Welcome
NEWS from the NEW PRESIDENT
It’s SPRING, and there have been so many quilting events in the state of Georgia that it’s hard to keep track of what is going on, but the GQ Council is here to keep our members as informed as possible!
The GQC Spring Convention held in Dawsonville on St. Patrick’s Day was just a “pot o’gold”, and not just because we were near Dahlonega either. We heard Paula Tanner’s quilting journey with her beautiful traditional/art quilts. The “passengers” on the road trip were simply awed by the cross stitch pieces she made and then placed into a quilt or wall hanging. They were stunning! Paula also coordinated the Spring Convention which was a HUGE job, and yet she brought it all together wonderfully along with the Loose Threads. Her organizational skills and willingness to serve the GQC members are greatly appreciated. Thanks, Paula!
Next we witnessed Karen Downer as she interviewed Silver Stitcher Marilyn Titman. It was a great interview because Marilyn is a gifted quilter and an fantastic person. Her quilting journey has led her through several decades of different teachers, patterns, colors and into her own humorous creations. Marilyn has taught many, many people how to quilt. Her latest “quilt trainee” was just 12 years old when Marilyn started teaching her to quilt! Everyone who knows Marilyn loves her positive attitude and loving soul. She has touched many, many people, and I am one.
After a tasty lunch Maggie Ball, who flew all the way from Bainbridge Island, Washington, presented a lecture and trunk show about her 20 year quilting journey and how she connected with, Selenge Tserendash, a visionary quilter in Mongolia on the internet. Their work over several years has resulted in the New Way Life Mongolian Quilting Center to teach women to quilt in Mongolia. She showed us pictures of them and their building where they make and sell items they have made. She also shared about the symbolic Olzii which is the inspiration for the Gateway to Mongolia pattern. She sold items made by the women in Mongolia and between those sales, the $100 gift from the Quilt Council and donations made by individual Council members she collected $805 to give the women’s center to help them continue their work.
Maggie taught three classes while she was here. On Friday she taught the Gateway to Mongolia quilt pattern, and on Saturday there were several who participated in Show and Tell. On Sunday, she taught the Kaleidoscope Puzzle Quilt pattern, and it was an EXCELLENT class that I was able to take. Each person’s design was very different and beautiful. Then on Monday she taught the Wiregrass Quilters and friends how to make the Twisted Bargello. Those were fabulous, too! The Wiregrass women are a fun, hardworking and wonderful group to be with.
I hope they will send us pictures of their Show and Tell soon.
It was a GREAT Spring Convention, and if you missed it I hope you will make plans now to come to the Fall Convention in October hosted the Misty Mountain Quilt Guild in Blairsville. In the Fall the trees are beautiful in the North Georgia Mountains, and they have already started planning for another great get together of the Georgia Quilt Council. I hope to see you there!
Your Quilting Adventures Tour Guide,
Pomelia Wasdin
GQC 2012 Quilt Challenge
The Georgia Quilt Council is challenging all of its members to make a small quilt which will become part of an exhibit that will tour the United States with The Original Sewing & Quilting Expo in 2013. These quilts will be on tour for the entire year. The quilts will be displayed at the Georgia Quilt Show at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Georgia October 18, 19 and 20, 2012. Click Here for Details
Sad news from Karen Combs
Many of you took classes from Karen Combs last year or enjoyed her presentation at our Spring 2011 Convention. On Mar 16, Karen’s rental car was broken into & all her teaching quilts were stolen.
Contratulation, Loose Threads for a WONDERFUL convention, and many thanks to Maggie Ball for sharing her adventures in Mongolia, life in the Northwest, and quilting adventures with us and our workshop coordinators for making sure that everything went smoothly.