2017 Show Dates!

Our 2017 Pioneer Quilters' Quilt Show will be held April 25th--30th at the Lane County Historical Museum--that's Tuesday through Sunday.  Please mark your calendars and join us as many days as you can!

We will have guest speakers every day from 1:00 to 2:00, and demonstrations twice daily from 10:30 to noon and again from 2:00 to 3:30.  Each day's speakers, demonstrators and subjects are different, so you'll want to come frequently to take advantage of all they have to offer.

A Most Amazing Quilt

 In the previous post, I mentioned that the appliqué blocks we're raffling off tomorrow are from a quilt in the museum's collection made by a woman named Almira Brown.

On Thursday, our speaker (and featured quilter) Ann Pfrender showed us many quilts in the museum's collection, including that show-stopper by Almira Brown.

It's the finest example of vintage workmanship I think I've ever had the opportunity to be a few inches from.  The appliqué and trapunto are exquisite, and the quilting is a remarkable 12-14 stitches per inch, at a minimum.

I encourage you to use your computer's zoom feature to see the details.

Our 2016 Appliqué Block Raffle

Every year 20 Pioneer Quilters each hand-appliqué a block for the block raffle held during our show.  The blocks are typically based on an appealing design from a vintage quilt.  Sometimes that quilt is in the museum's collection. Usually you can at least see a picture of the quilt that inspired the blocks.

You can scroll down and read a few April posts from previous years to see blocks from previous raffles.  Our hope is always that the winner will get the blocks put together and the finished quilt will be in one of our future shows.

That's the case for these blocks won 3 years ago.  



These basket blocks were won by Pioneer Quilter Denise's friend Janet in 2013, and Denise used her turn to have a quilt in the frame at Pioneer Quilters for us to quilt Janet's top. What a special friend--we each only get a turn to have the group quilt a top about every five years!  Janet put her finished quilt in this year's show--it's #120, and is displayed upstairs.

The 2016 blocks are based on a floral appliqué and trapunto quilt made by Almira Brown.  Here are a few as they started to come in.

The amazing quilt that was the inspiration for this year's blocks is in the museum's collection and is one of the quilts that Ann and Heather will be discussing on Thursday at their 1:00 presentation.  

We think that you'll love these happy, bright floral blocks, and hope that you buy many chances to win them.  As usual, they are $1.00 each, or six tickets for $5.00.  You can get your tickets from the friendly Pioneer Quilter who hands you the show catalog.  They're displayed behind her.  At that table, you can also put your name on a list if you think you might have a quilt ready to be displayed at next year's show.  While you're at that table, pick up a trio of 6" squares, our thank you gift to you for visiting our show.

If you don't win and/or prefer to make them yourself, the museum gift shop has a pattern (made from the quilt) for sale!  The patterns are displayed up at the counter, by the cash register.

Meet Our 2016 Featured Quilter

We are pleased to announce that our 2016 Featured Quilter is Ann Pfrender.  After careers in medicine in Michigan, Ann and her husband moved to Eugene in 1998 (lured by the charms of young grandsons) where she's been very active in the quilting community and Pioneer Quilters ever since.

Ann grew up with quilters in her family, but didn't take it up personally until midlife, a few years before concluding her career as a physician.  She also underwent training and certification as an AQS quilt appraiser, a good fit with her dual interests in quilting and antiques.  

Ann is currently also active in The Oregon Quilt Documentation Project, The Columbia-Willamette Quilt Study Group and creates many great items for our Boutique.

Ann will share some of her antique quilt expertise on Thursday at 1:00,  when she and Heather Kliever, Registrar and Curator of Education at the Lane County Historical Museum, will show and discuss some of the quilts in the museum's collection, focusing on these topics:

Talking from the Trunk

Museum quilts 1840-1890

Quilts from the Oregon Trail,

The Whitaker and Harlow families

The quilts Ann creates are always beautiful, unique and often come with a good story.  I hope you'll take time to look at those in her Featured Quilter display area of our show, and find time to chat with her.

Our Boutique

Pioneer Quilters holds its annual show as a fundraiser for the Lane County Historical Museum.  Museum attendance is much higher during the six days of our quilt show than during any other week during the year, and the museum keeps 100% of the admission fees.

Pioneer Quilters also helps the museum by selling our handmade items in a boutique we set up in their gift shop.  About a dozen of us work on these at home and meet monthly throughout the year creating these appealing items. All of the proceeds from these sales also support the museum.


