March-Sue Poser- Gruber's Quilt Shop

Sue Poser was our speaker for the March Meeting.  She gave us several quilting short cut demos and a fun trunk show of projects from Gruber's Quilt Shop.  You can check out Gruber's Quilt Shop website here.

 

This year Minnesota Quilters honors Sue Poser, the woman behind Gruber's Quilt Shop, as the 2015 Quilter of the Year. After graduating from the College of St. Catherine in 1981, she worked at the family-owned general store in Genola, MN. "My grandmother taught me to quilt when I was six years old," Poser said. "I began incorporating quilt fabric into the store right away because that's my love." Within ten years she was offering free quilting classes four times a week and regularly traveling to national quilting conferences. In 1998, she brought Gruber's to downtown St. Cloud and quickly expanded to a larger shop in Waite Park.  You can see all Sue's quilt projects at the Minnesota Quilters 37th Annual Quilt Show and Conference in Duluth, June 11-13th. 

 

Show and Tell

Peggy Starz showed us all the fun projects she made out of one quilt panel.  She also showed a fun table runner pattern and a chicken table topper.

Sharon Banister showed us her quilt. The back is just as gorgeous as the front.

 This orange and aqua quilt by Cheryl Cooper is striking.

Sandra Schlagel showed us another of her raw-edge applique art quilts. The detailed hand quilting on this project is breathtaking.

March-30's Mini Group Meeting

Bonita Kallestad gave a wonderful demonstration on the "double wedding ring" block from Eleanor Burns- "Egg Money Quilts" book.

 Linda Kacher's blocks are made out of 30's reproduction fabrics.

 Theresa Burgmeier's blocks are made with fabric that gives a civil war feel. The black background is stunning making the fabric in the blocks float above the background.

Linda Bjornberg's is making two quilts. One is made out of 30's reproduction fabric and the other has a Christmas feel to it.

Smitty Luschen is using 30's reproduction fabrics.

Deb Bomstad quilt blocks have a Christmas feel. The red background fabric is awesome.

Jeanette Swenson showed us her block of the month quilt from last year.

This is Linda Kocher's block of the month quilt from last month. 

Fiber Folk Mini Group-February Meeting-Sandra Schlagel "Raw-edge Applique Art Quilt"

The Fiber Folk Mini Group met on February 23rd.  Sandra Schlagel gave an inspiring demonstration and trunk show on "Raw-edge Applique Art Quilting".  Sandra explained the process she uses to design art quilts with voice and style, quilting, and finishing ideas. Sandra challenged us to use raw-edged fabric applique pieces in shapes that would be pleasing to us (squares, circles, rectangles, triangles, petals or free-formed variety.)

Just one of the amazing samples of Sandra's "Raw-edge Applique Art Quilting". 

 

The next Fiber Folk Mini Group Meeting is March 23rd, 1:00 at the Willmar Community Center.  The demo is on Gel Printing. 

 

 

 

 

February - Jan Martin, “Designing Quilts”

Jan Martin enlightened us with a power point presentation on designing quilts. She brought some of her amazing quilts to show us.  This quilt, she is standing in front of, is her "presidents quilt". Jan was our guild president in 1996-1997. 

Jan is also known for her talent of discharge dyeing. Discharging is the process of removing dye  from fabric with various household detergents containing bleaching chemicals. Patterns or designs appear through stamping, stenciling or block printing. This quilt is an example using a wall paper stencil.

Some of our show and tell.

September-30's Mini Group Meeting

Members showing their "Rosebuds" block from the Egg Money Quilts book by Eleanor Burns.

Patricia Knoechel - "Quilt in a Day"

“Nouveau Wedding Ring”

 

Patricia Knoechel, Eleanor Burns' sister, from "Quilt in a Day" presented a program Friday, 8/29/14 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Willmar Community Center.   Pat shared tips, tricks, new products and patterns from "Quilt In A Day" including “Nouveau Wedding Ring” and “Pineapple” with twists for modern quilters. Plus she had a trunk show of lovely quilts for us to see.  She is such a delight and it was a wonderful program.

A little history of Eleanor Burns-
The story of how Eleanor Burns became so popular, mirrors the process of constructing an heirloom quilt. Her life, like a patchwork quilt assembled from pieces collected over time, has blended into an inspiring and beautiful story. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1945 and quite early on began sewing on a small, crank-handle toy sewing machine. Seeking out any available fabric, she discovered her Aunt Edna’s chicken feed sacks, allowing her hours of stitching time. By thirteen, she polished her skills up on her mother’s newly purchased green Elna sewing machine. Her childhood brought out an enterprising spirit that was expressed in persistent tenacity. Being dyslexic developed her extraordinary ability to make difficult things simple, and teaching others was a way for her to impart her passion for learning. As a young woman, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Edinboro State College. Her graduate work at Penn State University culminated her preparation to be a special education teacher, and she began teaching for the Pittsburgh school system. In 1967 she met and married Bill Burns and the process of piecing together her work with family life began. Quilt in a Day. 

June - Laura Murray "Laura Murray Designs"

Our speaker for the month was Laura Murray, of Laura Murray Designs. This program was about her unique and beautiful designs using innovative techniques with paint, stencils, and stamps.

Her company was launched in 2000, immediately after the end of her 30 career as a Human Resource Manager with Honeywell. It was an easy transition, thanks to her lifelong interest in sewing and needle arts. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, and travel extensively to vend and teach at quilt and sewing shows across the country. You can check out her website here http://www.lauramurraydesigns.com

Country Quilters was started in 1983. Each June we celebrate this event with cake and coffee.

Sgt. Gayle Liebe, our Quit of Valor quilter, was given a "Quilt of Valor" by the guild.  Gayle quilted the majority of the quilts that will be given to the  Minnesota National Guard's 849th Mobility Augmentation Company in July.

This is the quilt Gayle received. If you are wondering if she quilted it, the answer is yes.  It did not meet the requirements to be given as a "Quilt of Valor" because it was to large.  Our guild can not thank Gayle enough for all her hard work and long hours quilting these quilts.

Block of the Month from May, "Broken Arrows"

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Some of the amazing quilts make by our members.