We've added a new show!

You can find Barbara Chojnacki of Six Gables Designs manning the booth at the Greater Hartford Quilt Guild show on October 13th in Enfield CT. For further info or directions please visit the guilds website http://www.ghqg.org . If you go, be sure and wave to Barb!

2012 Schedule

Wondering where you can find us this year? All over the place!

March 17-18 Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild
Westfield State University
Westfield, MA
http://www.pvquilt.org

March 24-25 Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild
Blackstone Valley Technical School
Upton, MA
http://www.thimblepleasures.org

April 21-22 Narragansett Bay Quilt Guild
N. Kingstown High School
N. Kingstown, RI
http://www.nbquilts.org

May 4-5 Bedford Friendship Quilt Guild
St. Elizabeth Seton Church
Bedford, NH
http://www.bfqg.org

May 10-11 A Spring Sampler (classes & lectures)
Courtyard Marriott
Nashua, NH

June 1-3 Quilter's Unlimited
Dulles Expo & Conference Center
Chantilly, VA
http://www.quiltersunlimited.org

July 26-29 Maine Quilts
Augusta Civic Center
Augusta, ME
http://www.mainequilts.org

August 4-5 Clamshell Quilt Guild
Connecticut College
New London, CT
http://www.clamshellquiltguild.org

November 1-4 A Quilter's Gathering
Radisson Hotel
Manchester, NH
http://www.aquiltersgathering.com

Whew...I'm tired just typing it out. We might add a show or two along the way - if we do, we'll be sure and let you know. Hope to see you out and about during this year's quilt season!

Terri Sontra
Head Moose
Purple Moose Designs
http://www.PurpleMooseDesigns.com
http://www.Facebook/purplemoosedesigns

Fifth Anniversary Celebration!

Last Friday night the members of NEQDC were all together again for only the third time since the group first formed five years ago. (Another great photo of smiling happy faces! Left to right: Barbara Chojnacki, Beth Helfter, Kristi Parker, Judy Damon, Terri Sontra and Cary Flanagan.)

We presented a program at the Amoskeag Quilters Guild in Manchester, NH. Each of us described how we became designers, showed a selection of our quilts, described our different design styles and talked about what it is like to be part of the group. We also talked about the business side of NEQDC - how we vend as a group at guild and regional quilt shows. At the end we had an opportunity to vend our patterns, books and notions and had a really nice display of our larger quilts hung in the background.

This presentation was a lot of fun and we were well received by an almost standing room only crowd - more than 85 members of the guild were there which is a really good turnout for a bitterly cold January evening!

Before the guild meeting we all met for dinner to visit with each other (lots of giggling!). We rarely get to meet informally like this, since we live all over New England and we really enjoy each others' company. But we also started brainstorming ways we could expand what we offer as a group in addition to vending at shows. Stay tuned as we work out details - we have some really great ideas in the works!

I am so honored to be part of this talented and fun group of 'designing women'!

Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine Quilt Design

Happy Smiling Faces!

The six designers in our group live all over New England, from southern coast of Rhode Island to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, so it is not often we are all in the same place at the same time!  So we thought it would be fun to show you our smiling faces from the one and only time we actually got together as a group while vending.

This photo was taken at our booth at MQX in Manchester NH, spring 2010.

Left to right:  Terri Sontra,  Judy Damon, Kristi Parker, Barbara Chojnacki, Cary Flanagan, Beth Helfter.

Check out the links at right to go to our individual websites.  And watch for our vending schedule for the coming year.  Maybe we will be coming to a quilt guild near you!

We Are Still Here!

It has been a very busy summer and fall for all of the members of the New England Quilt Designer's Cooperative. Since we each have our own businesses to attend to it is sometimes difficult to keep this blog up to date. I (Cary Flanagan) assure you we are still very much alive and kicking!

We have vended at many quilt shows over the past year, some small and some very large (by our standards), such as Maine Quilts in July. (You can see a glimpse of our booth from that show this past summer in the photo above.)

We are now winding down for this season but will be starting up again in January with a group appearance at the Amoskeag Quilt Guild in Manchester, NH. The six of us are The Program for the January guild meeting! We will each have an opportunity to talk about how we became designers, present a group trunk show and also vend our patterns, notions and other wonderful quilty items to guild members. Starting in March our guild show vending schedule will begin once again and continue through the following fall.

We have become very popular and well known in the New England area and are looking to possibly expand our reach beyond New England. If you know of a quilt show or venue in your area (outside NE), please contact one of us and tell us about it! The concept of a group of individual designers coming together to offer our quilt patterns, kits, notions, etc as well as our expertise as speakers and workshop teachers if truly unique. We look forward to hearing from many of you soon for new opportunities for us to share what we do with a broader audience.

Stay tuned for our spring/summer/fall schedule to be posted here soon.

Cary Flanagan
Something Sew Fine Quilt Design

New Brochure for NEQDC!

Download the newly designed full color brochure for NEQDC HERE!

I have not yet conquered the problem of how to print it in its entirety but will work on that. But you can at least see the photos and read the text.

The brochure was designed and produced by NEQDC member Judy Damon.

Members Featured in The Quilt Pattern Magazine

Several of our members have been working with the folks at The Quilt Pattern Magazine and have submitted articles and patterns for publication. This month, April 2011, members Barbara Chojnacki and Kristi Parker are featured in the magazine. Barbara's pattern is called "Itzo EZ", and the name is perfect! She will have you using up all of your scraps and large scale prints in no time! This quilt lends itself well to Layer Cakes and fat quarter bundles as well. Kristi wrote an article describing how to do a method of applique that uses very fine bridal tulle as a stabilizer. It is quick and easy, and can be accomplished entirely by machine, although the end result looks as if were done by hand. The tulle does not show in the finished product, and remains soft and supple for quilting. Keep an eye out for submissions from other members of the New England Quilt Designers in the future. You can access The Quilt Pattern Magazine by going to www.TheQuiltPatternMagazine.com. It is an "E-zine" that can be downloaded to your computer, allowing you to print any of the articles and pattern templates that you choose.