VMQG July Meeting Minutes 2012

 

Announcements:

  • New sign-in sheet for treats for the guild meetings.
  • Doesn’t have to be homemade

QuiltCon

  • Sponsorship Level?
  • Guild members voted for $75 Gold Needle sponsorship

New Attendees:

Pauline:

  • Traditional quilter for 25 years
  • Loves to hand quilt and hand piece.
  • Hit a quilting rut and wants to explore alternative quilting techniques

Brenda:

  • Considers herself a beginner quilter
  • Has been quilting for about 8 years
  • Like the modern quilting aesthetic

Ulli:

  • From Los Angles
  • Knitter and garment sewer
  • Came to see Karen Abraham Anderson

Georganna:

  • Lives in Fillmore
  • Has a Longarm business
  • Wants to promote her longarm business and gain more exposure from the guild
  • “I want to push my limits.”

Lyn Wilson:

  • Ojai Quilters

Carole:

  • Adult Education

Gerri:

  • Has never quilted before
  • Geri was floored when she saw modern quilting on-line

 

Guest Speaker:

Karen Anderson Abraham

Discussion Highlights:

  • SB Modern Quilt Guild member
  • Installing a design wall changed her life
  • Dan: “Do you cut pieces up all at once or cut as you go?”
  • Karen: “I cut as I go.”
  • Guild Member “What is the most challenging part in the designing process?”
  • Karen: “How to fill in the space.” I love adding little pieces of randomness in my quilts.”
  • Guild Member: “Do you pre-wash your fabrics?”
  • Karen: “Yes, I wash everything first.”
  • Simple and organic quilt patterns are featured in her quilts
  • Karen likes to add “pops” of bright color in each quilt.
  • White is the predominate color in most of Karen’s quilts but she wants to move away from using so much white and would like to experiment with different colors different textured materials.
  • Karen uses Warm and Natural Batting 90% of the time
  • Thread Choices: Aurifil and Superior Threads
  • Karen loves to incorporate linen in her projects.
  • Karen’s mission is to produce pieces that are both artful and functional.

Her First Quilts:

  • Started out with whites and cream-colored fabrics with a lot of negative space.
  • Started piecing scraps from earlier garment sewing projects.
  • Bound her quilts by hand but eventually switched to machine binding

Husband’s Quilt:

  • Very minimal design
  • Used blue colored hues that he liked
  • Introduction to matching up seams

Spiral Quilt

  • Was quite the quilting endeavor
  • “It was a crazy idea I had. I thought it was going to be really fun!”
  • “It was such a challenging quilt to complete.” “At one point, I just wanted to tear it all out.”
  • Karen used a stitch regulator to keep the stitches even.
  • “It was quite an accomplishment when I finally finished the quilt.”

Fact or Fiction Quilt:

  • “This is one of my favorites!”
  • The design of the quilt emerged as the project progressed.

Concentric Circle Quilt:

Chevrons Quilt:

  • Made from Lotta Jandotter fabric line and linen
  • Learned a lot about piecing throughout the construction process. Matching up seams was incredibly tedious for Karen.
  • The linen was a challenge to work with as well.
  • A couple of guild members mentioned that applying a water-soluble, light weight interfacing, or a vodka water solution to the linen could help stiffen the fabric.

Block Challenge:

Highlights/Comments:

  • Krista: Used a slashing method to construct her block
  • Susan acquired the inspiration for her block from a water-color that she painted. This was her first attempt at sewing curves in her blocks
  • Lyn referred to this block challenge as being a “diabolical experience.”
  • Sarah didn’t have a plan in mind and let the block emerge as she went.
  • Derek: “This was my best attempt at being wonky.”
  • Kelly wanted to experiment with different shapes in her cluster of color and incorporated a hexagon in her block.
  • Maureen
  • Andres
  • Elfriede
  • Misty