Meeting Date: Saturday, September 10, 2011
Speaker: Dalen Keys
Topic: Quilting, Creativity and Kids Books
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
Just A Quilt? — a story lovingly told by Dalen Keys, revolves around a quilt's true meaning to a little boy, a quilt his mommy made him. Not just an everyday blanket, it's so much more to him.
Author Dalen Keyes obtained his Ph.D in Chemistry at Rice University, and holds several patents. How did a chemist decide to write a book on a boy's quilt? Always interested in writing, Dalen says, "I often applied too much creativity to writing without regard to the grammar." He adds, "spelling and grammar check software are a definitely a gift from God." Dalen's wife Mitzi designed the quilt for this best selling children's picture book.
For more information about Dalen Keys please visit his website: dalenkeys.com
Dalen's wife Mitzie Keyes works closely with him, and she will be conducting a day-long workshop on Sunday, September 11, 2011. See the Workshops page for more information.
Meeting Date: Saturday, October 15, 2011
Please Note … this is the THIRD Saturday of this month.
Speaker: Shelly Zegart
Topic: Why Quilts Matter: History, Art, and Politics
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
Why Quilts Matter: History, Art and Politics, a nine-part television series, will change the way you think about quilts. Narrated by acclaimed quilter Shelly Zegart, the series is an exploration of quilts that takes viewers on an amazing journey. Episode by episode, the series introduces new ideas and uncovers the starting size and depth of quilt culture.
Shelly Zegart will discuss this series and show two of the episodes. Zegart, a recognized expert on American quilts, collects, curates exhibitions, writes, lectures about, and sells fine quilts. She has curated many exhibits in the U.S. and abroad, has built private and corporate collections around the world, and lectures on all aspects of quilt history and aesthetics.
Shelly Zegart will be selling DVDs of the entire 9-part series (price TBA). To learn more about the series and get a sneak peek of the film trailer, visit: Why Quilts Matter site.
Meeting Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011
Speaker: Betty Ekern Suiter
Topic: Stitched by Hand
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
For those quilters who aspire to the excellence of hand quilting be sure to join us to hear Betty Ekern Suiter tell us how she makes quilts specifically for competition and always strives for perfection. To date, Betty has won 41 Best of Show Awards and 22 Best Workmanship Awards. Her ribbons now number well over 300. Her quilts have been featured in 16 books and 36 magazines.
Betty is always looking for inspiration be it in a flower, architecture, furniture, rugs, even in the color of a sunrise or sunset. Her interest is in mixing her own ideas with traditional design. Betty considers her years as a draftsman an added advantage when designing her quilts. She prefers her own hand dyed fabrics for a special glow in her quilts. For subtle changes in design hues she uses about 40 distinct colors.
Betty Ekern Suiter will also be conducting two half-day workshops on Sunday, November 13, 2011. For more information about those workshops, please see the Workshops page.
For more information about Betty Ekern Suiter please visit her website: bettyekernsuiter.com
Meeting Date: Saturday, December 10, 2011
Featured Meeting Events:
Holiday Quilt Auction and Holiday Charity Gift Collection
Location: Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: No guest fee this month! Please join us for this fun fundraising auction and holiday charity gift gathering.
Our December meeting is traditionally a combination holiday party, holiday charity endeavor, and a fundraising event. This year we will be condicting an Auction of Holiday Themed Quilts made by guild members! This will be a showcase of what we do best — one-of-a-kind quilts made by the talented and creative members of Empire Quilters.
Guidelines for members to make the quilts can be found on the Notices page. Auction attendees should come prepared to be offerred a dazzling array of holiday quilts.
In addition to our fundraising activities, we will be finishing and assembling holiday items for children. We're asking for as many teddy bears and stockings as you can make. Unfortunately there are so many children in the New York City Area who will receive little — if anything — for the holidays. Please help brighten their holidays by contributing an item for a child. Every item will go to a child or family who has little else for the holidays. The children — and their parents — need the help, and we can help. The patterns are easy, and are available here for downloading (in PDF format, below).
Stockings can be decorated with batting on the top, or with holiday cookie-cutter decorations, or with ribbons. Use your imagination!
