LAQ Meeting, March 16, 2024
Members enjoyed social time at 9:00 before the meeting was called to order at 9:30 by “Chief Cat Herder”, Barbara Bogart
13 Members present: Mary Koenig, Lydia Dambekalns, Judy Knight, Lynne Swearingen, Judy Knight, Rocio Gomez Sandoval, Anne Leonard, Michaella Kaszuba, Jodi Atherton, Debbie Gorski, Maureen tenBensel, new member Sue Green, and Ronda Whitman.
Members were informed that the Extension Office meeting room will not be available on June 15. Our choices are finding another location or moving the meeting to June 22. After a brief discussion no one opposed moving the meeting to June 22.
Rocio and Jodi have pieces in the Governor’s Art Exhibit in the Herschler Bldg.
Exhibit Opportunities: –
Art 321 Fiber & Quilt Show, Casper, www.art321.org/open-calls (March 28 deadline)
Laramie County Public Library
Michaella said there are 3 more weeks of Free Motion Quilting. Members will bring their pieces for show & tell in April.
Book Study: Intuitive Color & Design, Adventures in Art Quilting, by Jean Wells, starting 2nd week of April. Michaella will send email to recruit.
Today’s exercise was PLAY: Fast and Loose with Michaella and Mary. Inspiring music, paper, crayons, markers, colored pencils. Making marks and scribbling. Discussion about exercise and how we felt/learned.
“Inspiration Pieces” Show & Tell (or whatever we’re working on): Maureen showed 3 completed pieces using “repurposed” items, Sue displayed her beaded feather wall hanging and asked for help with quilted art; Michaella--gel plate samples, Rocio—beaded creative embroidery in blues and black; Judy—finished/quilt 10x10 using marker/alcohol to create design; Lynne—hand drawn mandella for FMQ; Lydia—sketch book with designs/ideas/plans; Barbara—finished 10x10 pink improvisation on a Paul Klee painting; Ronda—repurposed burlap, wire, washers, embroidery thread.
“CHALLENGES” renamed “EXPERIMENTS”. Next--create a piece incorporating transparent element as a key feature. Bring to May 18 meeting. (Bring pieces--finished, started, drawings, etc.) Transparent sheers, lace, vinyl were shared.
Next meeting April 20.
Dolly has been a quilting machine! She completed 2 more quilts. These were piece, quilted and bound all by her. Thank you Dolly!!
Here’s a quilt that has been in my to do list for AWHILE. I got it done on Saturday of our hospice work days
This is not my quilt, but a friend’s that I quilted for her. She had a BUNCH of old linens & hankerchiefs from both her and her husband’s family. She made 3 quilts for her 3 grandchildren showcasing the family heirlooms. This is the last one. If I remember correctly, each quilt had a special, large linen near the middle of it. They all had the same color scheme - yellow, gray and black - though they all had different sashing fabric and backing.
We had 15 attendees at our meeting. And we gained three new members! Welcome Sarah Lee, Joan Fulton, and Rocio Gomez!
1. (Un)Common Threads debrief
Publicity: Judy and Kathleen submitted a written report on their publicity efforts, with recommendations for the future. They think that social media and word-of-mouth were the most effective methods of attracting visitors to the show.
Reception: Ronda reported that the food and beverages meant for the Friday afternoon reception actually lasted for the full three days of the show, and seemed to enhance visitors’ experience of the show.
Sales: Brett reported that we had $1,955 in sales. Although not all the bills have been paid, we now have a balance of $1,244 in our bank account.
Overall assessment: Almost 200 people attended, sales were strong (17 pieces out of almost 70), and we had excellent feedback from visitors. People seemed to spend a lot of time looking at the art and asking questions about our techniques.
Moving forward: We agreed in principle to host the show again in 2025 with the same title and (hopefully) the same venue. One significant change would be for LAQ to collect commissions on sales and/or charge non-LAQ members an entry fee to offset the costs involved. (Andrea pointed out that the Laramie Fiber Guild had contributed $50 to cover advertising costs.)
Sharon Cumbie, our curator, declined to be paid, but she expressed a strong interest in one of Mary K’s mandala pieces. We voted to purchase the piece from Mary to give to Sharon.
2. Question of the day: what inspiration did you get from the show?
This question elicited a wide array of positive responses from both those who participated in the show and those who visited it. People commented on the range of techniques and colors on display, the ability to get up close and see the details in the work, the overall sense of joy in the show, the stories in the artwork, the power of creativity in community, the satisfaction of recognition for our work, and the welcoming atmosphere in the gallery.
3. Planning
Our meeting on October 21 will be focused on planning our schedule for 2024. Ronda offered to give a demo on rattail binding for the November meeting.
Informal brainstorming for next year’s programs included lots of ideas:
making name tags
using stabilizers
how to plan and organize a project from the beginning
bead-weaving - Wendi and Judy
using 3D in a piece -- Mary K and Jodie
reviving challenges
designating some meetings as work days for individual projects
Michaella will lead a book study, using Intuitive Color & Design by Jean Wells and will also coordinate another free motion quilting course.
4. Hospice
Mary C will lead hospice work zoom sessions either October 6 & 7 or 27 & 28. Mary K will compile a list of people interested. Dolly suggested that we also schedule some pinning days after people get their tops assembled. Kathleen reported that we have donated 50 quilts to hospice over the past five years.
5. Other business
Joan Fulton told us about a 5-day workshop with Hollis Chatelain scheduled for March 2024 in Loveland, sponsored by the League of Northern Colorado Quilters The cost is $575 which includes some supplies Registration opens October 2 for non-members of LNCQ. Barbara will send information about the workshop in an email to members.
Andrea Graham invited LAQ members to attend the Laramie Fiber Guild meetings on the second Tuesdays of the month at 6:30 at the EppsonSenior Center.
6. Show & Tell
Members showed results of their Dye Days work; photos are posted on the LAQ blog.
NEXT MEETING
October 21 2023
9:00 socializing, 9:30 meeting
Extension room at the Albany County Fairgrounds
