Member Spotlight: Sharyl Sheppard If you ask Sharyl Sheppard where she learned to quilt, she’ll tell you about her time in the Mokattam Hills, a city where Sheppard volunteered for six years, and a region she describes as the most impoverished she’s ever seen. At the time, the geologist was living overseas with her… Read More
Wonder Fiber: Polyester in American Quilts Polyester is one of the most lamented quilting fabrics of the past, but like it or not, it is part of American quiltmaking tradition. It may not be as rare as the 18th century fabrics made of natural fibers, such as blue resist, cotton chintz, or calendered wool, but it… Read More
Member Spotlight: Karen Foster Karen Foster is a social maker. The mother of two and grandmother of an imaginative 5-year-old joined Flickr at the height of its creative boom. Foster recalls swaps and quilt-alongs on the social platform as the turning point of her social media presence, and her start with a transformative quilting… Read More
Engaging Your Family in Quilting Sharing the love of quilting has a long and lasting impact on society. Passing down an understanding and appreciation for quilt-making lends itself to deeper connections within the family dynamic. We explore how quilting has played a role in the family dynamics of several Modern Quilt Guild members. For mom,… Read More
Eighteenth Century British and Dutch Patchwork The block-style layout, in which quilt blocks of the same size are arranged in a grid, is considered to be an iconically American quilt design but it is only relatively recently that this layout became prevalent in the United States. How did this layout develop and what other traditions influenced… Read More
Member Spotlight: Amy Friend From the age of five years old, Amy Friend has explored the world of quilting. Starting out with simple sewing, her mother would take the necessary steps to pass down the craft. It wasn’t until her adulthood that Amy’s love for sewing would reemerge. “When my son was an infant… Read More
Member Spotlight: Merel van Looi Merel Van Looi last remembers her body feeling normal at her second QuiltCon in Pasadena, California. Three weeks later, the Netherlands quilter and fabric shop owner of Birdblocks, was hospitalized for a partial spinal cord lesion that would leave her body with limited leg function. The bleeding around her spinal… Read More
Member Spotlight: Lavialle Campbell On a mild day in the spring of 1992, Lavialle Campbell left her Santa Monica home to purchase a gallon of blood from her local butcher. She was making a quilt to honor her great-grandmother’s gruesome voyage to America in the transatlantic slave trade. Her grandmother, Minda, recounted stories of… Read More
Member Spotlight: Cristy Stuhldreher When I get on the phone with Cristy Stuhldreher, she’s on her way to pick up her two boys from primary school. “Hold on,” Stuhldreher says. “I’m going to put you on the car speaker.” As an active stay-at-home mom, this is an average day for Stuldreher. When she isn’t… Read More
Tracing the Roots and History of Modern Memory Quilt Making “Quilts carry memory and meaning. They also carry myth.” ― International Quilt Study Center & Museum People all over the world have celebrated major life events through the creation of special and meaningful textiles. In Central Asia, traditional quilts marked life transitions and protected the recipient and her home from menacing… Read More
