Fabulous Fashion Show!!

At the June
meeting, members of the Museum quilt Guild were treated to a visit by award winning wearable artist Priscilla Kibbee. Priscilla's collection has grow so large she cannot begin to show it all, but the amazing display she shared was almost overwhelming in it's beauty and variety. Four lucky members of the Guild were chosen to be models for this display. One was hear to say it was the best time they had had "playing dress" up in many years!














Ann Michaud wearing "Sunglasses Required" Tracy Jachimowicz doing her best Elton John
impression.
















Chris Kuehl in "Cows don't get no Respect"




Martha Lorshbaugh wearing parts of
"Lhasa in my Dreams"

Esterita Austin visits!

In May, the Museum Quilt Guild had a special treat in the form of a visit from renowned art quilt maker, Esterita Austin.
She spent May 21 - 23 in the area sharing her knowledge, her sense of humor, her artistic talent and her work with the members of the Guild, many of whom spent all three days trying out some new to them quilt making techniques and stretching their artistic wings a bit.






Thursday's class, entitled "Sheers to You!" involved the use of sheer fabrics to create a picture of a wine glass embellished with paints and sparkles among other things.
Some had so much fun with the technique, they went beyond the class project, inspiring Esterita to add new patterns for the class next year !






On Friday, we learned to "Create the Illusion of Depth" in a class where some used only one fabric
to create a wondrous mystery cavern. A little paint adds to the illusion and gives the maker a chance to create her own fabrics, if necessary. At the meeting on Saturday, all showed their class work during show and tell. It was the first time many had seen the rest of the class projects.



In the lecture on Saturday, called "Classic Rock", Ms Austin shared her journey from the sketches in her notebook as an art student to the quilts those sketches became. Along the way, we shared some beautiful pictures and quilts and some interesting stories of the subject matter in some of the pieces.
The Guild would like to thank Elaine for arranging to hold the classes and the meeting at the First Presbyterian Church, which was a perfect venue!




Of course, no Guild meeting is complete without a wonderful line-up of quilts for show and tell!
Gloria had us all in stitches when she stopped to enjoy the oohs her piece received!

Cheryl has always wanted to do a quilt in these colors- and has donated it for Community service.













Ann and her grand daughter had fun designing a quilt for new baby brother!









The round robins were unveiled this month and all seemed very pleased with the results!

National Quilting Day

OK, so I'm a few weeks behind- again.
The Guild honored two long time volunteers for National Quilting Day. Millie and Eileen come early to every meeting and set up a wealth of information at the sign in table. They cheerily greet each person who enters and makes sure to remind them to sign in, take their name tags, sign up for show and tell, take newsletters- or direct those with questions to the right person. They work hardest while most of us are eating a snack. This position is not an elected one. There is no term for being the membership committee. They just keep on doing it and we are all extremely grateful. In case you didn't think we had noticed, we did! (Sorry I didn't get them to sit still for a picture)

We had another great show and tell at the March meeting, thanks to the efforts of many members willing to share their work with us. Dodie Morrison's Kaleidoscope was a favorite. And I apologize to the new member who made this beautiful shadow quilt, as I lost the paper where your name was written.








After the meeting, quite a few members stayed to work on Community Service projects. Melanie and MaryAnn had a lot of variety of projects, from the six hour serger quilts to tops needing only to be tied and bound. MaryAnn had to be reminded not to do all the work herself, as the kits she prepared for us were so complete we felt almost unnecessary! But we appreciate their lugging all of this back and forth for us- and for the community!


IMPORTANT REMINDER for those taking the classes with Esterita Austin in May. If there is a KIT FEE on your supply list, you must bring payment for the kit on the day of the class.
Please also remember to bring a lunch with you. There is a refirgerator at the church we may use to store them if needed.

Save the Date

On August 22, 2009, the Guild will be enjoying the thread painting expertise of Caren Betlinski of Rushville, NY. Caren did a wonderfully inspirational trunk show for the Guild in August of 2008 and was immediately invited back for a class.






Originally an oil painter, Caren started quilting about 10 years ago and has immediately made a name for herself with her painterly approach to her art quilts. As a member of the Rochester Area Fiber Artists, Caren's work is routinely displayed at venues in Rochester and the surrounding area.





