts were free and that allowed me to keep experimenting with the difficulty of creating quilts with such primary colors.” It was in this way that she discovered exactly how many wonderful designs those primary colors could create. Soon, people began to visit her website, www.showthrow.com, and place orders for quilts made with their own ribbons.

"One year ago I built ShowThrow.com and began taking orders for my ribbon quilts; slowly at first. I promoted the site by taking my quilts everywhere and by donating them to various horse charities. Now I have up to six boxes at a time in my living room waiting to be opened and fashioned into beautiful pillows, wall hangings, or quilts. I am still traveling with the quilts but now it is most often someone else's quilt that I am putting the finishing touches on. It's so exciting; there are always boxes on my porch when I arrive home from my regular job or from the barn. "

Lani says that anyone can make a ribbon quilt if they put their mind to it, “the hardest part is committing that fist snip with the scissors on your prized ribbons and then staying focused to see it through. Sewing is actually fun and easy; you don’t need to have any real sewing talent to make most quilting patterns.” When making a quilt the most important things are an eye for color and some mathematical skills. If you’re brave enough to make those cuts Lani recommends that you have a few things on hand:

Calculator
Well-maintained sewing machine with a fine needle and properly calibrated tension
Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
Good quilting book with lots of patterns that are based on rectangles
Long audio book too keep you entertained
“Don’t over-face yourself with a pattern that has diamonds or triangles; keep it simple if you’ve never quilted before”, Lani recommends.

If you aren’t brave enough or if your attempt fails Lani invites you to send your ribbons to her. At Lani’s Show Throw quilting studio each ribbon is individually cut and sewn to reduce the number of ribbons destroyed to only those that will be used in the project. And, customers pay nothing until they have approved of the half-finished quilt, wall hanging, or pillow.

“I put a lot of care into my quilts so that they use customer's ribbons in an effective manner. I want all of my quilts to be enticing enough to motivate others to do something useful with their ribbons. Because that’s the greatest challenge in being in business for yourself – inspiring others to trust you. If your work doesn’t speak to people as being unique and worthwhile then how can you be proud of it and how can you expect others to have confidence in you?”

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Lani Blackford is a twenty-five-year-old entrepreneur. To see more examples of Lani's work and/or to place an order, please visit http://www.showthrow.com/.