Conejo Valley Quilters Programs and Workshops
We've gone virtual!! To stay connected and maintain social distancing, join us on Zoom!
General meetings and workshops are currently held on Zoom. For information regarding our meetings and the Zoom link, contact us here.
SEPTEMBER: Karen Eckmeier, “The Quilted Lizard”
Since she was a little girl she has always felt the need to create. After several years in the corporate world, in 1996 she gave in to the artist in her and started making art quilts, which were very well received in national and international shows. The awards encouraged her to move forward in her new direction. Her hobby officially became her business in 2002 when she opened her business “The Quilted Lizard.” For 8 years she taught at a local quilt store and in 2002 began teaching her technique “Layered Curves” and “Accidental Landscapes™” nationwide. She believes teaching workshops gives her the opportunity to share her passion for playing with fabric with others, and she loves it!!
LECTURE, September 21, 6pm (note new time!) – “Happy Villages and Accidental Landscapes”
Karen shares her two favorite approaches to playing with fabrics: Fabric collage (Happy Villages) and layered/topstitching (Accidental Landscapes). This lighthearted and informative presentation will show you how the techniques evolved and will inspire you to try fabric collage or layered/topstitching in your own creations. The presentation includes a mini trunk show. Click here for a video overview of one of her techniques.
WORKSHOP, September 26, 10am-4pm (note new day!) – "Accidental Landscapes - Beach Scenes”
The workshop will focus on “Accidental Landscapes - Beach Scenes”, her layered topstitch technique. In this workshop you will create a small wallhanging of a beach scene of your design and introduce you to techniques that may also be used in other designs. The workshop is for all skill levels. You can see an amazing display of workshop creations here.
Pattern will be provided with your enrollment.
The workshop fee has been reduced for our first virtual presentation to: $30/members, $40/non-members
Note: Space is limited!! Contact Workshop Chair Chris Stout now at csstout01@aol.com to register for the workshop. After registering, you will be able to pay by check (mail to Chris Stout) or pay online (+$1 service fee) here:
OCTOBER: Mel Beach, “Mel Beach Quilts”
Mel Beach is a San Jose, CA based quilt artist, teacher and lecturer, who breaks away from tradition by adding her own modern, beautifully textured and colorful twists. She loves stretching her creativity through her completion of 80+ quilt challenges at the local and international level. Her quilts draw upon her inquisitive nature of asking "What If?", “Why Not?”, working in a series, comedy improv studies, along with her love of nature, photography and sketching.
Mel is passionate about teaching/lecturing, with a focus on quilting on a domestic machine and modern quilting techniques. Starting in 2016, Mel has taught for quilt shops, guilds and quilt shows throughout the US, and several large venues: Road to California, Pacific International Quilt Festival, Virtual Quilt Show, Online Quilt Festival, and Craft Napa.
Her quilts have been exhibited locally, juried into national quilt shows and traveling exhibits, published in books/magazines, earned awards/ribbons and selected as Finalists. She is a Michael Miller Brand Ambassador and AccuQuilt GO! Getter. Mel was featured on Quilting Arts TV (series 2500 and 2600) and The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims (episode 2112), and has published articles with Quilting Arts Magazine and The Craft Industry Alliance. Lastly, she has a great teaching style and when you hear her speak, you can tell she is originally from NY.
Learn more about Mel here or on her website: www.melbeachquilts.com
LECTURE, October 19, 6pm (note new time!) – “Dancing with Threads: Free Motion Crea-TV and Reality”
As described by Mel "Tune in as I share my love of free motion quilting as it relates to my guilty pleasure of watching reality television!! I’ll share my own unscripted, real-life adventures of learning to free-motion quilt. You won’t want to change channels as I share my confessionals about my fear factors, extreme makeover story, myth busting tips and tricks for quilting on a domestic sewing machine, and “show”mance with some of my favorite tools and notions! Be sure to set your TiVo and DVR, as you won’t want to miss this humorous and inspirational presentation - complete with a trunk show finale!”
WORKSHOP, October 24, 10am-4pm (note new day!) – “Mod Molas & Bright Blooms”
Cultivate your own beautiful garden scene that is layered with exciting color and texture. In this workshop, we will complete the layering of your quilt sandwich, designing, and free-motion quilting an original wholecloth quilt featuring a whimsical floral design. Once the quilting is complete, you’ll learn her simple tips and tricks for using reverse applique to add a brilliant bloom that will completely transform your Art Quilt! Finished size ~18” x 23"
*** This class is fun for quilters of all experience levels. Quilters who are relatively new to free motion quilting can enjoy this stress-free class as we’ll use no-mark templates and the cutwork reveal will disguise any wobbles or bobbles in the quilting. The technique and many of the designs are adaptable for quilters who prefer to use their walking foot for completing the quilting. (Alison Rowe took this class from her last week at QuiltFest and loved it!).
Pattern will be provided with your enrollment.
The workshop fee is still below normal for our second virtual presentation at: $40/members, $50/non-members
Contact Workshop Chair Chris Stout at csstout01@aol.com to register for the workshop. After registering, you will be able to pay by check (mail to Chris Stout) or pay online (+$1 service fee) here:
For more information about membership and our meetings, click here.