Friday, October 28, 2016

Westside Modern Quilt Club October 2016

Despite rainy weather we had a great turnout. Looks like after a few months off, we were all ready to get back into the swing of things again.

Speaking of the swing of things, we'd like to make charity sewing days, like the one Pam R hosted, a regular thing. The Pine Needle can accommodate small groups in the lounge and has started a sign up sheet for an informal sew afternoon that will meet prior to next month's meeting. Quilts made will be donated to CARES NW.

Also back for another year will be our challenge! At this year's Expo, our Tribal Winds exhibit was shown alongside an informative display of PNW Native American history and culture from the Historical Society. The combination was very well received, so we'd like to do something similar for 2017. Our theme will be "Then & Now" which we hope to pair with something from the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. Lori and Lily have already volunteered to organize a field trip to the center for inspiration. Our challenge will be to take an older quilt -- perhaps from your family or collection -- and interpret it in a modern way. There will be no size restrictions. Stay tuned for more details in the new year.




Our speaker this month was Lori Friedman, who spoke about her work with the Oregon Quilt Project. The Project was started in 2009 by Martha Sparks and Bill Volkening and reorganized in 2012 as a project of the Willamette Heritage Center with a 10 year mission to train local museums on how to document the quilts in their collections, and to document quilts in private collections in Oregon.



Lori brought a fantastic crazy quilt she found at a thrift store many years ago and used it to illustrate how The Oregon Quilt Project documents things like the provenance of the quilt, it's design, colors, size, etc. Lori brought a few reference books and a collection of vintage fabrics and blocks which she uses to help date quilts. The documentation the Project creates gets added to the national Quilt Index, and given to the quilt's owner.



Lori strongly encourages everyone to label their quilts with at minimum a date and name for the benefit of future "quilt detectives" like her. If you would like to take it a step further and register a family quilt, or otherwise special quilt, with the Project, click on the link above and call the phone number to find out when and where the next documentation day is.





After Lori's engaging talk was Show and Tell. First up was Darlene who brought a quilt with a fun story. After purchasing fabric for a quilt, her daughter thought no, it needed to be a different color. Darlene used the rejected fabric to test out this Twisted Sister block, and wouldn't you know it, once finished her daughter loved the quilt and wants it back!



After investing much brain power into her Tribal Winds quilt, Deslie was ready for something quick and easy, so she used aboriginal Australian fabric recently added to her stash to add excitement to simple blocks and create a simple but satisfying quilt.




Cathy E brought a work in progress (WIP) which could be perfect for our upcoming Then & Now exhibit! She's taken a traditional basket block from a Baltimore Album quilt and deconstructed it. We know that Cathy does amazing machine quilting, so we are all waiting excitedly to see how she transforms those temporary blue likes with intense stitch.





Marjorie shared her beautiful Tribal Winds Heron quilt inspired by Susan Carlson's book. 



Linda B also shared her Tribal Winds quilt, this one inspired by petroglyphs in the Columbia Gorge.



Robin S shared her dramatic peacock quilt made with The Big Easy pattern for her daughter, initially as a wedding gift but sped up to become an engagement gift.



Finally, Lisa G brought her modern churn dash quilt which she had with her in order to find backing fabric, but was encouraged by the group to share!


Thank you to everyone for coming and sharing your inspiring work. We look forward to seeing everyone again in November -- on the last Wednesday of the month.





Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Community Quilting Day

Thanks to Pam Raby, one of our amazing instructors, The Pine Needle recently hosted a Community Sewing Day to make quilts for Cares NW, a local charity. 

Pam has been inspired by the heart quilts that so many guilds have made for communities affected by tragedy. Cares NW has long been near and dear to the Portland community and especially the Pine Needle.Thinking about how she might contribute, Pam offered her time as a teacher and presented construction techniques as well as heart quilt ideas which she discovered online. It was a wonderful day! A lovely group of generous, kind hearted women came to our community service day. Pam (and probably everyone there) especially enjoyed the collaborative, willing spirit everyone brought. As quilters, we often spend many hours alone happily stitching the hours away. It is refreshing and gratifying to pitch in and work together to create quilts for kids in need of comfort in our town.

Part of the group was busy working in our Lounge.


While still more people worked in the Classroom.

Some of our Pine Needle regulars, and prolific quilters for CARES: Charlotte, Pam, and Margaret.


Master coordinator, Karen, working behind the scenes organizing and making kits

Kathy's work in progress.

Kathy's finished quilt top (Illumination, designed by Pam Raby).

Beth's hearts in progress.

Nikki's citrus themed quilt top.

Another heart top in progress

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated. The event was so fun and productive that we will definitely be doing again.