NeedleChasers Recent Meetings and Workshops
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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Sadly our January meeting could not be done in person. COVID strikes again. But our Program Co-chairs came though with an outstanding show and tell. Below are a few of the incredible quilts.
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Our December meeting was a holiday celebration. Our traditional potluck luncheon was replaced by a cookie exchange. As always we collected food and funds for the Capital Area Food Bank. Members also had an opportunity to bring in no longer needed quilting books. Many of these books found new homes. A small donation was collected for each book and the proceeds donated to the food bank. Many attendees found treasures at the Del Ray Fabrics pop-up shop. The show stopper of the day was the show and tell. The theme was something inspired by the guild. Inspiration was a skill learned or fabric acquired or idea started. And of course we all had a chance to visit with our guild friends. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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Phyllis Hatcher was our speaker at our November 2021 meeting. Phyllis has visited the outback of Australia four times over a three-year period where she became acquainted with authentic Aboriginal art and the cotton fabrics being printed with those designs. Aboriginals in central Australia have created art designs in sand for thousands of years. She shared many background stories and meanings behind current indigenous outback artists’ dot paintings that are now being transformed into fabric used by quilters everywhere. Phyllis is also a certified quilt appraiser with the American Quilters Society. She has been appraising quilts since 1999 in her home in Annapolis as well as at many local and national quilt shows. She currently serves on the Board of The Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana.
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In October, 2021 Lew Geiger presented 'The Care and Feeding of your Sewing Machine'. After years spent working as a Bernina repairman, Lew has seen many of the reasons that sewing machines don't always work as well as expected, or even cease functioning altogether. Now serving as the Bernina repairman at G Street Fabrics, Lew shared his insights and recommendations for routine home maintenance of your machine and discussed trade-offs in choosing equipment. Below are images of Lew. To see his presentation go to resources in the members only section.
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Our September, 2021 meeting was our first in person meeting in over a year. It was a great opportunity to visit face mask to face mask. The newly renovated space at the church was put to good use. After the business portion of the meeting, once again we had a incredible show and tell. So many members have been very busy. Then onto the making of fabric post cards to be sent to members in times of joy and sadness. There were also members cutting fabric for community service pillow case projects. In the end all who attended had a great time and were very productive. Below are several pictures of the wonderful morning.
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Our August presenter was Christina Cameli. She is an enthusiastic quilting teacher and nurse-midwife from Portland, Oregon. After being introduced to quilting by her grandmother she learned free-motion quilting, and over the next decade she has taught classes and written books on quilting. She began her talk with exploration of the concepts she thinks about when deciding how to quilt a quilt top. Christina used photos of quilt tops submitted by guild members to offer visual and verbal suggestions for possible quilt designs.
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At our July Meeting Susie Monday, iPad artist and quilter extraordinaire, presented a myriad of ideas for using an iPad to create original works of art that can enhance our quilting projects. She shared several applications to help draw, use photos and color in designing and creating quilts. Needlechasers' members can find handouts with relevant links in the Members-Only section of this website.
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For our June, 2021, meeting, we went "behind the scenes at the world's greatest quilt museum." Our guide was Meg Cox, journalist, quilter, and member of the board of the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. We were fascinated to hear the history of the museum and see photos of some of the 8000 quilts in its collection. NeedleChasers' members can find handouts with relevant links in the Members-Only section of this website.
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We were thrilled to hear from Hollis Chatelain via Zoom for our April, 2021, meeting. On the right below see her Cabbage Coral quilt, which she told us "changed her life," as it was the start of her making her living as an artist. See more of her work at hollisart.com. Thirty-three of her pieces will hang in a retrospective at the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana, from May 11-July24.
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At our February, 2021, Zoom meeting we heard from Sylvia Schaefer, who spoke on designing with negative space. Many of us were so inspired by her work that we rushed to her website, https://flyingparrotquilts.com/, to buy her book, which she generously offered at a discount.
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