If you are uncertain about embroidering or drawing the face on the teddy bear, just bring it to the meeting, and the Service Committee will paint the face on for you. Please do not use buttons on the bears (for child safety reasons).
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To download the patterns for the bear or stockings, click on a picture (right) |
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If you are unable to make stockings or bears, another option is to donate an inexpensive toy (small enough to fit into the stocking) as a stocking stuffer. The organizations that distribute these items specifically request hats, gloves, mittens, socks, combs, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, coloring books and Teddy Bears. (No food or candy items, no makeup or perfume please.) Please do not donate any used items.
If you have any questions, please email info@empirequilters.net or contact Service Committee co-chair Jennifer Bigelow, or Marilyn Korn.
We have two exciting workshops planned for December 11, 2011: Anna Faustino will conduct her City Scape Silhouette workshop and we will have a free Holiday Helpers Workshop to stuff stockings and wrap gifts. For more information about these workshops, please see the Workshops page.
Meeting Date: Saturday, January 14, 2012
Speaker: Maggi McCormick Gordon
Topic: The Quilts of Gee's Bend
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
The January program will feature Maggi McCormick Gordon, an author, editor, collector, and quiltmaker with a special interest in the history of quilts and quiltmaking. She began her interest in the needle arts as a child in the American South, and began collecting quilts in Britain, where she was living, in the 1980s. Her area of expertise was “americanizing,” adapting technical non-fiction books to make them suitable for the U.S. market. Her interest in quilts led quickly to a dozen books so far, on her favorite subject. Maggi will show us her collection of quilts from Gee's Bend and talk about meeting the community on site.
For information about Maggi McCormick Gordon please visit her website: http://www.maggigordon.com/
Meeting Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Featured Meeting Event:
Members Teaching Members!
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members. Guest Fee: $10.00
The February meeting will showcase one of our most popular activities — Members Teaching Members! Our guild is full of talented, experienced, and generous members who are always willing to share their tips and techniques with their fellow guild members.
Previous seasons included workshops on paper piecing, crazy quilting, bags & totes, rotary cutting, tee-shirt quilts, sweatshirt jackets, quilt labels, embellishments, hand appliqué — and more!
Guild member Janet Randolph will be organizing the workshops this year. If you have any questions, please contact Janet via info@empirequilters.net
Our February program will consist of 9 mini workshops led by guild members. Four are sit and sew and five are lecture/demo. Members need to register for any of these workshops. Registration will close at 30 participants, and all who register will be guaranteed any printed directions for that particular workshop. Registration begins at the January meeting at a table in the front of the church.
Workshops are as follows:
- CATHEDRAL WINDOW: Pauline and Paulette Myers, Leaders. Sit and Sew. Supplies: hand sewing needle, light blue thread, straight pins, scissors.
- BASIC EMBROIDERY STITCHES: Beth Pile, Leader. Sit and Sew. Supply list available at registration.
- FAST TURN WALL QUILTS: Cathy Anderson, Leader. Sit and Sew. Supplies: hand needle, beige or white thread, straight pins, scissors.
- ACCESSORY CASE: Arline Rubin, Leader. Sit and Sew. Supply list is available at registration.
- FOLDED FLOWERS: Judith Hoffman Corwin, Leader. Sit and Sew. Supplies: quilting thread, needle, straight pins, fabric scraps, buttons for center.
- REVERSE APPLIQUE: Maggie Gordon, Leader. Lecture. Supplies: bring paper and pen for notes.
- SWEATSHIRT APPLIQUE: Janet Randolph, Leader. Lecture. Supplies: bring paper and pen for notes.
- BINDING: Aleeda Crawley, Leader. Lecture. Supplies: bring paper and pen for notes.
- HOW TO PREPARE YOUR QUILT FOR LONGARM QUILTING: Sue Clayton, Leader. Lecture. Supplies: bring paper and pen for notes.
›› Print List of Members Teaching Members Mini Workshops (PDF) ‹‹
Meeting Date: Saturday, March 10, 2012
Featured Meeting Activity: Charity Work Day
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (Come when you can and stay as long as you can.)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: no guest fee this month. Please join us as we make as many quilts as we can.
