Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild
Bits & Pieces
March 2002 -- Volume 7, Issue 3
Claire McCarthy, Editor
Come and see how the Pacific Northwest quilters do it. Our March meeting will feature a one hour slide show titled: The Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire and Chocolate, and will be narrated by our very own Jeri Taylor. This show was created by members of the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters for its traveling exhibition of quilts.
Full view slides of all the quilts are included together with many details. The script describes the maker's concepts, gives interesting anecdotes shared by the quiltmakers and specifies the materials and techniques employed in the quilts construction.
Judy Sisneros Workshop: Saturday,
March 16, 9:30-3:30 at Gualala Arts
Judy is back by popular demand from last year. This is an
opportunity to learn how to design your own landscape quilts
using Judy's unique nine patch landscape. Spaces are still
available, call Connie Seale at 785-3545 to sign up and get a
list of materials.
Angie
Woolman is a teacher immersed in learning. For her return
engagement with PPQG, this Bay Area quilt maker brought a
collection of slides from the Oakland Museum quilt exhibit, Women
of Taste, and interviews with their creators. Her
thoughtful commentary left me with bits and pieces of advice from
that project’s collaborators. Here is a sampling of
Angie’s collected wisdom.
*Practice
is the best path to progress.
*Embrace
deadlines as a means of reducing decision-agony.
*Take
risks. Don’t always opt for the tried and true.
*Do
what you can. Learn and experiment.
*The
simplest quilt can express a great idea.
*On
Quilt making: It’s all a design problem with many
creative solutions.
*On
observing: Look to see, to remember, to enjoy. Make
it a habit.
*On
asymmetry: “dead center” can kill a work.
*On
buying fabric while on vacation: It was hard on my
marriage, but we worked through it.
*Think
and work outside the box.
*Not
every piece needs to be a success.
*Life is too short to worry about
the corners matching!
*Perfection
can be a little boring.
*If you
really want to learn, try teaching!
Thanks,
Angie, for reminding us that it’s never too late to make
learning a habit!
March Birthdays
8—Karel Metcalf
25—Mary Suhr
Member Notes
New Members:
Atkins,
Lynne —884-3838; 47051 Iversen
Point Rd., Pt. Arena 95468; 20-July; phylin@prodigy.net
Haworth,
Marcia—785-2224; POB 1563;
Gualala 95445; 1-Nov; marciahaworth@yahoo.com
Mueller,
Laurie—785-9533; POB 314,
The Sea Ranch 95497; 24-July; laurie@mcn.org
Sims,
Gail—(925) 455-6510; 955
South L Street, Livermore 94550; 15-Sept; gailnjack@attbi.com
Buentjen,
Frances—882-3260; POB 776;
Pt. Arena 95468; 3 April
New
email address for Donna Blum: dblum77@aol.com
Elizabeth Beckett is at home recovering from surgery and enjoys phone calls—785-9266.
Joyce Gaudet needs someone to help her with hospitality at our monthly meetings. Call Joyce at 884-1544 for more details.
Ann Graf has one of her quilts pictured on page 27 of the Spring 2002 edition of American Quilter magazine.
New Machine Quilting Class
Anita
Kaplan will teach a two day machine quilting class in July. The
dates are Wednesday, July 24th and Wednesday, July 31st. Each
session will run from 9:30-3:30 p.m. This 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. You can sign up by calling Gualala Arts, 884-1138. The
fee, paid to Gualala Arts, will be $40. The class will be limited
to fifteen people. After registration a materials list will be
sent to you by May 30th.
Woolman Workshop
by Annie Beckett
Angie Woolman's reprise of her "Color Me..."
class (last time, "Color Me Orange", this time
"Color Me Green"), was a bonanza of both practical and
creative information. Using the traditional Snail Trail
(aka Monkey Wrench), block as a vehicle, this personable and
skilled teacher led her students through a complex exercise in
creating value gradations using multiple fabrics of varied print
scale and myriad tints and shades of green. From this gradated
collection students then pulled their choices for building a
Snail Trail block that featured a 'fabric wash' effect, the
textile equivalent of watercolor wash.
Along the way Angie threw useful cutting and piecing techniques
aimed at streamlining the process. The resulting individual
blocks, put up on Angie's design board at the end of the day,
sang together! It was a satisfying and gloriously green
learning experience.
