Gain a front-row seat to all the stories, comments and jokes when our speakers present, as well as the artwork, quilts and insights explaining their creative processes. It’s fascinating!
Our guild hosts numerous events yearly, with visitors are welcome as space permits. Events are casual; members come with projects to share and questions to ask one another. Photos are usually allowed, and a question-and-answer session ends the lecture. Often a display table with the speaker’s supplies, materials, CDs and books is available during the meeting.
IQI meetings are at 7pm on the first Thursday evening of most months and feature presentations on a wide variety of quilt topics. Workshops may follow presentations on subsequent days.
Scroll down to sign up early for all of our events below.
For those who’d rather download and mail a registration form, please click this link.
Due to COVID-19, all Fall programming — lectures, workshops and service — will be held virtually until the State reaches Phase 5 of the reopening.
Members, please watch for guild emails with Zoom Links to the guild meetings and workshops. Guests, please contact info@illinoisquilters.com to register for a lecture and guild meeting. A $10.00 fee will be charged, and will be discounted from your membership fee when you join the guild.
The Challenge Quilt is an opportunity offered to the membership yearly: One or two members create a challenge for members to participate in, with the specifics of fabric, size, theme and techniques pre-determined.
At the August and September meeting, members often purchase fabric packs for a minimal amount of $10.00 and then have until the June meeting to complete the challenge. The fun is seeing the variety of responses to the original challenge! Challenge Quilts are displayed as a group at the Fine Art of Fiber each fall.
Service and Friendship Days:
Due to Covid-19, Service will post their meeting dates when available.
Please make kids’ quilts at home per guidelines below.
Top ready for quilting are available.
Contact info@illinoisquilters.com with questions, donations or pickup of tops.
Service and Friendship Days:
Due to Covid-19, Service will post their meeting dates when available.
Please make kids’ quilts at home per guidelines below. Top ready for quilting are available.
Contact info@illinoisquilters.com with questions, donations or pickup of tops.
Service and Friendship Days:
Due to Covid-19, Service will post their meeting dates when available.
Please make kids’ quilts at home per guidelines below.
Top ready
for quilting are available.
Contact info@illinoisquilters.com with questions, donations or
pickup of tops.
All IQI members are required to participate in service to the guild and the greater community. IQI offers volunteering at the Fine Art of Fiber show, sewing the Raffle Quilt, or quilting for children and teens. Area not-for-profits and DCFS related programs receive our quilts.
“Service days” are fun and friendly, an easy-going group who would love to have you join us. Quilt knowledge and help are freely given, so bring questions as you give some time. Service meets at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and there is always a need for “kid” fabrics, especially for boys (nothing scary or violent).
You’ll find we have projects ready to be quilted and others for piecing. Or bring a service-related project to work on. Some “quilt kits” are available for home sewing and are collected at our monthly meetings. Pack a lunch, a sewing machine and supplies; the irons and boards and a large cutting board are in the sewing room. Tea and coffee are provided, and a refrigerator is nearby.
Quilt Sizes needed: Younger children (5-10 years): 40-45″ x 48-60″. Older children (11-18 years): 36-44″ x 36-48″.
Any questions? Email either Lynn Bradburn or Diana Burrows at info@illinoisquilters.com. Service Days run from the Fall to Spring; see our dates in the Events.
The 2021 IQI Raffle Quilt
Raffle Tickets for the 2021 Raffle Quilt (“Ruby Jubilee”) will be on sale until 3:45pm, Sunday, November 7th 2021 at the Fine Art of Fiber, held at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Because of Covid-19, this Raffle quilt will be raffled until November 7, 2021.
The 2020-2021 IQI Raffle quilt celebrates the 40 years of Illinois Quilters Inc. The quilt is based on “The Washington Medallion”, a Sue Garman feathered-star quilt pattern. All fabric was donated by members and was quilted by Evanston Quilt Company. Twenty-one members helped to piece this stunning quilt.
Tickets are $1.00 per ticket or six tickets for $5.00, and cash or checks are accepted. Members are asked to buy or sell $25.00 worth of tickets yearly. You can purchase your tickets on our Shop page, or send a check to our P.O. box address (Illinois Quilters, Inc., P.O. Box 39, Wilmette, IL 60091).
The Membership Chair will write your name and phone on all on-line purchased tickets. Each ticket needs a phone number on each stub to go into the drawing. The winner need not be present, and the winner will be called, and arrangements made to deliver the quilt.
Thanks for your support! All Raffle Quilt proceeds are used to cover our program costs in the next year. This is a vital effort, and a creative expression of our guild.
Welcome to IQI’s Block of the Month!
We’ve chosen 12 blocks from the Moda Blockheads 3 collection to create.
Each block is designed by a different designer and many give instructions to make 4”, 6”, 8” or 12” blocks.
For further tips on block construction and to see the entire Blockheads 3 collection, visit Moda’s blog at https://my.modafabrics.com/inspiration-resources/block-heads-3-archive. For inspiration on color placement, sizing and setting ideas, follow Moda Blockheads’ Facebook page.
Each month, the featured block will become “live” and you can download the pattern. The remaining blocks will not work until their month arrives! Make your block and share it at our meeting during Show and Tell. Use your stash or make the blocks scrappy. More details will be in each Oakleaf during 2021. We can’t wait to see your quilts at the end of the year!
Zoom meetings begin with 30 minutes of conversation, followed by the Zoom speaker, then guild business and a virtual Show and Tell. See all our guest programs on the Shop page. Pay with the PayPal button; that gives our webmaster your info to send you a Zoom link. If you’d like to join the guild, your zoom fee will be applied to your membership fee.
