Here is a list of the 2022-2023 monthly meetings, workshops, and other activities.  All dates and times are subject to change.

In-person meetings are held at Harvey Wheeler Community Center, at the corner of Main Street (Rt. 62) and Church Street in West Concord.  Meetings begin at 7:15pm and will be cancelled whenever Concord Public Schools are closed due to bad weather.

September 21, 2022:  Marge Tucker
Improv and Abstractions in Antique Quilts
Some of our quilting ancestors were ahead of their time! We are not the first generation of quilters to discover improvisational quilting; but we may be the ones who have embraced it and made it mainstream. In this trunk show, Marge display antique and vintage quilts that are improvisationally constructed. So much inspiration and some great lessons can be learned from these graphic and abstract “antiques.”

Sept. 24, 2022:   Unmarked—Contemporary Walking Foot Quilting Workshop  with Marge Tucker
You can do so much innovative quilting JUST with your walking foot! I will show you my method of quilting with your walking foot that involves little or no marking but still results in spectacular quilting.
I start with the basics, such as batting choices, thread, needles and how to secure the quilting stitches. Then, we start quilting with straight lines and move to curved quilting lines and spirals
on your practice quilt sandwiches. For both the straight line and curved quilting, I will show you many designs and variations you can use to great effect. I will also have some of my quilts as
examples, including “Burst” which received the award Best Machine Quilting (Frameless) at QuiltCon 2019. This class will change the way you think about your walking foot!
See Carol MacFarlane for signup.

October 19, 2022: Kathie Beltz
Secrets from the Judge’s Chambers
Have you ever attended a quilt show and been mystified why one quilt won a ribbon, while an equally wonderful quilt did not? What are the qualifications for first, second, and third place? What are the special awards: What is the process of evaluating and judging quilts? These questions, and more, will be answered when Kathie reveals the secrets from the judging room. (Actually, there are no secrets. You probably already know the answers!)

November 4 and 5, 2022: Quilt Show
Friday 9 AM – 6 PM
Saturday 9 AM – 4 PM
St. Matthews United Methodist Church
435 Central Street, Acton, Ma 01720

November 16, 2022: Tina Craig
EPP vs. FPP: The Showdown
English Paper Piecing or Foundation Paper Piecing? What’s the difference? What are the pros and cons of each technique? Which technique is your favorite? We will try to answer these questions as Tina shares dozens of quilts and many tips and tricks. Quilts from each technique will be pitted against each other and you will vote for your favorites. At the end, we will tally up the votes and declare a winner!

Nov. 19, 2022: Michelle Banton, Gemstones Workshop
Birthstone Series by MJ Kinman
Want to create larger than life-sized gemstones? Michelle is a Certified Gem Affiliate, trained by MJ Kinman, our presenter in March 2022. MJ has been creating giant diamonds and other gemstones for over 20 years. She recently designed a birthstone series with her unique technique that anyone can do! Yes, anyone! In the workshop, each participant works on the 18” x 18” gemstone of
their choice. There are birthstones for each month. If you want more—there is the Elizabeth, which is a 48” x 48” diamond. If you want to do a less intimidating gem, Michelle has several to offer that will give you a less intimidating introduction to MJ’s technique, but they are still beautiful.

December 14, 2022: 13—David Sirota 
Quilt While You’re Ahead
First of all, the title has nothing to do with the content of this lecture. But now that I have your attention… Let’s get together for a fun-filled, interactive look at quilters and the little quirks, passions and obsessions we all share and hold a mirror up to ourselves. Only this time, it’s within the context of Quilting Classes. That’s right, we’re gonna laugh at who we are in class, this instructor included. Are we the same kind of student in quilting classes are we were in school? I know I am.

January  2023: Getaway!
Our yearly event will take place as usual over the Martin Luther King weekend, January 13,14,15 and 16, and will be at the Colonial Hotel in Gardner, MA.

January 18, 2023: Sandra Bruce via Zoom
Material Matrix and the Paths Taken
Sandra’s lecture is full of images showing her journey from a career as a commercial illustrator and lecturer to quilter. There’s humor, quilts (of course) and the story of how Material Matrix came to be, thanks to her fascination with the artist Chuck Close. She’ll show you samples of her work and how she does it, samples from her students, what inspires her, and more.

February 15, 2023: Sharing of Comfort Quilt Tops via Zoom

March 4, 2023: Pat Delaney Workshop
Building a visual vocabulary (100 free motion quilting patterns)
The quilter’s dilemma is always to choose an appropriate design to fill a space on the quilt top. It would be helpful to have a collection of usable designs at your fingertips as you begin to think about your selection. This class will stitch your way through many designs and keep them organized for you. Browsing your collections will undoubtedly inspire your next project! We will explore multiple
styles of free motion stitches to add to your collection.

March15, 2023: Sandra Mollon via Zoom
Fused Art Landscapes—Techniques and Inspirations
In this one-hour long lecture, Sandra shows us both the beautiful
textile art, as well as the photographs that inspired them, and walks us through the basic steps in how they are created. From selecting an photograph, editing and modifying it if needed, selecting fabrics, and adding media, Sandra discusses her style and the techniques she uses to make quilts that really captures a realistic impression of the landscape, animal, or still life in fabric. She shares lots of photos of her work, and encourages you to give art quilting a try.

April 19, 2023: April 19—Rebecca Linson Szetela
Silk Art Quilts: Digitally Designed
From hand-quilting a king size bed quilt to creating digitally designed silk art quilts has been a decades long journey for Rebecca Szetela. In this presentation, Rebecca will explain how she started creating her art quilt designs digitally on an iPad and show samples of her work. Discovering the digital process and printing directly onto silk with the addition of learning how to use a mid-arm quilting machine has completely changed her approach to art quilting.

May 17, 2023: Barbara Weis—Trunk Show

June 14, 2023: In person, Ice Cream Social