Caren's quilt, "Swamp Angel" was accepted into the 2007 AQS show and contest in Paducah.






Details on the classes will be available at or by the May Guild meeting. Contact Martha if you have questions.

Demo Day!

At the February meeting, the membership approved all expenses necessary to host Esterita Austin in May. So if you've been waiting to sign up for classes, the time is NOW!! She will be teaching "Sheers to You!" on Thursday May 21 and "Creating the Illusion of Depth" on Friday, May 22. Both classes run from 9:30 to 4:00. See the samples here. Classes are filling fast so get your payment in quickly to reserve your spot, especially for the Friday class. Contact Martha at lorshbaughm@msn.com for more information.
The Board would like to thank membership for supporting this event. We hope to be able to host more "big names" in the future. In fact, if you have a suggestion for a teacher or a topic, please contact Martha or Kathi Everett.

Many thanks and great reviews are due Kathi Everett for her work in coordinating a fabulous selection of demos from members of the Guild at the February meeting!! We were treated to the talent and expertise of four very generous ladies who gave of their time and talents to inspire the rest of us!!!


Melanie Watson showed how to turn a placemat into a purse.









Cheryl Doody shows us how to do a perfect binding.









Sharon Larson teaches us that crayons aren't just for little kids anymore. (Actually, these are wax pastels)


Jean Butzer shared how to do stunning invisible machine applique, but the picture I took was awful. Sorry Jean.

Time to Catch up, Part II

Thirty Something and a Pearl

The annual challenge entries were revealed at the January meeting. While there are not nearly as many as in previous years, there are some wonderful quilts and the entrants obviously had fun creating them!

This year's theme. "Thirty Something and a Pearl" reflects the fact that the Guild turns thirty this year. There had to be thirty of something on each entry.
The traditional wedding anniversary gift for thirty years is pearls, so it seemed natural to include that in the challenge. A piece of fabric was chosen to represent the pearl and at least one piece of it had to be included on each quilt.


Fourteen members of the guild took up the challenge; creating a display which includes collections of sailboats and aprons, flowers, fish and hearts. Judging took place on Wednesday, Feb 4 and prizes were awarded based on workmanship and overall appearance.
The judges were Janet Root of Kendall and Adele Gilmore of Greece. Ms Root is a regional quilt teacher, well- known among the local quilting community. Ms Gilmore is a long time quilter and formerly was the costumer for the theatre department at SUNY Brockport.
Award winners were:
First Place: Jean Butzer for "Easter 1911"
Second Place: Elaine Ross for "Longwood Water Gardens"
Third Place: Martha Lorshbaugh for "I heart Pansies"
Best Execution of Theme:
Mary Ellen Casey for "Thirty Fish & a Pearl"
Creativity/ Originality:
Cynda Watroba for "America 2009"
Design: Sharon Larsen for "Colors That Bind"
Best Use of Color:
Gloria Crittenden for "I Remember Aprons"
Applique: Dodie Morrison for "Tea Time"
Hand Quilting: Kate Martin for "Whirlwind"
Machine Quilting: Connie Grimsley for "Set Sail"

The rest of the quilts may be seen here.

Time to catch up, part I

Well, it happened again. Much time has passed and the chance to update came and went several times, usually being stolen by activities like getting a quilt ready for the challenge, or cooking a dinner for the family. So, let's start with the holidays.





The annual Christmas party held on December 13 was as always a good time for all who attended.
The tables were covered in plain brown paper and crayons, allowing members to express their creativity during the business meeting.

Sadly, much of the artwork was lost during clean up. So if you have some of it, treat it with care as it may one day be very valuable!





We had our third collection of gift bags for the students at the "Brooklyn Street School" The generosity shown by our members means that every child receives a goodie bag, as well as older siblings who have graduated from the program.








Connie Grimsley led a wonderful activity for everyone, where we each made a beautiful folded paper greeting card. It is obvious that Connie is accustomed to working with difficult students as no amount of disruption and confusion could fluster her at all. (thanks, Connie!)



Several members decided to participate in a block swap. The Christmas themed blocks were made available from Victoriana Quilting Designs
The blocks were swapped during the break and all were pleased by the results of the swap!
And of course there was all that delicious food!!!! ( I am still full)