SAMQG Spring Retreat

If you look up retreat in the dictionary there are a variety of definitions: 
    1) the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.
    2) a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy;
    3) an asylum, as for the insane;
    4) a retirement or a period of retirement for religious exercises and meditation.

But to a quilter, a retreat is something a bit different and yet part of all of those things. We definitely do withdraw -- but not into safety, privacy, retirement or seclusion. We withdraw from our normal everyday life into a place where we have all we need to make our quilting dreams come true. We definitely go to a place of seclusion, but not a seclusion from everyone, just from non-quilters. Many would think it’s some kind of asylum and some would say we do go a bit crazy. We wake up very early in the morning, stay up very late at night and in between we sew, we build with blocks, we quilt (and we eat a little). To some of us quilting is almost like a religious exercise – creation. And I’m sure to many as we sit silently and imagine and dream and think of what we can make out of the beautiful fabric we’ve seen, it looks like meditation.

So a quilting retreat is everything in the dictionary and more. It’s a special time where it doesn’t matter what your age is, where you came from, where you’re going or what your style is. It doesn’t matter what kind of equipment you use, what kind of color palette you love, or what kind of design you’re dreaming of. It only matters that you are in a room with others who like you want to create something beautiful from fabric.

It’s so fun to watch things take shape and grow. But when you have 24 people all creating at the same time, it is difficult to capture it and still be able to do some sewing yourself. So below are some pics for you in various stages of completion. I hope you enjoy them and if you come to a guild meeting, I hope you see them completed and put to good use on a bed or a wall or somehow displayed for others to enjoy.

I'm gonna make a few apologies about these pictures. First, you won't see many people. When you're at retreat you really aren't looking your best and I am not a good photographer anyway, so rather than insult anyone with a bad photo, I only used pics with people when there was no other way to show their creation. Second, I am not adding the names of the creators of these masterpieces. Third, many of these quilts were more done when the retreat was over and I didn't get pictures of them in their latest form.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

April Meeting and Sew-n-Tell

The April meeting included a presentation by Allison Chambers on the use of solids in quilts with some very good explanations and samples of the different types of solids and different ways to use them to enhance your quilting projects.

 

A lot of additional information was provided during the meeting on upcoming events and opportunities, as well as reminders of deadlines to come, which is available to our members on the closed Facebook group site.

 

For many members the favorite part of the meetings is the Sew-n-Tell. We enjoy it so much we share it with all. 

 

Below you can see just a sampling of the quilts made by the members of the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild. 

 

Sew-n-Tell is normally limited to those quilts which meet the definition of the traits of modern quilts  listed on the Modern Quilt Guild parent website: "Modern quilts are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. "Modern traditionalism" or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting." 

 

We had some new members, so you'll see some non-modern aesthetics in these photos. 

 

So many of our members' work include many different types of quilting (including traditional piecing, redwork, English paper piecing, foundation paper piecing, embroidery, cross stitch, multi-media and art quilting) and we are very proud of their talent and accomplishments, but we have had to limit our sew-n-tell or else we'd spend hours drooling over quilts, and never have any time for guild business or educational presentations.

 

Leslie Jennison showed off some children quilts she created including robots.

 

 

 

Joe, a new member, showed off some of his leather quilt work.

 

 

Jen Eskridge showed us one of her quilts using solids since that was the presentation theme.

 

Kathy Null showed some of her work from the Journey to Art Quilting bee challenges.

 

Pat Poole showed off her quilt from out Texas Road Trip Quilt Along.  Others will be shown at the June meeting.

Edna showed off her world map from the Shannon Brinkley Scrappy Bits Applique workshop held earlier this year.  Edna expanded hers from a wall hanging to a lap quilt.

 

Stacy Pyron showed off some of her latest work (fronts and backs).

 

 

Sarah Rodriguez showed one of her beauties (front and back).

These next three were made by members for a fabric challenge for the May Hauptstrasse Quiltfest in Boerne.

 

 

 

Joanna Marsh has been busy participating in some online mini quilt swaps.  Wish I was her swap partner.

 

 

Allison showed off her world map quilt from Shannon Brinkley's Scrappy Bits Applique Workshop.  Hers was turned into a baby blanket.

Hope you enjoyed our mini quilt show. No Sew-n-Tell next month as we will be holding our modern May Mercado -- kind of like a sewing room flea market.  But check back in June to see some  more beauties.