Tuesday

October 22, 2013

Pam Buda

1:00 p.m.

Secrets of Professional Quilters Revealed

7:00 p.m.

Making Do: Honoring Our American Quilting Heritage

WOW--What a Show!

We should all give a huge thanks to Pat Hjelmeland and Mary Martin for a job well done. Pat, Mary, and the whole Quilt Show Committee did an outstanding job.  

Thanks also go to all the volunteers. You all worked hard and made the vendors, show-goers, and AQS very happy to be in Des Moines.

Thank you to everyone who entered quilts for display. I heard many comments about the quality of the DMAQG quilts. I have to agree, we are a bunch of talented women and men.

Also, visitors were impressed with our display of Giving Quilts, the Preemie Project, and the State Fair Program. A group from Missouri asked how we  got the State Fair Program  started and how does it operates so smoothly. All they need is a Sharon Meiseniheimer.

The special displays of the Treasured Quilts and the Family Legacy Quilts were very much admired. My family and I (Janice, Nora, Katherine, Zoe, Angie, Megan, and Cora) were proud to be a part of this display.

Please go the DMAQG website for the list and pictures of the winning quilts. You might also like to go to youtube.com/QuiltTV and watch the interviews that AQS conducted with some of our members: Anita Gogerty, Mary Shotwell, Karen Woten, and Julee Prose.

We are now nearing the end of our year. Please come the October 22nd general meeting. Be sure to sign up for a workshop with Pam Buda and register for a fun-filled four days of sewing and eating at the fall "Pajama Party" retreat. I am going, so join me and the rest of the Pajama Gang.

The annual meeting and December Tea will be held December 7th at the WDM Learning Center at 9:00 a.m.  This is when your entry for the President's Challenge is due.

Happy 30th!

Janora Hayes, Coleen Hayes,

Doris Coady, Nancy Kucera

Directors at Large

Terry Holt,

Retreat Chair 

Mary Martin

Pat Hjelmeland

Quilt Show Co-chairs 

heartspunquilts.com  

Pam designs quilts and patterns for her company Heartspun Quilts. She is also the creator of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club, which focuses on small reproduction quilts, life in America circa 1840-1900, as well as "Make-do" quilts. She is an author, national quilt instructor, and fabric designer for Marcus Fabrics, the first collection having debuted in July of 2012. Pam lives in a suburb of Chicago with her husband Ed, daughter Nicole, son Ryan, and their Yorkie, Bella.

Programs

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

West Des Moines United Methodist Church

8th & Grand, West Des Moines 

1:00 p.m.: Secrets of Professional Quilters ~ Revealed!

Pam's afternoon lecture will focus on dozens of tips and tricks she has picked up over the years. Her PowerPoint presentation will demonstrate step-by-step techniques for cutting, sewing, pressing, and more. Then she will display more than 40 of her own quilts made using these techniques.

7:00 p.m.: Making Do: Honoring Our American Quilting Heritage

This evening lecture will be all about the ways our ancestors from the 1800s through the Depression learned how to 'make do' with what they had. You will learn the difference between a Make-Do and a scrappy quilt, learn how to incorporate make-do elements into your own work, and see wonderful antique Make-Do quilts from Pam's personal collection.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013 -- 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Practice What I Preach -- View Supply List 

This is a hands-on lesson of the techniques covered in Pam's lecture "Secrets of Professional Quilters ~ Revealed!" The skills taught in this class will be used each and every time you quilt! Each student can try many new piecing techniques as well as perfect a variety of pressing techniques.

Thursday, October 24, 2013 -- 9:00 a.m. - noon

Friendship Blooms -- View Supply List 

Learn several techniques for sewing hexagons. We'll construct two simple seven-hexagon flower blooms, covering the fundamentals of English paper piecing, the basics of working with wool, and the finishing techniques for this folksy 12" x 17" wall hanging.

Thursday, October 24, 2013 -- 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Star Strings Pincushion -- View Supply List 

Learn how to paper piece a wonderful Star Strings Pin Cushion as you learn the fundamentals of foundation paper piecing with Pam's helpful tips and tricks. Knowing how to paper piece will give you a skill that will open up new opportunities in your quilting adventures as wonderful, glorious blocks can be mastered by paper piecing!

Registration

For any workshop, you may mail in your registration form along with your registration fee to Deb York, 28187 Prospect Ave., Adel, IA 50003. We will also be taking reservations at our meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month. If you have any questions you can email Deb at yorkcovp@aol.com or call her at 515-993-4539 (home), 515-240-7653 (cell). 

Location 

Workshops will be held at West Des Moines Christian Church at 4501 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. To get there from Interstate 35, exit at Mills Civic Parkway, exit 70. Turn east onto Mills Civic Parkway and drive about 0.9 of a mile. The West Des Moines Christian Church will be on the north side of Mills Civic Parkway. We will meet in Building #3 which is the one closest to Prairie Life Fitness.

It was noticed that the tradition of giving hatchet signature blocks to retiring board members has nearly disappeared. We were saddened since this is a very personal way of showing appreciation for all the hours of work these people spend conducting the business of the Guild.

To keep it simple, we are asking for the hatchet blocks with the signature of the person giving the block. We are not asking for any specific color or type of fabric. The fabric will reflect the personality of the giver.

When each recipient finishes their quilt, it will be a scrappy quilt showing the diversity of the membership. Each quilt will be a cherished remembrance of time on the DMAQG Board.

The following people will be retiring from their positions on the board:

Cut the following for each block: 

Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of each of the accent squares. Place one on a corner of the background square. Sew on the drawn line. Square up. Repeat on the opposite corner. Use a permanent fabric marker to sign your block.

Our 5th State Fair Sew-In was a huge success. This is due to the help many of you gave to the project.

Thank you to all of the following:

• Those who helped the fairgoers make 305 quilts during the fair
• Those who helped with 2-yard cuts of fabric for the quilt backs
• Those who cut the many 5-inch strips we needed
• Those who made many yards of binding
• Those who donated fabric over the year to the charity closet
• Those who donated cash to pay for the additional supplies needed
• IPTV for publicity on their State Fair Highlights Program
• Little Red Hen Quilt Shop in Muscatine for tools
• Metro Sales and Service of Des Moines for the maintenance and repair of the sewing machines
• Fons and Porter for tools
• Creekside Quilting for 135 yards of fabric
• Quilting Connection in Ames for many yards of fabric
• Meredith Publishing Co. for fabric
• Indianola Guild for larger quilt kits
• Heart of Iowa Long-Arm Guild for quilting
• Creative Vision quilting teachers for sewing machines and supplies

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Kathy Safris, Jill Reber, and Sharon Meisenheimer
Sew-In Coordinators.

Thank you to everyone who got those preemie quilts finished up for our Community Giving display at the quilt show. Congratulations, ladies, on your creative talent and generosity!

We will continue to collect them throughout the year, but are pleased to have the majority ready to turn over to The Preemie Project after the show.

Don't forget about those other charity quilts to finish or quilt, either. Now is the time to get those finished up and turned back in.

We are still collecting pillowcases, placemats, quilts, toiletries, and tab tops. The Des Moines Schools have received one large collection of sewing donations, but we will continue to collect your items and pass them on.

Again, we thank you for your generous support!

Karen Macon and
Phyllis Blood

Community Giving 

Co-chairs

It is with deep sorrow that we bring you the news of the following death:

Gail Holz, Guild member, passed away on August 28th.