November 2014

Upcoming Programs

November

Lee Heinrich, of Milwaukee, will be our guest lecturer on Tuesday, November 18. The lecture will be "Vintage Quilt Revival: Putting a Fresh Spin on Classic Designs." Lee will talk about her journey in quilting and her love for "modern traditionalist" designs. She will talk about what makes a quilt modern-traditionalist and learn how to use some simple design strategies and tweaks to take traditional blocks and give them a fresh, modern twist. Lee will bring her quilts as examples to illustrate these concepts, including her quilts from her co-authored book, Vintage Quilt Revival.

Lee has been sewing and quilting since 2007, and sharing her creations on freshlypieced.com since 2010. Lee began her career as a news reporter, writer, and editor. Later she made a career change to graphic design, and spent 10+ years designing everything from newsletters and magazine articles to logos and wedding invitations. 

Note: There is no workshop this month.

December – Holiday Party

Our Holiday Party will be on Tuesday, December 16. We will pass around a sign-up sheet at the November meeting. The cost will be $5.00. We will be catering the meal.

February – Barb Vlack

Barb Vlack will be our speaker in February, and talk about “Quilts My Grandmother Didn't Make!”. Barb has been collecting quilts from the ‘30s and early ‘40s because there are such wonderful stories surrounding that era in our history. And they look good, too! This trunk show lecture (no slides, only actual quilts and quilt tops) will show off Barb's collection of vintage quilts, vintage fabrics, the reproductions that came from them, and stories that may have inspired these wonderful quilts!

Ever wanted to learn how to use Electric Quilt 7? This is your opportunity to learn from an expert. Barb Vlack will be teaching a workshop on Electric Quilt 7 in February. Barb just returned from teaching EQ7 in Houston. Don’t worry if you have not used Electric Quilt in the past. There is still space available in the class. You must bring your laptop loaded with Electric Quilt 7 to the class. Check out the Electric Quilt web site www.electricquilt.com for information on the program and how to upgrade from a previous version.

March – Thomas Knauer

Thomas Knauer is a self-described geek. You may know him from his column in “Quilters Newsletter” , his articles in “Quilty” or “Fons and Porter Loves of Quilting” magazines, his fabric lines from Andover, or his book, “Modern Quilt Perspectives”. Thomas studied sculpture at Kenyon College and moved on to do graduate degrees at Ohio University and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. The ideas of stitching contrasting concepts and forms together—both literally and figuratively—permeated all of his work, whether physical objects or programming-based multimedia projects.

After teaching design at Drake University he moved to upstate New York to start a family and continue his academic career. He later began sewing for his young daughter. He fell in love with the practice and began designing fabric and sewing quilts. From there it has been a remarkable roller coaster ride, one wonderfully filled with fabric, quilts, and an extraordinary community. Oh, and more quilts. Always more quilts.

Thomas Knauer’s Wednesday, March 18, workshop, “You Are Here”, has space available.

To register for either the February or March workshops, please use the workshop registration form found on the Members Only section. Payment must be made at the time of registration to hold your place.

President’s Letter

Dear Village Quilters:

It has been an exciting month. I can only hope next month is calmer. So thankful that we now have quilt show co-chairs, Kate Klein, Erica Jarrett, and Nancy Smith have graciously and generously volunteered to c-chair the show. I know they will do a terrific job. As you all know, the quilt show is the Guild’s biggest fundraising project. It makes it possible for us to continue having the terrific programs and workshops that you expect and look forward to. I am so glad that we will be able to have the show in 2015.

We do still need someone to chair the Traveling Raffle Quilt Ticket Sales committee and to co-chair the 2015-2016 Program Committee with Bonnie Meyer. If you know someone that would be good for these slots, please call me.

Thank you again to everyone who previously graciously and generously stepped up and volunteered to fill open slots. Thank you to Barbara Schober and Bonnie Meyer who will help Amy Dryfoos complete this year’s programs. Thank you to Barbara Schober who will help Bonnie Meyer with Advance Programs this year. Thank you to Judy Hillebrand who will finish sewing and later binding the raffle quilt. Thank you to Donna Derstadt who will quilt the raffle quilt.

