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Archive for the ‘Road 2017’ Category

Meet Road 2017 Teacher Gudrun Erla

Friday, August 19th, 2016

Gudrun Erla will be teaching 4013C Scandinavian Style on Thursday; 5013C Stripology Squared on Friday; 6011C Mastering Quilt as you go on Saturday; and 7009C Strip Your Stash on Sunday.

Gudrun Erla is fond of the cold country. She was born and raised in Iceland and currently lives in Minnesota with her family: Atli (23), Gisli (16), Svana (15) and a puppy Koby. When Gudrun isn’t quilting, she likes to cook, enjoy outdoor activities, run and exercise or just relax with friends.

Gudrun got into quilting by happening to take a class. She gets inspired for her quilting from just about everywhere. She says she never knows what will spark an idea; she is open to anything. Her Stripology Ruler is her favorite quilting tool. It saves her so much time cutting anything and makes everything so accurate and easy.

Gudrun has taught quilt classes as far away as her native Iceland and in Alberta, Canada. She likes teaching because she likes to get to know her students and share in their success in class She can adapt quickly to any class situation, One time when she was teaching, Gudrun was doing a lecture on Stripology and had planned to show all the quilts out of her newest Stripology book. The only problem was, she left the bag with all the quilts at home so she had to quick-like reorganize her lecture around the quilts she did have with her. She is hoping that all her students at Road to California 2017 will have a fun day of sewing with her, meeting new people and learning a few things in the process. Gudrun wants everyone to go home confident in continuing and finishing the projects they started in class.

What is Gudrun’s favorite quilting tip? Relax and enjoy the journey. Practice does make perfect but she adds that you should always have fun while you are practicing, because nothing is ever perfect. To learn more about Gudrun, please visit her website. ]]>

Tags: GE Designs, Gudrun Erla, Iceland, Quilt Teacher
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Meet Road 2017 Teacher: Jenifer Dick

Saturday, August 13th, 2016

JeniferDick Jenifer began quilting on a whim. She was a cross stitcher in college and was checking out a new shop in Kansas City for supplies when she noticed that half the shop was fabric. By this time, she was getting bored with cross stitching because she felt constrained by the lack of freedom in recreating the charts. Jenifer noticed that the quilt girls could pick their own fabric and put it together however they liked. That kind of freedom really intrigued her. There was a sign-up for a beginning quilting class and she signed up on the spot. This was in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history; Jenifer never cross stitched again! Jenifer says when it comes to quilting, “I am kind of schizophrenic. I am equal parts bold and graphic, and equally organic! I have a graphic design background so simple shapes and bright colors have always caught my eye. And the art of the early 20^th century has always attracted me. Contrastingly, I live in the country in the woods and love my trees and birds! They often show up in my applique designs.” When asked what her favorite quilting took was, Jenifer replied, “I keep my tools really simple – machine, scissors, rotary cutter, mat, rulers. I find you can do 99% of what you need to do with those simple tools. I do have one tool I use that isn’t a quilting tool at all that I like! It’s an orange stick, used for manicures. It can be a stiletto, a third hand, it helps cleaning out nooks and crannies in my machine, and it helps in applique. Quite versatile for a small piece of balsa wood!” The best quilting tip Jenifer has to offer is to spend the money on a really good quality iron. Why? Because “You can’t imagine how big a difference a good iron makes! It glides over the fabric better, helps reduce fatigue, and the heavier weight helps with pressing open seams without making them wobbly.” Though Jenifer also recommends having “a cheap iron with a non-stick sole plate on hand for gooky jobs – working with fusible, lots of starch, etc.” The best part about teaching for Jenifer is meeting the quilters and getting to know them. She says that she has found that her quilting students come to her classes with tons of knowledge and that she always learns something from the students at every workshop she teaches. Since Jenifer mostly teaches locally in Missouri, she is really looking forward to coming to Road to California and meeting her students. She hopes that they learn something new and have a lot of fun. Jenifer shared that in her classes, they laugh a lot and she gives out fun prizes throughout the day. But most importantly, she strives to teach something new – no matter how small – to even the most experienced quilter. To learn more about Jenifer, visit her website. ]]>

Tags: Jenifer Dick, Quilt Classes, Road to California 2017
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Meet Road 2017 Featured Artist: Marilyn Badger

