by President Janet Foster 2009-2010
Whether you are new to quilting or an experienced hand, membership in the Fidalgo Island Quilters will offer you inspiration and ideas to further your personal growth. Our meetings cover the basic needs of the group’s business, and we also typically offer an exciting and enlightening speaker. Our Guild meetings are the first Monday of the month, except September, when we skip over Labor Day to the second Monday. The Suns group meets at 12:30pm and the Stars meet at 7pm.
The group has evolved to include several off-shoots, which are thriving while focusing on special talents. The Community Quilts group has the longest history and is a forum for good quilting techniques. They meet on third Mondays at 10am to see demos, get good quilting technique tips and to share their own tips for turning out a high-quality quilt. Members cut, piece and stitch, quilt and bind donation quilts, which go to children who are in need. Several community groups receive the largess of their labors.
Chemo Rippers put together quilts for cancer treatment patients. Their work also hones their quilting skills while producing quilts to comfort patients while they heal.
We have a fledgling Military Quilts program that produces quilts for our men in uniform who have been sent home wounded. Military personnel entering Madigan Hospital for treatment of war wounds are presented with an “American Hero Quilt”. Lynn Scoby works with the American Hero Quilts center of Vashon Island, WA, coordinating efforts to make tops 60″ x 72″, which are sent along to another guild to do the quilting. Our efforts involve making up kits, then getting them pieced and sewn into quilt tops. It is an excellent outreach program that we hope to see grow.
Art Quilters are an enthusiastic group of quilters who focus on creating wall quilts featuring contemporary artistic inspiration. They meet on the third Monday at 11am. The 2010 FIQ Quilt Show in April will include a category for “Art Quilts” for the first time. The art quilters offer challenges, share techniques and focus on personal growth of their art.
The Divas group is centered on wearable art, and members take turns offering demos, class sessions or sharing of challenges with the group. July through September 2009, the Diva group has 21 members showing 53 wearable art garments at the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum in La Conner, WA. The Diva group meets at 9am on third Mondays.
As we approach the coming Guild year beginning with the September meeting, we face many challenges, such as increased costs of everything we utilize, our common challenge with the economy and the uncertainties of the wars and other national concerns. I hope that our quilting friendships and the beauty and quality we put into our quilts will give us comfort, peace of mind and strength to see us through.
2010 will be the first time we offer our Quilt Show in the new semi-annual mode. The theme for the show is “Piecework Passages, Sunshine and Waves”, an apt theme which can remind us that life is like piecework, and we all experience sunshine and some rough waves.