Minutes of the General Meeting, via Zoom Oregon Coastal Quilters Guild April 8, 2021
The meeting, via Zoom, was called to order by President Meralee Wilson at 1:01 p.m.
Jean Amundson moved to approve the minutes of the March 11, 2021, General meeting. Debbie Mosley seconded the motion. The motion passed, and the Minutes were approved without objection.
COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Quilt Show in Florence – The Quilt Show will be held on May 14-15, 2021, at the Old School Furniture facility. The entrance fee is a goodwill offering.
OCQG Quilt Show – Darcy de la Rosa reported whether the 2021 quilt show would go on is in the hands of Governor Brown and the Covid-19 circumstances. The committee will take vendor reservations but no deposit funds. Otherwise, the quilt show is in a holding pattern. Debbie Mosley will confirm with the Rec Center that the reservation is on the books.
Fundraising – Chris Benedetti reported that dues do not cover many expenses incurred by the Guild. Chris has been in touch with the Washington Stars quilt guild and learned two of their fundraising techniques. The Washington Stars guild sells quilts on its website. If any guild member is interested in viewing the online quilts for sale, the website is Washingtonstarsquiltguild.com. If guild members are interested in exploring this fundraising option, there are many logistics to and members are needed to help with the technology. Secondly, the Washington Star guild created a Native American quilt which was put on display in a Native American casino. The quilt was purchased for $9,000.00 Canadian. Roseanne Berton volunteered for the committee and suggested working with 32auction.com, an auction website or similar website, which works with non-profits. Linda Reeve suggested having a booth at the Farmer’s Market.
Retreat – Georgia Sabourin reported sign-ups for the Retreat will begin on May 1, 2021, and should be sent to her e-mail, HaHagranny@aol.com. Information regarding prices and the number of attendees to a room will be updated and appear on the blog.
Veteran’s Project – Rose Shaw reported six Quilts of Valor would be presented on April 18, 2021, and there will be a sew-in at Siletz. Members can make a reservation with Betty Wilson. Phyllis Walden, our Pennsylvania guild member, donated six panels.
Merchandising – Becky Mershon reported that the third and final piece will come in the following week.
Workshop – Jane Szabo reported the first Zoom workshop would be on May 14, 2021, and nine spots remain open. The program will be given by Emily Taylor and will focus on collage quilts.
Having no further business, Jane Szabo introduced our program and speakers. Linda and Carl Sullivan of Colourwerx have designed over 100 patterns, in addition to designing fabric. They have been married for thirty-two years and have worked together each day, every day for twenty-one years. They began their journey in the creative worlds of color and quilting by purchasing a quilt shop in Pinehurst, North Carolina, managing and working in the store for nine years without any employees. Linda noticing many, if not all, customers lost confidence when choosing fabrics and colors and believed this lack of conviction must be addressed.
Linda began quilting in about 1998 and believes the quilting world is very different from what is currently popular. Her first quilt was a sampler in fabrics from or similar to Thimbleberry designs in browns and greens. Proud of the quilt, despite points being cut-off and other points not meeting, she now fondly uses it for her canine friends. Her second quilt was the beginning of her exploration of color as she took a class with Freddy Moran. Freddy looked at the fabrics Linda brought with her and instructed her to get very different fabrics. Over six hundred dollars later, Linda’s second quilt, created in bright, saturated colors, without tint, against black, is vibrant and engaging. Linda designed her third quilt, a series of appliqued frog blocks, and, in doing so, found her “mojo.”
Linda wants quilters to ask the following questions before choosing fabrics for a project.
- What colors do I like?
- What colors make me happy?
- What colors do I gravitate to?
- What colors would I like to use but I’m afraid to?
To answer these questions, one must study the color wheel.
There are three primary colors; yellow, red, and blue. All colors are derived from these three.
The secondary colors are orange, purple, and green. They are achieved by mixing two primary colors in equal measure.
The tertiary colors are achieved by missing primary and secondary colors.
Each color, primary, secondary, and tertiary, can then be modified by tinting (adding white), toning (adding gray), and shading (adding black).
The first step is to find the value of a color or fabric. The original method was to view the color and squint. A more up-to-date process is to use a red or green lens to view the color and see its value. The most modern approach is to use a cellphone to photograph the fabric and convert it to black and white using an app on the cellphone. Kaffe Fassett is the most challenging designer to work out colors, tint, tones, and shades, so Linda and Carl used his quilt fabrics and designs to illustrate their point. The black and white photo of a contemporary design, a multitude of triangles, shows the value being pushed to one side because of the placement of blues, blacks, greys, greens, and some yellow in the quilt. A stack of fabrics, transposed to a black and white photograph, exemplifies how we view color and value. While green and yellow may appear to have different values, they appear the same in the black and white photograph.
