Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild

Bits & Pieces, June 2001, Volume 6, Issue 6

Jackie Morse, Editor

Guild Glimmers by Miriam Littlejohn

For several hours on May 18th, the Gualala Community Center vibrated with the sounds of sewing machines humming, scissors clipping and voices sharing advice and opinion on all the things quilters love to chat about. An enthusiastic group of guild members gathered to make good things happen - and they did!

 

Some members brought quilts they had been working on at home; others started new projects with fabrics from the fanny basket, the comfort quilt stash and other donations. We worried over color combinations, contrasting patterns and border widths, and at the end of the afternoon, fifteen new comfort quilts were on their way to finishing touches.

 

After a brief lunch break, Anita Kaplan showed a slide presentation featuring her favorites from the International Quilt Festival 2000 in Houston. It was an impressive array of art quilts, and we admired the various techniques before returning to our more prosaic projects. But nothing could detract from the value of this generous group’s effort of anonymous giving to unknown recipients.

 

Hand Applique Workshop with Judith Jones

Friday, June 15, 10:00am to 4:00pm

Our next meeting will be an all-day hand applique workshop taught by one of our own, Judith Jones. Judith will share her expertise with instruction, techniques and tips that she has learned and developed over the years to produce exquisite applique creations.

 

Those who are signed up for the workshop will receive a packet of material provided by Judith. Please check the materials list for other items you will need to bring. If you are not signed up, we would like to invite you to come and share the day with the workshop participants. Bring your own project and listen, observe, and benefit from Judith’s instruction as we all build our confidence in creating beautiful applique projects.

 

A bonus for the day is that the progressive Quilts will be on display as well. We look forward to a fun and productive day for everyone.

 

2001 Progressive Quilt-May-Your Final Fling

 

You have received a progressive quilt top with blocks, borders and applique. Use your imagination and add what it needs to balance out the design and make it a complete top! Go for it!

 

We will hang the quilt tops at the June meeting, so please deliver them completed to Naida Mauthe (snap@mcn.org) or Linda Cotton (floydcotton@thegrid.net) by Sunday, June 10th, if possible. If not, we must have them BEFORE the meeting. They will all be up on display when you arrive.

 

At the end of the meeting, the originator will receive her finished top to bind and quilt. At last, your original block will be returned and you can enjoy the work your quilting friends have done for you!

Thank you for taking part in the 2001 Progressive Quilt Event!

 

Reflections of a Baby Quilter by Reva Basch

 

I confessed to some friends a couple of months ago that I seemed to be teetering on the brink of a vast and possibly endless obsession. I’d just taken Gayle Stewart’s beginning piecing class, and found myself enthralled by the combination of precision and creativity involved in designing and putting together even the simplest of blocks. Of course, the fabrics I’d brought were all wrong – patterns too large, colors too monochromatic – so I learned lesson #1 immediately: What works for clothing doesn’t always work for quilting. Tiny florals do have their place. Orange can be strategically deployed.

 

Sewing skipped a generation in my family. Granny worked as a seamstress; mom can barely darn a sock. In high school, I sewed outfits so tacky I blush at the memory today. Except for the occasional emergency tablecloth or set of curtains, my pale green Kenmore lay idle for many years. But when the time came to schlep it into class, I discovered to my amazement that my muscle-memory remembered, even if my conscious mind did not, how to thread it and even how to fill the bobbin.

 

I was also surprised to discover that my machine – a 21st birthday present from my parents – wasn’t the oldest one in the class. Unlike computers, the tool of my trade, sewing machines age gracefully, acquiring a patina of respect and admiration. No built-in obsolescence here; attachments are still available even for the oldest machines. Nobody makes peripherals for computers built in 1982, let alone 1968, when my trusty Kenmore was born.

 

My interest in quilting may have been foreordained. Years ago I played with stained glass - designing, measuring, cutting and piecing – a similar process, with its own specialized tools, terminology, and techniques, along with a unique bonus: the finished work’s transformation by light.

