M INNESOTA C ONTEMPORARY Q UILTERS NEWS M AY –J UNE 2013 WWW.MNCONTEMPORARYQUILTERS.NET M AY 20 MEETING — W HAT D OES M ODERN Q UILTING M EAN FOR Y OU ? 6:30 P . M . T EXTILE C ENTER We've all heard about the modern quilt movement, which characteristically uses bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. But what does it mean for you? What makes a quilt modern? Where do you fit in? Flaun Cline, president of the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild, will discuss all things modern. See several creations by the guild’s members and find out what they’re all about. See www.minneapolismqg.com/p/blogpost-series.html. Right: White Wedding, Flaun Cline Left: The Mod Rhombus, Annik Miller J UNE 24 M EETING —Y OU ’ VE G OT A F RIEND N AMED E LMER 6:30 P . M . T EXTILE C ENTER Sue Heinz of Kismet Quilting will introduce you to her friend Elmer, the best thing to come into a quilter’s life since the rotary cutter! Want to improve your piecing instantly, with guaranteed seam and pattern matching? No problem! Want to have the freedom of layering fabric without the need for fusible web? No problem! Want to be able to see exactly what your seam will look like—even before it’s sewn—and be able to sew without any fabric shifting? No problem! Sue’s friend Elmer can do all those things, and so much more. See for yourself how fast, easy, and addicting Elmering can be! For more information on Sue and her work, visit her website: www.kismetquilting.com. See page 2 for more of Sue’s quilt photos and information on MCQ’s class with her in January 2014. Left: Untitled, modified pattern of unknown Australian designer NEWS P AGE 2 MCQ Board CHAIR Rose Allen 651-227-4708 [email protected] VICE CHAIR Lavonne Batalden 651-330-3035 [email protected] PROGRAM Peggy Wright 651-698-2760 [email protected] EXHIBITS Andrea Johnson 651-439-3544 [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 Janet Hovde 651-487-2744 [email protected] Melissa Nellis 651-788-7609 [email protected] NEWSLETTER EDITOR Wanda Shelton 651-487-7197 [email protected] HOSPITALITY– RETREATS Nancy Condon 651-235-7820 [email protected] Carol Schweickhardt 651-646-6670 [email protected] F ROM THE MCQ C HAIR —R OSE A LLEN Quilting is not a seasonal activity. When I think about my annual quilting activities, it seems like there is no “down” time in the cycle of the seasons. Winter and spring are times to get all those entries ready for the MCQ challenges. Summer brings the Minnesota Quilter’s annual show – wouldn’t miss that. I also will be spending a week at the Madeline Island School of the Arts taking a class from Gloria Loughman on creating landscape quilts. Should be inspiring. Then comes fall with retreats, sewing days, a ton of guild shows to attend, and lots of effort making holiday gifts. MCQ doesn’t slow down either. We have a busy summer and fall of programming, the fall retreat, a two-day in-town retreat, and who knows what other great activities and inspiration your busy board will come up with. We hope all these opportunities to indulge in quilting will provide inspiration, a chance to learn new techniques, and a time and space to work on your fiber creations. Continued on page 3 C LASS J ANUARY 11, 2014—S UE H EINZ , M ACHINE Q UILTING T EXTILE C ENTER 9:00 A . M .—5:00 P . M . Save the date! Sue Heinz of Kismet Quilting will teach a class on free motion quilting, FillHarmonics. The class can hold up to 20 students and will cost about $65. Registration information will be provided in the fall. This class focuses on learning to draw designs on paper so you know how to move around in them when quilting on your machine. Rose Allen and Peggy Wright have taken the class and highly recommend it for more proficiency in free motion quilting. Class Description: Create a symphony of harmonious background designs that group well together on any type of quilt, or use just one for a dramatic textural effect. Learn to draw organic, traditional, and contemporary backgrounds while Sue demonstrates with step-by-step illustrations and how-to hints. This class is for anyone— beginner through advanced, sewing on any arm-length of machine—who wants to learn how to sew beautiful backgrounds. Your quilts will shout, “Bravo!” SECRETARY–SUNSHINE Sharon Englund 612-822-1886 [email protected] LIAISON TO TEXTILE CENTER Tina Hughes 651-645-0945 [email protected] Please send comments and submissions to [email protected] Next Board Meeting June 19 Above: Fill-Harmonics class sample Left: Poppy, pattern by Carol Morrissey, constructed by Sue Heinz using her glue technique. M AY –J UNE 2013 From the Chair (continued) The board wants to update the MCQ web site. If you have web design skills, please contact Peg Lasota. Contact Lavonne Batalden to form or join a small quilt group. MCQ has an active board and fun meetings. Several positions will be open for the 2014 board. To volunteer for one of them, contact Rose Allen. Help shape the future of MCQ— it’s fulfilling work with creative, interesting people who love quilting and quilters. If you wish, mentor with a current board member before taking the plunge to join the board. Contact information for board members is on page 2. S EW -O FF S ATURDAY —SOS M AY 18, 10:00 A . M .