We are also in the process of locating a new meeting place that will better accommodate all of our members, as well as a new workshop location. We have received some good suggestions and are exploring some likely locations, but if you have a suggestion please let us know.

Personally, I spent the month as a substitute nanny for my 16-month-old granddaughter. It was fun and tiring. Now that her regular daycare provider is back on duty and my roses have been put to bed, I am glad to contemplate quilting again.

Happy Quilting!

—Linda Spring

Help Wanted - Traveling Raffle Quilt Sales 

We have all seen other guilds bring their raffle quilts to our meetings. Last month it was Southport Quilters Guild. Traveling Raffle Quilt Sales involves contacting area guilds, setting a date to visit with our raffle quilt, and then taking the quilt to the guild on that date. An email to the President of the guild will get you started. Some of our members also belong to other area guilds, and will be willing to take the quilt to their guild. You do not have to go to every guild yourself, but you may want to go to quite a few. You get to see the guild program and Show and Tell. Take a friend along for company and to help set up. I filled this position two years ago and found it was a lot of fun. Contact me if you have any questions about this position. I promise I left good records for the next person to follow. 

—Barbara Schober

Membership

Welcome to new members, Patricia Ann Olmstead and Donna Rochino!

—Ginny Flock and Kate Mayer Tekampe

The Book Nook

If you were to read one of the popular women's magazines during the 1930s you could easily miss the fact that they were published during the depression years. Hard times and suffering doesn't sell magazines or products.

In order to survive, magazines had to sell fashion and optimism. One way they did this was by including new quilt patterns, tips and stories in their issues. Quilting was one activity that a woman could do to fulfill her desire to be creative while still making something practical for her family.

The middle of the 1920s marked an abrupt change in the color of fabrics being produced. Women may have wanted quilts that reminded them of their heritage, but they wanted them in the new pastel and light-bright color schemes. Designers promoted their dreamy floral applique designs, and quilting came to be seen as an art rather than a utilitarian craft.

Women's magazines continued to publish new patterns and innovative quilting aids in spite of the financial limits of this era. Some even sold precut fabric so that all a woman needed to do was sew the pieces together. Then the feed industry got involved with bagging their product in lovely cotton sacks that women traded and collected.

There have been several books written about 30’s fabrics over the years and our library has a few of these. “Link to the 30’s: Making the Quilts we Didn’t Inherit” by Karen Earlywine and Kay Connors is one of these books.

Written by sisters, this duo compiled projects from old newspaper patterns from the '30s and '40s. Included is an endearing article about women making do with the difficult circumstances of life at the time while still enjoying their heritage of needlecraft. Most of the quilt projects are from found quilt block patterns in old newspapers.

Liberty Quilters Bee

Liberty Quilters meets at St. Lawrence Episcopal Church in Libertyville at 7:00 PM on the second and fourth Wednesday each month and the fifth Wednesday when there is one. Everyone is welcome. Call Dorothy Roderick before you come and someone will meet you at the (parking lot) door and show you in.

Fine Art of Fiber

The Fine Art of Fiber Quilt Show, will be held November 7-9, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The Fine Art of Fiber (FAOF) is one of the oldest and most prestigious needle art shows in the Midwest. FAOF is the combined efforts of Illinois Quilters Inc., North Suburban Needle Arts Guild and Weavers Guild of the North Shore.

Happy Birthday!

November Birthdays
Judy Hillebrand: November 3
Ginny Flock: November 4
Eula Bates: November 11
Addie: Hansing: November 12
Bonnie: Meyer:  : November 14
Barbara Peterson: November 16
Kimberly Jurco: November 19
Barbara Schober: November 19
Erika Eddy: November 20
DeAnna Elliott: November 21
Yolande Sherrod: November 26

December Birthdays
Chris Leone: December 1
Sue White: December 5
Christine Tindell: December 11
Cathy Tucker: December 13
Joan DeCleene: December 14
Kathy Sorkin: December 14
Marge Carhart: December 15
Kearstie Grenier: December 16
Jo Bailey: December 17
Charon Neul: December 21
Rae Marie Bradley: December 26
Donna Fitzgerald: December 27