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016

Red Feathers, where she did the quilting on, won Best of Show in 2013. [caption id="attachment_4212" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Red Feathers – Best of Show Road to California 2013. Made by Claudia Clark Myers. Quilted by Marilyn Badger.[/caption] And at Road 2016, Marilyn won 1^st Place for Traditional, Large Pieced for her quilt, Arandano. Arandano was a therapy project for Marilyn. After making quilts for competition for so many years, this was her first quilt she made just for herself. She never intended to enter it in a show. However, as she approached the end of the project, she decided that maybe Arandano was good enough to enter into competition. When she made the decision to enter it, Marilyn had to go back and correct a lot of flaws to make it competitive. It took her 1-1/2 years to complete from piecing to hand beading. Marilyn says she learned a lot about hand embroidery and beading and she really loved adding those touches to Arandano. Quilting Treasures sponsored the Traditional, Large, Pieced category and awarded Marilyn $1,000 for her first place win. Of winning this prize, Marilyn remarked, “It is always wonderful to have a quilt you have put so much work on win it’s first time out in the competitive world. I was thrilled and even more so at Paducah where it won the $20,000 Best of Show award and became a permanent part of the collection of the National Quilt Museum. It just doesn’t get any better than that!” What did Marilyn think when she was asked to be the Featured Artist for Road to California 2017? “Totally shocked! Road to California is one of my favorite shows and I have attended either as a teacher, vendor or student for as many years as I can remember. To have my quilts on display there will be awesome and I can’t wait to meet and talk with all the quilters who stop by to see my exhibit.” [caption id="attachment_4216" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Exuberance by Marilyn Badger[/caption] In her role as featured artist, Marilyn hopes to encourage more quilters to enter competitions, as well as inspire the younger generation of quilters to continue the art form. “It has been such a passion of mine for over 30 years and I want to see the industry continue to grow, ” shared Marilyn. In her booth near the front of the show floor, Marilyn will have on display as many of her award winning quilts that can fit into the area. APQS will be furnishing a machine for her use during the show. Marilyn will be quilting some of her own small quilts and demonstrating how she accomplishes her quilting techniques. [caption id="attachment_4218" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photo by APQS[/caption] Marilyn lives in St. George, Utah. Besides being Road’s featured artist, what else does she hope to do while she is in California? “Enjoy the nice weather and perhaps go do a little car racing with my friends.” Be sure to stop by Marilyn’s booth and ask her about that car racing!! To learn more about Marilyn, please visit her Facebook Page. ]]>

Tags: Featured Artist, Road 2017, Road to California, Winning Quilter, Winning Quilts
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Meet 2016/2017 Vendor: Pollard’s Sew Creative

Wednesday, July 27th, 2016

Pollard’s Sew Creative began from a passion for sewing and has grown to become a creative sewing center as well as an authorized dealer for Pfaff, Husqvarna, and Viking sewing machines. Founders Bill and Marcia Pollard, along with their daughter, Jennifer Noble, each bring their own area of expertise to the business. Bill repairs the machines brought into their stores. Marcia is the “creative juice” behind the company. It was from her observations 20 years ago that there wasn’t much sewing education available for the consumer that led the Pollard’s to provide a source where they could show “everything that can be done with a stitch.” Marcia is also known for her digitized machine embroidery exclusive collection for Elegance Threads and Designs. Jenny joined the business 14 years ago. With a background in technology (she has 2 degrees in technology and is the former head of the Ed Tech Department at the University of LaVerne), it was the recent technological developments with sewing machines that brought her to the business. Today, she oversees Pollard’s Sew Creative business operations. Jenny is also credited with involving their company with Anime Expo, an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California the first weekend in July and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). Pollard’s providing sewing machines at the event to encourage youth to sew their own Anime costumes for the convention. Pollard’s first store was opened in Glendora, California and they have just added another location in Arcadia, California. Each store offers daily classes and carries products to “sew on and sew with.” They are leaders in an evolving industry, combining computer technology with sewing machines. Their “full package” includes not only selling one-of-a-kind products, fabric, and notions but also offering sewing classes. In addition, they give computer classes on the Dell laptop computers they sell, bringing together computer programs and sewing machines. Why do the Pollards like coming to Road to California? Says Jenny, “We like to connect with the people and tell them about all the options there are available to inspire.” As the industry continues to change, Pollard’s Sew Creative will “keep pushing outside the box.” To learn more about Pollard’s Sew Creative, visit their website. ]]>

