Last week I visited the Rocky Mountain Wa Shonaji Quilt Guild in Denver Colorado, and admired their annual quilt exhibit at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. The name Wa Shonaji comes from the Swahili language and means “People Who Sew”. These ladies come to our monthly Charity Sewing Day to help make comfort quilts, but I was anxious to see what kind of quilts they made…for themselves.
There were several quilts of note in the exhibit, with wonderful stories to tell. One wall of the exhibit was a display of Quilt Block interpretations, and this one by Mary Lassiter really caught my eye.
The “Pine Burr” was designated the official quilt of Alabama by their legislature in 1997. Loretta Pettway Bennett created the Alabama Pine Burr quilt. Her mother, Quinnie Pettway (a Gee’s Bend quilter) taught her to make the Pine Burr quilt pattern.
Mary Lassiter has created a contemporary version of this quilt block pattern, and it literally bristles with energy. I would call this block Small but Mighty.
We are very excited to host Cas Holmes in our classroom this weekend, who has come from the UK to teach a workshop for the FRCQ. (Front Range Contemporary Quilters) There will be lots of machine sewing, hand stitching, drawing and painting going on in our classroom in a few days!
Cas is featured in an article in the brand new issue of Quilting Arts Magazine, so we are having fun reading about her work, and admiring the photos.
Jacqueline de Jonge‘s class is less than a month away, and the last few spots are filling up. Give us a call if you have any questions about this 3-Day workshop. Jacqueline is a master piecer, a color guru, and an international quilt celeb. (She is coming from the Netherlands) We are excited to bring her unique designer’s eye to Colorado.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
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eQuilter Classroom:
Sept 13-15 – Cas Holmes – FRCQ Workshop
Sept 28 – 10 am to 4 pm – Charity Sewing Day – Please RSVP
Oct 8-10 – Jacqueline de Jonge – Enchanting Stars & Dream Flight – Registration OPEN
April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson
June 1-5 2020 – Paula Nadelstern
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
Oct 16-22 – Winnipeg & Churchill, Manitoba Canada
Oct 25-31 – Quilt Market & Festival – Houston
Nov 13-17 – Color Marketing Group – Tuscon AZ
Jan 24-29, 2020 – Tokyo Quilt Festival – 1 day with Lisa Walton’s Japan Tour
