We are very pleased to welcome some dynamic and interesting speakers to present at our monthly meetings in the upcoming (2019-20) program year. We’ve also got a number of workshops lined up to entice your creativity! To whet your appetite…. Here’s what we have confirmed to get our year started!
September 18, 2019 – AGM (no speaker)
October 16, 2019 – It Takes A Lot of Ugly Quilts – Kathleen Riggins
Join Kathleen as she shares quilts from more than 20 years of quilting. From the earliest ugly quilts, to the latest much nicer ones, learn about her journey from ugly quilts to nicer quilts (spoiler, it takes practice). She’ll share stories from some of her favourite quilts (like the quilt she decided she liked better than the person she was making it for) and why she quilted things the way she did (usually just because she felt like it).
November 9, 2019: FALL WORKSHOP I – A Cheaters Guide to Quilting, Kathleen Riggins
Spend the day learning Kathleen’s most used designs, including swirls, ribbon candy, feathers and more! Spend time perfecting each design, then learn variations on the same designs to make it seem like you know all the quilting things. Gain confidence with some versatile designs that you can use again and again. Towards the end of the class, Kathleen will talk about how she decides what to quilt where on quilts when she is in the design stage.
November 10, 2019: FALL WORKSHOP II – Quilting With Rules on Your Domestic Machine, Kathleen Riggins
Use your domestic machine to create professional looking quilting. Kathleen shares how to get perfect straight lines while in Free Motion mode on your sewing machine allowing you to easily stitch-in-the-ditch and create geometric quilting designs. Spend the morning learning the basics of the technique, then in the afternoon move towards combining ruler work with free motion quilting for complex looking, but easy to stitch, quilting.
November 20, 2019 – Using Quilts To Illustrate Your Stories, Trudy Cowan
Every quilt has a story – when, why, for whom, colour and design choices, techniques selected and more. Some of that might be on a label on the back. Trudy Cowan, art quilter and teacher, takes her quilts themselves further into the realm of storytelling and illustration. How do the image, fabrics, embellishments and techniques convey and support the tale you wish to tell? She’ll bring the illustrations she created for her children’s book, The Little Grey Mouse: A Fable in Fabric, published by Frontenac House, November 2018.
December 2019 – no meeting
January 15, 2020 – Becoming NBQ – A Journey into the World of Quilting by Brett Lewis
Join fellow EDQG guild member Brett Lewis as he takes us on a stroll through Natural Born Quilter’s natural born environment. Brett will share his fast-track quilting journey – how he got started in the world of quilting and how, in just three short years, he has attended a quilting cruise, International Quilt Markets, pattern tested for renowned designers, taught various quilting classes, developed original patterns, and how the name “Natural Born Quilter” was bestowed upon him. He will conclude with talking about growing up in beautiful British Columbic and how the vibrancy of his childhood environment of whimsical flora and fauna intertwined with his adult discovery of a passion for brightly coloured fabrics sewing together led to becoming a Fabric Designer for Northcott Fabrics, and the debut of his premiere fabric collection, Stag and Thistle.
February 15 & February 16, 2020 – Winter Workshop Woodland Beauties: Adventures in Fussy Cutting, Curves & Foundation Paper Piecing with Brett Lewis
A Natural Born Quilter original pattern, participants will be given an introduction to foundation paper piecing, sewing curves, and creating various New York Beauty blocks (Brett’s favourite quilting block!). Each participant can arrange their blocks to create a personalized quilt top that is contemporary-traditional. Colour and fabric selection will be discussed. During the 2-day workshop, students will be well underway to completing the project, or have the skills to expand the pattern to a larger size quilt. A secondary project will also be taught – Splice Fussy Cutting. Students will have the option to observe the demo and/or participate to make a block that can be turned into an eye catching pillow.
February 19, 2020 – Emmaline Bags, Janelle McKay
Janelle McKay, otherwise known as Emmaline Bags, will share her journey from quilter to bag maker. The many and varied patterns of Emmaline Bags have become extremely popular in recent years. Listen and learn how quilters already have many skills and tools in their ‘toolbox’ that give them a head start in bag making. Janelle will share other tips and to make bag making easy for you too!
March 14, 2020 – SPRING WORKSHOP – Emmaline Bag, Susan Johnson
Miss Maggie’s Handbag is a great starting point for any beginner to advanced bag maker. It starts out as a simple handbag that allows you to use several styles of our Emmaline Strap Anchors, and after you personalize it with your own style, it will become one of your favourite bags. I fell in love with this simple, yet classic shape and decided it was the perfect bag for makers to either leave as is, or dress up with pockets and accents to suit their own style. Supply list will be provided with registration.
CANCELLED — March 18, 2020 — Untangling Those Threads by Joanne Flamand (due to Covid-19 restrictions)
Choosing threads for your projects can create more questions than you may have answers! Joanne will provide some understanding and clarity to your thread knowledge to assist you in your future projects, from machine or hand piecing, machine or hand quilting, thread embellishment, and machine embroidery work. Choosing the right thread from your very first stitch will affect the result of your finished project.
April 15, 2020 — Edmonton Modern Guild – Wendy Cooper (Zoom Meeting)
CANCELLED — April 25, 2020 — Education Grant Workshop — Cathy Tomm, Scrappy Playtime (due to Covid-19 restrictions)
Come join me to play with your pretty scraps. Making fabric out of nothing! I will show you how I cut, sort and store my scraps in a rainbow of colour. I will then show you how I have used my tiny bits of fabric. You will build fabric using your precious scraps with a few poverty piecing techniques shown. Our larger blocks will be based on traditional quilt blocks, but we will have used poverty piecing to add greater interest and texture. Students can choose the Bouncy Ball block or a Friendship Star block (some students may have time for both blocks).
May 19, 2020 – Alabama Chanin – Judy Elliot (Zoom Meeting)