Latifah Saafir is known for her bold and innovative modern quilts. Combining her training as an engineer with her lifelong passion for sewing, Latifah creates designs that are graphic and contemporary, featuring challenging techniques with meticulous attention to detail. A co-founder of both the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild and the worldwide Modern Quilt Guild, Latifah will demo Pinless Curved Piecing!
No workshop in August.
Sarah Evans
Zoom Program:
Rita's Quilt
Thurs., September 3, 2020
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
In September 2019, Shannon Downey put out a call for volunteers to help finish a quilt she found in pieces at an estate sale. Among the volunteers offering to stitch states and stars, Sarah volunteered to long arm quilt it. Before quilting it, she coordinated the preparation blocks (embroidered by 100 different artists) and supervised 35 hand piecing volunteers. She will talk about the process of creating Rita’s Quilt, from inspiration to completion, and share pictures.
Pat Burke
Zoom Program:
Shannon Fabrics Trunk Show
Thurs., October 1, 2020
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
Pat Burke, a representative from Shannon Fabrics, brings a trunk show showing various types of fleece fabrics, including Cuddle that are now available on the market. Come explore all the luxury and softness this fabric company has to offer you!
Pat Burke
Zoom Workshop:
Shannon Fabrics Luxury Projects
Sat., October 3, 2020
(9am-12pm)
Half-Day Cuddle Projects Zoom Class
Learn how to quickly make a scarf and a cuddle pillow, and discover tips and tricks to make your sewing easier. Order your fabric in August from a local quilt shop. Quilter’s Destination will have two scarf choices for IQI. The luxury scarf and cuddle pillow will be demonstrated. Think Holiday gifts!
Boost your passion for creativity! Jean’s trunk show and techniques to “boost” includes the tools and technology to build every quilter’s confidence.
Art has been a key part of Jean’s life since childhood. Intrigued with making things, Jean was encouraged by her mother and a lifelong journey began. Today Jean enjoys painting, sewing, photography, ceramics, embroidery and gardening.
Jean’s style, passion and energy is boundless; she loves discovering, seeing, doing and learning how others see. She doesn’t worry about doing it wrong; wrong isn’t in the creative process. Einstein said, “The easiest way to be creative: try something different, even if you don’t think it will work.” (No workshop this month.)
Holiday Potluck
Zoom Event:
Share Your Covid-19 Quilts
Thurs., December 3, 2020
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
Share what you’ve been sewing during this year of Covid-19 quarantine. Gather your projects and a holiday dessert and favorite beverage. We will virtually wrap up this year!
Daisy Aschehoug of Nesodden, Norway will also join us between 7-8pm with her lecture, “How I Started Designing Quilts”. You can visit Daisy at www.warmfolk.com
Maggie Weiss
Zoom Program:
Textile Adventures on the Tōkaidō Road
Thurs., January 7, 2020
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
Traveling in Japan in the fall of 2019, Maggie returned with deep respect and admiration for Japanese textiles, people and many beautiful facets of Japanese culture. In this lecture Maggie introduces you to the incredible artisans, works of art, artifacts and landscapes encountered on her amazing journey.
Maggie Weiss
Live Workshop:
Irresistible Shibori
Sat., January 9, 2021
(9am-4pm)
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
1133 Pfingsten Rd., Northbrook, IL 60062
Come experiment with a fun variety of folding, stitching, banding, tying, rolling, clamping or scrunching fabrics prior to coloring them for stunning effects. Like traditional Shibori which uses indigo dyes, we’ll have one dye bath with a deep indigo color. We’ll also apply color to other manipulated fabrics with textile paint using a rainbow of colors that will chase away the greys of winter.
From the thread makers of Aurifil, a program designed to unlock the mystery of thread, educate the masses and help all users achieve brilliant results! Sheri, a certified Aurifilospher, will present a fun and informative presentation and trunk show of her award-winning quilts that will increase your knowledge of thread, tools, uses and tips. Exclusive Aurifil resources and swag for attendees included!
Jaimie Davis
Zoom Program:
History & Mystery of Baltimore Album Quilts
Thurs., March 4, 2021
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
The history of Baltimore Album quilts is a fascinating journey into an America headed for the Civil War. Discover how the Industrial Revolution, the struggle over slavery and the social and moral climate of the time contributed to this beautiful art form. Through stories, Jaimie will explore how the demise of Baltimore Album quilts leads us into the hearts and minds of the women who made them, and find out how a pregnancy, a Christmas gift and a quilt class gone horribly wrong helps to explain the mystery behind why these quilts disappeared almost overnight. It’s a funny, provocative and insightful look into some of America’s most beautiful treasures.
Brenda Gael Smith
Zoom Program:
Quilts & Composition
Thurs., April 8, 2021
(6:30-9pm)
Zoom Meeting
Brenda will draw upon a wide range of quilt styles, traditional through modern, and showcase the elements and principles of great design and composition. Learning how good composition provides a good foundation for developing your creativity in any style of quilt. Understanding composition provides a vocabulary for describing and evaluating quilt design and provides a foundation for developing your creative practice, whatever style of quilts you make.
June Potluck
Live Event:
Annual Meeting, Potluck and Lecture
Thurs., June 3, 2021
(6-9pm)
Lutheran Church of the Ascension
460 Sunset Ridge Rd. Northfield, IL 60093
IQI members are the best cooks! Watch the newsletter for specifics about what to bring and share. The new programs for 2021-21 will be shared and new officers voted upon. The program by Suzi Parron will take us around the country.
Suzi Parron’s interest in quilting history led to her fascination with barn quilts, which she discovered on a cross-country trip in 2008. Suzi spent two years documenting the barn quilt movement, traveling to 29 states to gather stories of the painted quilt patterns and their ties to family and tradition. Suzi’s project has added over 3,000 quilt blocks to the landscape, from California to Massachusetts.