NeedleChasers Recent Meetings and Workshops
NeedleChaser's annual Quilt-A-Thon was held in May 2023. It was a well organized, fun event. Many charity quilt tops were completed. There were games and prizes and everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch supplied by the board. Below are some pictures of event.
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Carly Mull presented Color and Market Trends at our April meeting. Carly shared her insights on the new color palettes on display at Quilt Market 2022 in Houston, as well as the more general business trends she is observing in the market for quilting goods and services (brick-andmortar stores, fabrics, thread, tools, machines, finished products, etc.). Here is her website (https://www.carlys.net/) for her periodic blog posts. Below are pictures from her presentation.
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At the March meeting, Elizabeth Lay spoke to us on Maryland antique quilts. She highlighted three local quilts: the Woodbourne Quilt (mariner),
the Clarksville Quilt (chintz) and the Diamond Crazy Quilt. Elizabeth recently retired as Curator at Montgomery History. She specializes in American decorative arts with a focus on creative women working between 1915 and 1965. She has a master's degree in the History of Decorative Arts from the Smithsonian-GMU program in Design History. She speaks regularly for the Smithsonian Associates hosting "Lunch with the Curator" program. Below are pictures of Elizabeth and the quilts. Also included is an antique quilt belonging to one of our members.
the Clarksville Quilt (chintz) and the Diamond Crazy Quilt. Elizabeth recently retired as Curator at Montgomery History. She specializes in American decorative arts with a focus on creative women working between 1915 and 1965. She has a master's degree in the History of Decorative Arts from the Smithsonian-GMU program in Design History. She speaks regularly for the Smithsonian Associates hosting "Lunch with the Curator" program. Below are pictures of Elizabeth and the quilts. Also included is an antique quilt belonging to one of our members.
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At the February meeting, Kathy Barden presented a trunk show/talk on how she has used decorative stitches in both full quilts and smaller projects. Once again we were shown the depth of Needlechaser's member talent. Below are photos from the meeting.
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Our January meeting was a demo day. There were 3 sessions of demonstrations designed to give new ideas and methods for sewing seams.
Sheila Berman talked about her method of sewing a Y-seam.
Kim Kellman shared her expertise in sewing partial seams.
Judy Pearson demonstrated sewing curves for precision and accuracy.
Below are pictures of the day.
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| Judy Pearson showing curved piecing. |
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| Sheila Berman explaining Y seams. | |||
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| Kim Kellman describing partial seams. |
Another year has sped by. Our December 2022 meeting was our traditional end of year party. We collected food and funds for the Capital Area Food Bank. Many of our talented members showed works that were inspired by NeedleChasers. The snack table was fulled with culinary delights and many delicious baked goods were shared in the cookie exchange. Once again Del Ray fabrics brought their pop-up shop which featured many must have fabrics and supplies for every quilter. And best of all we all had a chance to visit with our guild family. Happy Hollidays to all. We wish everyone a productive and joyful new year.
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Our October meeting was titled Start to Finish: The quilt design process analyzed by your fellow NeedleChasers. Two of our talented members Jan Gavin and Fran Card shared their creative processes, inspirations and motivations.
Fran Card |
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Jan Gavin |
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In September 2022 we were again able to do a field trip. We boarded a luxurious bus and traveled to Oaks , Pennsylvania for the National Quilt Extravaganza. There were many incredible quilts of all kinds and sizes as well as merchants of all things quilting. Two of our talented members had ribbon winning quilts in the show. Below are pictures of their quilts.
The Needlechaser's Bus
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 Bobbie Korengold's |
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 Al Feldman's |
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Our August, 2022 meeting was long awaited. Just another event rescheduled because of COVID. It was well worth the wait. The meeting included demonstrations by 5 of our members. Below are pictures of the day.
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 Al Feldman explained how he creates his magnificent quilts with the aid of computer software. |
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 Diana Zurer and Anne Brill demonstrated their methods for hand piecing. |
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 Marty Fry showed English Paper Piecing. |
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 June Bronfenbrenner showed us how to do Foundation Paper Piecing. |
Our annual Quilt-A-Thon was held in June 2022. It was a well organized, fun event. Many charity quilt tops were completed. There were games and prizes and everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch supplied by the board. Below are some pictures of event.
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Lisa Ellis, a quilt artist, teacher and lecturer presented at our May 2022 meeting. As director of the non-profit organization Sacred Threads, she coordinates a biennial exhibition dedicated to sharing quilts with themes of spirituality, joy, inspiration, healing, grief and peace. Her presentation for us was Working in a Series—From Traditional Inspiration to Art. She writes,“Over 13 years, I have played with the Drunkard's Path motif and developed a series of art quilts inspired by this traditional block. Using photoshop filters and other design tools, I have morphed tradition into art. This trunk show lecture will inspire you to get creative with the blocks you love.”
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We were excited to have Valerie Goodwin present at our April 2022 meeting. She is an architect who has become a fiber artist. She shared her journey and her amazing works inspired by maps. Her presentation was followed by a workshop. Below you will see Valerie and some of her work.
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We were delighted to have Ree Nancarrow (http:// www.reenancarrow.com) at our March meeting. She is a quilt artist living just outside Denali Park in Alaska. Her talk was how the natural world has inspired her work over a 30-year career in the fiber arts. Guild members can find her internet references in the members only section. Below you can see a few of her amazing works.
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At our February ZOOM meeting, Judy Gula, owner of Artistic Artifacts (https://artisticartifacts.com/) presented a lecture on Indian textiles. She shared much about her visit to India where she saw several techniques of textile printing and decoration. Also she shared pictures and experiences from this extraordinary trip. Below are a few of her pictures.
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