The group!

Many of you know a Pioneer Quilter or two.  Others know a lot of us.

This being the 40th anniversary of the founding of our club, we gathered on Wednesday morning before the show opened for a group picture.  Not everyone could make it then, but here are most of us!

2015

Reminisce with us:

2011

1996

 1983

1981

1976--Our first quilt show

We hope you've been able attend our show to celebrate with us forty years of this wonderful group of quilters and friends, and our shared love of quilts and quilting.  

Midway Point

We've had three great days of The Unbroken Thread 40th anniversary quilt show, and have three more to go--Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Please note that by popular demand, we are open longer on Sunday for our show this year, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

We have three more days of demonstrations (at 10:30-12 and 2:00--3:30) and speakers (at 1:00-2:00).  Scroll down to the April 21st post to see what's on the agenda for the remaining days.  

There are three days left to buy your chances on the floral appliqué blocks.  Some lucky soul will win them Sunday afternoon.

And these are the last three days to shop the Quilters' Boutique in the museum gift shop.
  

A subset of Pioneer Quilters meets monthly year round to share their ideas and creations for the boutique.  This is all donated time and materials, to benefit the museum.  I recommend you snatch up anything that appeals to you, as supplies are limited.  At every show, I've found things in the boutique that I couldn't live without, and so many that I also bought for gifts.

I've seen many a savvy attendee hightail it to the gift shop immediately after purchasing their admission tickets.  They know that these handmade items are often in limited supply, and frequently one of a kind.  

Shop early, shop often.  Yes, some of us do continue to sew during the show, adding a few new items to the mix, so do check out the boutique every day you're at the show--you'll most likely find several "special somethings!"

I have an assortment of photos below, closeups taken at those monthly meetings,  as well as at the museum boutique earlier this week. 

And while you're shopping the boutique, do take the time to browse the museum's excellent selection of quilt books.  There are many classics you won't find in your local quilt shop!

40th Anniversary Show Opens!

And it's wonderful!  What lovely quilts were entered this year!  Thank you to everyone who has shared their quilts through our annual show.

Be sure to pick up a program when you arrive and read about each quilt as you stroll around.  If you'd like to see the back of any, please ask a Pioneer Quilter wearing an apron and white gloves to turn a corner up for you.

Here are some of the treats in store for your eyes:

 The setting is great for displaying the quilts.

 There's a special exhibit honoring our charter members and their work.

There's so much to take in at the show, it's nice to be able to return on different days.  The museum has a pass for the whole show, which will save you money if you're one of the many who return a couple of times to catch different speakers and demonstrations.

There's a schedule of our  speakers and demonstrations on the reverse of our flyer, below, to help you choose the days you'd like to attend:
 

You can win these blocks!

A popular feature of our quilt show is the raffling off of handmade blocks.  This is the 6th year Pioneer Quilters has had blocks to take your chance on.  

Our 2015 blocks are perfect for spring.  At our meeting each week, we have been delighted as we see new ones brought in and displayed on a design wall for our whole group to enjoy.  Here are the first eight finished blocks, 

Then with five more brought in . . . 

Aren't they sweet?

 You will find all twenty on the black cloth at our show, along with a photo of the vintage quilt block that was the inspiration for this year's block.

You can own all twenty lovely floral blocks by buying the winning raffle ticket.  Buy one for a dollar, or six for five dollars.  Good luck! One lucky ticket wins them all!

Here are our raffle blocks from the past few years.  We love to see quilts made from these raffle blocks of the past entered in our shows!

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

Portholes on the World

Every few years, probably when they've forgotten how intense the last one was, some of the Pioneer Quilters decide to do a block exchange.  Each participant will make a block for each of the others, at the pace of one a month.  Some are fairly simple, others are quite complex.  Months are drawn.  Specifics are given as to size, design, colors, etc., by each month's lucky participant. It's quite an undertaking, and the blocks received from their Pioneer Quilters friends are very special to the participants.  Our last exchange was 2010--2011, with 20 Pioneer Quilters taking part.

You've seen many quilts made from exchange blocks at our quilt shows in the past.  Often they've also been quilted by Pioneer Quilters, when that person's turn to have a quilt in the frame comes up, which occurs about every 5 years.

Carol, our youngest charter member, loves to go on cruises.  For her friendship block in August 2011, she asked that each person appliqué a scene you might see through a porthole on an ocean-going ship or river boat.  That was to be complemented by something that went with the scene.  She provided them with the background and porthole fabrics.

Once she had received all twenty of her blocks, she added sashing and a border, and assembled them into a top.  Then she began the tedious task of marking all of the quilting lines on the top.

In 2014, it was Carol's turn at Pioneer Quilters to have a quilt in the frame.  Happily, her turn to have a top quilted came when it was time for us to put a new quilt in a frame for our ongoing quilting demonstration at the Lane County Fair.  On July 21, 2014, she assembled a small crew of experienced Pioneer Quilters who pinned the three layers (top, batting and backing) in the frame, measuring and checking for perfect right angles as they worked.

Once Carol's quilt was layered in the frame, Pioneer Quilters gathered every day of the fair to work on it.  There was a lot of interest in the unusual design Carol had come up with, as well as in hand-quilting in general.

When the fair ended, the porthole quilt still needed months of quilting, so it was transported back to the church where our group meets, and we continued to work on it every week.

When we have a quilt in the frame, it starts out extended to its full size.  As we quilt around the edges, we have to roll one end or the other every so often so we can reach new areas to stitch.

Carol had the pleasure of taking the final stitches on her quilt on October 1, 2014, and it was carefully unpinned from the frame.  

The beautiful quilting often shows very well from the back.  We admire both sides of this special group effort.

A couple of individual blocks, in all their charming up-close detail:

Carol bound the quilt once it was quilted, and Portholes on the World will be available for your viewing pleasure at our 40th anniversary show this month. 

Hope you can make it!