As One of 40 National Finalists, a Sandy, Utah Quilter Seeks Community Support for a Chance to Win the $100,000 Top Prize from $100,000 Quilting Challenge Magazine.

With 25 percent of the final decision based upon votes from individuals, Allisha Politis asks Utahns and quilt lovers everywhere to consider voting for her 56- X 86-inch pictorial quilt titled the "12 Days of Christmas Chaos," a quilt which contemplates the absurd chaos that would result if someone actually received from a true love the 78 gifts described in the holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

SANDY, Utah -- Sandy resident Allisha Politis has been named one of 40 finalists vying for a top prize of $100,000 in a nationwide contest sponsored by $100,000 Quilting Challenge magazine. But making it to the top of the quilt pile may require the help and support of the entire Utah community and quilt lovers everywhere.

An avid quilter and mother of five, Politis used the overwhelming frenzy of the holiday season as inspiration for her qualifying entry "12 Days of Christmas Chaos." The 56- x 86-inch quilt portrays in pictorial splendor the absolute absurdity that would occur within a home if someone actually received the outlandish gifts described in the classic holiday song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Politis' quilt literally includes quilted representations of twelve drummers, eleven pipers, ten lords, nine ladies, eight maids, seven swans, six geese, five rings, four calling birds, three hens, one turtledove (the cat was hungry), one partridge, one pear tree and one true love taking a shower.

"Designing and making the quilt was so much fun, you could say it had me 'laughing all the way,'" Politis said. "Seriously though, I've always wondered how the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' would come to life, and that's what Candice and I tried to do. And finally, after four months of nearly non-stop work, the quilt seems to have taken on a life of its own."

Politis turned to an artist friend in her neighborhood, Candice Perri, to translate her vision into original drawings. Politis then scanned these drawings into a computer program to manipulate the images into quilt-ready pattern pieces. She then recruited Sandy resident Annette Lehman to machine quilt the finished piece. In total, the "12 Days of Christmas Chaos" took four months to complete from initial concept to machine-quilted quilt.

One of the most-critical parts of the "12 Days of Christmas Chaos" quilt is a poem/letter written by Politis as if it were penned by the person who received the 78 Christmas gifts described in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The poem is found in the center of the quilt affixed to the pear tree and reads as follows:

My dearest true love,

It's impossible to comprehend exactly why you would send drummers that drum all through the night, pipers that play with all their might, lords leaping all over the place, dancing ladies - what a disgrace. Forgive me dear, but it's quite a concern, that all these gifts I must return. The maids are making quite a mess. The seven swans are under stress. The six laying geese you must beware, rotten eggs are everywhere.

I think I'll keep the golden rings; the calling birds say obscene things. The French hens made a lovely stew, and we saved a bowl for you. My cat ate up the turtledove, the other flies the skies above. Really dear you gave me a stupid bird in a pear tree. So it is my deepest regret that you are not my true love yet. These Christmas gifts (in other words) are, strictly speaking, for the birds.

Truly,

Not your true love

Quilting Contest Background and Voting Information

According to Lisa Swenson, editor of $100,000 Quilting Challenge magazine, Politis' quilt was one of more than 2,000 entries received for its 2006 contest. The "12 Days of Christmas Chaos" was featured as a finalist in the second quarterly issue of the magazine published in 2006 and won in the category of Applique, described by the magazine's Web site as "A technique for attaching pieces (appliques) of fabric onto a background fabric." (For a complete list of the 10 categories used by $100,000 Quilting Challenge magazine and descriptions of each category, visit http://www.quiltingchallenge.com/information/categories.shtml.)

For each quarterly issue, a committee of five editors reviewed the quilting entries and narrowed the field down to five semi-finalist candidates per category. These semi-finalist entries were then viewed and judged by a three-member panel of National Quilting Association-certified judges based upon the following criteria - 1) general appearance: 10 percent; 2) design: 40 percent; and 3) workmanship: 50 percent.

The selection process for the top $100,000 prize-winning quilt will be based 75 percent upon the judging decision of a new three-member panel of NQA-certified judges and 25 percent upon the voting of readers and the general public. Quilt lovers and interested individuals can go online to http://www.quiltingchallenge.com/voting/index.html to view the 40 finalist quilts and vote for their favorite quilt. Voting for the top quilt is open until 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Monday, December 11, 2006.

Politis' quilt is featured on the voting page in the "Issue 2" column (the second column from the left), along with the other national finalists.

For interested journalists, an electronic copy is available of the three-page story from $100,000 Quilting Challenge magazine highlighting Politis' finalist entry. For additional information or to obtain a picture of the "12 Days of Christmas Chaos" quilt, please contact Politis Communications at 801-523-3730 or David Politis at 801-556-8184(cell).