Past meeting program information is listed below.
Anatomy of an Art Quilt
Monday, November 9th
7:00 pm
Cindy Grisdela
Cindy Grisdela, an award-winning fiber artist, author and quilter from Reston, Virginia, will be joining us Monday, November 9, 2020, for her virtual lecture, “Anatomy of an Art Quilt.” Cindy will talk about how to create an improvisational quilt (improv quilt for short). She’ll answer these questions: How do you create an improv quilt without a pattern? Where do you start? How do you know when it’s finished? She’ll share her tips and tricks in an entertaining lecture about the process of working improvisationally from start to finish.
If you haven’t read it yet, Pam Rocco highly recommends Cindy’s book, “Artful Improv: Explore Color Recipes, Building Blocks & Free-Motion Quilting,” available in paperback. Her book contains an excellent tutorial on how to get started with improv.
Social Justice Sewing Academy
Monday, October 12 – 7 pm
Sara Trail
Sara Trail, the talented and charismatic founder and Executive Director of the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA), will be our speaker at our October meeting. After graduating from U.C. Berkeley and enrolling in a doctoral program at Harvard, Sara dropped out after only one year, got a job at a California prison, and founded the SJSA, because she wanted to use her artistic voice as a quilter to advocate for social justice.
She’ll tell us about the hands-on workshops the SJSA conducts in schools, prisons and community centers across the country, teaching students how to use quilting to effect social change.”
Quilts made by SJSA students from both continuation and regular public school classes were displayed at the 2019 PVQA Quilt Show.
Learn more about Sara and the Social Justice Sewing Academy.
Design and Color
Monday, September 14th
7:00 pm
Tara Faughnan
Tara Faughnan, a professional freelance textile designer and quilter from Oakland, will be our featured speaker at our September meeting. In her presentation, “Design and Color,” Tara will discuss different design approaches and delve into the importance of how color and value can tell a story. She draws inspiration from the simple bold geometry of antique quilts, the gorgeous bright colors from textiles around the world, and the spontaneity found in unconventional pieced quilts.
Check out her website www.terrafaughnan.com to see her work.
Rules and Options of Planned Improv Piecing
Monday, August 10th – 7:00 pm
Sarah Goer
Sarah Goer, is a modern quilter and teacher from San Jose. She loves bold color and enjoys the geometry and math of quilting.Her quilt patterns are less about following a precise pattern and and more about learning to improvise. In her presentation, “Rules and Options of Planned Improv Piecing,” she’ll show how she uses her planning nature to develop rules for herself, which drive her Planned Improv quilt design work.
The Traditional Way and Mac’s Way
Monday, July 13th – 7:00 pm
Mac McNamara
Enjoy a mini-workshop from President Mac McNamara. He is going to demonstrate the traditional construction of several blocks and then his interpretations of how those blocks could be reconstructed. It should be a fun evening that will stretch boundaries and get our creative juices churning.
A Trip to Japan with Friends
Monday, June 8th – 7:00 pm
Shauna Moulton
Helen Klee
Ellen McCarthy
Ruth Smith
Join our four intrepid PVQA quilters — Helen Klee, Ellen McCarthy, Shauna Moulton, and Ruth Smith — who traveled with Okan Arts on their Japanese Quilt Festival and Textile Tour in January and February this year. They will take us on a virtual tour of highlights from their time in Tokyo and Kyoto, from the Tokyo Dome to various textile dyeing workshops to splendid temples & gardens. See you then!
Christine Barnes and Heidi Emmett
Monday, March 9 – 7 pm
A Kaffe Fassett Extravaganza
Join Heidi Emmett and Christine Barnes for their aptly titled, fast-paced, fun-filled lecture on one of the biggest names in quiltmaking. Kaffe’s patterned, striped, and shot-cotton fabrics have been favorites with quilters for decades, but he’s just as famous for his knitting, needlepoint, and mosaics. Their program includes a short bio (he’s a fascinating artist), two brief video 
interviews in which he discusses his color philosophy and sources of inspiration, and a trunk show of their 
quilts and wearables made from his fabrics and yarns.
Timna Tarr
Monday, January 13 – 7 pm
Flying Colors
If you love fun, colorful quilts, this program is sure to delight! During this trunk show, Timna leads the audience down the path of her quilting journey. She talks about her design and color choices, as well as the personal stories behind the quilts.
She explains: “My work is about color and small compositions. Each block 
in a quilt is made as its own element, independent of the other blocks. After all of the blocks are constructed, my goal is to arrange the small compositions to play off each other and work together to create a larger whole. What keeps me engaged is watching how the project changes and transforms with the addition of each color and texture.“
The resulting quilts are contemporary works, set in this time and place, which reference the rich tradition of quilt making.
