Friday, January 30, 2015


2015 NILAG PROGRAM SCHEDULE 

All meetings are scheduled to be held at the PNC Bank, 250 E. Roosevelt Rd, Wheaton Illinois, Lower level meeting room.  Please use the lower level parking area. 
Meetings are 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The bank opens at 9:00 AM.

In the event of a cancelation due to bad weather, this blog will be updated a minimum of 24 hours before meeting time.  http://illinoislongarmguild.blogspot.com/

 

February 7, 2015

“Share It Saturday” - Bring a show-and-tell item with your favorite OVERALL FILL . Small or large, computerized or hand-guided, first project or latest award winner, we want to ooh and aah over your work! NILAG is THE place where your quilting is valued & appreciated because we all understand the time, effort, and practice it takes to be a longarm quilter. Whether you have been machine quilting 1 month or 10+ years, we want to support and encourage YOU! Bring something to share (even if you’ve brought it before)!!
“Skillbuilder Saturday” - The Skill Builder for February uses both decorative fabric and plain fabric. Assemble these fabrics & a piece of batting into a sandwich, quilt it using whatever design you like, then use the quilted piece to make some kind of useful item . (Plain fabric on one side so you can see your quilting and the decorative fabric for the outside of your useful item.) This is a chance for you to sharpen your skills AND have some fun!
"What I Learned at MQX" - If you weren’t able to attend MQX (Machine Quilters Exposition) last September or haven’t been to a BIG conference/workshop/extravaganza, come hear from those who had a front row seat! They will share information on classes & presenters, tips, techniques, and observations about the show.

April 4, 2015
"Unlocking Your Creativity" - Ever dream of being able to create your own quilting designs? Are you convinced the Artistic fairy bypassed you when she was handing out talent? Join Patricia Simons from Quilters Rule in Wisconsin in a hands-on lecture/demo as she shows you how to move templates to create stunning designs that look complicated, but are in reality the simplest of shapes. These techniques can be used by all. Learn how to release the creativity inside you. ( Quilters Rule products will also be available for purchase.) http://www.quiltersrule.com/

 June 6, 2015
“Top 40 Freehand Overalls” - Are you looking to expand your free motion repertoire? Julie Lillo from Accomplish Quilting in Michigan will share with you, her favorite overall quilting designs, including swirls, pebbles, crackle, maze, triangular maze, and branching with leaves. Go home with new skills, new confidence and a sketchbook full of background fills! https://www.facebook.com/julie.Lillo

UPDATE: Temporary Location change for the June 2015 meeting.
The Helen Plum Library
110 Maple St
Lombard IL
Tel (630) 627-0316
9:30 am to 12:30 PM

August 1, 2015
“Take a Tour of my Quilting Studio--to see My Favorite Things!” - Pat Barry is set to take us on a photo-tour of her studio(s) at By Design Quilting! She will show pictures of her favorite quilting products (tools, templates, gadgets, supplies), explain the purpose of the product, the benefit to the quilter and how to use it. In many cases she will describe a low-budget alternative using household items that have been re-purposed. And what tour is complete without a trunk show? Pat will bring along some quilts in her collection. Pat is the author of the ABC’s of Longarm Quilting. In addition to teaching, writing and designing new products, Pat continues to do professional quilting. In 2014 a quilt she did, "Roses for Katrina" won Best Longarm Workmanship at the AQS Grand Rapids Quilt Show!  http://www.patbarryquilts.com/

October 3, 2015
"Fresh Ideas for Quilt Design" - Nancy Wick (http://www.imapiecemaker.com/ ) from Minnesota will share her insights and provide fresh ideas on how to conquer the quandary of what design to put on a quilt. Nancy will guide us through the process and we will learn how the design elements in the quilt, fabric, style, and purpose of the quilt may impact design choices. Learn about software options available on the market (including an iPad option, as well as several Windows-based options) to help audition quilt designs before taking a single stitch. Nancy is the author of The Quilt Block Book.
 
December 5, 2015
"Holiday Gathering of Quilters" - Join us for a holiday potluck brunch ! Feast, socialize, & renew relationships with fellow guild members. Festivities will include games, gifts, door prizes, Show & Tell, and sharing of August's skill builder projects. (This meeting is open to NILAG members only).
2015 NILAG BOARD (Northern Illinois Longarm Guild)

 
President  - Marla Margelewski    marlangreg@ameritech.net

2nd Vice President/Programs - Sandy Smith   run6@comcast.net

            With help from Debbie Long   dlmarch5@att.net

Membership - Mary Ann    Maryannfquilts2@yahoo.com

Treasurer - Linda Frankiewicz   istitch2@comcast.net

Secretary - Marlene

Yahoo/Blog Coordinator - Debbie Weber   dweber2009@comcast.net

If you would like to become a member, please contact Mary Ann at the Email address above

The December 6th 2014 program was presented by local judge and appraiser Chris Moline.
Chris shared her knowledge of what a judge looks for when doing show critiques. A trunk show  from Chris's personal collection was used, plus a few member quilts.
Chris identified areas that were done right for a competition quilt and what techniques could be improved on.  Sorry Chris's lecture is copyrighted, so no photos can be shared.  If you would like to hire Chris for a quilt appraisal please contact her at  chrismoline@att.net
 
In December we had the results of the Zentangle skill builder






 




 
A few more coloring book skill builders

And some wonderful regular show and tell





 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

The members of NILAG, The Northern Illinois Longarm Guild gathered October 25th and 26th 2014 for two days of creative instruction from award winning quilter, Linda Thielfoldt.


Linda's first class, Batting, Thread & Needles - provided members with all of Linda's knowledge from her batting test project.  Linda brought over 100 quilted and washed samples for us to touch, feel and compare.  We learned what batting works best for bed quilts, and which batting works best for wall hangings.    Many of us left the class choosing a "new favorite" based on her informative lecture. We also learned how batting, fabric, thread and needle choices affect our quilting.

 
In the afternoon, Linda taught - Borders Bonanza - we learned numerous border ideas and how to evenly space motifs with Linda's tips and tricks. This was a hands on drawing class and everyone went home with a sketchbook full of patterns.

 
On Sunday, members gathered for two more classes, Fearless Feathers  and  More Fearless Feathers.  We learned how to put feathers in borders, sashing, blocks and backgrounds. We learned several styles of feathers and how to space them to fit areas of a quilt. Our sketchbooks are brimming with new feather inspiration.



Here is some catch up on the August and October 2014 meetings...

In August the guild brought in Cindy Roth from the LongArm university.  http://www.longarmuniversity.com/ Cindy lead a drawing class on  her Continuous Curve Quilting technique.  We were able to draw along with Cindy as she demonstrated  ideas for quilting blocks continuously . Everyone went home with lots of ideas on continuous quilting.
The October 4th meeting was lead by our president Marla. We revisited  Zentangle for quilting.  There was a slide show of ideas include many of Marla's Zentangle projects.  The slide show images are available for review in the guild's Yahoo photo albums.  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/nilag/photos/albums/24206454




The results of the Coloring book page skill build were revealed.






 
 And we had lots of great show and tell.