 

But I think it runs deeper than that. I grew up inoculated with a thrifty “use everything” mentality. My family saved scraps - dad in his workshop, mom in the kitchen, granny in her sewing room. When my grandmother died, I inherited her boxes and tins of buttons, ribbons and trim, even a pair of pink electric scissors – though not, alas, her fabric. A few days ago I decided to clean my sewing box for the first time in two decades and found, at the bottom, handwritten instructions for a patchwork pillow, along with a pattern drawn in ink on a twelve-inch square of white cloth. It was clearly a sign from granny to me.

 

Recently my husband was scheduled for a medical procedure that called for good drugs and a ride home afterwards. I rejoiced; that meant two hours to spend in Petaluma, the perfect interval for my inaugural visit - a preliminary scouting trip, I figured - to the Quilted Angel. I spent more than time there, of course. I found myself in a fabric frenzy, breathing hard, working my way around the color wheel and beyond, to black-and-white, white-on-cream, dusky shades of indeterminate hue, accumulating solids, textures, geometrics, abstracts, pictorials… prints small, medium and large, values dark, medium and light. I even picked up some orange. Every fanned-out handful of fat quarters suggested a new project I couldn’t wait to start.

 

Not that I’ve actually started any of them. But soon, when I have a little time; you know how that goes. In the meantime, it’s fair to say that I’m no longer teetering on the brink of this new obsession - I’ve tottered right over the edge. Good thing I had that big, soft stash of fabric to break my fall.

 

 

Request for Back Issues

If anyone has, and is willing to sell, the first and/or the tenth issue of Art/Quilt Magazine, Iris Lorenz-Fife is an eager buyer. Cover price is $7, but she says she could be persuaded to pay more. A willing seller can reach her at 886-5030.

 

Email Correction on Membership List

Kathye Hitt has let us know her email address should be kathitt@webtv.net.

 

Birthday Wishes for June

3rd - Ellen Soule

9th - Paula Osborne

11th - Jackie Morse

16th - Jo Dillon

20th - Judith Jones

21st - Beverly Sloane

22nd - Marjory Tarp

26th - Barbara Sackett

30th - Jeri Taylor

 

Art in the Redwoods Booth Alert

Your Art-In-the-Redwoods committee is anxious to know what you are making for the booth. Please bring any items you have completed or are working on to the June meeting. There will be a sign-up sheet to list what you plan to donate. Members still undecided on a project may see one that excites them into action.This is important in determining whether or not we should PANIC, and in helping figure out what props we need. IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THE JUNE MEETING, PLEASE CALL LINDA COTTON AT 785-2233 TO BE ADDED TO HER LIST!

 

Machine Quilting Class

Anita Kaplan will teach a machine quilting class on two Wednesdays, July 25th and August 1st, from 9:30am to 2:30pm 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.

 

Eighth Annual Brown Avenue Outdoor Quilt Show

Saturday, July 28, 2001, 10:00am to 4:00pm

Quilts will be displayed along Brown Avenue in beautiful Lafayette, California, and will feature Quilts for Sale, Opportunity Quilts, Miniature Quilts, Antique Quilts, First-Time Quilts, Challenge Quilts.

 

A fun-filled day brought to you by The Cotton Patch, celebrating 23 years of serving Bay Area quilters.

 

The featured artist is Freddy Moran; teacher, author, fabric designer, and quilter who is well known for her bold, bright colors. She has a warm sense of humor and will delight all who attend her lecture from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. Freddy will be displaying her quilts all day.

 

The Country Store will have items for quilters including antique blocks, placemats, tablerunners and gift items, with quality workmanship and careful details. Items go fast, so shop early.

 

For more information, contact The Cotton Patch. 1025 Brown Avenue, Lafayette, CA 94549 or call 925-284-1177.

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!