Ankeny Area Quilters' Guild

Stephanie Brandenburg will be at the AAQG quilt show on Valentine’s Day. She will share exciting news about her latest venture int his wonderful world of fabrics and quilting.  I hope you all will be able to attend. She will have fabrics and patterns for sale. We will meet Stephanie at 5 p.m. at Guadalajaras for dinner.

As a reminder – Shelly Burge will be here on Sat., February 11, 2012 from 9 to 4 pm for a String Piecing Workshop. The class will be held in rooms 1A,B,C, D at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. On her web site www.shellyburge.com is the supply list. If you are having trouble finding it, please contact me.  There is still room if you have found an empty space in your calendar for this Saturday. The cost is $25.00 – what a bargain!

In March The Woolen Needle from Williamsburg will be showing us their Trunk Show. More about that program later!

Happy Valentine’s Day -

We all know Stephanie Brandenburg as a very talented designer. We’ve been to Fern Hill in the Amana Colonies. We’ve seen her at quilt shows, in magazines and maybe even at Starbucks!  Well, she will be at the AAQG meeting on February 14, 2012 at 7 p.m. to tell us all about a new venture. I am not going to spoil the surprise, but it is very cool!  And to all of you who have asked – YES – she is bringing items that will be for sale. Bring your checkbooks!!! sbrandenburg@fronddesignstudios.com

Dinner will be at  Guadalajaras on Delaware just south of First Avenue – 5 p.m.

Tuesday nights dinner with Jan Patek is at Palmer’s Deli in Ankeny

Jan Patek will be joining us for the January 10, 2012 AAQG meeting. Jan is from Cameron, Missouri and has been quilting for thirty years. She designs primitive folk art quilts and I am sure many of you have made at least one of her quilts or wallhangings. Jan designs original fabric lines with Linda Brannock for Moda.  She will have patterns for sale at the meeting.

In February Stephanie Brandenburg will be joining us for our meeting on the 14th. Stephanie designs fabric for Camelot. She has been a vendor at our quilt show in the past and at the AQS show. She is from the Amana area and has worked at the Fern Hill quilt store.

On February 11, Shelly Burge will be teaching a class about string art quilts. We still have a few spots left for those of you who haven’t turned in your registration. January 10, 2011 is the last day for registrations!

Happy Holidays everyone! I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are getting into the Christmas spirit.

Congrats to the Hawkeyes and Cyclones for their upcoming bowl appearances.

As you know the December guild meeting will be our traditional potluck. Yummy food!  For the second year we will have a Dutch auction where all members present can bid on items that another member has donated for the auction. One item that I know will be going to the highest bidder is a Sidewinder (bobbin winder) and 25 spools of thread! Imagine what you can do with all of that!

In January, Jan Patek will be our speaker. She is from Cameron, Missouri and designs quilt patterns. She will have patterns for sale at the meeting. Jan has been a vendor at the Des Moines show since AQS became involved in the show.

In February, Stephanie Brandenburg from Fern Hill – Amana Colonies – will be our speaker. On February 11, 2012 we will have a workshop with Shelly Burge of Lincoln, Nebraska. The first 20 people who sign up will learn about “String Piecing.” The cost is $25 (plus your meal) and sign up forms will be available at the December and January meetings.

Enjoy the holidays, eat something you shouldn’t, and have a safe new year!

Our first Friday night sew event of the season is taking place Friday, October 14, 2011.  From 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 517 SW Des Moines Street, Ankeny, IA.  Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Lynn Doyle, of Bloomin’ Minds Designs in Council Bluffs charmed and entertained us with her trunk show of delightfully whimsical designs–and the stories behind them.  Who can forget the inspiration behind her “Silvery Moon” design?  And how about those ice cream coupons her husband, Mike (a Blue Bunny rep) donated for door prizes!  She is a self-described “fabri-holic” who traces her love of sewing and fabric back to her 4-H days.  Many of us could relate, but how many of us still have our 4-H Record Book?!   She studied  Art Education and has worked in many fabric and quilt shops.  One of her last jobs was to order fabric and patterns, which transitioned into designing her own pattern line “Bloomin’ Minds”.   Many quilters take the summer off from sewing and quilting, and we gleefully welcomed the fall quilting season by purchasing from the huge selection of patterns and kits that Lynn and her husband Mike brought for us.

Join us on August 9 for program and trunk show by Lynn Doyle of Bloomin’ Minds.   Lynn’s seasonal designs define “light-hearted” and “whimsical”.  We have scheduled her program for late in the year as most of her designs are for autumn/winter holidays–Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  Lynn will have patterns and kits for sale so you can get a start on your holiday projects.  See her designs at bloominminds.com.  Join Lynn for an early supper before Guild at Okoboji Grill at 5:00 PM.

Tula Pink entertained and informed us at the June 14 meeting.  Tula (yes, that’s her real name) is an exciting young graphic artist and fabric designer who has worked in everything from museums to the rock music industry. She says that fabric and sewing have been a constant in her life and calls herself “an exiled rock princess on a throne of bolts and bobbins”.  She credits her Mom with her entry into fabric design as she gave her the gentle nudge to pursue her options.  During her free time while she was working for Capital Records Tula began drawing fabric lines.  We are so glad she did.  Her collections are delightful.  Her first email sent to Moda fabrics resulted in her fabric line being in production 36 hours later.  What a wonderful gift she has.  She and her mother own a fabric shop in Stewartsville, Missouri.  Her latest line is Prince Charming.  It is being produced through Westminster Fibers.  We all enjoyed her stories of the fabric line as well as the hidden animals in some of the prints.

Don’t miss the rest of our summer programs with the July 19 “QuiltFest Wrap-up” and our last program of this program year on August 9 with “Bloomin’ Minds” applique artist Lynn Doyle.

Don’t miss our June 21 Guild meeting when Tula Pink (yes, that’s her real name) will present “My Life in Repeat”.  Tula is an exciting young graphic artist and fabric designer who has worked in everything from museums to the rock music industry.  She says that fabric and sewing have been a constant in her life and calls herself “an exiled rock princess on a throne of bolts and bobbins”.

Annemarie Yohnk, Minnesota author, designer and quilter, presented a stunning trunk show April 12 of antique redwork quilts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She entertained us with well-researched stories about the owners and makers of these wonderful pieces as well as tales of her own antics at the sales and auctions where she purchased them. We learned that “redwork” can be blue, black, yellow or pink. Annemarie has a long-arm quilting business, The Quilted Sandwich, as well as Quilts Remembered, her own line of redwork and pieced quilt patterns. Quilts Remembered patterns are available coast to coast and in several foreign countries. Visit Annemarie’s website at quiltsremembered.com

Bring your red (and redwork) quilts for show-and-tell Tuesday, April 12 because our speaker will be presenting “Redwork in the Beginning”. Annemarie Yohnk, Minnesota quilter, instructor and designer will present a trunk show of antique redwork quilts as well as her own designs. She runs The Quilted Sandwich, her own long-arm quilting business and has launched Quilts Remembered pattern company. Join Annemarie for an early supper at 5:00 PM at the DMACC Bistro. Contact Sharon Lesan at 965-5608 or sharonlesan@yahoo.com if you are interested.