Linda discussed Color Wheel palettes. Analogous colors are those next to each other on the Color Wheel. Monochromatic is when the quilter works with one color only but utilizes different tints, tones, and shades. To illustrate her point, Linda displayed a quilt entirely in shades of blue. She also showed the quilt “Kiss” by Linda Sullivan exhibited at the Prince Cherrywood Challenge. Complementary colors, which are on opposite sides of the Color Wheel, are applied when the quilter chooses three colors next to each other on the Color Wheel and 4th, which is directly opposite those three. An actomatic quilt is made entirely of black and white fabrics or shades of grey.
The Color Wheel explains how colors relate to each other. Linda and Carl illustrated this point by using a panel of Kaffee Fassett fabric. Linda used the material, alive with blues, purples, reds, and different tints, tones, and shades of each color to challenge Carl to find complimentary colors. Using solid colors, Carl started with medium orange but then needed light and dark orange to pick up the fabric’s other colors. Carl then followed that illustration by picking solids in green, red, and purple in the same order; medium, then light, and dark. To pick out lighter shades, Carl chose solid colors with more yellow than the medium. To choose darker shades, Carl shoes solid colors with more blue. The same theory applies to choosing complimentary print fabrics as well. A point Carl again illustrated by selecting a print in medium orange, then choosing lighter and darker prints following the yellow/blue spectrum and repeating the exercise in green, red, and purple prints.
Linda and Carl talked about tips to help guild members choose their colors. First, when choosing a printed fabric (and not a solid, batik, or non-printed fabric), look to the selvage and pick out which of the many colors would most compliment the chosen material. Second, collect, and hold onto, paint chips. The chips represent the colors, and their values, light, medium, and dark, are also on the chip. Third, collect and use paint pamphlets to use as a color map to make a lovely and engaging quilt. The paint pamphlets provide an instant palette in the attached chips and the accompanying photographs as well. Linda particularly pointed out that complementary colors appear not only on the walls, ceiling, and trim but also in the details of art, fabric on furniture, and the color of a fireplace. Fourth, explore and use the online color apps. Design-seeds.com is one such app and provides daily inspiration and matching color palettes. Color Inspiration Tool is an inspiring and color-mixing tool that allows the user to isolate a color from a photograph and then shows harmonious color combinations.
Linda and Carl used quilts made from several of their patterns to illustrate using the Color Wheel Order. “Spiky,” a quilt of complementary colors using a flying geese pattern against a black background, “Mod TV,” a quilt of blocks suggesting 1960 television sets, also follows the Color Wheel and is set against a black background to make the colors pop. “Mix-It-Up” uses warm and cool colors from the Color Wheel, and “Splendor,” a quilt of applique flowers circling one larger flower, follows Color Wheel order even though the fabrics are in pastel shades.
Linda encourages us to expand our sense of color. The first step is to review the color stash, fill in what is missing, sort by color, and then value. The second step is to move beyond our color prejudices. To illustrate her point, Linda explained she hated brown fabrics at one point in her color journey, all tints, tones, and shades. Then she was asked to make a wall-hanging with just those fabrics. Unwillingly, Linda addressed and played with the fabrics repeatedly until she hit upon a design that allowed the colors to shine through. “Tiki,” a wall-hanging of a Hawaiin warrior, is a vibrant use of the fabrics with which Linda had to work and showed her ability to break through her color prejudice. Linda suggests quilters keep a color journal or mood board and used advertisements to show us how colors are used and explained in complementary ways. Electric Quilt Software is an easy and inexpensive software that includes various colors and allows users to download color photographs of multiple materials. Linda asked, “Where have you been” and showed us various pictures she and Carl had taken on trips showing color in dynamic and lively ways. But, in the end, Linda’s advice was simple. “Be Bold.”
“Color gets all the credit. Value does all the work.”
“When ten colors won’t work, a hundred will do.”
Freddy Moran.
Patterns were given as door prizes to Linda Patrick, Sue Stephenson, Kathleen Holt, and Vicki West, among other guild members.
Members will receive 15% off items on sale on the website by using coupon code “Oregon.” The website is “colourwerx.com.”
Show and Share followed Linda and Carl’s presentation and included:
- Jean Amundson displayed one quilt. Hand appliqued and quilted in the Hawaiin style; each block is a different flower or plant native to Hawaii. Jean designed the border herself in greys, oranges, and green with a recurring pineapple motif.
- Linda MacKowan displayed “On the Wings” with flying geese blocks in a dazzling combination of blues, gold, and silver-white from a Judy Johnson class she took in 2005. Linda free-hand machine quilted her quilt with a winged centerpiece.
- Carol Nelson showed the Guild a sampler quilt in a multitude of colors entitled “Celebrating Washington Wildflowers which she hand-quilted over several years.
- Nan Scott displayed “Genesis,” an elegantly simple quilt in black, blue, gold, and white, and entertained the members with her story of making face masks and matching totes for local schoolchildren.
REMINDERS
A reminder to the executive Board – the next meeting is Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. via Zoom.
The Community Quilters’ next meeting is May 6, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in
Waldport at Lee Palmers.
The next guild meeting, via Zoom, is Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara L. Kinzel, Secretary.