The Quilt Works, Inc.
NEWS
NEWS
ARTICLES - Click on the Title to go to the Article
Charity QuiltsFree Demos
Metro Shop Stroll
New Teachers at the Quilt Works
Quilt Competition and Show at the New Mexico State Fair
Semi-Annual Sale
UNM Quilting Classes
QUILTS AT THE NEW MEXICO STATE FAIR - 10-26 September 2010
(06 Jul 10) If you have finished a quilt or quilted project in the past year, you may wish to enter it into competition at the State Fair. For general information about the State Fair, go to:http://www.exponm.com
To view the Premium Book for Home Arts Division 12, Sewing & Needlework (which includes quilts), go to:
http://www.exponm.com/pdf/home/sewing.pdf
The Premium Book gives the rules and lists the Classes into which you may submit entries for the competition. We list here, by page number in the Premium Book, key things you need to know.
p. HA-2: Take your entry to the Home Arts Center in the Creative Arts Building, Thursday 2 September through noon on Saturday, 4 September. You may also submit your entry by prepaid express delivery or UPS.
p. HA-5: There is a special Section (#157) for persons over 65; Class 56 in this Section is for hand quilted items, while Class 57 is for machine quilted entries.
p. HA-10 - HA-12: These pages describe Section 166, Appliqué & Quilting. Here you find Classes 175 through 208; as you can tell, there are lots of different Classes, and you may submit more than one entry, provided each qualifies for a different Class.
METRO SHOP STROLL --- 20 - 21 AUGUST
(25 Apr 10) Quilts Olé, Busy Bee Quilting, Southwest Decoratives, and The Quilt Works are sponsoring a stroll through their shops, Friday and Saturday, 20 & 21 August. Pick up your passport at any of the shops to begin your fun. Normal hours will be observed at all shops. Visit each one, and get your passport stamped to be eligible for a raft of prizes, including a machine donated by Ryan's Sewing Center and baskets of goodies valued at $250 (one donated by each shop). In addition, all participants will receive a free pattern at each shop, and be eligible for door prizes and other gifts. Additional information will be available in the shops on 1 August, and will be posted here, as well.SEMI-ANNUAL SALE --- 14 - 17 JULY
(19 Apr 10) 20% off the regular price for all regularly priced merchandise. GARAGE SALE Friday (16 July) evening, 6:00 - 8:30 pm: All "half-price" fabrics @ $2.50 per yard.FREE DEMOS
(19 Apr 10) Our Free Demos have exceeded even our own expectations. In most cases, we have had SRO (standing room only) after all 30 chairs were occupied; a word to the wise: Get there at the beginning! We usually have something for you to take home, and always have exciting ideas to enrich your quilting experience. We shall send a reminder by e-mail about a week before each Demo.• Saturday, May 22, 9:30 - 11:00 am: OUR FAVORITE NOTIONS AND HOW TO USE THEM. These are the items (such as the Purple Thang(TM), many of you already know about) that make quilting a whole lot easier and faster. Each of us has a favorite notion, and we haven't decided yet how to arrange for you to see each of our staff member's favorite application. Nevertheless, we will show you how to use them for routine and not-so routine quilting operations. And be sure to look on the bottom of your chair after the Demo; you might find a coupon for a Purple Thang, or something else.
• Sunday, May 23, 1:00 – 2:30 pm: MACHINE APPLIQUÉ. As you already know, Phoebe brings "tons" of show-and-tell items; she will demonstrate and explain various machine appliqué techniques; please feel free to come and go at any time. Be sure to bring a pencil and paper to take notes.
• Saturday, June 5, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm. HAND EMBROIDERY. Once again, we are delighted to have Rita Curry-Pittman and members of the Embroiderers' Guild of America demonstrating techniques for adding decorative stitches and materials to our quilts. We have extended the length of this Demo so that you may try your own hand at many of the techniques, using materials, hoops, etc., that Rita is bringing. Those of you that have signed up for Carol Bell's Crazy Quilt Patchwork class may find this Demo particularly valuable.
• Sunday, June 6, 1:00 – 2:30 pm. MACHINE CRAZY QUILT STITCHES AND PATCHWORK. On the other hand, if you are definitely a "machine" person, come and see how you can use your machine to add embellishing touches to your quilt. In this Demo, Carol Bell will share her own experiences in making Crazy Quilts, one of which is hanging in the Shop, and can be seen on line on our NEW CLASSES page.
• Monday, July 12, 6:00 – 7:30 pm. MACHINE FINISHED BINDINGS. Finally, a Demo in the evening! Only the person who lives with her can attest (and learned to do it , too) to the number of quilts Shirley has bound by machine With only a "little bit of bloomin' luck," you too can lose your fear and learn to bind quilts by machine.
• Saturday, July 31, 1:00 am - 2:30 pm. FUZZY QUILTS. Having made more than 20 Fuzzy Quilts for newborns in his son's AF Flying Training Squadron, these clearly are among Dana's favorite quilts. He has lots of examples to show you, will describe many of the variations on the theme, and give you some ideas on quilting the patches.
