1. hobbies and interests
2. needlework

M INNESOTA C ONTEMPORARY Q UILTERS
NEWS
M ARCH —A PRIL 2015
WWW.MNCONTEMPORARYQUILTERS.NET
M ARCH 23 MEETING — R EADING H ISTORIC E MBROIDERY : T HE I NTERACTION
OF L ITERATURE AND N EEDLEWORK IN R ENAISSANCE C ULTURE
N ICOLE L A B OUFF , P H D, A SSISTANT C URATOR OF T EXTILES , D ECORATIVE
A RTS , T EXTILES , AND S CULPTURE , M INNEAPOLIS I NSTITUTE OF A RTS
6:30 P . M . T EXTILE C ENTER
The golden age of English embroidery coincided with successive waves of
religious reform, the beginning of the scientific revolution, late humanism,
and the diffusion of printed texts and literacy, yet needlework is often regarded as a uniquely feminine and domestic practice that was isolated from
these broader cultural movements. This lecture reinterprets a famous set of
embroideries jointly produced by Mary Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, alongside related examples, demonstrating the ways in which the needle arts supported women’s reading of religious, classical, and scientific
texts during a pivotal phase in history. As seen from this vantage point, the
needle emerges as a literary aid, and decorative furnishings as material manifestations of thought.
A PRIL 27 MEETING —D OMESTIC B LISS
S UE H EINZ
6:30 P . M . T EXTILE C ENTER
Excited about free-motion quilting on your domestic machine but perhaps a bit anxious about how to start? Come
and see how having step-by-step instructions can equal
future success. With over 25 years of domestic freemotion experience, Sue will share all of her favorite tools,
tips, tricks and even some of her unique designs, to help
get you on the right path towards achieving blissful quilting. Ahhhhhh!
Sue’s presentation will take two hours, with her providing
a hands-on demonstration of her techniques. The meeting
time therefore will be extended.
NEWS
P AGE 2
MCQ Board
CHAIR
Tina Hughes
651-645-0945
[email protected]
VICE CHAIR
Zeeda Magnusson
612-825-4755
[email protected]
PROGRAM
Peggy Wright
651-698-2760
[email protected]
EXHIBITS
Barb Bonifas
763-568-7746
[email protected]
Karrie Flater
612-868-2212
[email protected]
Sally Mortenson
651-675-9836
[email protected]
MEMBERSHIP–
TREASURER
Leah Doherty
651-636-5723
[email protected]
WEBMASTER
Peg LaSota
612-824-9460
[email protected]
SPECIAL EVENTS
Rose Allen
651-227-4708
[email protected]
Joan Carver
651-649-1071
[email protected]
F ROM THE MCQ C HAIR —T INA H UGHES
I hope that everyone made it through the winter well. We can be thankful that we don't live in
Boston, right? The winter can lead to creative time in the sewing room or studio–an hour or two
of quilting or making beautiful things while drinking hot chocolate or tea and listening to favorite
music.
And now, spring is here all of a sudden! While out walking, I can feel the warm sun and smell the
freshness of the wind. Warm weather and new inspiration is coming! I will change to iced tea
while sewing and listening to spring tunes. At the February meeting Barb Bonifas showed her great
"Inside, Outside, Upside Down" piece for our 2015 guild challenge. It was very clever and inspiring so I hope that your ideas are forming and that you've been able to start on a fun challenge piece. Mine is in progress. Forms will be due in March and your piece needs to be finished
by the end of May.
We are doing very well on our challenge to raise money to buy a new sewing machine for the Textile Center Summer Camp classes. According to Leah, our treasurer, we've raised more than
$400 to get to the total of about $850. That's from the activities of just three meetings! Thanks to
all of you!
Zeeda Magnuson, our Vice-President, has been working on the Quilt Sister program which assigns
veteran MCQ members to newer members who would like a partner for information about MCQ.
Thanks, Zeeda, for organizing this!
We've got some very interesting programs coming and fun two-bit bags. Show-and-tell will be
fabulous, as usual, with challenge pieces starting to appear. We'll see you at the meeting!
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Wanda Shelton
651-487-7197
[email protected]
HOSPITALITY– RETREATS
Nancy Condon
651-235-7820
[email protected]
SECRETARY–SUNSHINE
Janet Hovde
651-487-2744
[email protected]
LIAISON TO TEXTILE CENTER
Tina Hughes
651-645-0945
[email protected]
Please send comments and submissions to
[email protected]
Next Board Meeting
April 1st, 6:30 p.m.
Leah Doherty’s house
S PRING R ETREAT AT C AMP W APO —N ANCY C ONDON
Spring is coming, and so is
the MCQ Spring Retreat.
The dates are March 27th
through 30th. To date 27
campers have registered, so
there will be plenty of
room to sew and design.
Massage therapists will be
available on Saturday and
Sunday. The registration
deadline is the March meeting—the 26th.
Hats Off to the small
group 9/37 whose members have made four quilts
to furnish a room at Camp
Wapo. They will deliver
the quilts at the spring retreat.
