Book Signing at WebFabrics

A great time was had at WebFabrics in Purcellville, Virginia on December 6th. RaNae Merill signed a number of books and showcased several quilts that are in the book to shoppers. Linda Cooper, Mary Reddington, and Kathy Edwards stood by to answer questions from customers and signed their books. Afterwards, the foursome was joined by Carly Mul, owner of Web Fabrics, for a wonderful dinner at Magnolias in downtown Purcellville. You ask where was Rhonda that day? Unfortunately, the demands of her job had her flying at 35,000 feet enroute home from Madrid, Spain that day. We missed you Rhonda!

Kathy Edwards

“Arti Parti” — Pushing the Surface with Laura Cater-Woods

Kathy Edwards and Rhonda Adams recently attended a workshop with renowned mixed media and fiber artist Laura Cater-Woods, hosted by Judy Gula at the Artistic Artifacts Annex, Alexandria, Virginia. Laura is best known for her images that explore the texture and rhythms of details from the landscape and often integrates her love of fabric and thread with her approach to drawing and painting. To learn more about Laura and to see some of recent works please visit http://www.cater-woods.com/

During the afternoon they explored various ways to create and change surface color and texture by using paints and other pigments, mono-prints, silk paper making, foils, various methods of adhering one surface to another, combining fibers and papers and other materials. The four hours of studio time allowed for a “hands in the stuff” approach with work stations set up that allowed each person to visit and sample the techniques offered under the direction of this nurturing and inspiring facilitator. The best part-- all of the techniques were non-toxic and low tech.

SILK FUSION

Kathy is making Silk Paper also called Silk Fusion which consists of silk fibers that have not been spun into yarn or thread held together with the use of a textile medium which serves as a soft adhesive. Small amounts of silk fibers are placed on a piece of tulle parallel to each other with additional layers placed crosswise on top of the first with silk, skeleton leaves, or other decorative embellishments placed on top of a third layer, coated with the medium and allowed to dry. The Silk Fusion is removed from the tulle and can then be used in wall hangings, book covers and clothing.

MONOPRINTING
Monoprinting is a tried and true printing method that produces one-of-a-kind freeform designs. The process involves manipulating paints on a nonporous surface, in this case double strength Knox Gelatin allowed to set served as the surface, then pressing the fabric onto the paint and lifting the unique artwork. Items such as fencing, strings, onion bags or straws can be used as a resist to create even more dynamic monoprints.

FOILINGA bit of shine on a project propels it from flat to fabulous. Foil which comes in a variety of colors may be added to the surface at any time during construction with the use of an iron and an adhesive—liquid, granulated or a fusible web all work. Important to remember, always use a Teflon sheet to protect your work surface and iron and foil are used shiny side up.

OTHER TECHNIQUESOther techniques were discussed that “pushed the surface” even further. The use of Paintsticks, Rubber Stamping, Stenciling as shown below, and the use of Angelina Fibers—different from any other fiber which melts into a luminous sheet that can be used as created or cut into shapes, trapped behind netting, sewn as an appliqué, adhered to fabric or even embossed were just a few.

If you are interested in trying your hand at “pushing the surface," Laura Cater-Woods, whose process oriented workshops facilitate and emphasize individual creativity, is scheduled to return March 6-8, 2009 for a three day workshop at Artistic Artifacts. More information can be found at http://www.artisitcartifacts.com/ or by contacting Judy Gula at judy@artisticartifacts.com.

Cyndi Souder Lecture and Trunk Show

On November 25, 2008, MVQU quilt artist, Cyndi Souder, treated MVQU members to a lively lecture and trunk show. Cyndi showed some of her art quilts and talked about where her inspiration was derived for them. She also shared some tricks and tips to stimulate creativity. Cyndi's lecture to us, "Overcoming Quilter's Block: Jumpstart Your Creativity," was presented as part of the SAQA Lecture Series at the 2007 International Quilt Festival in Houston. More of Cyndi's work can be viewed at her website, http://www.moonlightingquilts.com/index.htm. You can also follow her Blog at http://moonlightingquilts.wordpress.com/.

Bert Goes to Houston

Bert Garino writes of her memorable experiences at this year's International Quilt Festival in Houston.

I was soooo fortunate this year to be able to return to the International Quilt Festival. For quilters it is truly heaven on earth, and that is why I volunteered to be a quilt angel. Volunteering a few hours for this job means you get to white glove turn all the most wonderful quilts you can imagine and see them up close and personal.





Last year was the first time I attended, and this year I expanded my trip by a few more days, since there is so much to see and do. I arrived on Tuesday, and that evening I went to the quilt preview where they announced for the first time all the winners of the show.

The winning quilts are spotlighted on the walls around the ballroom and afterwards you get to take a closer look at the quilts, take pictures and talk to the people who made them.