Tags: Anime Expo, Computerized Sewing, Husqvarna, Pfaff, Pollard's Sew Creative, Vikiing
Posted in Road 2016, Road 2017, Vendors | No Comments »

Traveling The Globe To Get To Road

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

116 Mary Allum and Catherine Dodd[/caption] Catherine Dodd came from the Isle of Harris in Scotland. Her hometown is famous for producing Harris Tweed. Catherine journeyed 30 hours to get to Road to California. Her trip began from her home where she drove a half hour to get to the port where she boarded a ferry for a 2 hour sail. When she got to the mainland, she next drove 14 hours to Heathrow Airport in London for her 11-1/2 flight to Los Angeles. After arriving in Southern California, she drove 1-1/2 hours to Mission Viejo to stay with her sister. Catherine was in California for 2 weeks, which included she and her sister attending Road to California. Catherine’s sister, Mary, is the sewer in the family and has lived in the United States just one year. She heard about Road to California from Mel’s Sewing and Fabric Center. Their first stop at Road was to take the bus tour that included going to Hoffman California Fabrics. Mary was looking forward to going to Hoffman and Catherine was interested in seeing all the fabric on their bus tour. [caption id="attachment_4181" align="aligncenter" width="625"] Jenny Bacon and Margaret McDonald[/caption] Quilters Margaret McDonald and Jenny Bacon came to Road from Australia. Both friends spent 10 days in the Southern California area. Jenny is not a stranger at Road. She has attended the show for the past five years and helps with the quilt contest judging. After 3 days of judging, Jenny was looking forward to getting out and seeing the show. It was Margaret’s first time at Road. She was looking forward to all the new experiences that Road had to offer, including going on a bus tour. Road 2017 is already set to welcome more international visitors. Teacher Jenny Bowker will be coming from Australia to teach her classes along with the Tentmakers of Cairo who will be showing their quilts as well as teaching classes with Jenny. No matter where you live, getting to Road is easy. We have suggestions for your travel arrangements on our web site. How far will you be traveling to Road to California 2017?]]>

Tags: International Quilters, Jenny Bowker, Road 2017, Tentmakers of Cairo
Posted in Road 2016, Road 2017 | No Comments »

Meet 2016/2017 Vendor: Eye of the Beholder

Wednesday, July 6th, 2016

Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design will be returning to Road to California in 2017

How does someone go from professional dancer to quilter?

That is exactly what Margaret Willingham did. For many years, Margaret taught choreography for a modern dance company specializing in classical ballet and modern dance. When Margaret developed major back problems (she had 5 surgeries in 2 years), she realized that teaching dance was no longer an option. Newly divorced, Margaret had to find something she could do to make a living. So she turned to her passions to find the answer. [caption id="attachment_4151" align="aligncenter" width="552"]

Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] Margaret loved being creative, artistic, and quilting. For Margaret, fabric was “fun to play with.” She “followed the doors God had given” her and started Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design. She has been in business going on 6 years. Instead of choreographing dances, she is choreographing quilts. Eye of the Beholder Quilt Design specializes in original applique patterns inspired by the world around us. Margaret has developed a reverse applique process that is “a no brainer.” Just Trace-Baste-Snip-Stitch. Margaret shared that she’s even had 10 year olds master her technique. “People are amazed at how easy and simple of a process it is.” Eye of the Beholder Quilt Designs can also be done as machine reverse applique because Margaret has found that some people don’t like to do hand work. [caption id="attachment_4148" align="aligncenter" width="625"]

Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] From August, 2015 to January, 2016, Margaret put 11,000 miles on her new van traveling to various shows. She spends most of the time in her booth demonstrating her applique steps with her customers. She has also put up tutorials on her website, has a booklet that explains her technique, and writes a blog sharing applique tips and experiences. [caption id="attachment_4149" align="aligncenter" width="625"]

Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] Road 2016 was Margaret’s first time at the show. She had never really been to Southern California before and was excited to be at Road as she had “heard good things about the show.” She is looking forward to returning to Road 2017. [caption id="attachment_4150" align="aligncenter" width="625"]

Photo by Brian Roberts Photography[/caption] You can learn more about Eye of the Beholder Quilt Designs on their website.]]>

Tags: Applique, Eye of the Beholder Quilt Designs, Quilt Vendor, Reverse Applique, Road to California
Posted in Road 2016, Road 2017, Vendors | No Comments »