Gail Garber’s President’s Quilt – Term 1986-87

It seems so long ago, 1987, when I was president of the New Mexico Quilters Association (NMQA), the only quilt guild in Albuquerque at that time.   One of the treasured traditions in this guild, as well as a possible incentive to entice one into becoming the guild president, was to make a quilt for the outgoing president to be awarded at the end of her 12 month term. Back in 1987, the guild members made blocks in colors of the president’s choosing, stitched the top together and then hand quilted as much of it as they could by the end of the year.  It was up to the recipient to finish the quilting, which I did when I was housebound during a bout of pneumonia.  The quilt above is mine and the colors are very typical of the style of the time, burgundy and blue. Many of the blocks were hand stitched, and the quilt is entirely hand quilted.  It is one of my most treasured quilts complete with the embroidered names of all who contributed blocks.

NMQA President Aurora Cordova – Term 1980

NMQA was formed in 1974 and they celebrated their 40th birthday in March 2014.  As part of the celebration, they contacted all the former presidents  they could find and asked us to bring our first quilt (see previous post), our president’s quilt, and our most recent quilt.  Above is the quilt created for Aurora Cordova, president in 1980, the oldest of the quilts shown that day.  Aurora’s daughter brought the quilt that had been bequeathed to her by her late mom.

1986  Virginia Walton

From there, we jumped to 1986 when Virginia Walton was only able to serve a portion of her term.  Then it was my term for the remainder of that year and the next.  Then, there was a big gap in years represented, during a time that I was more focused on my work and not active in the guild.  Thus, for most of the remainder of the quilts, I don’t know the years represented.  It is fascinating to see the evolution of color and design as the quilts evolve over time.

June Romero

June Romero’s quilt blocks are done in pastels with a lovely applique outer border, another very large quilt.

June Romero Second Term

June clearly loved the guild and stayed for two consecutive terms.  I love this one in shades of red with blocks set next to one another with no sashing.  Check out the second star block from the left on the bottom row.

Fran Plisga

The contrast between the bright blues and yellows, make this quilt of Fran’s a stunner!

Emily Smith

President Emily Smith collected enough nature themed blocks to make two smaller quilts.  Very cool idea!

Barbara Gary

Barbara Gary chose lighthouses and mariner’s compass blocks.  Barbara had a more recent term and set her own blocks together.  She then added the large lighthouse and compass in the upper right hand corner.   Beautiful and dramatic!

Neida Naumberg

Neida Naumberg chose a hot air balloon theme.  Albuquerque is home to the International Balloon Fiesta, the most photographed event in the world.  One of the other traditions of NMQA is to make a hot air balloon themed raffle quilt each year that features replicas of actual flying hot air balloons.  They sell tickets at the Balloon Fiesta morning and night for the 10 days of the event. It is the guild’s main fundraiser.

Vicki Harms

Vicki’s quilt has a strong Amish feel due to the color selection, even though many of the blocks bear little resemblance to traditional Amish styles.

2013, Afton Warrick

Last came the president’s quilt of Afton Warrick who served in 2013.  Notice the Modern Quilt look of this beauty!!! It was a great day to reminisce, visit with friends I haven’t seen in a long time, look at quilts, and be among my sister quilters in Albuquerque.

Now, there are several guilds in the area, ranging from only a few members to a few hundred.

As I have said before, I meet the most wonderful people in quilting classes, many of whom turn out to be my best friends — friends that last a lifetime!  Such was the case when I met Janice Schindeler, at Quilting Adventures in Kerrville, TX, back in 2009.  It was clear from the beginning that Janice marched to her own drummer!  And, I surely did love the tune that she tapped out.  Below is her quilt from that five day workshop.

Harry’s Heart Quilt

Her use of colors, brilliant and bright, the strong contrast created by the blacks and whites, and the whimsy of the design all work together in Harry’s Heart Quilt.

Janice’s Design in Progress

Janice confided that that she was making this quilt for her husband, Harry Crofton, to whom she had been married for more than 30 years.  She obviously still remained quite enamored of this fellow!  Above, she poses with her design in progress.  Over the years, Janice and I have kept in touch.  I’ve been to visit her and she’s been out to New Mexico.  I also get to see her every year at International Quilt Festival in Houston, as she lives not far from downtown.

Cupcake

Cupcake was her next endeavor, created for her daughter Elle, who is the light of Janice’s life!  What could be more fitting?   In her non-quilting life, Janice is a master chef, who sells her creations at Grower’s Markets in Houston.  She also is a wicked gardener!

Janice at the Grower’s Market

Next up for Janice was the Hamburger Quilt.  She had been talking about making a three-dimensional quilt for a while and I was thrilled to see it on display at International Quilt Festival.

The Burger Quilt

Always with a keen eye to detail, the top of the burger bun is sprinkled with over-sized sesame seeds!  Delicious!

Burger Bun

Most recently, Janice revisited the heart shape that had been at the beginning of our friendship!  Here’s her latest venture into sentimentality.  She hasn’t yet told me the story behind this little gem!  I can’t wait to hear it.