• Sunday, August 1, 1:00 - 2:30 pm. SPECIALTY BINDINGS. Ever wonder about adding someting different to the edge of your quilt? Shirley will introduce you to ideas and techniques for making your bindings special. How about adding Prairie Points, of making a binding with cording? Perhaps we can even get her to talk about bindings on scalloped edges.
• Friday, August 27, 1:00 - 2:30 pm. OUR FAVORITE NOTIONS AND HOW TO USE THEM. If you missed us on May 22, be sure to mark us down on this Friday. (Or come for a refresher! Or to see if you pick the lucky chair.)
UNM QUILTING CLASSES
(19 April 10) Carol Bell's UNM classes are over for the spring, but are expected to be offered again in the fall; watch for our announcement.NEW TEACHERS AT THE QUILT WORKS
(25 Apr 10) We have three new teachers on board for the Summer: Melinda Ackerman, Laura Echeverria, and Heidi Niclas. For complete descriptions of their classes, go to the NEW classes page of our Newsletter, or to the CLASSES page on our web site and choose NEW CLASSES at the bottom of the page. We have posted a picture of the class model next to the description of each class on our NEW CLASSES page.MELINDA ACKERMAN. "I have lived in Albuquerque since 2006. Interestingly enough, that is also when I began quilting. I throughly love quilting; actually, it is an out-of-control addiction. I have lost track of how many quilts I have made in the last four years. I am a high school teacher at a local charter school. I started a Quilts of Valor group with my students in 2007; to date we have made 15 quilts for our wounded men and women serving in the Armed Forces."
LAURA ECHEVERRIA. Laura writes that she learned to sew via the "Stay Stitch" method in the late 60s. She always wanted to learn to quilt, probably inspired by a fascination with pioneer women, but didn't start quilting until she quit her job as a computer programmer to stay home with her kids. She enjoys piecing and experimenting with color and contrast, and is drawn to geometric quilts and quilts with interesting secondary patterns. Outside of quilting, she does competitive agility with her Australian Shepherds; this has led her to experiment with quilts combining ribbons and photos. Laura has worked in quilt sores and taught quilting classes since 1998.
HEIDI NICLAS. Heidi will be teaching All Cooped Up by McKenna Ryan this summer. She has been sewing since her Grandma and mother taught her to sew garments when she was 8 years old. She sewed and mended items for friends while going thru college and recently started quilting. Heidi found she loved quilting of all kinds, and has pieced and quilted over 20 quilts in the last 4 years while working full time as a nurse. She is very excited to teach a class and share her love of appliqué with others.
CHARITY QUILTS
(17 Dec 09) The Quilt Works continues to be involved
in a variety
of charitable programs; we list the principle ones here, and invite you
to participate. As you may have noted elsewhere on our web site, all of
our First Friday Sew-Ins have devoted at least part of their efforts
toward these projects.QUILTS FOR HOMELESS TEENS: Many thanks to all who contributed. In early November, we presented 30 lap quilts to Helen Fox, Coordinator of the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) Title I Homeless Project for distribution to APS students. We have nearly a dozen more in preparation.
QUILTS OF VALOR: We also are putting the finishing touches on six more quilts.
ONE MILLION PILLOWCASE CHALLENGE: We have joined the American Patchwork & Quilting One Million Pillowcase Challenge. Come to our Pillowcase Demo, Saturday, February 6 at 10:00 am. If you’d like to reduce your stash and make an impact in our community, this is a great project. Make pillowcases and donate them to your favorite charity. For more information about this Challenge, and to register your participation, go to the following web site: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/. Alternatively, bring your pillowcases to the Shop; we will take care of distributing them and registering your participation.
ZIACASES: The Community Fund of Southern NM and the Las Cruces Red Cross have joined to make Ziacases, pillowcases for NM National Guard members serving overseas. Trudi Pickett is the coordinator. When you bring your pillowcases to the Shop, we will take care of forwarding them to Trudi.
The picture shown above is one of the quilts we made for the Quilts for Homeless Teens Project; we took the picture at our April First Friday Sew-In, and posted it a couple of days later. Here, in part, is what we said. "Fifteen quilters gathered at The Quilt Works last Friday to sew quilts for homeless teens in Albuquerque. The shop sponsored this activity in response to the need identified by Project Linus '...to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through gifts of new, handmade blankets and afgans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers".'
"The first quilter started sewing at the announced starting time, 4:00 pm, and the last one left six hour later. By the end of the evening, we had completed thirteen quilt tops.
"The overwhelming response to this activity has astonished all of us. People are still sewing more blocks, and the process of assembling them into quilt tops will undoubtedly spill over into the First Friday Sew-In in May.
"The photo ... shows a completed quilt, measuring 47" x 62"; it was quilted by Elizabeth Dawson, and was used as a model to illustrate the final product of our efforts. In addition to the people who have volunteered to piece the blocks and set them together into quilt tops, we have volunteers who have offered to quilt each of the finished tops."