Rachel Kerley filled in for Geri this month as our MC -- including a joke she learned from the inimitable Gwen Marsten at a recent workshop in Sisters.
Rachel reflected on last month's field trip to the Portland Art museum and what the Edward Curtis exhibit meant to her. We also discussed the parameters of this year's challenge which are as follows:
• The 2016 WestSide Modern Club Challenge is Modern Heritage and will debut at Northwest Quilting Expo in September 22-24 2016.
• The challenge is open to anyone wishing to honor the heritage of the Northwest Native Americans in a Modern Quilt format (please avoid decidedly pictorial solutions).
• Your piece must measure either 32x44 or 48x66 and use a minimum of 1/4 yard of the Benartex fabric Sevilla in gold or gold and white (see the photo below).
• It must also have a 4 inch sleeve attached to the back of the quilt for hanging.
• We also request you enroll with The Pine Needle to participate at the time you receive your fabric
• The initial due date for the finished piece will be by August 31 at which time we will have the Big Reveal potluck party at Millennium Park in Lake Oswego at 6pm.Several members also let us know that the Washington State History Museum and Mary Hill have applicable exhibits right now which are a super resource.
Molly O'Dea of the Mid Valley Quilt Guild in Salem is looking for volunteers to help out at the Quilt Walk at the State Fair August 26th through Sept 5th. There are three shifts per day and volunteers get parking. The quilt guild alone cannot fill the need for white glove and desk volunteers and so encourages anyone within a reasonable distance of Salem (or who plan on coming to the Fair anyway) to spend some time supporting our quilting community. Please contact Molly via the Guild's website, or call Kristin at The Pine Needle for Molly's contact info.
Rachel talked a little about social media and how she chooses to use (or not). She uses Pinterest to collect ideas and inspiration such as the board of triangle patchwork she recently created in preparation for her workshop with Gwen. Facebook and Instagram are great for connecting with people who have similar interests, but can also create dissatisfaction when we make too many comparisons of other people's work to our own. Right now Rachel is concentrating on making connections in real life -- through workshops and local groups. This segued well into my talk about my experience as a member of an online group of quilters that became a real life group of friends.
This month's guest speaker was me, Kristin La Flamme. I brought selected artwork from Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge, and spoke about how our group formed, how we managed it, and what we accomplished. While we eventually exhibited our work internationally and wrote a book about our experience working together, our group had pretty humble beginnings with the only goal being to challenge ourselves artistically. The model of a small group of like minded people with an attainable goal is achievable both online and in real-life. Consider forming a group (perhaps here at The Pine Needle) to try some "No-Rules Patchwork," or slow (hand) stitching. Or maybe look online to form a geographically diverse group. What worked well for Twelve by Twelve was to have a public space (our blog) to share our work and a private space (Yahoo in our case, but a private Facebook page could also work) to negotiate the details and boring stuff. Think about a small group as a way to create community and make connections.
Show and Tell:
Karen Y shared an experimental little piece inspired by Rachel's talk in February!
Elisa shared two older quilts which she had recently finished. The first was her own, started by hand in 1995 and the second was an estate sale find which she brought back to life.
Deslee W told us about her first quilt -- a log cabin made with 1" strips which she hated. Then she shared her most recent finish, a log cabin made with only one block and much wider strips, which she loves! (BTW, it's our Tahoe pattern).
Carol showed off her Fancy Foxes made with Kaffe Fasset fabrics --wow!
Susan B's quilt started as free cut ovoids and soon developed a personality of it's own Even it's back decided to become a front and now she's got two stunning quilts.
Deb S shared a graphic quilt of her own design inspired by photos of bridges in Jefferson.
Sharon shared two quilts made for her neices in their favorite colors.
Janet M shared her 30s fabric quilt which had been languishing. Yay for finishes!
And Carol brought her One Block Wonder quilt which she repurposed and used to test her longarm quilting.
Thank you to everyone who brought your quilts to share -- it is always inspiring.
See you next month.
