Pacific
Piecemakers Quilt Guild
Bits & Pieces
February 2004 -- Volume 9, Issue 2
Jeri Taylor, Editor
Comfort
Quilt Workshop
February
20
9:30—3:30
This month we’ll have another opportunity to create
Comfort Quilts. Our stash has
diminished after Christmas donations, and although quilts are
coming in from the November workshop, we need many more.
Come join us to do “the best thing we do.” There will be fabric available
from the fanny basket, or bring your own. Bring a sack lunch for our
midday break. There will be a
business meeting at approximately 1:00.
Let’s make this the most productive comfort quilt
workshop ever!
GUILD
GLIMMERS
By
Jeri Taylor
The kickoff lecture in our “year of inspiration”
series was presented by Barbara Shapiro, an award-winning weaver
and textile artist. Barbara
has shown internationally and has been plying her art for over
thirty years.
Her journey was, she admits, an unlikely one. Her studies in school were
academic and intellectual (degrees in Comparative Literature and
French); she had not consciously developed her artistic side. But she was raised in a home
where the family ate dinner each night on beautiful embroidered
table cloths. Her father was
in the Army Air Corps and saved maps made of silk from his tenure
in WWII. Images like these
imprinted on her, and when she took her first weaving class at
the Brooklyn YMCA she knew she had found her calling.
Barbara finds herself inspired by pieces from antiquity: antique kimonos, clothing of
Plains Indians, hunters’ shirts from
Mali. Her unique designs pay
loving homage to these old pieces.
After 9/11 she moved into a new phase of her art which she
calls “Mantles and Scrolls.”
They represent, she says, the search for stability and solace
in a fractured world.
PRESIDENT’S
CORNER
Since
this is my last President's address to the guild, I would like to
review happenings in 2003. We
had some great workshops. My thanks go to the Programs Committee,
Iris Lorenz-Fife, Laurie Mueller, and Carol Tackett, for all
their planning and scheduling, and last year's committee for
arranging for most of this year's classes.
We negotiated an affiliate's agreement with Gualala Arts
Center that allows favorable rates for workshops and a workable
non-profit status. Thanks to
the Ways and Means Committee, Donna Blum, Kathye Hitt, Lynne
Atkins, Miriam Littlejohn, and Jeri Taylor for their work on the
agreement and the financial policy and procedures that resulted.
We achieved growth in Guild membership to over one hundred
members and are attracting new members from as far away as
Sebastapol, Livermore, Fort Bragg and New Mexico!
Finally, I would like to thank the 2003 Steering Committee and
all the new 2004 officers for volunteering their time and energy
to help make our guild a great place to learn the art of quilting
and to work in giving to our community.
Linda Warnock
TIME
TO PAY YOUR DUES!
We had a great response to our request for membership renewals
at the January meeting — now we’re asking the rest of
you to follow suit. The price
($35.00) is a small one for all the benefits the Guild provides
you: great programs, great
classes, great library resources, Bits & Pieces newsletter
and last, but not least, the opportunity to get together with
fellow “fabriholics.” Send
your check made out to PPQG to Pam Wilson, P.O. Box 53, The Sea
Ranch, CA 95497.
We have a great year planned for you!
UPCOMING
EVENTS
2004 is the “Year of Inspiration.” Lectures and workshops have
been planned with this theme in mind and will surely prove
inspirational for all of you!
March
19: Suzan Friedland will
lecture on “Patterns Pending:
The Art Quilt.”
April
15: Iris Lorenz-Fife will
teach a workshop, “No-Math Drafting.“
April
16: Mary Austin will lecture
on “Japan: Culture Through
Textiles.”
May
22: Annie Beckett will teach
a one-day workshop on the Ives Color System.
June
15-17: Melody Johnson will
teach the “Fine Art of Fusing.”
ANITA’S
CLASSES
Anita Kaplan will teach “Fuse It or Lose It” a
second time on Wednesday, March 3rd from 9:30 to 4:00. The cost is $25.00. It is the same class that was
taught in January, and will introduce you to the basic methods of
fusing and the creative power of Wonder Under ™. It will also prepare you for
Melody Johnson’s class in June.
