DMAQG is 30!

What a delight it was to see so many smiling faces at the March general meeting. Mother Nature was kind and Maria Elkins gave us two wonderful programs. I was also fortunate to be able to attend both her workshops. On Wednesday, I learned how to make a fabric portrait of my granddaughter and on Thursday I was taken back to high school geometry class with one and two point perspectives.

Pat Sloan will be here in April and her classes sound wonderful. Please be good to yourself and treat yourself to a class or two.

Remember, we will be celebrating our founding all year. The first meeting was in February 1983 and the guild was incorporated in October 1983. This means we can party all year!

In order to dress right for this year long party are giving you a chance to order 30th anniversary shirts. Samples and order forms will be available at the general meetings. You may also download an order form from our website. Let's show our DMAQG pride.

Again, I remind you that we are looking for any information that you may have regarding our history. Our goal is to update our history files and have them accessible to all on the website.

Take time to create. Quilts for the August Auction, the Quilt Show, Community Service, the President's Challenge, and for yourself and family. 

If you are a Founding Member of Des Moines Area Quilters Guild, please mention this when you sign in at meetings and receive your Founding Member Name Tag, so we can all honor your 30 years with the guild.

In honor of the Guild's 30th Birthday, the Guild is awarding $30 Gift Certificates. Each meeting--afternoon and evening--this year, a gift certificate will be awarded to one member wearing their name tag. The gift certificate may used towards workshops or retreats!

The lucky winners for the March meetings were Erma Keho and Jan Hetzel. Remember to wear your name tag and we'll see you at the April meetings! 

Janora Hayes, Coleen Hayes,

Doris Coady, Nancy Kucera

Directors at Large

If you are a 2013 paid member you should have received an email yesterday with instructions for accessing the 2013 Membership Directory.

If you did not receive the email, but believe you should have, contact our Newsletter Editor (and email list tinkerer), Katherine Roccasecca, at kariadne@mac.com.

If you received the email and have any questions about accessing the directory, contact our website administrator, Emma Thomas-McGinnis, at emma@etmcreative.com.

If you would like to update your contact information. Please contact our Recording Secretary, Barbara Hines, at blhines2002@yahoo.com. 

If you are not currently a member and would like to be (We hope so!), you can follow the instructions on our website or stop by the membership table at the next Guild meeting.

Barbara Hines

Recording Secretary

Following the theme of the Quilt Show this year, we are looking for quilts for a special exhibit that would be displayed together representing a "Family Legacy." We know many of you are just one link in a chain of family quilters and we would like to showcase your family's quilting lineage.  

Please email me a short synopsis of you, your family members, and the quilts or quilted items that we could display within our exhibit. Submissions are due by June 1, 2013. Specifics regarding your items and drop off information will come at a later date.  

If you would like to participate in the "Family Legacy" exhibit or would like additional information, contact Jill Reber, jillreber@yahoo.com or 515-999-2746. 

Jill Reber

Quilt Show Special Exhibit Chair

Quilt historians date the first published quilt pattern to 1835. It happened to be a hexagon template, but it was the beginning. By 1875 publishers had discovered patterns would sell subscriptions as block patterns were common in newspapers and magazines. The rebellious American women loved them. They began piecing quilts without the use of cardstock and loved the portability of individual blocks, compared to medallion quilts which were very English.

We honor these women with a variety of well-known pieced blocks. A study of the block names can be very entertaining. But here we will name the ladies who made the blocks for this part of the quilt. They are Jan Hetzel, Judy Proksa, Kerrie Hill-Elliott, Mary Miller, Marge Pearson, and Virginia Berger.

Historians date the discovery of a permanent ink for fabric as 1840. Autograph quilts were made prior to this date, but the signatures would have to be done in embroidery so as to preserve them. These quilts, also known as album quilts, became great fund raisers. You would pay to have your signature on the quilt and then you would pay for a chance to win the quilt.  Another function of this style quilt would be a friendship quilt and would be made for a retiring pastor or dear friend or family member moving away.



To add another bit of the "Legacy of Quilting" to our project, we have done the autographs in red work. The ladies who did the red work for us are Beverly Brady, Carol Krause, and Carolyn Hoiser.

And the names on the quilt are those who helped us become the quilters we are! We have sought the autographs of teachers we have had as guests in our guild, as well as a few well-known quilt instructors. We could not forget our own guild members who are also well-known teachers. Enjoy searching for the names of some of your favorite teachers.

This large section of the quilt includes one more era of quilt history. Crazy Quilts were popular for a brief time. Technically they were not quilts as there were not three layers, nor were they used on beds. They were done to show off the maker's sewing and creative skills. Could they be the forerunner of our modern artistic quilts of today? Creative Carole Floyd made the two blocks included in our show quilt. You will enjoy seeing them close up when the quilt is on display.  

Greetings from the Pella Area Quilters Guild!

We would like to invite you to attend our Annual Tulip Time Quilt Show. The theme for Pella's Tulip Festival is "Enjoy our Dutch Treasures." We feel our quilt show is one of Pella's Dutch treasures. The details are found in the poster below. Tulip Festival is May 2nd-May 4th but our quilt show will begin on Wednesday May 1st.

Would you please come join us at Tulip Time this year?

Edith Oltmann
Publicty Chairperson, The Pella Area Quilters Guild
641-620-8260
edie@iowatelecom.net

Photo from the March 1983 DMAQG afternoon meeting:

Photo from the March 1983 DMAQG evening meeting: