Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild
Bits & Pieces, May 2001, Volume 6, Issue 5
Anita Kaplan, Editor
May Meeting: Comfort Quilt Workshop-The Best Thing We Do!
May 18, 9:30-3:30, Community Center
Our last Comfort Quilt workshop of 2001 will be this month, the focus of our May meeting. Come to sew and socialize, and get involved in this remarkable project. You’ll also be treated to Anita Kaplan’s slides and report of the International Quilt Festival 2000 in Houston.
For your comfort quilts, bring precut squares of fabric: 6 1/2, 9 1/2, or 12 1/2 to use and share, or simpler still long fat strips of fabric for an Amish-style bar quilt. Bring your sewing machine and extension cord, necessary supplies, and an iron (optional). We still have some fabric, batting, and yarn for tying left from the February workshop, but still need large yardages for backings. What a great way to clean out your outgrown fabrics, making room in your stash for new ones, of course!
Our February workshop generated 30 quilts. Add to those last year’s 40 quilts and 46 from the previous 2 years, and we have a project of unprecedented success. The value of Comfort Quilts lies not in their numbers however, but in their impact upon the lives of their recipients. We can only guess how many dark hours have been brightened by the warmth of these truly comforting quilts, each one a tangible expression that we care.
The need continues, and May’s workshop quilts will be distributed within our community and adjoining counties through the (Christmas) holiday season. Thank you for all your work---and keep them coming!
We’re still anticipating that the ICO will be there to do a photo spread on the workshop, so it would be terrific to have a really full house. And there’s nothing to match the satisfaction generated from creating quilts that will bring such happiness to those in need. Be there!
UPCOMING Programs
Friday, June 15, 10:00 – 4:30: Judith Jones will conduct a workshop in Hand Appliqué
Friday, July 20, 12:00: Annual Members-only picnic at the Naida Mauthe Estate!
Saturday and Sunday, August 18-19: Art in the Redwoods!
For show-and-tell in May I'm suggesting people show the comfort quilts they have made. In June I'll be asking the Tuesday quilters to bring show and tell.
For those who were not able to attend the April Guild meeting, Gayle has chosen a block for her President’s appreciation quilt and the Guild is still accepting blocks in her behalf. If you would like to make one and you need a pattern, call or email Gayle Stewart and she will mail one to you.
New Members
Jackman, Colleen 7-Nov
Correction: Rainie Pauter’s first name is misspelled on roster; please correct as shown above. Her email address needs to be corrected as well. The first character is the letter L in lower case.
Anita Kaplan will teach a machine quilting class on two Wednesdays, July 25th and August 1st,from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Gualala Arts. The class is for beginners and for those who want to review and brush up this skill. It will cover the basic supplies and equipment needed, straight line quilting, free motion quilting, and all aspects of finishing your quilt. The class fee will be $40, which can be paid to Gualala Arts. The class will be limited to fifteen people. After registration, a materials list will be sent to you by May 30th.
Guild Glimmers by Annie Beckett
The Guild’s April guest speaker and teacher, Sonya Lee Barrington, makes rainbows for a living. Her display of packets of her hand-dyed fabrics in beautifully controlled value gradations of saturated hues, and her lovely quilts featuring those fabrics, told a story of an artist intoxicated by color. In the course of her lecture, Sonya Lee gave us a guided tour of her life as a pioneer in the American quilting revival scene.
Sonya Lee began quilting when the popularity of the leather garments she made for a living waned as 60’s culture rolled toward the ‘70’s. Casting about for a new direction, she spotted a quilt in a neighborhood antique store and said to herself, “I can sew… I can make quilts!” And that’s just what she did and has done since 1968, taking inspiration from such diverse sources as the sea, Amish quilts and San Idelfonso pottery.
A single parent, Sonya has managed to support her two children and their San Francisco home by selling her hand-dyed and marbled fabrics and her quilts (including once taking a commission for eight quilts in three months!), creating original quilting designs and kits, lecturing and teaching (including a long affiliation with SF Community College, engagements at Ft. Mason Art Center and abroad), and at one time owning a quilt store.
In her Dyeing to Quilt class the following day, Sonya guided ten eager students through the processes of creating value gradation in a single color and between two colors, and numerous methods of creating distinctive and exciting visual textures in hand-dyed fabric. Her very solidly developed, organized, and methodical presentation of the techniques spelled gratifying success for a class made up (with the exception of one), of first-time dyers.
As interesting as the diverse aspects of Sonya Lee’s lecture were, and as richly informative and fun as her class was, perhaps as inspiring was the message that emerges from her personal story: With diligence, perseverance, commitment and determination, a quilt artist can actually make a living, even support a family, doing what she loves. Many of us here no longer have that compelling necessity, yet even freed from having to make a living, we regularly lament that we can’t find the time to quilt. Maybe the lesson we can take from Sonya’s “just do it” example is that if we can’t find the time, perhaps we can find the extra measure of determination and self-discipline necessary to MAKE the time to do this thing we love.