—6:00 P . M . Jump-start your creativity by coming to the community room on the first floor of The Oaks on Pleasant, 6600 Pleasant Avenue, Richfield. Parking information is below. Bring a one-quart size plastic bag of fabric, a one-quart size plastic bag of embellishments, and food to share for the potluck lunch. Each quilter will be randomly assigned to a group which will collaborate to create an art quilt no larger than 30” x 30” or any other quilt item. Batting and backing will be provided. Several quilters will bring their sewing machines, cutting mats, rulers or ironing boards. P AGE 3 A BODE —2013 G UILD C HALLENGE Creativity explodes again. We will have 36 Abode quilts on exhibit at the Minnesota Quilters conference June 13 to 15. After the conference the quilts will be exhibited in other locations until June, 2014. The titles are intriguing: No Cul de Sac Here; Pre-assisted Living; Little Bird, Little Bird; The Ice is Melting. Abode quilts are due at the May meeting. Each quilt needs a hanging sleeve and stick and must be labeled. Bring it in a fabric pillow case or bag. Andrea Johnson and Sally Mortenson, MCQ Exhibit Co-chairs, are collecting the quilts at the meeting. Words of Wisdom quilts have been in Kansas (see page 6) and should be picked up at the May meeting. If you are unable to attend, contact Andrea Johnson to get your quilt from her in Lake Elmo. T HE T REE P ROJECT The tree project quilts are due at the May meeting. Each quilt needs a sleeve for hanging, a label for identification, and a fabric bag for protection during transport. These quilts do not need a hanging stick. Wanda Shelton is collecting the Tree Project quilts. The exhibit at the MQ show in Duluth is the only scheduled showing. Quilts will be returned at the June meeting. Potluck lunch follows, as does the movie “KART Across America – a documentary.” Later, swim in the pool if you wish. H ATS O FF Registration is $5.00. Contact Melissa Nellis or Janet Hovde for more details. Debra Svedberg's quilt Peace sold at the Roseville exhibit. Congratulations! Parking is permitted in the oval drive at the front. Enter the building through the main door. If no parking spaces are open, unload your car at the front, and drive to the Allina ramp behind the Oaks building. The entrance to the Allina ramp is the driveway just west of the Oaks driveway off 66th street. Park above or below floors one and two at no charge. Walk across the way on the sidewalk to the Oaks building and enter that door. S EPTEMBER M EETING —M EMBERS ’ S ALE Our September 23rd meeting will feature a members’ sale. Rent a table for $10. Sell fiber-related items, including fabric, embellishing materials, yarn, embroidery threads, beads, foil, threads, supplies for surface design, dyes, paints, books, tools, patterns, etc. Please offer items that you would want to buy as a contemporary quilter. To participate, please see Peggy Wright at a meeting and pay the table fee by August 23, or send the fee to her at 1438 Stanford Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55105, phone 651-698-2760, or email [email protected]. P AGE 4 H ATS O FF ! NEWS MCQ M EMBER P ROFILE —J ENNY G ANTS -M OEN When I was a young girl, I would get into my mom's sewing kit and look at all the cool buttons. I really started to get interested in sewing about the middle of high school, as I belonged to a reenactment group and needed costumes for the events. That led to college and studying all things related to theater costuming and studio arts. In the meanwhile my fabric stash just kept growing. The interest in making quilts came out of receiving a beautiful patchwork quilt from my husband’s grandmother for our wedding, and then finding out my sister was due with her first child. Most of the first quilts I made were crib size, then full bed size. After I started coming to MCQ, I began to try my hand at smaller formats like the Quilt on a Stick at the State Fair. Since then I started challenging myself to work smaller. That is a lot harder than it looks. I turned our second bedroom into a work room when the quilting bug went full force, but I also have the good fortune to be able to lay out really large projects at my work place. I started sewing on a basic White home machine but have access to a classic Bernina and industrial Singer and Pfaff machines. Most of the designs I do are original, and it is only recently that I have tried my hand at reproducing a straight pattern out of a quilt publication. I'm often inspired by nature, reflected surfaces and landscapes. This in particular has helped when hand-dying fabrics during the nice weather. I find that working on smaller blocks that require handwork or embellishment is