New book! Quilters Questions: A Book of Curious Queries. What's YOUR favorite question?

What's YOUR favorite question?

Hello!
How about a different kind of quilting fun? Just published is Quilters Questions: A Book of Curious Queries.

I hope you enjoy this newest book!  Quilters Questions is perfect for quilters of any age or skill level.  You can explore topics ranging from quilter identity, creative inspiration, collaboration, exhibiting, fabrics, your quilting legacy, sex and quilts (yes :>) and more!

Quilters Questions includes 300+ open-ended questions. This engaging read provides hours of fun and conversation. And is great for you to answer on your own - or as a guild activity. With the holidays approaching, it's a great gift idea or stocking stuff for any quilter.

What kind of curious questions can you expect?

• Would you accept $25,000 to stop quilting forever? What if the offer was only $2,000?
• Would you consider sewing a hidden mini camera into a quilt to monitor someone? Why or why not?

I had a BALL working on this book and hope you enjoy it and share with a quilting friend!    Best, Kyra

Quilters Questions: A Book of Curious Queries
Black Threads Press
126 pages, $9.95
ISBN: 0-9824796-4-6

Call for Entries - 9th Annual African American Fiber Arts Juried Exhibition

9th year of the African American Fiber Arts Juried Exhibition curated by Torreah "Cookie" Washington will honor the late Maya Angelou and focus on “How Maya Angelou made your artist’s journey more meaningful? What were her words that inspired you to keep keeping? How did she help you to RISE?," according the call for entry information.

You might remember that Ms. Washington curated the fantastic 2012 exhibit Mermaids and Merwomen in Black Folklore: A Fiber Arts Exhibition. See this video of the Mermaids exhibit.

This juried exhibit will be installed as part of the North Charleston Arts Festival and on display at the North Charleston City Hall, April 30 - June 15, 2015. Several pieces will be selected for a traveling exhibit that will tour the lower Southern US states for one year. Quilts, wearable arts and dolls may be submitted for this juries show. Here are a few considerations, but contact Ms. Washington for a complete list.

1.  All works must be made by the entrant but can be quilted by someone else.
2.  Quilts must be at least 30” x 30” and not more than 60” x 60”. Group Quilts assembled or quilted by 3 or more people, such as row robin quilts, block exchange quilts, group hand quilted quilts are open for consideration.
3. Dolls may be no taller than 18 inches.
4. There is a non-refundable entry fee for each entry.

If you want to submit an entry for consideration, contact Ms. Washington at Cookiesews1960@gmail.com   Enjoy!

San Diego People of Color Quilt Guild Opportunity Quilt 2014

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California - and when I was on the San Diego People of Color Quilt Guild website - I recognized that this was a California quilt!

This gorgeous 2014 Opportunity Quilt was hand pieced by Norma Jones and machined quilted by Vivian Townes.

Visit the guild's website to see this and other guild quilt photos. Enjoy!

Have you met Roy Mitchell Jr., the Watermelun Babies quilter?

Roy Mitchell Jr. - Photo Q.S.O.S.

Roy Mitchell, Jr. is a Virginia quilter, who recently presented at the Flint (MI) African American Quilters Guild celebration in September 2014.

Mitchell, a collector of African American memorabilia, is pictured here with his Watermelun Babies quilt he stitched.

In 2008, the Quilt Alliance's Save Our Stories project interviewed him. It's a fascinating read - including how his father and teenage son now also quilt!

Mitchell teaches a popular course in quiltmaking at the Culpeper (VA) Juvenile Correctional Center - and ensures another generation learns the joy of quilting!  Enjoy!

Join the African American Quilt and Doll Guild Oct 17-18

African American Quilt and Doll Guild - Ohio

Mark your calendar and make plans to attend the African American Quilt and Doll Guild's  Inspirations & Visions fiber art, fashions and doll show on October 17-18, 2014 at the Randallwood Center, Warrensville Heights, Ohio.  Quilter Juanita Yeager is the featured artist. Mary Pinckney will conduct a doll making workshop.  Enjoy!

Gwen Magee’s Quilts on Exhibit at UNCG

Gwen Magee, quilter

Quilts by the late Gwen Magee are on exhibit until November 8 at University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Visit the Gatewood Gallery, Gatewood Studio Arts Building, 527 Highland Ave., to view 18 quilts in “Lift Every Voice and Sing: The Quilts of Gwendolyn Ann Magee.”

Magee graduated from the campus in 1963, when it was called Women's College. According to an article in the New & Record, the idea for the exhibit came during a 50th reunion of Magee's former classmates. One classmate, Dot Moye, an art consultant, helped spearhead the effort to recognize Magee as an important artist on the campus.

Selected quilts from the exhibit will also travel to the High Point Museum in High Port, NC. The exhibit, “Pieces of the Past: The Art of Gwendolyn Magee,” will be on display from December 5, 2014 - February 21, 2015.  Enjoy!

Award-winning playwright Katoni Hall's Blood Quilt Comes to DC's Arena Stage April 2015

DC's Arena Stage will host award-winning Katoni Hall's new play, The Blood Quilt, April to June 2015. This world premiere of this comedy-drama focuses on four sisters who gather back at their childhood home,off the coast of Georgia, to sew a quilt in honor of their late mother.

According to the show's promotional material, when the sisters' "reunion turns into a reading of their mother’s will, everyone must grapple with a troubling inheritance. Stitched with history and ritual, laughter and tears, will their “blood quilt” bind the family together or tear them apart forever?" 

You may already be familiar with Ms. Hall's play The Mountaintop, about Dr. Marin Luther King on the night before his assassination. In New York, the play starred Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett.

I can't wait to see The Blood Quilt - and to also see what the actual quilt will look like! No word yet on which actresses will play the sisters. I'm sure, though, that many of quilting guild will take in this new work!  Enjoy!