Six-inch squares for you!

Are you ready for this lovely quilt show?  
Is it on your calendar?  April 22-27 at the Lane County Historical Museum.
Have you decided which speakers and demonstrations you're taking in this year?
(See the great choices here.) 

If you're going to be able to attend more than two days, be sure to buy the weekly pass, good April 22-27, on your first day.  A one-day admission is $6.00, but you can come as many days of the six-day show as you'd like for just $16.50 with a weekly pass. Inquire on your first visit.

When you've entered and paid your admission, please stop next at the table with the friendly Pioneer Quilter handing out programs.  She will also have a selection of quartets of 6" squares for you to choose from--our thank you to you for visiting the show.

Pioneer Quilters donate the 6-inch fabric squares for these quilt show favors.  One day several people bring staplers to our weekly gathering, and we sort the squares into fours, then staple them together.  

It's a fun project for us, finding ones we think go well together.  We hope it's fun for you too, finding the set you like the best.

Hot off the needle!

I assume you saw the March 18th post about all the charming items created by our Boutique Committee and for sale during the show in the Museum gift shop?

This week I was delighted to see some new items, hot off the needle!

 Microwave bowl holders

Reversible Bibs

Mug and coaster sets

Placemats

Reversible dog scarves, in 3 sizes.  Loyal model not included.

Shop early--most items are limited or one-of-a-kind.  When they're gone, they're gone!  
And remember--all proceeds support our Lane County Historical Museum.

Travel Squares

When Pioneer Quilters go on trips (even short ones), they most often just happen to visit a quilt shop or two, and purchase some material to share with other club members.  Back home, that fabric is washed, pressed and cut into 6 inch squares of cotton, then given out at the next Pioneer Quilters' meeting.  We call these Travel Squares.  Sometimes a member will "travel" to her stash, and share some fabric from her collection.

For this year's show, a challenge was issued to make and display quilts using these fabric tokens.  So, a special feature of our April 22-27, 2014 show will be 16 Travel Square quilts made by individual members.  There are not many rules--the fabric in the quilt just needs to be predominately Travel Squares.

Pioneer Quilters accepting the challenge picked a design and then perhaps cut those 6-inch squares into even smaller squares, rectangles, triangles or other shapes.

Here are a few Travel Square quilts to get you anxious to see all of them in person.  You might enjoy finding identical fabrics in very dissimilar quilts!

Switching to high gear

It's April--our quilt show month!  In case you're new to this blog, Pioneer Quilters is holding its 38th annual quilt show, The Unbroken Thread, at the Lane County Historical Museum, April 22--27, 2014.   The museum opens at 10:00 each morning, Tuesday--Saturday, and noon on Sunday,  and closes at 4:00

We have daily speakers at 1:00 and twice-daily demonstrations at 10:30 and 2:00.  Check HERE for the exact schedule of presenters and topics.  You'll most like find several you'll want to attend.  Weekly passes are available for $16.50, as an alternative to the daily $6.00

All of the quilt show committees are switching to high gear.  Club members are busy at many different tasks before, during and after the show, in addition to putting the finishing touches on the quilts they're entering.

We hope you've got it on your calendars!

Getting ready for the quilt show!

How do you get ready for a quilt show?

A recent article in The Oregonian's OregonLive! has ten suggestions for you from members of the Columbia-Willamette Quilt Study Group--what you can do to get the most enjoyment out of a quilt show visit.

And for our show, I'd add that you should check the schedule ahead of time, as the topics of our demonstrations and speakers are different each day.  

Visiting a quilt show always leaves me so inspired and ready to create new quilts. It might put you in the mood to visit some of your favorite and some new-to-you quilt shops.    The timing of the Quilter's Safari Shop Hop is perfect this year.  The last three days of our Unbroken Thread Quilt Show are the first three days of the shop hop.  The participating shops include local ones in Eugene and Springfield, as well as others both north and south of our area.

So, you might want to grab a friend or two, your photos and sketches from our show, and any swatches of fabric you'd like to coordinate with, and hit the road to visit the shops on this hop.  You'll have fun and may even win a great prize.

Check their website for participating shops:   http://quilterssafari.com  

Pioneer Quilters' Boutique

Throughout the year, members of Pioneer Quilters work on fashioning handmade specialty items that will be available for purchase in our Boutique, which is a part of the museum's gift shop during the show.  We donate the materials and many hours creating.  All proceeds benefit the museum.

For many of us, this special shopping event is eagerly anticipated--we can't wait to see what clever things the talented Boutique Committee members have come up with this year.  We buy for ourselves and for gifts.

What's going to catch your eye?  Your choices will include pincushions, notepad covers, scarves, needle cases, fabric bowls, bags and totes, crocheted wash/dishcloths, luggage tags, fabric brooches, scissor cases, dolls, potholders, aprons, UO and OSU miscellanea, coffee-to-go cup sleeves, bibs, towels, wallhangings, coasters, ornaments, lap quilts, pillowcases and much, much more!

Here are some examples of what you can look forward to admiring there:

What Pioneer Quilters do

Pioneer Quilters have been gathering for a weekly half-day quilting session since 1975, teaching, encouraging and practicing the art of hand quilting.  Originally meeting in a member's home, we now are lucky enough to have a big, well-lit room at Westminster Presbyterian Church to quilt in, and room to store our quilts and frames and supplies.

We are a group of about 45 active members who hand-quilt each others' quilts.  We have space at the church to have 3 quilts in their frames at the same time.  We quilt for a couple of hours, then have a meeting and snacks before returning to the frames.

We hold annual shows at the Lane County Historical Museum, with this upcoming (April 22-27) show being number 38!

With the heavy attendance and boutique sales (more about these in future post), the show is a major fundraiser for the wonderful Lane County Historical Museum.  All proceeds from admissions and boutique sales go directly to the museum.

At the show, we always begin working on a new quilt, and visitors to the quilt show are able to see us quilting at the frame throughout the show.

Every summer, we also put a new quilt in a frame at the Lane County Fair.  There's a lot of interest in our craft from fair attendees as we work away, surrounded by quilts entered in the fair.  We also make a donation to provide cash prizes to youths who entered quilts in the fair.

Do plan to come to our show at least once this year (You'll save money with a weekly pass if you're stopping in 3 days or more).  We have so much lined up, and the quilts promise to be lovely, as usual.  April 22-27, 10-4 (12-4 on Sunday).  The Lane County Historical Museum is at the Fairgrounds, just off 13th!