It is easy and exciting to learn how quickly an art quilt can
be put together! No sewing
machine required. Sign up at
Gualala Arts and receive the supply list (or get it on the web
site). Come “bond”
with Anita.
(Editor’s Note: Those who took the class in January will
testify that it was one of the most enjoyable classes ever! Everyone felt it was not only
lots of fun, but extremely valuable.
We found our “inner child” playing with elements of
design and cutting out interesting shapes — kind of like
paper dolls! We learned three
methods of fusing and then did a “surprise” project
that was fascinating. So sign up quickly; class size is limited
and you won’t want to miss out.)
Anita will also teach Beginning Machine Quilting on February
11 and 18, 8:30 to 2:30. The
cost is $50.00 for the two days.
Sign up at Gualala Arts and receive the supply list. You’ll learn about
needles and batting, notions and binding, ditching and stippling. This class covers it all, the
basic supplies and equipment, straight line quilting, free motion
quilting, and all aspects of finishing your quilt. For beginners and those who
want to brush up on machine quilting skills while picking up new
pointers. Lots
of time to practice. Sewing machine with walking and darning
feet required.
LIBRARY
CORNER
by
Ann Graf
In mid-February, we will be shelving two Kitty Pippins books, Quilting
with Japanese Fabrics and Asian Elegance: Quilting with
Japanese Fabrics and More. We’ll
also have a popular new book, Ricky Tims’ Convergence
Quilts: Mysterious, Magical,
Easy, and Fun.
We may also have Velda Newman’s new book — if not
this month, then next. Plan
to enjoy these great additions to the library!
NEW MEMBERS
We have four new members — that is, those who have not
been part of the group before this.
Molly Buckley, 785-3205 (also 510-444-5149), 1021 Hubert Rd.,
Oakland, CA 94610, Nov. 11, molly2@earthlink.net
Catherine Koemptgen, 785-2210 (also
218-726-1444), 4040 Minnesota Ave., Duluth MN 55802, Dec. 4.
Harmony Susalla, 884-3347, P.O. Box 892, Gualala, 95445,
harmony@harmonyart.com
Janet Windsor, 513-772-8053, 9753 Beech Dr., Cincinnati OH
45231, jwindsoh@yahoo.com.
Carol Drucker has a new email address: bcarmenlo@sbcglobal.net
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS
Sharon
Albert
9
Polly
Dakin
9
Jolley
Thomas
12
Dee
Goodrich
18
Judith
Bianchi
19
Mary
E. Long
22
SNIPPETS
Interesting
and Intriguing Information
For
Guild Members
March
13-14—Voices in Cloth 2004,
Oakland Convention Center. Extraordinary quilt show
presented by East Bay Heritage Quilters. $8.00. (510) 233-6771 or www.ebhq.org
March
26-27—Mary Ellen Hopkins Verbal Workshop and Trunk Show, California
Maritime Academy, Vallejo. Friday 7 pm—9 pm, $25. Saturday 9
am—4 pm, $60. Advance
tickets only. Further
information, Betty Jack, 1826 Vervais Ave., Vallejo, 94591.
May
9-14—Quilters’ Escape,
Fortuna. Four days of hands on study
with a national teacher of your choice:
Jane Sassaman, Judy Severson, Dixie McBride, Cynthia England,
and Janet Jones Worley. Fee
of $495 includes meals, teacher workshops, lectures, and all
special activities. (707)
442-0081 or www.quiltersescape.com
Art
Quilt Tahoe,
Lake Tahoe. Six days in
beautiful surroundings with nationally famous art quilt teachers. Two sessions: Nov. 7—12 and Nov.
12—17. Fee of $1,250
includes workshops, conference fees, meals and lodging at the
world class Hyatt Tahoe. (530)
887-0600 or www.artquilttahoe.com
§
“Art begins with resistance — at the point where
resistance is overcome. No
human masterpiece has ever been created without great
labor.” Andre Gide