Dear Great Lakes Modern Quilters,
Happy New Year! For 2021, we (the Executive Committee) has some really exciting stuff planned for you! Thank you for the positive feedback you've shared anecdotally with us about how pleased you have been with the programming and engagement with the guild throughout the pandemic. We really appreciate it. Keep your eyes out in your email for a quick survey to help us always improve.
For 2021, we are trying something new. Given that travel is so limited at the moment for teachers and that we only get to meet our teachers virtually, we decided to host an "quilter-in-residence" this year. Although we will continue to meet virtually for the foreseeable future, we will get to meet with our quilter-in-residence repeatedly throughout the year. We hope this will give us an opportunity to really get to know the quilt artist. We hope when the pandemic is over, we can even bring our quilter-in-residence to Kalamazoo for a live meet-up. We hope you like this idea. We are really excited about it, and our quilter-in-residence has a fun and engaging curriculum planned for us. So, without further adieu, we introduce you to our quilter-in-residence, Christina Cameli! Christina kindly wrote an introduction to herself, which you will find below:
I'm Christina Cameli, and I'm delighted to have the chance to introduce some special programming for your guild in 2021. Before I jump into the details I'll introduce myself: I'm a quilter and designer. I've written four quilting books, with a fifth one due out next year. I've taught several online quilting classes through Craftsy and Bluprint, and I also design fabric and quilting patterns. Quilting is a lot of fun for me, and I just do it part time: the other half of the week I work as a nurse-midwife and parent my two kids.
So now about our news: Earlier this year, your Pam and Stephanie approached me with an idea that I'd never heard from a quilt guild before: that of a "Quilter-in-Residence". After working out the details we're now happy to announce that I will be the Quilter-in-Residence for the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild in 2021.
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| An example of Christina's work |
The idea was modeled after Artist-in-Residence programs. These programs vary, but generally involve an artist spending a length of time in a community, making art that is influenced by their experience, and then exhibiting their art for the community. We loved the idea of an artist who spends prolonged time with a community, and is influenced by and influencing the community in an artistic way.
Pam, Stephanie, and I worked together to imagine how this might work in a quilting context, remotely and within the rhythms of the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild meeting schedule. We established a plan for both formal and informal meetings: for formal meetings we decided on a set of lectures that cover the breadth of my interests and expertise: creativity, scraps, free-motion quilting, texture quilting and quilts with wedges. And at informal meetings we plan for me to attend as well, but as a regular participant, sharing in the inspiration and supporting members' creative processes.
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| Quilting inspiration from Christina |
What I am really looking forward to is the chance to connect with your guild for longer than I typically would. I like the idea of getting a feel for you as individuals and as a group. And for you to understand me the same way, through our longer time together. I hope the coming year is a time of fertile creativity for all of us, and I look forward to checking in with you as we go through it together.
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| Wow such a fun quilt |
Feel free to check out Christina's blog for some additional great inspiration and some fun tutorials.
You can also find Christina on Instagram as @afewscraps.
We are also working on a social meeting for January stay tuned for details!
Happy New Year to all! See you soon!
GLMQG Exec Committee
P.S. If you haven't renewed your dues yet, please do so. We hope you can join in the fun with us!