The grand prize winner this year was "Spirit of Mother Earth" by Sharon Schamber of Payson, Arizona.

Look at her work up close and you can see why her quilt is a winner (Editor's note: Sharon is scheduled to visit MVQU on February 24, 2009). If you’d like to see all the winning quilts, you can check them out at: http://www.quilts.com/fqf08/enVivo/

Here are a few of my favorites that did not win prizes (hard to imagine).

This is “No Spring Chicken” by David Taylor.

Two of his other quilts did win top prizes. Look at his thread work!

“Cart of Red Geraniums” by Rosalie Carter... the workmanship of the appliqué is amazing.

"Jacobean Sampler," created by Deborah Kemball of Quebec, Canada (left) is hand appliqued and hand quilted.

All right, so after you see all the beautiful quilts on display, not only the ones that were competing, but also a display of quilts from the DAR, and lots of other special exhibits. These could take a better part of a day to look through.

Then you have the exhibit hall with over 2,000 booths. There is everything a quilter could ever need or want. They even have a place in the convention center where you can mail all your purchases home, so you don’t have to carry them on the plane. It’s a great place to see and try out all the new sewing machines, long arms and work room tables too. Not to mention fabric.

Then there are the lectures and luncheons where you can hear some of the most renowned names in the quilting industry. I went to quite a few of them and enjoyed them all.

I really like the classes. At quilt guild I shared a few of the tips that I learned in some of my classes, and I’ll repeat them here in case you weren’t able to attend guild.

In the EQ (Electric Quilt – a computer program that helps you design quilts) class we learned to take our manual to Kinko’s, have them cut off the spine and spiral bound the book and put on a plastic front and back. It cost under $5.00 and makes the book is so much easier to use. This would be worthwhile to do on any quilt book that you use quite often.

I took many classes and workshops, each teacher professing the best way to appliqué, machine quilt, etc. And…they all had different techniques. I had 2 teachers that said NEVER drop the feed dogs when you free-motion machine quilt. Others used only cotton in the bottom so it grips the top thread, others said only monofilament so you don’t see it or then others that only used the same thread as on the top of the quilt. So, what I came home with was, “what works for you IS the best way to do a technique, there is no right or wrong.”

I took a class with Australian quilt master, Pam Holland (maker of prize winning “American Gothic”). She taught us to use wonderful fabric markers called “Fabrico” you can purchase them at http://www.dharmatrading.com/products/fdfm.html





Here’s the cute little sample that she had us make in her “Quilting with Character and Charisma Class”. It’s the letter “T”. We first traced her drawing on muslin with a “unipin” fine line water and fade proof, pigment ink pen. Then we colored it in with “Fabrico” markers. Then we free-motioned (with feed dogs up) with black cotton thread. This technique has lots of possibilities for your quilts. I even used the markers when I got home on a New York Beauty quilt that I’m making. One of the fabrics I had used was way to white and stood out, so I took out the fabric pens and colored a design on that block. Much better!
v The best idea I think I came home with, was to give books with quilts that you make for children. Debbie Caffey talked about giving her granddaughter the book, “How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?” There is a great picture of a dinosaur with a quilt, and she copied this for the center of her quilt. You can make the quilt as it appears in the book, or use designs from any storybook that would appeal to a child and give it to them with a quilt. And although I’m trying to stay away from patterns and design my own quilts, this one was just too cute. It goes with the book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” http://www.atimetosewquilts.com/beartale.htm.

The other important thing that I learned in class was that when you are free motion quilting GO SLOW. I always had the “pedal to the medal”, but as my teacher’s explained, we are really drawing with our needle, and artists don’t rush through paintings, you take your time and get it right. Good advice.

One last tip is from a class with English quiltmaker, Philippa Naylor, an extraordinary quilter. She showed us how she uses little rubber grips to hold her quilts as she free motion quilts. These “grips” are made from shelve liner rubber pads that are cut up into 4” x 5” pieces. Philippa says that the English are much more frugal then Americans. She uses one in each hand to grab on to the edges of her piece that she is quilting.

Hopefully, you’ll plan a trip to next year’s show. Mark your calendars for October 15-18, 2009 (with classes beginning on October 12th and Preview Night October 14th).

Quilt Challenge for Big QU Show

This is the time for Mt. Vernon quilters to have some fun and show Big QU our stuff. The theme for this year’s QU Show challenge is “All the World is a Stage.”

Put on your imagination caps and think of all the possibilities: your favorite play, theater masks, the globe… the only limitation is the size. The quilts cannot be larger than 48” x 48” and they must be completed by March 1, 2009. This is also the same date that any quilt you want to exhibit in the show must be entered into the June Big QU show. We will inform you later of the collection date.

So, start thinking and sewing as the time to turn the quilts in will be here before you know it. Have fun!