Don't miss this opportunity to participate in one of the main activities of the Empire Quilters. You will learn, laugh and get to know your fellow guild members at this once-a-year activity. One of the quilts we made last year is pictured here, and you can quilts from previous years by clicking the Special Events links on the Show & Tell page.
We will be once again making and finishing quilts to be donated to Charity at this meeting. For the March meeting, the Charity Committee will have some supplies, but we ask that members bring their own supplies to use during the day, such as pins, scissors, rulers, white thread and tying needles. The Guild will supply batting, any tops and backs handed in so far this year, tying material, a cutting board and a rotary cutter and an iron. Donated batting will be available for use by 10:00 a.m., so those early risers can get a head start on the quilts. We also need to call upon our generous members who come with their sewing machines as they are vital to this day -- just make sure you remember to bring your extension cord. In addition, a reminder that we are now supporting a group that needs quilts or blankets for older teenagers, so please consider making twin size tops. Also, if you have not signed up to come to City Quilter on February 25 from 5:00 to 9:00 pm to work on Charity Quilts, please let Jennifer Bigelow or Marilyn Korn know at info@empirequilters.net. We want to make this one of our most successful Charity meetings ever!
If you want some ideas of how to make some easy charity projects, visit the Service page. The Service Page has quilt patterns, stuffed animal patterns, and some general guidelines for you to follow. There are also some easy quilt assembly suggestions.
Meeting Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012
Speaker: Rayna Gillman
Topic: Pushing Creativity with 'What If'
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
Rayna Gillman learned to work spontaneously, to ask "what if?" and to experiment in her work. She has taught both nationally and in the U.K. Her work has been featured in Quilting Arts Magazine, and in several books. She is the author of the popular book Create Your Own Hand-Painted Cloth.
Rayna presents a fresh look at surface design as the starting point for an art quilt. You will see the difference screening, stamping, and monoprinting with textile paints, gelatin, soy wax, and items from the house or hardware store can make to titillate a quilt. At her presentation today, Rayna will talk about how to let the fabric guide you, or "tell you where it wants to go." She will discuss creative exercises, mind mapping, and word games to get your intuition up and running. Rayna will inspire you to go to the next level.
Rayna Gillman will be discussing how two powerful words can push the boundaries of your work and increase your creative courage. is a look at an artist’s journey from traditional to self-expression. Did you ever have a potential disaster that turned into art? Bring it to share, we’ll look a slides of how other artists have made ‘lemonade from lemons.’ Her lecture will ask What If? And her answers may surprise members. Bring a potential disaster and let Rayna bring it to life.
Rayna Gillman will be conducting a day-long workshop on Sunday, April 15, 2012. More information about that workshop is available on the Workshops page.
For more information about Rayna Gillman, and about her popular book Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth published by C&T, visit her website: studio78.net.
Meeting Date: Saturday, May 12, 2012
Speaker: Rami Kim
Topic: Folded Fabric Elegance
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
Rami Kim is a DNA scientist-turned fabric artist/quilter/instructor known nationally and internationally. She is a 15-time Best of Show winner, distinguished for her innovative art-to-wear. Her passion is in contemporary art-to-wear, quilts, cloth dolls and bags with special interest in 3-dimensional textures and she is known for her own distinctive colors and techniques.
Rami is the author of the popular books Folded Fabric Elegance and Quilted Elegance, which focus on reversible wearable arts, bags and two-sided quilts.
Rami Kim will be conducting a day-long workshop on Sunday, May 13, 2012. More information about that workshop is available on the Workshops page.
For information about Rami Kim please visit her website: ramikim.com and blog
Meeting Date: Saturday, June 9, 2012
Speaker: Linda Warren
Topic: Successful Fabric Selection
Location:
Church of the Holy Apostles
296 Ninth Ave (@28th St)
New York, NY 10001 [ Map ]
Time: 1:00 pm (immediately following the guild businss meeting)
Cost: Free for guild members.
Guest Fee: $10.00.
Linda Warren has developed a style of quilting she calls Illusions. With a choice of fabrics and straight line sewing you can create varied and striking quilts. Anyone who feels the need to expand their quilt horizons plan to attend this presentation.
Linda Warren will be conducting a day-long workshop on Sunday, June 10, 2012. More information about that workshop is available on the Workshops page.
For information about Linda Warren please visit her website:Linda Warren Designs