Many of the items are one-of-a-kind.  Some of our experienced guests have learned to stop by the gift shop area before seeing the quilts or one of the demonstrations or presentations, to make sure that they don't miss out on a unique item.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the creations you might grab in this year's boutique:

Small Quilts, Wall Hangings and Table Runners

Unique Pincushions

Mug Rugs, Coasters, Sets, Wine Glass ID coasters with charms

Towels and Pillows

Sewing Notion Caddies, Thread Spindle Doilies, and collapsible Spiral Thread Catchers

 Fleece Pet Blankets

Cloth Baskets, Cord Keepers, and Luggage Tags

Pot scrubbers and Dish Cloths

Bags and Purses

And, The Ever-popular Pot Holders

Of course, there are many more items not photographed here.  We hope you'll find some things that you'll want to take home with you--for yourself or as special gifts.  It's such a fun way to support the Lane County Historical Museum.

Catch our Daily Speakers and Demonstrations

I hope you've marked the dates of our 2016 Pioneer Quilters' Unbroken Thread Quilt show on your April calendar.  If not, here's your reminder--it's April 5th to 10th.

Now to get down to the details.  Of course you'll want to the enjoy the 100++ quilts, but there's more!  Everyday from 1:00 to 2:00, we have scheduled a speaker for your pleasure and edification.  I encourage you to come enjoy several.  While a one-day admission is $7, you can get a pass good for all six days of the show for only $18.

So, pick the speakers you don't want to miss, and be sure to mark those dates on your calendar.  Some folks come every day for a week full of information and fun!

Another wonderful daily highlight is our assortment of demonstrations.  Drop by the demo table every day between 10:30--noon and 2:30--4:00 (afternoon only on Sunday) to see what gems of information are being imparted.

HERE IS OUR DAILY SCHEDULE:

TUESDAY:

10:30--12:00          Demonstration:     Creating with Selvages, with Caren Ross and Sue Oja

1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Bob Welch  Author, inspirational speaker, Award-winning
                                                             columnist

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Hand Appliqué, with Pat Glassow


WEDNESDAY:    
10:30--12:00          Demonstration:     Playful Banners, with Barbara Trunnell

1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Cheryl Malkowski   Award-winning quilter, teacher, author,
                                                             owner of Cheryl Rose Creations patterns

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Chenille, with Cheryl Malkowski

THURSDAY:
10:30--12:00          Demonstration:     Happy Body, during and after your task, hands, posture,
                                                                            neck, and back comfort, with Janet Hollander
                                                                                     
1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Ann Rogers Pfrender and Heather Kliever, showing quilts
                                                             from the Lane County Historical Museum's collection

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Foundation Piecing, with Carol Gassman

FRIDAY:
10:30--12:00          Demonstration:     Appliqué Carrier, with Sheila Steers

1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Judy Peterson and Angelia Peterson   Award-winning Art
                                                             Quilters

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Modern Quilts, with Jenny Bonygne and Daisy Schrock

SATURDAY:
10:30--12:00          Demonstration:     Binding Trick, with Denise Crawford

1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Margaret Ferguson  Award-winning quilter and teacher
                                                             Quilting with Speed

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Easy Cathedral Window Pincushion, with Jeanne Wong

SUNDAY:
1:00--2:00              Speaker:                Mary Goodson  Fiber Artist

2:30--4:00              Demonstration:     Days for Girls, with Susan Mondon

Some of our speakers will have items (books, patterns, quilts, etc.) to sell during/after their presentations.

Here are a few websites connected to this year's programs:

Margaret Ferguson                               etsy.com/shop/QuiltsByMargie?ref=search_shop_redirect

Cheryl Malkowski                                cherylmalkowski.com

Susan Mondon                                     dfgeugene.blogspot.com and daysforgirls.org

Judy and Angelia Peterson                   quiltedpics.com

Bob Welch                                            http://bobwelch.net

Entering a Quilt in our Show

When you receive a program/catalog at our quilt show, you are asked if you'd like to put your name on a list of people who might want to enter a quilt in the next show.  If you did that last April, you should have been contacted this winter and sent a form, if you indicated that you were still interested.

We realize that there may be others with quilts to display who didn't get their names on last year's list.  
If you'd like an entry form, please give me your email address in the comments section on this blog, and we'll send you one.  The information for the catalog and photo needs to be received by March 9th, so there's no time to waste!  Your email will not be posted on the blog.

A typical day at Pioneer Quilters

A big part of being a Pioneer Quilter is enjoying the friendships of the other members.  We get together once a week, and typically begin quilting at 10 a.m., catching up with each other's news as we take our stitches.  

We have quilts in three frames, each quilt numbered by its "seniority."  We fill up the chairs around #1 first, then #2, and then #3.

We break for our meeting with snacks at 11:30.  We all take our turn at bringing snacks with a partner, about once every 3 months.

Sometimes we celebrate a birthday (or two) with a pretty cake.

Our meetings typically end with Show and Tell.  

It's a wonderful mini-quilt show that we look forward to each week. 

We have so many gifted quilt makers, it's quite a treat!

Members drape the quilts that they've shown over some chairs, so that we can take a closer look after the meeting.  

Some quilts can be held in one hand, others require two tall people to show.

Sometimes they're decades old, other times just completed.

It's a really special part of our day!