An Inspirational Evening With Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi

On Monday, October 24, 2016 Pieces and Patches members were honored to spend the evening with Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, aerospace engineer and quilter. Dr. Mazloom presented a lecture entitled "Quilting - The Collective History".  
Her presentation was inspiring in many ways - creatively, culturally as well as personally.  She is among the most influential African American quilt historians and quilt artists of the 21st century and was recently inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame.  

 Carolyn now uses only black and white in her quilts - having given away !!! all her stash 

of many colors!

 No only were the themes of her quilts thought-provoking and heartwarming, but her workmanship was exemplary!!

 Each of her quilt told a story of the importance of celebrating life, family, heritage and culture.

Holiday School Bell Quilt In

 Saturday, September 24th a great group of quilters gathered at our 2nd School Bell Quilt-In.  We had a variety of projects going on at the same time with quilters sharing their expertise and tips with each other!

Holiday Candle Wraps

                       Adding bling to crazy quilting is fun!

Starting a Halloween Project

We met in the classroom at Country Stitches.

Luscious Fabric!!

Believe it or not, these petals can be a  

poinsettia or a daisy!

Easy as 1 - 2 - 3 !

            Projects are always more fun when shared with a friend!!

Our Own Sharon Bannister Presents Her Applique Adventure

 At our August Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild meeting, we had the pleasure of learning from our own guild member,                              Sharon Bannister who LOVES applique.  

Sharon shared with us the wonderful array of her beautiful quilts and wall hangings that corresponded with her "Applique Adventure".  We learned about how she works in cotton and wool, has done needle turn and raw edge applique, uses both hand and machine stitching and has made full sized quilts as well as very tiny miniatures. 

Here are just a few of Sharon's wonderful applique pieces.

 This raw edge applique quilt won Best of Show at the Jackson County Fair this summer! 

Wool Applique Flowers with Cotton Nine Patch

These hexagon are SO TINY!!Here is a fun Christmas wall hanging using machine appliqued letters.

                 

This is a lovely hand appliqued wool on cotton wall hanging.

Karen Eckmeier's Workshop "Happy Villages"

Karen Eckmeier - fabric artist and master quilter - traveled to Michigan from her home in Connecticut to lead a wonderful workshop called "Happy Villages" where we got to "step into a fabric collage adventure". 

Karen also gave an inspiring program at our July Pieces and Patches monthly meeting.

Here are a few of her examples.
Seaside Village

Oriental Village

Italian Village  Karen's Miniature Village                                                                                                                                                                                                                 You get the perspective of how small this village is in the picture below.                                                                                               Close ups of this amazing miniature village with such detail!!

  

Sandcastles

Fairytale Village

                                                                                                              Here is Karen explaining the steps to making our own "Happy Village".

Here are the beginnings of some of our own Happy Villages!

The full workshop of quilters had such a great time learning this technique and working on our creations.

What a great time we had learning from Karen!!  How fortunate we are to have been able to spend time with such a talented artist and also such a wonderful woman!!  

If you haven't attended a workshop with one of our speakers, don't miss out again!  There's nothing quite like the personal touch of  learning from the person who has develop a quilting technique!!  Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild's new program year begins in September, so as soon as you see the new list of programs and workshops, plan to attend one of our workshops - a fantastic bargain and excellent opportunity!

New Location for Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild

Beginning September 26, 2016, the Pieces and Patches Quilt Guild of Jackson will be holding its monthly meetings at the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History, located at 3225 Fourth Street in Jackson. We are excited about the new location right in Jackson, in the community room.

Even though the address is on Fourth St., it is easier to access the parking and entrance from Oakwood Drive, which is on the east side of the museum. 

So, if you are coming in on Fourth St from the north, turn left (east) on Hickory Drive to Oakwood.  Turn right until you see the parking lot on the right.  If you are coming from the south on Stonewall, turn right on Oakwood and continue around the curve until you see the parking lot on your left. 

The map below gives a broad overview of the location of the museum. 

Machine Quilting 1.5 Workshop with Michelle Scott

On Monday, July 27, 2016 Michelle Scott taught a workshop to help guild member improve their machine quilting skills.  Great information and great fun with our teacher, Michelle who helped us relax and not take ourselves or our quilting too seriously!!

 That's Michelle at the sewing machine!

Prizes Awarded for Quilt Entries in Our May 2016 Quilt Show

 At our bi-annual quilt show "Everything's Coming Up Quilts" held in May, 

all who attended could vote on their viewer's choice for best quilt.  

The votes were tallied and here are the winners.  

Congratulations Quilters on 

Your Amazing Work!!

Alice Erwin received first place 

for her quilt called  "E I E I O".

Sharon Bannister's "Flower Garden Hexagons" miniature quilt received 2nd place.

 Karen Penrod's quilt featuring her son's two draft horses "Jasper and Emerson" got 3rd place.

 Joy Phillips' quilt received 4th place for her 

wool applique quilt "Flower Penny Garden".

Here was a tie for 5th place between two quilts.

  Denise Olson's quilt is titled 

"Green Monster With A Purpose" 

and hangs on a lucky friend's wall.

Linda Parshall is the other 5th place winner for her quilt "Sarah's Garden" 

which was made for her daughter.