New Mexico Quilters Association
"We're Enchanted With Quilting!"
Join NMQA's Community Service Committee every Tuesday to cut, sew, & quilt! Pick up kits and drop off work! Stay the entire time! Everyone welcome!
NMQA members donate more than 500 quilts per year to Albuquerque’s sick and needy children and adults. Community Service is a cornerstone of the organization! Our mission is to give the gift of warmth and love through beautiful handmade, lap-sized quilts.
We meet every Tuesday from 9:30 - 1:30. Bring your machine and favorite tools. We have the fabric. There are two restaurants at either end of the mall or you can bring your lunch to the refrigerator in our area.
Join NMQA's Fundraising Committee every second Saturday of the month! Everyone welcome!
NMQA's fundraising committee coordinates all the plans for our major fundraiser at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and NMQA's famous balloon raffle quilt, as well as other fundraising opportunities throughout the year.
We meet once a month, plus host sew-ins to work on crafts for sale.
Join your NMQA friends for Thursday's Zoom Sew-In! Join at any time and stay as long as you wish!
See you on line!
Join NMQA for a fun evening of food and friendship at the annual NMQA Holiday Party!
During the December meeting/holiday celebration we will be having a combination taco bar/pot luck. Sign up sheets for entree, sides and desserts will be available at both the October and November meetings. We also need help in cleaning up. NMQA will supply plates, cups, plastic ware, and drinks.
There will be a yard swap! How it works is if you bring one full, single cut yard of fabric, you get to pick one yard. Totally voluntary.
There will also be a craft class! Bringing a small scissors, a quilting "wonder" clip and tweezers would be helpful for doing the craft. Again, completely voluntary.
Feel free to contact Derrick Clouser for any suggestions to make the evening more enjoyable.
Bring your favorite holiday quilted items. We’ll have a longer than usual show and tell for these items. If you're attending in person, bring your item with you and if you're attending through zoom, send your photos to Kris Lange, klange@email.com at least 48 hours before the meeting.
January Business Meeting and Celebration of 1981 NMQA Raffle Quilt's Acceptance into ABQ Museum Collection
Kick off the new year by attending NMQA's January meeting at a special location: the Albuquerque Museum.** We'll start the meeting with important business (i.e. voting on our budget) so make sure your membership is active and you're ready to vote.
Following our business meeting, we'll hear from Alicia Romero, Curator of History at the Albuquerque Museum. Alicia recently facilitated the acceptance of NMQA's 1981 Raffle Quilt into the Museum's permanent collection. Alicia will give us an introduction to the other quilts that the Museum holds in its collection and how the Museum makes decisions about what types of quilts to accept from donations. Then we'll have the opportunity to look at a few of the quilts in the Museum's collection while Cindy Kurey, AQS Certified Quilted Textile Appraiser, provides her expertise about each item.
** Parking enforcement will not be in effect in the Museum's parking lot during our meeting so you can park there free of charge. DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, we won't be able to have Show & Tell at the meeting -- save your quilts for February!
How to Make Balloons: Applique/Piecing and Bargello Workshop
From a photo or a sketch . . . to a pattern . . . to fabric!
Ever wonder how people construct those balloons on NMQA's Balloon Quilt? Or make special projects with balloons for family or friends? We have some amazing guild members who are teaching a class on Bargello Piecing and Applique/Piecing (finished turned edge; also known as piece-lique’) and how to piece those small complex designs.
Kathy McLaren, Susan MacKenzie and Ilene Edgein will be teaching a class on these techniques in January. You will learn how to add these tools to your quilting tool box for solving problems. Some of them will be by machine and some by hand, because sometimes you need to do some hand stitching.
You will also have first opportunity at the end of the class to purchase some of the amazing quilt kits that have come in with our recent very generous donation. The kits will be priced individually.
We’re looking forward to seeing you!
Get all the details online: https://allarizonanewmexicoshophop.com/
Ready for a roadtrip??
Before the February Membership Meeting, the FUNdraising Committee will host an in-person sew-in. We'll be working on crafts to sell at Balloon Fiesta; there will be kits available and it's an easy, fun sew.
Just bring your sewing machine, various colored threads, and basic tools for a fun afternoon of sewing with NMQA.
(And bring your dinner too!)
Fabric Collage - What's It All About?
featuring Jane Haworth on Zoom
Jane is an award-winning professional quilter specializing in in making nature inspired raw edge fabric collage quilts using her own hand dyed fabrics and commercial fabrics. She lives in Northern California and she will join our meeting via Zoom.