M ARCH —A PRIL 2015
P AGE 3
F ROM THE T EXTILE C ENTER —T INA H UGHES
Every year, MCQ donates money to the Textile Center library so that the librarian, Nancy Mambi, can purchase books for the
MCQ collection which is housed in the library. Nancy buys books that are suggestions from MCQ members and from ideas
that she gets through advance notices from publishers. Here are the books that will be added to our collection.
[1] 100 Modern Quilt Blocks by Tula Pink
[2] Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed Media Mono-printing without a Press by Joan Bess
[3] Wabi-sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents by Serena Barton
[4] Modern Appliqué Illusion: 12 Quilts Create Perspective & Depth by Casey York
[5] Map Art Lab: 52 Exciting Art Explorations in Mapmaking, Imagination, and Travel by Jill K. Berry.
[6] Lucky Spool’s Essential Guide to Modern Quiltmaking: From Color to Quilting:; 10 Workshops by your Favorite Teachers
Compiled by Susanne Woods.
[7] All my Thanks and Love to Quilts: Art Quilts Created by Keiko Goke.
These books will be on display in the library at the March meeting and will available to be checked out then.
*There are a couple of rules for the book debut, however.*
You can check out only one book that evening and you must show it at our show-and-tell time. You can have it for only one
check out period. You won't be able to renew it yet. After the books have been in circulation for the first month, the usual
TC library rules will apply. Thank you, Nancy Mambi, for getting us these great books!
Textile Center’s "Common Thread" exhibit ended on Feb. 26th and had beautiful work from a number of MCQ members. Congratulations to all of them! The current exhibit is Creepy Crawly: An Entomological Investigation of Textile Pattern.
The catalog for the Summer Camp classes is
out and maybe your children or grandchildren would love to participate. The catalogs
are readily available at the TC and there is
info online at the TC website, textilecentermn.org.
S UNSHINE —J ANET H OVDE
When I was sick, it was so nice to receive
a fiber postcard, and later prayer flags, to
let me know that my MCQ buddies
wished me well. These pieces have a
place of honor on my design wall. If you
know of someone in our group who is
coping with an accident, illness, challenge
or loss, please let me know, so that I can
send them a note from MCQ. I can be
reached at [email protected] or by
phone at 651-487-2744.
Above: Feed my People by Carol Hancuh
P AGE 4
H ATS O FF !
NEWS
H ATS O FF
Zeeda Magnuson has a quilt (pictured at right) in the Wicked Cherrywood
Challenge 2014. Hers is one of nine quilts selected to tour with the play
Wicked. Cherrywood teamed with the Gershwin Theater in New York to
celebrate the tenth anniversary of the play Wicked with eighty small quilts
chosen to hang in the Gershwin Theater and in Brainerd and other venues.
Zeeda also has a quilt, Nine Patch Carnival, in the New Quilts from an Old
Favorite: Nine Patch exhibit which opened March 13 and closes May 19 in
Paducah. It travels to five AQS shows and other museums including the Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum in Harlingen, Texas. The book of the exhibit
features a chapter on Zeeda and her quilt and will be sold wherever the exhibit
is shown.
Carol Hancuh’s quilt Feed my People quilt was exhibited at Eagan High
School “The Last Stitch” Quilt Show in March. It is in an online exhibit
through Visions Art Museum in San Diego, Calif. through March—
visionsartmuseum.org. It was juried and accepted with eleven other quilts and
is in the “Stories” exhibit. See if you can find the story behind all the quilts.
The quilt itself will be shown at Blue Bamboo for two weeks beginning April
11th, and its next showing is at the Minnesota Quilters Show in Duluth in
June. Carol has submitted it for entry into the International Quilt Festival in
in the “Hands All Around” exhibit in Houston. She will keep us posted on its
acceptance. Feed my People is a fund-raising quilt which has raised $150 and 154
pounds of food, $5.26 another time and $20 another time. Carol hopes viewers
will take it to heart and donate to their local food shelf to help to feed all the people in our country. See the quilt on page 3.
The American Quilter's Society prints a Quilt Art Engagement Calendar each
year. Carol’s “My “Eyes of Africa” quilt will be one of 54 quilts pictured in the
2016 edition. Her website chancuhquilts.com shows almost all of her quilts.
Peggy Wright is showing her work at the Dow Art Gallery which expanded to a
large space next door. About 80 artists will be showing work in the gallery, in
addition to the people already showing in his shop—2242 University Avenue
West (at Hampden), St. Paul, Minnesota. Peggy’s piece Gladiolus is pictured left.
2015 C HALLENGE —I NSIDE O UTSIDE U PSIDE -D OWN —B ARB B ONIFAS , K ARRIE
F LATER & S ALLY M ORTENSON
Have you sat down to complete your Inside, Outside, Upside Down Challenge submission form? If not, it is available on our website. The entry forms are due by March 25th. Save yourself a stamp—bring yours to the March meeting. Your quilt is not
due until May. We need the paperwork now to provide your information to the Minnesota Quilters special exhibits committee for
their show book. Now that the weather is warmer, it's a great time to go outside and find some inspiration.
