At our November meeting, we were treated to a very interesting talk from Audrey Esarey on Low Water Immersion Dyeing.

Low Water Immersion (LWI) dyeing is an excellent entry point for experimenting with hand-dyed fabrics. Using a mix of photographs and videos, Audrey showed the steps of LWI dyeing, demonstrating and explaining all the steps along the way. She ended by sharing how she uses these fabrics in her quilts. Below is a photo of Audrey and several of her outstanding quilts.  Her website and instagram can be found under the name CottonandBourbon.

At our October 2023 meeting we heard Linda Syverson Guild present Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

Linda talked about how she transforms materials from estate sales, antique sales, old clothing and quilts, tablecloths to build designs in fabric, letting the project be the story.

Linda was originally trained as an architect. Her fiber art career has taken several twists and turns. Having moved away from traditional quilting, she stepped out of her comfort zone to shared how she plays with individual colors, using one color from the color wheel; how she builds pieces that appear to span space, unsupported; and how she finishes small pieces, combining them to make larger pieces of art.

Below are pictures of Linda and some of her amazing works.

 

 

The August meeting featured Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts.  Judy presented the history of indigo dyeing around the world.   Many dyeing techniques were presented.  The techniques included arashi, ne-maki, itajime, kumo and shibori.  Following the presentation several members attended the workshop
given by Judy where they were given the opportunity to try some of the techniques.  Below are pictures of some of the beautiful fabric created.

July meeting was back to zoom.   From the comfort from our own studios we had the pleasure of hearing Patricia Belyea.

In keeping with our “It’s a Material World” quilt show theme, she showed how she uses vintage Japanese yukata and other global fabrics in her quilt compositions. Patricia shared her creative approach to developing new ideas for quilt designs. Leapfrogging from one compositional concept to the next, she took us on an exploration of her newest series of quilts – Big Grids with Inserted Curves. You can read more about Patricia at her website https://okanarts.com/, where she writes many informative blog articles.

Patricia Belyea is a creative quilt maker, speaker and teacher. Patricia co-owns Okan Arts with her daughter Victoria. The small family business imports vintage Japanese textiles for adventuresome quilters and hosts textile tours to Japan. Patricia is the author of East-Meets-West Quilts, a book about making improv quilts with Japanese fabrics.

Below are pictures of Patricia and some of her fabulous creations.

NeedleChasers had Summer Camp in June 2023.  What a fun day!  There were activities, games, prizes, counselors, ice cream sundaes and so much more.  Below are pictures of the day.

Gathering in our camp groups.		Electronic label making
	Label Making	How to face a quilt
How should I quilt this?	Thank you Gretchen for leading the guild.	Ice Cream Sundays, Yum

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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.

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
Jan Gavin

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.

		Bobbie Korengold's
	Al Feldman's

                                                                                                       The Needlechaser's Bus

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.

	Al Feldman explained how he creates his magnificent quilts with the aid of computer software.
	Diana Zurer and Anne Brill demonstrated their methods for hand piecing.
	Marty Fry showed English Paper Piecing.
	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.

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.”