Update: Please note that the holiday social will be held in a new location: Concord United Methodist Church, which is at 1645 West Street in Concord.

Whether you have been naughty or nice, sweet or spicy, you are welcome to join us for the annual Holiday Social, a gathering in appreciation of all loyal guild members.

Plan to arrive early - 6:30! We hope to have a great turnout for the festivities. The planned activities include:

Holiday Pal Gift Exchange

Be a secret pal, and give something special to a fellow guild member.  Fill out the “Holiday Pal” form and return to Joan Barker by the September general meeting. We will exchange forms that evening. You will then have plenty of time, to make or purchase a special gift for your Holiday Pal. Handmade gifts are the best; however, it is the special thought that matters ($20 maximum, please!)

Forms can be picked up at The Farmhouse, filled out and left for Joan Barker. They will also be available at the August and September in-person general meetings.

Photo Booth

There will be an opportunity to dress up and snap photos with your friends. You may choose to wear holiday garb (sweaters, jewelry, hats, scarves) OR wear something neutral (black or white) and then accessorize with props available at the booth. Be sure to bring your phone or camera.

Food

When you register, you will be asked what type of finger food you will bring to share -- appetizer or dessert.

Games

We will be participating in several interactive games. There will be prizes!

David Owen Hastings

The modern quilting movement is evolving and changing, but one thing remains consistent: simple, spare design combined with thoughtful quilting make an outstanding combination.  David will present his process for coming up with simple graphic quilt designs, starting with stitched paper models (called maquettes). Examples of how to translate an architectural photo into a quilt design will be shown with samples of mini quilts created using this process. The techniques are also great for making unique modern quilt block designs. There will also be a discussion about walking foot quilting and how to break free from "stitch-in-the-ditch."

More About David

David is a quilt designer and instructor, graphic designer, artist, and creative coach, living on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

He has been knitting and sewing since childhood.  In recent years he has enjoyed creating his own textiles through dyeing and painting and incorporating these fabrics into quilts and wall pieces with a modern twist.  

Since 1999, he has also been a professional print and collage artist. He has an an independent graphic design business, and since 2005 has dedicated to exclusively helping nonprofit organizations with their branding, websites and print collateral.

David offers workshops and lectures on quilting projects and design techniques, fabric printing, artist branding, and advancing your own creativity.  He also offers one-on-one coaching, branding, and design consultation for creative people of all types

Check out his website at davidowenhastings.com

Valerie Goodwin

Technology's increasing influence on the world of art is widespread.  It is changing how art is made and technology has been providing artists with new ways to express themselves for a very long time.

Valerie's current work as a quilt artist has been affected by technology, specifically through the use of laser cutting technology.  She will discuss how she uses laser cutting technology in her fiber art maps and in her work as an architectural educator.

More About Valerie

Valerie Goodwin is a mixed media fiber artist and architect whose works of fine art are included in museum and private collections. Most of her work is inspired by a love of aerial views of landscapes and cities. Many of her quilts are based on maps.

Goodwin’s art has moved through various stages from traditional quilting to an interest in abstract expressionism and, currently it is inspired by real and imaginary landscapes and cities. In some cases, her work shows an architectural sense of space with an archaeological perspective.  In others, the network of the city and its built form is more prominent.  These compositions work on several levels, from close up and far away as if one was looking at it from above.

Her book, "Art Quilt Maps: Capture a Sense of Place with Fiber Collage-A Visual Guide" is widely available.

Check out her website at valeriegoodwinart.com

Pat Fryer

Nearly everyone has seen the little postcards with the beautiful quilts and a pattern on the back. Ever wonder about the magic behind the cards? Pat Fryer of Villa Rosa Designs will share her creative process.

More About Pat

Pat has been sewing since the age of ten and received her degree in Textiles from UC Davis. She has owned quilt shops for over 30 years.  Pat has taught quilting at her shops and local college.