Quotable:
“Do not keep anything in your home that you do not know to
be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
—William
Morris
Redwork Quilts
by Marie Proeller (from Country Living Magazine, January, 2002)
Deborah
Harding had always considered herself fairly pattern-savvy when
it came to quilts. But an unusual example caught the
longtime collector’s eye at a flea market six years ago.
“I spotted a white quilt covered with red embroidered motifs—roosters,
rabbits, teapots, children, flower baskets,” she recalls.
“I’d never seen anything like it!” Eager to
learn more about her discovery, she scoured books and magazines
but found little useful information. To satisfy her
curiosity, she began to research the patterns on her own and
eventually published Red and White: American Redwork Quilts
and Patterns(Rizzoli; 2000; $39.95), a two-volume set that
includes an extensive history and patterns for crafters today.
“These quilts fascinate me,” Harding says. “I
always wonder who each maker was and why she chose the designs
she did.”
The red-on-white
needlework tradition began late in the 19th century, when
American homemakers were encouraged to apply decorative stitching
to everyday items like bedding and table linens. Although
other colors of thread were sometimes used, colorfast “turkey
red” (named for its resemblance to the scarlet hue of
Turkish carpets) soon emerged as the favorite for embroidery,
spawning another popular name for the fad, turkey work.
Ladies’ magazines offered patterns designed for pillow
shams, tea towels, laundry bags, and doilies. It didn’t
take long for industrious women to use these patterns on quilts,
though the scale of the motifs sometimes varied noticeably, as
the designs were not intended specifically for quilts. Animals
and flowers are the most common motifs, but there are rare
depictions of historical figures or U.S. landmarks. Designs
sold for quilting appeared early in the 1900s, so quilts made
later than then exhibit motifs of a uniform scale—something
to remember when trying to date a quilt.
The redwork quilting fad lasted well into the 1920’s,
leaving behind hundreds of quilts for today’s collectors.
Only a decade ago, redwork quilts went virtually unnoticed by
serious collectors, but that is no longer the case. Detailed
pictorial pieces in excellent condition that might only have cost
$100-$200 then now command $400 to $800. “It seems
particularly appropriate,” Harding muses, “that a fad
so popular at the beginning of the last century is being
enthusiastically rediscovered at the beginning of this one.”
Don’t
forget—for the latest information on all events,
projects, and member news—plus much more—visit PPQG
online at www.pacificpiecemakers.org
Its Never Too Early !
Its time
to start thinking about what types of items you would like to
work on or donate to the Arts in the Redwoods booth. Special
projects will be introduced at each monthly meeting. If you have
a great idea that you would like to share please contact our
committee members. Fabric and batting for booth projects is
available. Don't forget this is our big fundraiser for the
year and we need lots of items to fill our large booth. If you
need inspiration please call any of our committee members who
have lots of fun, easy and interesting ideas:
Joyce
Gaudet 884-1544
Jolley
Thomas 884-9163
Pam
Wilson 785-2339
I would
like to extend a special thank you to the entire guild and all of
its members for sending the fabric squares to help make a
MEMORIAL quilt for my father. As the squares of fabric arrived
each week, they were put together by my father and I into four-
patch blocks. These beautiful color coordinated blocks are being
assembled into a special quilt. The fabric and the notes of
cheer helped me through a very difficult time. It was so nice to
be remembered and supported by so many of my fellow quilters.
Thank you all for being such a loving and supportive group.
Donna
Blum
Quilt Safari Coming in June
There is
still plenty of room for all to join the Great Quilt Safari which
will happen from June 24-25th. For those who are new to the
Guild, we will have an overnight excursion to the San Jose Museum
of Quilts & Textiles, visit some quilts in public places, and
visit a couple of terrific quilt shops on the peninsula.
Please
let Anita know (via email or phone) if you are thinking of coming
along. She needs to let the museum and the quilt shops know
how many to expect. Next month she will talk about
accommodations. Thank you for your prompt response to those who
have already notified her and to those who will post-haste.
Gwen Marston Booked for 2003
The guild program committee has booked Gwen Marston for a lecture
and a two-day workshop on liberated block construction in April
2003. That's right; 2003. This should be a very popular class.
The supply list and registration form are up on the web site now;
follow the links under What's New at www.pacificpiecemakers.org. Gwen's own website is http://keva.com/gmarston, and her book, Liberated
Quiltmaking, should be available in the Guild library at Gualala
Arts.
Oakland Quilt Event
March 16-17—Voices in Cloth 2002. Special Exhibit Sew with the Stars features works by nationally recognized quilters. Convention Center, $8. (510)233-6771; www.ebhq.org