Bert Garino

Hoffman 2009 Challenge

Every year a team from Hoffman Fabrics chooses an upcoming fabric design and then issues a challenge to quilt, clothing, doll, and accessory makers to create an original item using the fabric. The challenge curator and a group of assistants jury the entries and then a select team of judges chooses the award winners.

The juried collections then travel to be exhibited by quilt and other fiber guilds, shops, museums, and textile shows. The exhibitions are displayed and enjoyed in several hundred locations across the United States and Canada.

The fabrics for the 2009 Challenge features extravagant paisley designs, inspired by exotic Persian textiles. These fabrics from the "Gypsy Princess" collection, are now appearing in online and area shops. Up for the challenge? Go to http://www.hoffmanchallenge.com/ for complete competition rules and entry form.

Mount Vernon News
Quilters Unlimited
December 2008

Mount Vernon Chapter Officers 2008 – 2009
Co-Presidents—Lynn Miller and Carol Kunkel
Co-Vice Presidents—Angela Miller and Lynne Fishburn
Secretary—Dotty Eisenhour
Treasurer—Kathy Edward
Nominating Chair—Jim Melton

President’s Message

I hope you had a safe, happy, and healthy Thanksgiving. Just before the holiday, our program with Cyndi Souder focused on “Overcoming Quilter’s Block”. What an incredible presentation, full of fun and inspiring quilts, and great ideas for even more quilts. Even though I have never felt “blocked” or “in a rut” while quilting, I felt compelled to rush home to dive into my stash and start cutting something up!

Our Annual Holiday Luncheon will be held on December 9th, with set up starting at 11:15 am and lunch served at 12:15 pm. We will have a mini-live auction, with our own Barbara Tucker auctioneering, and a showcasing of quilts to be donated to our designated charity, The Carpenter’s Shelter. Remember, that as a family shelter, quilts of any size and made for any age are appropriate, from baby to bed quilts. So, join in the holiday spirit and bring your favorite dish to share, your holiday shopping list, and your charity quilt on December 9th. Looking forward to seeing you there!

We have only two more bees before the end of the year. Our night time bee will be on Wednesday, December 10th, from 6-8:30 pm at the Mt. Vernon Governmental Center, and our regular daytime bee will be on Tuesday, December 16th, at 12:30 pm. Then it is on to the New Year. We have lots to look forward to with a wonderful program line-up, preparing for the Big QU Quilt Show in June, our retreat, as well as some more in-house activities like the cutting bee we had last October that proved a huge success. In addition, plans are in the works for another option for a Block of the Month for those appliqué fans that were left out of the earlier block of the month project, which focused on piecing. Speaking of Block of the Month, if anyone has finished either a Mystery Quilt or a Block of the Month quilt, please bring it for show and tell at our Holiday Luncheon. We’d love to ooohhh and aahhh over it! With so much planned for next year, I don’t even mind the prospect of cold weather…just that much more time to stay inside and quilt!

Till we see each other again, stay healthy and keep quilting!
Lynn Miller MVQU Co-President

Holiday Luncheon, December 9, 2008

Join us on December 9th for our Annual Holiday Luncheon, 12:15 pm, in Room 112 of the Hollin Hall Senior Center. Volunteers are needed for set up beginning at 11:15 and also for clean up. Bring a favorite dish to share—an appetizer, main dish, or dessert. Coffee, tea, and punch will be available. In lieu of a gift exchange this year, Barbara Tucker will be running a mini live auction. If you have any items you didn't complete in time for our Fall Fund Raiser, please bring them as well. There will be show and tell and door prizes. Please come and enjoy this holiday social event.

Book Signing at Webfabrics, Purcellville, Virginia

QU members, Mary Reddington (B, S), Linda Cooper (B, S), Rhonda Adams (MV), and Kathy Edwards (MV) will be accompanying RaNae Merrill, author “Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts” to a book signing at Web Fabrics on Saturday, December 6th starting at 2:00 pm. These four quilters, along with several other quilters around the world, designed and sewed their Spiral quilts with instructions received entirely over the internet from the author. Come meet your fellow quilters, RaNae Merrill who will sign your books and Carly Mul, owner of Web Fabrics and her staff who will be standing by willing and anxious to help you select fabric for YOUR simply amazing spiral quilt. Don’t miss this opportunity to see many of the quilts featured in the book in person, including the ones made by QU members. Go to http://www.Webfabrics.net/ for directions to Web Fabrics in Purcellville, Virginia.