Villa Rosa Designs was established in 2010 with the idea to provide quick, easy, affordable, quality, and fun-to-make quilt patterns for quilters featuring popular quilting fabric cuts.  Rose Cards, Villa Rosa’s signature postcard-sized patterns, combine great design with simple packaging at an attractive price, making them one of the best-selling pattern brands in the country.

Check out her online shop at villarosadesigns.com

    

Join us to celebrate the completion of another successful quilt show!

Quilt show ribbon winners (1st and 2nd place) will be asked to speak about their lovely quilts.  What inspired you?  What was your process?  What did you learn in the making of the quilt?

This is a new tradition, started just last year after a last-minute cancellation of a scheduled speaker.  Comments were so positive after the meeting, we decided to do it again.  Hope to see you there!

Contributions of cookies or finger desserts are appreciated.

Becky Goldsmith

You’ve made a beautiful top, but how do you decide how to quilt it? I’ll share with you what I have learned (both the good and the bad!) from quilting my own quilts over the last many years.

More About Becky

Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins started Piece O’ Cake in 1994 and published more than 30 books and hundreds of patterns, including 7 Blocks of the Month. Linda is mostly retired now while Becky continues writing books and teaching. Her classes are always interesting and informative, with an emphasis on teaching techniques that help you improve your sewing skills without making you crazy.

Becky is also a wife, mother, grandmother, and certified yoga instructor who is searching for balance, strength, and happiness in all things.

A quilt from her book “The Quilter’s Practical Guide To Color” was used for the GQCCC's 2018 Opportunity Quilt.

Check out her website at pieceocake.com

Dr. Marian Ann Montgomery

Beginning in the late nineteenth century through the 1960s, mass-produced printed cotton sacks were relied upon by rural America as a valuable source of free fabric for clothing, quilts, and home décor. 

In 2015, more than 5600 printed cotton sack pieces came into the holdings of the Museum of Texas Tech University in the Pat L. Nickols Cotton Sack Research Collection. The Nickols Collection includes white sacks, printed partial and whole cotton sacks, swatches of printed sacks, instructional booklets, garments, quilts, quilt tops, and decorated white sacks. Combined with earlier and subsequent individual donations, the almost 6000 feed sack pieces held by the Museum of TTU make this the largest collection of feed sack materials to be assembled by an American museum.

Learn more about this unique and important collection in a presentation that will be interesting to any lover of vintage fabrics.

More About Dr. Montgomery

Dr. Montgomery is Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Museum of Texas Tech University. She is a quilt historian and has published through the American Quilt Study Group. Dr. Montgomery earned her Ph.D. in fashion and textile history/museum administration from New York University through studies in the Costume Institute and Textile Study Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2018 she received the Bybee Scholar award for her work in promoting and preserving the art of quilting. Dr. Montgomery resides in Lubbock with her husband and dog, and she quilts in her spare time.

    

Thomas Knauer

This presentation will explore some of the implications and possibilities of placing text on quilts. From historical precedents to contemporary practices, we will examine what it means to speak/write through the medium of quiltmaking and how words on quilts create voices unique to quilting, distinct from other more typical materials.

More About Thomas

Thomas Knauer lives in a small village in Upstate New York with his wife, two children, and a dragon. He spends much of his time exploring the minutiae of letters and numbers, words and sentences. He loves words in just about any form, from letterpress printing to multimedia development. So, it is no surprise that his work has taken a turn down the path of text-based quilts.

He began his professional life teaching design at Drake University before turning to quilting. He has designed fabrics for several leading manufacturers, and his work has been exhibited in quilt shows and museums across the country, including the International Quilt Museum, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and the Quilt Festival in Houston. His work typically focuses on issues of social justice and violence; his most recent body of work deals with the recent police shootings of unarmed African Americans.

Thomas has authored several books and plans to keep writing as long as people will let him. 

Thomas was interviewed on the Just Wanna Quilt podcast in October 2019.  Take a listen!

Check out his website at thomasknauersews.com