The Challenge by Annie Beckett
One last THANK YOU from your Challenge Chair to everyone involved with this year's Challenge...to my powerhouse team for pulling this show together so beautifully, to every exhibiting quilt artist for work that was above and way beyond, to Karel and the Art Center for the smooth sailing we had hanging the show and putting on the opening and to the community for its wildly appreciative response. This thing went light years Beyond the Borders.
PPQG Booth at Art in the Redwoods, August 18 and 19
REMINDER TO ALL GUILD MEMBERS: We are counting on every member to donate items for sale. The deadline for items is August 1, 2001. With all the wonderful fabrics available for these projects, you mostly need to only provide your time to create wall quilts, clutch bags, tote bags, aprons, pot holders, eye glass cases, cell phone cases, vests, place mats and napkins, pin cushions, stationery, and hand-made books. At the April guild meeting Pam Wilson brought several lovely bags of different designs and the patterns for these will be available at the May meeting for anyone interested.
Questions or suggestions? Call Linda Cotton, 785-2233, or Elaine Anderson, 785-2208 Co-Chairs, PPQG Booth Committee. NOTE: IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET A BIGGER SPACE FOR OUR BOOTH THIS YEAR SO......LET's MAKE SURE WE HAVE LOTS TO SELL!
On Saturday, March 17, flowers bloomed, seas swelled and mountains soared on a dozen fabric paintings as Judy Sisneros guided participants through the mysteries of Textured Landscapes. Fabrics floated across the room to take up residence on scapes their original owners hadn't dreamed of, and a great deal of hand-dyed and specially selected fabrics transferred themselves from Sisneros's stock to individual stashes . . . just finding new homes . . .
Ask any participant how Dr. Scholl makes quarter inch seams a cinch and you will learn just one of the many tips Sisneros shared as she encouraged creative daring through the day.
Sisneros will return, and her future workshops will surely fill quickly. Sisneros has asked to see the finished works of Textured Landscapes participants at that time!
If you have old sewing equipment - anything in the back of your drawers that you feel you can no longer use - here is a chance to help some people who need it. We are talking about old needles, thread, cutting tools, cutting mats, scissors (no fabric), rulers, etc. In addition, if anyone you know has tools relating to electrical repair, auto repair or carpentry, these too would be of use.
The group the Finca Association is a technical high school in Honduras, attempting to educate their people to earn a living in appalling conditions. Their government has provided a building, but no equipment. They need ANY tools or equipment in the areas of sewing, carpentry, auto mechanics, electrical repair and computer programming. Things we would let languish in storage would be of use to them in their attempts. Any donations should be brought to the next guild meeting or given to Janet Hubbard, 785-3568, who will make the necessary arrangements for delivery.
Birthday Wishes
May 4 Elaine Jacob, Charlene Younker
May 13 Rainie Pauter
May 17 Joyce Gaudet
May 23 Sharon Simon
May 30 Donna Auguste
The Guild has entered the Internet Age! Our brand-new web site, located at www.jereva.com/ppqg/default.htm, offers an array of useful information for PPQG members. The site includes a list of officers, committee chairs and other contacts; the Guild’s annual events calendar, with class registration forms and supply lists; a summary of regional and national quilt shows and other exhibit opportunities, and a list of links to other quilting-related resources on the web. The “What’s New” section currently features photos from the Challenge Quilt reception.
In the near future, we plan to add a membership roster (perhaps with autobiographical profiles), a register of our individual honors, awards, show acceptances and other accomplishments; an online show-and-tell featuring photographs of our work, a list of books in the PPQG library, and a newsletter archive.
Reva Basch, a.k.a. the PPQG “webmistress,” designed the site and is responsible for maintaining and enhancing it. She thanks the Steering Committee and everyone else who has supported and contributed ideas and content to our home on the Net. Now it’s your turn -- here’s how you can help:
1. My name is: ______________________________
2. My listing in the PPQG member roster should include:
Name, address, phone number, email address
Name, address, phone number (no email address)
Name, address, email address (no phone number)
Name, address (no phone number or email address)
Name, phone number (no postal or email address)
Name, email address (no postal address or phone number)
Name only
3. It’s okay/not okay to link my name, wherever else it might appear on the web site, to my email address.
4. My preferred email address is _____________.
Most important of all, please spend a little time (or a lot) looking through the web site and considering the possibilities – and then share with the “webmistress” your ideas, questions, and critiques. See you online!
In Appreciation…
Next time you’re in Gualala Office Supply, please say “thank you” to Tom for his great work on behalf of the Guild. He often goes above and beyond the call of duty to get our newsletter out on time. Thanks, Tom!