December Calendar

• December 2, 2008— Bee, 12:30 pm, Room 216, Hollin Hall Senior Center
• December 9, 2008—Holiday Luncheon, 12:30 pm, Room 112, Hollin Hall Senior Center
• December 10, 2008—Evening Bee 6-8:00 pm, Mt. Vernon Governmental Center
• December 16, 2008—Bee, 12:30 pm, Room 216, Hollin Hall Senior Center (Last Meeting of the Calendar Year 2008)

Looking Ahead

• January 19, 2009—Bonnie Hunter Workshop: “My Blue Heaven”
• January 20, 2009—Bonnie Hunter Lecture with Springfield QU, “Crumb Quilting”
• January 27, 2009—Meet the Quilter: Barbara Zygiel: “Frilly Frocks” Lecture & Trunk Show

Upcoming Area Shows and Exhibits

• February 26-March 1, 2009—Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XX, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, Virginia. For more information go to http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=8.

Upcoming Area Workshops and Opportunities

• February 22-25, 2009—Williamsburg Symposium on Quilts is in Williamsburg, Virginia. Nationwide experts, Marianne Fons, Elly Sienkiewicz and Barbara Brackman among others, for two days of illustrated lectures on quilts and quilted clothing from 1600 to the present. Optional workshops and special behind-the-scenes tours give participants the opportunity to learn a new technique or see museum artifacts close up. More information and online registration can be found at http://www.history.org/history/institute/institute_about.cfm.

MT. VERNON QU
Minutes of the 11/12/08 Business Meeting at the Franconia Governmental Center

The meeting was called to order at 12:30 pm by Carol Kunkel.

The minutes of the October meeting were approved as presented.

Treasurer's report—Kathy Edwards reported that our finances are in good shape. She said that we would be collecting for memberships until December 31st. Updates to our list of members will be entered as folks join.

Hospitality—Refreshments were provided by Mary Stauss and Lynn Eccleston. There is still a need for sign ups for future meetings.

Newsletter—Articles for the newsletter will be due November 30th for the December issue. Big QU is also looking for articles for their newsletter. Big QU will start posting information on special programs sponsored by the individual chapters

December luncheon—Plans are going forward for the luncheon. Barbara Tucker will be the auctioneer for the live auction at the luncheon.

Programs—Cyndi Souder will be presenting her trunk show on November 25th. Angie Miller presented the quilts and sewing notions that will be taken to AKHA Youth Child Development Center in northern Thailand. She leaves on November 14th to deliver the quilts and work with the center. January 19th will be a workshop with Bonnie Hunter, followed by a lecture on January 20th. The workshop will be held at the Mt. Vernon Governmental Center. Rhonda is helping organize the big QU lecture for 2009. The dates will be October 29th, 30th and 31st. Mary Mashuta will be the speaker. Plans for the 2010 lecture are still tentative.

Notes from the big QU meeting and quilt show meeting—Carol Kunkel reported that nominations are being taken for big QU. A newsletter will be sent out in January and also next April. It was decided that having the quarterly meeting during the Quilt Show weekend is not a good idea and they will separate the two again in 2010. The upcoming quarterly meeting is combined with the Quilt Show. The meeting in 2009 will be held at Chantilly High School along with the Mark Lipinski lecture. There will be a quilt challenge at the show depicting the theme, “All the World's a Stage.” The quilts should be 48” x 48” or smaller. The specifics of the Silent Auction for the Quilt Show are still being debated. As of now Big QU will pay for the table for the auction and chapters donating items will be awarded all money taken in. Other rules for the auction are being discussed – boutique table, silent auction, buy it now, etc. After much discussion, Rhonda Adams moved and Bert Garino seconded that we participate in the silent auction fund raising event at the Quilt Show. The motion was passed by the group. There is a tentative date of March 15, 2009 for the next Quilt-In.

Job of Treasurer and Membership Chairman—Kathy Edwards posed the question of whether the treasurer and membership chairman should be two jobs instead of one. If that is desired, the bylaws would have to be changed to indicate same. We will get a group together to study the question and the possible change to the bylaws.

Carpenter's Shelter Quilts—Anyone who has a quilt ready for Carpenter's Shelter is asked to bring it to the December luncheon. We will also discuss fabric options (denim, fleece, etc.) for some of the future quilts.

Fund Raising gift—A friend of Carol Kunkel's has donated quilting supplies from her mother. Carol brought magazines this month and will bring books next month.

Door Prizes were won by Gigi Corbin, Kathleen Shaw, and Carol Kunkel.

Show and Tell—Those participating were Lynn Eccleston, Kathleen Shaw, Lynne Fishburn and Bert Garino.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Dotty Eisenhour, Secretary


December Birthdays
December 17 Joyce Matherly

January Birthdays
January 1 Janet Betz
January 19 Ann Marlin
January 25 Nancy Burns
January 28 Joyce Nicholas
January 28 Dianne Tippins
January 31 Patti Turner

Please submit items to Beverly Dasch, MVQU Newsletter Editor, at mailto:mvqu.news@gmail.comail.com or send to 5643 Victory Loop, Manassas, VA 20112. You may also call her at 703-590-2756.
The deadline for January's newsletter is January 1st.