Annual Cabin Fever Quilt Retreat: Making Memories Schedule
Friday, October 3, 2014
9:00am – 12:00pm - Half Day Workshop & Lunch – Quilted Journal* - $45 member/$50 nonmember
9:00am – 5:00pm - Finish-It Workshop & Lunch - $30 member/$35 nonmember
6:00pm – 8:30pm - Dinner Lecture ** - $35 member/$40 nonmember
*Friday Workshop by Karan Flanscha– Quilted Journal – Half-day workshop. Skill level - beginner, intermediate. Quilts tell stories about their makers through patterns used, embroidery and quilting designs. Karan’s unique tips and lessons will include design ideas, piecing, applique and quilting, which will make this a must for anyone wanting to learn or improve their skills. Her entertaining style including historical content will encourage participants to create their own Quilted Journal. The book “A Quilters Diary” by Mimi Dietrich is included in the fee.
** Lecture - A Celebration of the Apron: Remembering the Richness of Our Lives Through a Humble Icon – According to apron archaeologist EllynAnne Geisel, aprons don’t hold us back, they take us back. Apron author, exhibit curator and designer, EllynAnne speaks on the apron’s historical odyssey, shares her life-changing apron journey and the people, the aprons and the stories she’s collected along the way. Audience members encouraged to wear their aprons. Approx. 1 hour.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
10:30am – 12:00pm - Sew-up close*** - $20 member/$25 nonmember
12:00pm – 1:30 pm - Lunch (included with workshops)+
9:00am – 5:00pm - Finish-It Workshop & Lunch - $30 member/$35 nonmember
*** Sew up Close – 1.5 hour event. Join EllynAnn for Sew up Close as she shares bits and pieces from her vintage collection of aprons, linens and ephemera. This is not a sewing activity but participants are encouraged to bring a paper and pencil to take notes on how you can create your own apron memories and stories.
+ There will be an Apron Fashion Show and Quilt Show and Tell held over lunch on Saturday. Feel free to wear your aprons and bring your quilts to share during this time.
Other information:
• Registration Deadline is September 26. Download this years brochure.
• Finish-it workshop is an annual event that encourages participants to complete their unfinished projects. Bring your project and sewing machines and work in a creative environment without the usual interruptions, while surrounded by other industrious individuals. Cutting mats, rulers, rotary cutters, ironing boards and irons are supplied. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day for most industrious.
• Seating is limited to 20 participants in each class, so sign up early! Dinner is limited to 100 guests.
• Admission to the Iowa Veterans Museum, the Grout Museum of History & Science and the Apron Chronicles & What's In A Name Quilt exhibits is included to all retreat participants.
• Additional activities include a Scavenger Hunt through both exhibits, a Mini Flea Market, Vendors (Saturday Only), plus Games and Prizes.
• Participants are encouraged to bring along their quilts and aprons to share during Saturday’s program during lunch.
About the featured Speakers/Teachers:
The two-day event will feature two guest teachers and lectures, EllynAnne Geisel and Karan Flanscha.
EllynAnne Geisel is the curator of the traveling exhibit Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections, which is currently on display at the Grout Museum through October 4. She began her career as an Apron Archeologist when she first tied on the domestic armor in 1999 while writing an article about aprons and was struck by the history she knew must be woven into the fabric of that vintage icon. Since then she has gathered more than 400 aprons and apron memories from across America. She is the author of the award-winning The Apron Book: Making, Wearing and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort, now in its sixth printing, a companion little gift book, Apronisms: Pocket Wisdom for Every Day, and The Kitchen Linens Book: Using, Sharing and Cherishing the Fabrics of Our Daily Lives (April 2009). To learn more about EllynAnne’s love of all things “apron,” visit apronmemories.com
Cedar Falls native Karan Flanscha is fascinated with all aspects of quilting, from technical skills to historical perspective. For over 34 years she has passed her knowledge to many students while teaching her craft locally and throughout Iowa and as far away as Baltimore, Maryland. She was a Regional Coordinator for the Iowa Quilt Research Project and has continued to apply those skills documenting quilts through the Grout Museum. She has served on boards in a variety of capacities including President of the Iowa Quilters Guild and founder and President of Keepsake Quilters in Cedar Falls. She has written articles for Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts, Pieces of Time and the Iowa Quilters Guild Newsletter. Her expert stitching skills led her to create quilted models seen in books by Brenda Papadakis, Fons & Porter, Mimi Dietrich, Jo Morton, Elly Sienkiewicz, Joyce Schlotzhauer, and Better Homes & Gardens and Rodale Publishing. Karan along with members of Vintage Quilters have helped plan and implement the Grout Museum’s yearly Cabin Fever Quilt Retreat.
This program is also supported by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views and opinions expressed by the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.