The Newest Heart Quilt by Janice Schindeler

As always, Janice’s quilts are unique and colorful and they always make a statement.  Lest you think that she only designs quilts in this style, she also is well known for her story quilts.  I am so glad that we met those many years ago and look forward to our future adventures.

I meet the most interesting and talented people in my classes.  Edna Ray, of Kauai, Hawaii, took my design class at Quilting in the Desert in Scottsdale, AZ this past January.  And, she has already finished her quilt.

Sunset Birds Kilauea Lighthouse Wildlife Sanctuary by Edna Ray © 2014

Edna writes  “At long last I finished the quilt I started in your class:  Sunset Birds — Kilauea Lighthouse Wildlife Sanctuary.  I truly enjoyed your class and learned a lot both during the class and later as I proceeded to assemble all the parts and remembered some of your cautions which I didn’t internalize during the class.  I would have saved myself some grief if I had done a better job of editing my design before proceeding to sew.   I am pleased with the result and am entering it our local island quilt show later this month.”

When Edna sent the above image, I was really impressed with how she captured the ‘feel’ of the image that was her inspiration.  I asked her to send me that photo too, so you could see the inspiration image for yourself.

Kiluea Lighthouse

Edna, I do hope our paths cross again!  Beautiful quilt!

Emily Sessions gave some pointers regarding quilting and Leigh Hansen reminded everyone of the value of time to create. Amy Smart provided ample ideas for how to use scraps in her class, which resulted in these beauties. 

I participated in the Secret Friend swap too. I created this wall-hanging using the Lone Star tutorial on Better Off Thread.

These are the treasures I received in return from Pamela Cardell. Aren’t I lucky?

Now I’ve unpacked the bag I made for my trip using a free pattern tutorial by Jennifer Mathis. I’d say they are quite a match.

Sensational – an apt description of this class of versatile students!  The smaller class size enabled me to spend more time with each student, getting to know them and to help them with their designs.

Sensational Stars Class

Although in the above image, only the star centers appear, the two-day class also included circular border design.  We’ll have to wait to see those when the images of the finished designs show up at a later date!

Bea

My favorite part of class is doing introductions at the beginning because this is where we get to know each other and begin to develop friendships that just might last a lifetime.  When Bea (no last name given) introduced herself, she said she was OLD.  How old we will never know, but this lady taught others a thing or two and was one of the first students to finish all the sections of her original design star!

Bea’s Star

I just love the way her fabrics almost appear to be floating atop the mottled background fabric.

Carol Ann Emerson Quilt, Surprise, AZ

Shortly after class began, Carol Ann Emerson showed another quilt that she had stitched. It was a beauty and the detail work incredible.

Carol Ann Emerson, Surprise, AZ

Carol was the only student that elected to make an asymmetrical star design.  Although simple to draw, these designs create sewing challenges.  I can’t wait to see what she does with the rest of her design.

Susan Lock, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The color in Susan’s star simply radiates!

Alexandra Bykova,Novosibirsk, Russia

It was my great pleasure to meet Alexandra Bykova, who traveled all the way from Siberia, Russia to attend Quilting in the Desert.  Leksie, as she prefers to be called, is bringing quilting to the women of Novosibirk.  She blogs about her work on SkinnyBear Hugs Quilts.  It hope to entice her to write a guest blog here about her quilts and the women of her area.

Leksie and yours truly

It was a grand time!  Now, I have a whole bunch of new friends in quilting, some from near and others from very far away!

Quilting in the Desert at Cottonwoods Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

This was my first year to teach at Quilting in the Desert, owned and operated by Ginny and Lyn Goodbar.  What a treat it was to stay and teach in the warm sunshine of Arizona in the winter!  And, what a thrill it was to be able to teach multi-day workshops and meet students who had traveled from near and far to take the class, Flying Colors.

Drawing

Like many of my classes, every student designed their own project.  We always begin by drawing, using a workbook to master the various free-form shapes before moving on to original design.

Earth in Progress

Geri Willems of Apache Junction, AZ, arrived with her already completed circle that was to be Earth in a cosmic view of our planet.  Once the drawings were complete, we turned to stitching.

Gail’s Little Sweatshop!

This is when the fun really begins as the patterns and colors start to emerge!

Debbie Cavillon and Carol Hesse

It was a double thrill to had the mother-daughter duo in class, Carol Hesse from Annandale, MN and her daughter Debbie, who hails from Aix-les-Bains, France!

Debbie Cavillon, Aix-les-Bains, France

Both of their designs were very different.  Above, Debbie poses with her design.  She had never before done freezer paper foundation piecing!

Sylvie Poulin, Val-D’Or, Quebec, Canada and yours truly

Sylvie surprised me with a gift of Pure Maple Syrup, a specialty of Quebec.  All the directions are written in French but she also gave me a good recipe for candied pecans, which will be one of my offerings for today’s SuperBowl Party!  Thanks Sylvie!

Sylvie Poulin

As an artist whose primary medium is stained glass, Sylvie arrived in class with her design already drawn.  The challenge for her, which she overcame brilliantly was using the far more accommodating fabric than the hard-as-nails glass.