Here is our new committee member Karrie Flater’s introduction: I have joined team Sally and Barb on the Exhibits committee. I was born in Elmhurst near Chicago, went to high school in New Jersey, and graduated from Michigan State University with a
BA in Design. I have lived in the Twin Cities since 1973, and I currently live in Savage with my husband Rick. We have two
grown daughters. I have been quilting since before the rotary cutter was available, and I am very happy to have joined MCQ, a
wonderful, fun group!
NEWS
P AGE 5
———————————————————————————————————————————————
W HAT ’ S N EW AT MCQ?
Have you missed a meeting lately? MCQ has new energy and ideas in
process for our members. Have you heard about these?
Quilt Sisters—current members volunteer as Quilt Sisters for new
members to welcome them and help them feel comfortable in belonging to the guild. No quilting expertise is needed to volunteer. New
members may request to be matched with a Quilt Sister by contacting
Zeeda Magnuson.
Small groups are a friendly way to meet other quilters in your local
area or to join others with similar quilting interests. Members of several long-standing small groups affirm the value of belonging to a
small group. See Zeeda Magnuson or any board member for more
information.
Sewing Machine for Textile Center classes—MCQ is fundraising for this project. The Textile Center will purchase several
identical sewing machines for classroom use, especially for youth classes in the Summer Camp program. MCQ has earmarked all Two-Bit
Bag funds for this project until the goal of $850 is reached. The Sewing Machine Challenge has raised $444.92 to date.
The MCQ board donated handmade items to the Two-Bit Bags in January, earning $65.42 toward the sewing machine purchase. Now the
board challenges any small groups to select a month during which they
will provide the Two-Bit Bag items and raise funds for the sewing
machine. Contact Joan Carver to reserve a month for your small
group’s participation!
T IME TO R ENEW
Please welcome these new members of
MCQ—Judy Osbon and Cheryl Dauphin.
Jenny Wilders rejoined—welcome back.
Renewals are due from the following
members.
March
Marilyn Agin
Marilyn Bennett
Barbara Bonifas
Edith Dalleska
Leah Doherty
Carol Egan
Karrie Flater
Gail Hanson
Brita Hedblom
Andrea E Johnson
Caron Lage
Sandra "Sam" Lindquist
Maureen Lynch
Nancy Mambi
Barbara Otto
Ann Ribbens
April
Mary Bruckner
Carol Hancuh
Pricilla Handler
Judy Ohannesian
Do you have ideas for programs, special events or group projects?
Contact any board member with your ideas and help shape the future
of MCQ.
Members at the MCQ shop party at Twin Cities Quilting
Meeting reminders—Please wear a fiber nametag to be eligible for a prize to be given when the spirit strikes. Bring show-andtell items., including works in progress. Bring a quilting friend or neighbor to visit the guild and join the fun.
Volunteer opportunities—MCQ is your guild—what is your role in it? Volunteer work is rewarding and fun! Be a board
member and help steer the guild. To volunteer at the library, contact Nancy Mambi at the Textile Center to schedule training.
Have an idea for a project or group? Contact any board member to discuss it.
Free table—Unclaimed items you bring for the Free Table are still yours. Don’t force cleanup on the Textile Center or the members who leave last.
Minnesota Contemporary
Quilters Newsletter
March - April 2015
M INNESOTA C ONTEMPORARY Q UIL TER S
N EWS
T EXTILE C ENTER , B OX 8
3000 U NIVER SITY AVENUE SE
M INNEAPOLIS , MN 55414
The MCQ Challenge Exhibit Cycles is scheduled for the following venues:
Roseville City Hall, Roseville
February 28—April 11
Stillwater Hospital
April 13—late May
Quilts for exhibition can be dropped
off at the Textile Center Library only
when Nancy Mambi is there:
Monday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Tuesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
E VENTS & D EADLINES
March 25th—Challenge entries
for the 2015 Inside Outside Upside Down challenge are due.
Forms are online. Quilts are due
at the May meeting.
Upcoming Meetings
March 27-30,—MCQ Spring Retreat, Camp Wapo, Amery, WI
July—5 x 5, five quilts by five MCQ
members
April 11—Textile Center Garage
Sale
August—Nancy Wick, lecture and
demo, thread bowl
Fall Wapo Retreat—October 2-5
September—Anna Carlson, using text
September 2016—MCQ Workshop with Sue Benner
Textile Center Librarian
Hours
May—Sandra Brick, redyeing fabric
June—Marge Lindeman, hand-dyed silk,
large collage pieces
October—Jean Judd
November—Schoolhouse, MCQ member demos
MCQ meetings are held the fourth
Monday (3rd Monday if fourth is a
holiday) at 6:30 p.m. at the Textile
Center, 3000 University Avenue SE,
Minneapolis. No December meeting.
Membership information: Annual dues
are $30, or $35 if you receive the
newsletter by postal mail. Renewals
are due on the anniversary of when you
joined. Make checks payable to Minnesota Contemporary Quilters and
mail to Leah Doherty, 2110 Rosewood
Lane S, Roseville, MN 55113. Email
[email protected] with address
changes or for membership assistance.