In this engaging 45 min zoom slideshow and trunk show, Jane will explore the dynamic world of fabric collage. Discover this growing trend and gain insight into Jane's own creative journey—from her early fish quilts to evolving themes and her latest collage pieces.
You'll also learn the essentials of creating your own fabric collage quilt; from making an enlarged pattern suitable for collage, the types of fabric and tools needed and Jane's collage technique using glue. Whether you're new to fabric collage or looking to refine your skills, this lecture will inspire you to experiment and bring your own vision to life in fabric.
About Jane Haworth: Jane's book "Capture Your Own Life in Collage Quilting" was recntly published. Her quilt "Let's Talk Color" was selected for Quilt National 2025. Jane's quilts have also been accepted into the International Quilt Show at Paducah, the Pacific International Quilt Fair, Sister’s, Oregon Show and the IQA Show in Houston.
She now spends time traveling to quilt guilds and quilt shops to lecture and teach classes. You can check out her website here.
We'll also have Show & Tell at the meeting! If you're attending in person, bring your item with you and if you're attending through zoom, send your photos to Kris Lange, klange@email.com at least 48 hours before the meeting.
March Membership Meeting: It's National Quilting Month!
Attend the NMQA Membership Meeting in March, where you'll hear the latest from committees and learn about opportunities to get involved. As soon as the meeting ends, the Community Service sew-in and lunch begins! (Register separately for the sew-in and lunch here )
Celebrate National Quilting Month by Supporting NMQA's Community Service Mission!
Celebrate National Quilting Month by attending the sew-in for Community Service after the March membership meeting.
Lunch will be provided. Please bring your own beverages, and you are welcome to bring your own lunch if you prefer.
We will have something for everyone—from piecing tops to doing simple crosshatch quilting on already pinned quilt projects. Bring your machine and other tools and join in! We will provide irons, cutting tables, cutters, extension cords, chairs. If you wish, you can set up your machine in the morning (between 8:30 and 9:30 am) before the meeting begins. We will be sewing until 4:00 pm and appreciate any help in putting away the tables and equipment.
Guests welcome.
Let's make 2026 a great year for Community Service!
"Scrap Cities: Joyful, Modern, Architecture-Inspired Quilts"
featuring Cathy Perlmutter
Cathy Perlmutter is a quilter, designer, author, and teacher, with 30 years of quilting experience. She lives in Southern California and she will join our meeting via Zoom.
Cathy has made quilts inspired by New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and many fantasy lands. During the lecture, we’ll go on a whirlwind tour with photos of real buildings, and how they inspire fun, mostly pieced fabric versions.
About Cathy: A chance visit to a quilt show in 1991 plunged Cathy into this unexpected hobby. She started with Eleanor Burns’ “An Amish Quilt in a Day” book. She aspires to pay forward what Eleanor did for her and so many others – opening up a world of art-making that’s low on judgement and high on fun. She is living proof that even people who aren’t great at drawing can and do make wonderful quilts!
Cathy's quilts have been juried into national and global shows, including: Houston/IQA/IQF/International Quilt Festival (including two in their Tactile Architecture section); Road to California; QuiltCon; Mancuso shows. Two quilts have won awards in national shows. Her work has also been shown in museum venues, and she has had pieces traveling through museums in the US and abroad, in Studio Art Quilter’s Association shows.
Cathy's articles and/or her quilts have been featured in national and international quilt magazines and/or websites, including: Curated Quilts; Uppercase; SAQA Journal (Studio Art Quilt Associates); Quiltmania (No. 148); Machine Quilting Unlimited; Quilter's Newsletter Magazine; Uppercase; Traditional Quiltworks, The Quilt Life; The Quilt Show, and others.
Check out Cathy's website here.
Scrap Cities: Create the Land of Your Dreams
Zoom workshop with Cathy Perlmutter
After a tour of some of the world's most interesting buildings, and how Cathy interpreted them in fabric, you’ll make your own, starting with the easiest, most playful techniques – like the “Hotel Bargello”, and a “Log Cabin Skyscraper.”
From the comfort of your own sewing space, you’ll learn:
--Cathy's method for turning raw edges inward DURING piecing. This technique was designed specifically for architecture (modern or classical) with overhangs and setbacks. They become very easy to appliqué or piece in position,.
--Artist’s perspective: Techniques and fabric choices that create a 3D effects, easily.
--How to make some of Cathy's buildings, brainstorm and design your own, and put everything together, into a small project, or a large quilt with a penthouse view!
--How to play with layouts, audition backgrounds, and sew them in place with hand or machine appliqué.
Improv-friendly. Once you understand the principles, you’re going to have a lot of fun making up your own buildings!
Workshop fee: $40 for NMQA members, $70 for non-members.
