Afterglow
What inspired you to make this winning quilt?
My guild, the San Francisco Quilters Guild, held its monthly meeting last week and came up with an inspiring and innovative get together. Our program committee asked 9 of the 37 ribbon winners from our show last month to come and talk about their quilts. I was so excited to see this and wanted to both see who was asked to talk and what ribbon categories would be represented.
This concept was not an original one from our committee. They were inspired by the Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa Link who do this after their quilt show every year. It proved to be a very good wrap up of our extremely successful show. In the two days we got approximately 1,500 visitors. This announcement caused my jaw to drop and the buzz in the crowd caused us all to burst into a round of applause for our efforts. Also we came out in the black. How much we still don’t know but that announcement caused a sigh of relief in the room.
The festivities started with the announcement of the Viewers Choice ribbons. The judging committee gave out three, one each for our Challenge Quilt category, Wearables, and other quilt categories. Here are the winners. In the center is Betty Tang, a Dorcas Hand Quilters member, wearing her coat.
After that, the first group came up to the stage. They consisted of two Dorcas members including Carolyn who talked about her Third Big Red Quilt which won first place in the Large Pieced category. This was one of the quilts I didn’t get a chance to photograph at the show so I was able to snap one while it was on stage.
Also in that group was the first place winner of the Appliqué category and the winner of the Handwork ribbon. This was another quilt I didn’t get to photograph at the show. It was made by Judy E, yet another Dorcas member. I think I might have mentioned that Dorcas members received a total of 15 Awards out of the 90 some Ribbons awarded. (I might have missed some as they haven’t published a list of ribbon winners yet.). We are a talented bunch.
Here are Carolyn and Judy E talking about their quilts.
I have a confession to make before I show that last group of winners. When I read on the website about the Afterglow meeting, I had some trepidations. To give you a little background about our guild, it is full of Modern, Contemporary, and Improvisational quilters. Even the appliquérs really don’t do traditional edge turned appliqué by hand. Hand Quilters are few and far between. I was expecting to see the representatives of the more contemporary side of our membership up on stage to talk about their quilts. So I had a little talk with The Partner about a plan I hatched. I was going to take my Second Place hand quilted Nursery Rhyme quilt along with me to show at the our Show and Tell segment just to remind the audience that there was a hand quilting category in the show. I didn’t want our guild to forget about it and decide to axe the category in future shows. Plus the first place winner in hand quilting usually doesn’t attend our monthly guild meetings, so that added to my assurances that hand quilting would be skipped over. The Partner agreed with me and said I would be making good trouble, as John Lewis would say. So I packed up my quilt and took it with me.
But lo and behold, look what was up on the stage.
The whole cloth quilt La Vie en Rose by Mariko Duenwald, the First Place winner.
So I didn’t have to get up and make a fool of myself after all. I am humbled.
Here are the last group of quilters.
Now for some promo news.
My Beginning Hand Piecing class is next Saturday, April 26, at New Pieces in Berkeley. Come to learn hand piecing from the ground up, starting with proper rotary cutting, proper pressing, and proper stitching technique on 3 blocks including template making and curved piecing. Call 510-527-6779 to register.
You can see me in person at the All Star Sampler Platter sponsored by the Global Quilt Connection. On Saturday, May 3, I will be joining 9 other teachers and doing a 15 minute class on making Japanese Rice Bags, Komebukuro. I was a last minute addition to the line up. You can register at Link . This is a 3 hour event held over Saturday and Sunday featuring 18 different teachers all doing short classes that you can view on YouTube for 72 hours. I did a presentation last year about ripping up shirts and had a blast. Come see me wrestle with the computer again. I vow not to panic during this go around.
Last but not least, on Monday May 12 I will be subbing in for My Friend Janet, who is on tour in Japan, at the Sashiko Stitch In at New Pieces in Berkeley. It is a crop in class, you don’t have to register, and starts at 10:30 to 12:30. Link Bring a Sashiko project to work on or, if you are a newbie, I can get you started on a project you can purchase at New Pieces. I’ll be working on a Hana Fukin.
See you next week for more news that’s fit to print.