Goose on the Loose

As students worked, I took photographs of various parts and pieces in progress.

Beth Gilhuly, Kelso WA

I can’t wait to see how this design turns out when it is complete.  Beth’s drawing includes piecework and hand applique of the Superstition Mountains.

Marilyn Lynch, Redwood City, CA

Marilyn’s design includes the Golden Gate Bridge.  It will be very interesting to see how she combines the techniques to complete her design.

Jennifer Holt, Bossier City, LA

Above are two of the parts from Jennifer’s design.  The sun is particularly effective with the strip pieced center that combines many different fabrics.

Maggie Kingsbury, Bishop, CA

Two students opted to use one of the quilts in my book, Flying Colors, for inspiration, although each drew her own interpretation.  Above is Maggie Kingsbury’s which features hand-dyed gradations in rainbow colors.

Pat Rotolo, Pueblo, CO

While Pat Rotolo’s design features commercially printed fabrics.  I think that both are equally effective and very different.

Geri Willems, Apache Junction, AZ

Geri Willems made good progress on Earth as viewed from the cosmos, completing major portions of her design.  I can’t wait to share this one, and all the others as they are completed in the coming years! Thanks to all 21 students in the class!  You made these days very special.

Stay tuned — I also taught the two-day Sensational Stars class, and there are ‘after-hours’ items to show as well.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear with no evidence that it should have been wintry.  Our hearty crew was hard at work early on.

Sweatshop 2014

Stitching, stitching . . .

Steve Elkins uses paper foundation piecing techniques to stitch blocks for the quilt.

It wasn’t long before the different blocks began to emerge.

Star Block in progress

Keep Calm and Carry On was the mantra of the day.  For a while it seemed like the stack of block kits was getting larger, not smaller.

Pat Folsom, the newbie to this year’s retreat.

We were twelve strong, including two newbies, Pat Folsom and Allison Schacht.  Both had such a good time, they have already signed up for 2015.

First Look at the Middle

It wasn’t long before the center star was completed.  Here, Cynthia Figuerora-McInteer shows the results to Steve E. and Laurie Marnell, while my dog, Gabby, looks on.  He’s probably not terribly impressed.  After all, this is his 9th quilt retreat.

The Center is done!

Shortly thereafter, the inner border of Flying Geese completed the center.  Now, to stitch that to the already existing Flying Hawk circular border.  And so it went, until late afternoon when all the blocks were completed and we began to stitch the final borders.

Sami Sews on the Border

We took turns stitching on the final borders, so four sewers each attached one border.  It is a one woman stitching job at this point.

Snoozing

As our excitement mounted, the dogs remained unimpressed.

Mary Chappelle sews on the third border.

and, finally as the dinner hour neared . . .

Chellye Porter and Laurie Marnell work on the Final Border

by this point, it really helped to have a holder to keep the weight of the quilt top from dragging on the stitcher!  And, Ta-Da!  We finished at 5:59 p.m., one hour earlier than the 2013 quilt.  We celebrated in style that evening and then posed for the final photo the following morning.

The 2014 Hawks Aloft Raffle Quilt Top.  Image by Steve Elkins.

From L-R: Pat Folsom, Anita McSorley, Sam Sanborn, Chellye Porter, Miss Elaenia, Gail, Gabby, Barry, Laurie Marnell, Steve Elkins, Cynthia Figueroa-McInteer, Ed Chappelle, Allison Schacht, Mary Chappelle, and Layla!  A good time was had by all.  Many thanks to all who participated.  The quilt top has now gone off to Lincoln, NE where it will be magically quilted by Kris Vierra!  Look for it to make its debut at the Monte Vista Crane Festival, in Monte Vista, CO in early March.

Raffle Quilt 2014 – Sneak Peek

It all started about a week before the big event, when several of us worked on pre-sewing the birds so we would have a chance to complete the 2014 Hawks Aloft raffle quilt in one day which is always our goal.

The Cabin. Image by Steve Elkins.

Three of us, Ruth B., Laurie Marnell, and yours truly, decided to retreat to the cabin on Thursday for some relaxation.  Laurie brought her dog, Barry, along for the weekend.

Laurie and Barry

Playful and unbearably cute, Barry got along well with my dogs, Laney and Gabby.  They played themselves into exhaustion,

Ruth with Gabby and Barry

while Miss Elaenia practiced looking cute!  It’s one of her best skills and I believe that she practices in the mirror when I am not home.

Laney, the Cute!

Friday afternoon, the rest of the crowd arrived and we worked on cutting kits for the individual blocks, with Ed, our master cutter, a.k.a. Mr. Precision!

Ed Chappelle

Ed and Mary brought their newly adopted dog too, Layla, who wasn’t too sure about Barry!

Layla

It was a Four Dog Night!  While the dogs all got acquainted, so did we!

Dinner in the New Room

Enjoying a sumptuous dinner by Ruth and Chellye Porter, we relaxed in style in the new room, for tomorrow would be all about stitching.  Could we do it?  Would we succeed in finishing quilt top #21 in just one day?