Mary Lou Weidman
Monday, November 11 – 7 pm
Out of the Box
Mary Lou will discusses how to get out, stretch, and stay out of the box. How to learn new things, go new directions and take the road less traveled.
How to get “Out of the Box”!
Cindy Myers
Monday, October 14 – 7 pm
Coloring my Quilting World
Join Cindy in her journey of how she picks out the colors and fabrics for her quilts. Cindy is a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor skilled in paper piecing and English paper piecing. She is also a vendor at PIQF so be sure to visit her booth a Couple of Old Boards.
Joe Cunningham
Monday, September 9 – 7 pm
Men and the Art of Quilt Making
Joe Cunningham began making quilts professionally in 1979, after a ten-year career as a musician in Michigan. Over the years his quilts have evolved into a unique, personal style. His quilts are in the permanent collections of museums, as well as in numerous private collections. Cunningham’s 11 books on quilts include the 2010 book “Men and the Art of Quiltmaking”. He has a regular column for the national magazine The Quilt Life and has appeared on many quilting shows on PBS and HGTV.
While quilting has been practiced almost exclusively by women, a few men have crept into the realm from time to time. This lecture tells why, and how, men have occasionally landed on the world of quilts. He will tell my own story and show his own quilts, while also providing some historical insight into this mystery. The lecture is illustrated with his own quilts and pictures of men and their quilts from his book, “Men and the Art of Quiltmaking.”
Sue Fox and Julia McCleod
Monday, August 12 – 7 pm
Silk and Selvage: New Quilts from Rescued Materials
A bit of history, a bit of inspiration, & a bit of step-by-step Show & Tell… Sue and Julia been making quilts from Silk and from Salvaged materials for quite some time now, and the end is definitely NOT in sight! Come see a variety of quilts that Sue Fox and Julia McLeod have been making, along with the themes and techniques they have been exploring, each in their own individual styles.
They will share why working with these particular materials is so exciting, and give you some encouragement to try using these unusual fabrics in YOUR quilts. BONUS: Get a virtual peek inside Their working studios and see how each of them develop their quilts—either with precision or with a certain amount of abandon. (with digital slides and a trunk show.
Learn more about Sue and Julia.
Dory Cary
Monday, June 10 – 7 pm
Lecture with Dory Cary of Orange Dot Quilts
Orange Dot Quilts was created in 2015 by Dory Cary, a Romanian-born engineer and designer who moved to the United States in 2001. She discovered quilting in 2006, made her first quilt and became an American citizen in 2008, and wrote her first pattern in 2013. She states: “Now I have more than 20 quilt and bag patterns and even more patterns are waiting to be created.
I several notebooks filled with ideas and sketches waiting to be turned into quilts, bags, or something else altogether. I love quilting for the creativity and freedom of expression it gives me, and I love the quilting community for the amazing generosity and sense of camaraderie. Sew much love!”
Julia Fikse
Monday, May 13 – 7:00 pm
Appraisal, Care and Quilt Repair
Our speaker for our May meeting is Julia Fikse, an AQS Certified Quilt Appraiser and professional quilt repair artist.
Wonder if you have a valuable antique? Looking to add value to your new creations? Come learn about quilt appraisals, what makes a quilt valuable and how to increase the value of your new quilts as you create them. Have an old quilt that you want to repair, but you don’t know how? Learn about quilt care and how to repair (and when not to repair) your quilted treasures. Come on out to a fun-filled and informative lecture with a trunk show of quilts through the ages!
Julia Fikse as an AQS Certified Quilt Appraiser. She has been a designer, garment maker, textile artist, graphic artist, entrepreneur, clothing and accessory manufacturer, and business leader in the textile industry for 26 years….and a professional quilt maker for over sixteen years. Julia is a quilt collector and regularly gives lectures and trunk shows on quilt and textile history, fabric dating and quilt appraisal. Julia will have a quilt on display at the Texas Quilt Museum this fall after showing at the Houston and Chicago Quilt Festivals.
Conservation/Repair Kits will be available for purchase at the lecture.
Patricia Belyea
Monday, March 11 – 7 pm
Welcome To the Alluring World of Japanese Yukata Quilts
Patricia Belyea is the Canadian-borne, Seattle-based owner of Okan Arts, an on-line and brick-and-mortar shop that specializes in imported Japanese textiles, including yukata cottons. In addition, she specializes in creating innovative quilts, many using yukata cottons, and teaching. She recently published her first quilting book, titled East-Meets-West Quilts.
A select number of yukata cotton as well as copies of Patricia’s book will be on sale.