sometimes my favorite part of the building of a quilt. I have been commissioned to make a number of larger pieces but have never won an award. A lot of the work I have produced has been with pictorial or sampler designs. I've worked on a number of larger pieces with three different groups. The funniest experiences have come from working on baby quilts for local actors or production staff, or when there is interest in making a "show quilt" by a cast member of a current production—which brings me to some of my favorite times to work on a project. I will listen to an audio book or speaker, oftentimes not realizing that what is being heard relates to how the overall design gets worked out. I've made over two dozen quilts, and with any luck, I'll be making many more. In the last year as a service project, I've been asked to teach others and make baby quilts for baptisms at the church I attend. Most recently as part of that group, we finished a Pastor’s retirement quilt. Boy, I learned a lot! Above: Detail of Twelve Center: Back of Twelve Right: Detail of Letting Go, Jenny’s Words of Wisdom quilt NEWS P AGE 5 ——————————————————————————————————————————————— As for the way my job and quilting go together, I've worked in many types of theater, including regional, theme park, and outdoor drama for a number of seasons. So that means I've been around amazing fabrics, designers and loads of creative individuals. But since moving to the Twin Cities in the mid 90's, I've been working backstage at many of the local theaters around town. I spend most of my time at the Guthrie, and that is where one of the quilt groups was started. I innocently asked if anyone would be interested in working on a quilt for the production 1776. This is a musical and chock full of imagery. Little did I know there would be such an interest. Members of the wardrobe staff and cast members of some of the different productions the theater had, produced three show related quilts (these hang on the second floor of the theater and can be seen from the street as you enter the front of the building), many baby quilts and some of their own projects once they got interested in quilting. Occasionally, there are lovely bits of fabric left at my station, and there is renewed company morale. I've had many people relate to me the connection they feel when they see us working on projects during break times. I never imagined my hobby would affect so many people in such a positive manner. Above: Detail of quilt made by the cast and crew of the Guthrie show The Master Butcher Singing Club. Several of the blocks were done by first time quilters. Left: Commissioned log-cabin quilt made from the recipient’s grandfather’s flannel shirts. Time to Renew May Sharon Baker Joan Carver Maureen Dollase Nancy Eha Rosemary Kessler Susan Martin Joann Nordin Brooke Strassburg Wendie Zekowski June Donna Jorgensen Karen Knoll Wendi Seminari MCQ’ S 20 TH B IRTHDAY Q UILT We expect to show the finished quilt at the May meeting. It will hang with our Abode and Tree Project exhibits in Duluth at the MQ show! Thank you to each member who made a block and thank you to Jan Schmidt who quilted it. Members who attended the snowy April meeting were treated to a view before the binding was added. Happy Birthday to MCQ! Dues and details on the back page. Don’t miss out on the fun of even one meeting or event! Minnesota Contemporary Quilters Newsletter May - June 2013 M INNESOTA C ONTEMPORARY Q UILTERS N EWS T EXTILE C ENTER , B OX 8 3000 U NIVERSITY AVENUE SE M INNEAPOLIS , MN 55414 The 2012 MCQ challenge exhibit Words of Wisdom will be shown at the 17th annual Machine Quilters Showcase Convention, Wichita, Kansas, May 15 to 18. The MCQ 2013 challenge exhibit, Abode, debuts at the DECC in Duluth, MN at the Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show and Conference, June 13 to 15. A special MCQ exhibit, The Tree Project, will hang at the DECC in Duluth, MN at the Minnesota Quilters Show and Conference, June 13 t o 15. E VENTS & D EADLINES May 18 Sew-Off Saturday May 20 MCQ meeting –a week early due to Memorial Day June 13-15 Minnesota Quilters 35th Annual Show, Duluth, MN, MCQ Abode and The Tree Project exhibits debut. Sept 6-9 MCQ Fall Retreat, Camp Wapo, Amery, WI November 9-10 MCQ Sew-In, Four Seasons Quilt Shop, Plymouth, MN January 11, 2014—MCQ class with Sue Heinz Textile Center Librarian Hours 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. Upcoming Meeting Programs 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. June—Sue Heinz July—Five by Five August—Linda McShannock September—Member sale October—Jeannie Spears November—Schoolhouse December—no meeting January—Janet Hovde 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. Meeting reminders—Please wear a fiber nametag to be eligible for a prize to be given when the spirit strikes. Bring show-and-tell 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.
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