NMQA Cancellation Policy: Due to contract obligations with instructors, NMQA is unable to provide refunds if you cancel your participation in a workshop less than forty-five (45) days prior to the event. Exceptions for illness or family emergency will be considered by the board on a case-by-case basis.
"Turned Edge Machine Piecing"
with Vicki Conley (in person)
In this class you will learn Vicki’s technique for turned edge machine piecing using a choice of either a slot canyon pattern or a donkey pattern.
Vicki uses Floriani Stitch and Wash Fusible water-soluble tearaway stabilizer to construct the entire quilt. It gets soft and stays in the finished quilt. It is easy to sew through and gives lovely stability to the finished wall quilt. This is not applique, but a clean turned edge machine piecing technique that can be used for bold landscapes and portraits.
Workshop Cost: $40 for NMQA Members
"Inspired by the Parks"
featuring Vicki Conley (in person)
Vicki Conley lives in the mountains of southern New Mexico. She has been a creative person all her life and has recently retired from 42 years as a studio potter. She has been a fiber artist for about 20 years and is now also exploring surface pattern design and online teaching. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and was part of Quilt National 2017.
Vicki has an eye for interpreting the natural world and is best known for her original national park poster art quilts. She and her husband now travel extensively in their RV with their two dogs, always looking for the next inspiration. Vicki enjoys bold graphic landscapes as well as abstract improvisational piecing.
You may have seen Vicki’s work in Machine Quilting Unlimited, Art Quilting Studios and Art Quilt Quarterly and she has articles in recent issues of Quilting Arts Magazine. She has also been a guest on the Quilting Arts TV series, as well as The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson demonstrating some of the techniques she uses in her national park art quilts.
You can see her work at her website.
A Lesson in Every Quilt
featuring Kristin Echols
Join NMQA as it hosts Kristin Echols from Idaho IN PERSON! Kristin is a quilting instructor, pattern designer, and tech enthusiast who is known for her "quilt as you go" strategies for getting quilts finished. Kristin will show over 40 of her quilts and describe the lessons learned in making each quilt. Over half the quilts were made using the Quilt-As-You-Go method, but she also shows other quilts and techniques she has tried over the years. She will also show the ugliest quilt she ever made and tell us about the lessons she learned.
Kristin began quilting in 1999 when she made a baby quilt for her best friend. She made the quilt using the fabric from the bridesmaid’s dress she wore in the wedding. Acetate is not the best fabric choice for a baby quilt, but Kristin got the quilting bug. She took classes, bought a Janome, got to know the ladies at her local quilt shop, and decided to pursue quilting as a hobby. It was a colorful and creative outlet to balance with her career as a computer programmer.
After making a few quilts, Kristin became intrigued by a technique she saw on TV. The concept was to quilt the quilt in small sections and then join the sections with sashing strips to cover the raw edges.
She was hooked and began researching the many ways this technique was achieved. It is often referred to as “quilt-as-you-go” or “reversible” quilting. After participating in a number of block-of-the-month programs, she decided to design a setting for her completed blocks that would make use of the quilt-as-you-go technique. She now designs patterns and teaches classes using the Quilt-As-You-Go method.
Kristin recently retired from the County of Sacramento where she spent 23 years as a computer geek.
When not quilting or teaching, she enjoys spending time with her husband Shawn, their three grown children and two grandkids. They live on 18 acres in beautiful Worley, Idaho where they enjoy gardening and raising chickens.
Kristin's website: https://kristinlaura.com
We'll have Show & Tell at the meeting! If you're attending in person, bring your item with you and if you're attending through zoom, send your photos to Kris Lange, klange@email.com at least 48 hours before the meeting.
"Disappearing 4-Patch Quilt-As-You-Go" Workshop
with Kristin Echols
This large disappearing 4-patch block quilt will highlight your favorite layer cake or print fabrics -- both the front and back of the quilt are pictured below. Each over-sized block is quilted individually then joined together with a special sashing technique. This is a great way to quilt larger quilts in smaller, manageable sections. You will learn everything you need to complete your quilt during this 1-day workshop.
November Business Meeting PLUS
"Last Minute Homemade Gifts!"
Note the date of November's meeting -- it's earlier than normal!
November's meeting is important as it's where we elect 2027 Board Members and committee chairs. Show up, ready to volunteer and vote!
Following the business meeting, Kathy McLaren will give a short presentation about easy, last minute homemade gifts. Gift card holders, hair scrunchies, pot holders, zipper bags, journal pen holders…the possibilities are endless! Bring a sample of your own handmade gifts to share!
Bring a holiday themed quilt for display. This can include a table runner, wall hanging, or pillow.
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