At our September meeting, guest artist and author Carole Lyles Shaw discussed her evolution from traditional to modern quilter. The African American Quilters of Baltimore (AAQB) got her started with a solid foundation of traditional quilting techniques, then she found modern quilting and moved to Florida, where she founded the Sarasota MQG chapter. Along the way Carole found inspiration in feminist art quilter Radka Donnell; modern artists Mark Rothko and Sonia Delaunay; color field painters Sam Gilliam, Helen Frankenthaler, and Alma Thomas; and Bauhaus artist Anni Albers among others. The AfriCOBRA Movement and the quilts of Gee’s Bend had an impact on her work as well.
Carole shared how these cultural and modern influences led to more improv piecing in her work. She continued to choose a vibrant color palette, but began working more with white backgrounds and negative space. In her lecture, she presented quilts from her books Madly Modern Quilts and Patriotic Modern Quilts, and described the development and process of her designs. Bold, geometric shapes, saturated colors, and strong prints abound in her art, as is evident in the striking quilts behind Carole during our Zoom meeting (photo above).
GUILD ANNOUNCEMENTS:
MQG news: There’s still time to register for QuiltCon Together 2021, but be aware that member pricing ends November 30th. If you are planning to attend the virtual event and want to connect with others from the guild, you might want to join our Chicago MQG QuiltCon Together Facebook group.
QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge: Julia announced that a few blocks had already been returned to her, and reminded us that the rest were due September 30th.
CMQG Tenth Anniversary book: The final proofs have been reviewed and our guild’s anniversary book is in its final printing, so pre-orders will begin soon. The cost per book will be slightly more than we had anticipated because of shipping… but WOW will it be worth it! Jenni showed us a few preview images of the celebratory book.
New guild-wide sew along: The first month’s focus is curves! More details about the Big Fun Mystery Sew Along, plus Month One’s two drunkard’s path based blocks and their instructions have been posted. If you’re sewing along, don’t forget to tag any photos on social media with #bfmsal. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Modern Quilt Bee: Follow along with the progress of the #chimodbee on Instagram. And please reach out if you’d like to be part of a future bee!
Anniversary Mini Quilt Challenge: A due date has been set for the Chicago MQG 10th Anniversary Mini Quilt Challenge. We asked for quilts to completed by our October 18 meeting so that we can prepare for a fabulous virtual quilt show at the end of the year. **Note: Photos of the finished minis are now due Sunday, November 15, so there’s still time to make one if you haven’t already.** Tag your photos and follow along on social media with #chicagomqg10yearmini.
Star Stitches: We hope you’re enjoying this way of recognizing members for achievements and triumphs both large and small — not just quilting related. Each month you can submit your friends’ achievements (or your own) for announcement and celebration at the upcoming meeting. Look for a link in each month’s member newsletter.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Sunday, October 18, 2:00-5:00, virtual meeting via Zoom: Quilt Photography. Learn to take professional looking quilt photos with guest Mitch Hopper, an amateur quilt photographer who has photographed countless quilts for quilt publications, Chicago MQG members, and his spouse, Laura McDowell Hopper. Mitch will cover equipment, lighting, editing software, staging tips, and more.
Sunday, November 15, 2:00-5:00, virtual meeting via Zoom: Holiday Swap Demos. A few of our members will demonstrate quick-to-sew gift projects in preparation for the holiday season. These hand-made goodies would make great swap gifts for members who want to participate in the CMQG Holiday Gift Swap, or stitch them up for just about anyone on your holiday list. There will be a demonstration on how to create a quilt as you go (QAYG) fabric panel and then several possible uses for that panel, including a fun pouch, a flashy journal cover and a useful basket/bucket.
Sunday, November 22, 9:00-5:00, virtual meeting via Zoom: Virtual Retreat. We have made the difficult decision to cancel our in-person Fall Retreat this year, but hope you will join us instead for a day of sewing and community via Zoom. You can pop in and out, sew with us, chat, and share your recent finishes. All crafts are welcome!
Sunday, December 13, 2:00-5:00, virtual meeting via Zoom: Holiday Gift Swap and Social. Join us for some festive social time — we’ve got some fun ideas in the works! We’ll also share a slide show of the finished #ChicagoMQG10yearmini quilts, and hope to see a Show and Tell of the Holiday Gift Swap makes (inspired by the November meeting demos).
All meetings are 2-5 pm on the third Sunday of the month, unless otherwise noted.
Next month’s meeting is November 15, via Zoom. (Look for a link in our member newsletter, the Full Bobbin.)
Meeting location:
Rush Oak Park Hospital
Centennial Room
520 S. Maple Ave Oak Park, Il 60304
A list of our meetings can be found here.
Not a member, but would like to be? Click the button above to join our Guild!
We hope to see you there!