Speaking Engagements Fall 2016

Well, we are off and quilting new stories and sharing them hither thither and yon...gotta love spell check. I do try to limit my lectures to four times a year, but lately a few others have squeezed under the door.

That gave me time to participate in my guild activities, travel to see my offspring and theirs, rest, sew, rest, sew, oh and eat and exercise, did I mention sketch, stop-sew-buy-fabric-sew, and the most important part, finding stashed fabric in the most unlikely places at home?

Booked November 8, 2016 - update soon

Booked November 17, 2016 - update soon

October 25, 2016

7:00 pm 

Rising Star Quilt Guild , Lexington, MA
Lecture, trunk show, slide show

October 19, 2015

Farmington Valley Quilt Guild, Simsbury, CT

Lecture: How to Promote Your Work Without Appologizing

September 14, 16, 2015

Monday 9:00 am 09/14/2015     

Hanna Dustin Quilt Guild

http://hannahdustinqg.org

Program: “Promote Your Work Without Apologizing” 

Meetings are held at the Hudson Community Building (formerly the Lions Hall) on Lions Avenue in Hudson, NH.

From Route 93, Exit 3 – West on Route 111 approximately 8.5 miles. Turn right at the light just past Burger King. Turn left after the Dairy Queen onto Adelaide St. Turn right onto Lions Avenue.

From Route 3, Exit 5 – East on Route 111 to Hudson. Continue straight on 111 and turn right at the Dairy Queen onto Adelaide St. Turn right onto Lions Avenue.

 If you’d like to get directions: click here!

~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, 7:30 pm  09/16/2015  

RHODODENDRON NEEDLE QUILTERS GUILD

http://www.rnqg.org

Program:  Ms. V’s Solo Act:  A Quilter’s Life, a rib tickling informative trunk show, and performance.

RNQG "guild members hail from 37 towns in southeastern Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island. Experience levels range from beginner to professional." 

New Location:  

Walpole VFW Hall108 Robbins Road, less than a mile NW of their former site.

~~~~~~~~~~

October 13, 2015

Tuesday, doors open at 6:30, 10/13/2015

Cocheco Quilters Guild

http://www.cochecoquilters.com

Program:  New Work, Collections, & Skit

Located at the McConnell Center, 61 Locust Street, Dover, NH.  

• Park behind the library and enter through the door marked #2 (handicapped entrance: door #7).  
• Doors open at 6:30 pm, meeting begins at 6:45 pm. 
• Included in the business portion of the meeting are officer and committee reports, Show & Tell, and a fat quarter and door prize drawing.Each meeting features an interesting program, often with nationally recognized quilt teachers and artists offering lectures and trunk shows of their work.

Each meeting features an interesting program, often with nationally recognized quilt teachers and artists offering lectures and trunk shows of their work.

~~~~~~~

December 8, 2015

Social time 6:30, Meeting 7:00-9:00

Tewksbury Piecemakers Guild 

Tewksbury, MA 01876

*Please note: members only, not open to the general public*

~~~~~~~

December 8, 2015

Social time 6:30, Meeting 7:00-9:00

Tewksbury Piecemakers Guild 

Tewksbury, MA 01876

*Please note: members only, not open to the general public*

Speaking Engagements Fall 2015

Well, we are off and quilting new stories and sharing them hither thither and yon...gotta love spell check. I do try to limit my lectures to four times a year, but lately a few others have squeezed under the door.

That gave me time to participate in my guild activities, travel to see my offspring and theirs, rest, sew, rest, sew, oh and eat and exercise, did I mention sketch, stop-sew-buy-fabric-sew, and the most important part, finding stashed fabric in the most unlikely places at home?

October 25, 2016

7:00 pm 

Rising Star Quilt Guild , Lexington, MA

October 19, 2015

Farmington Valley Quilt Guild, Simsbury, CT

Lecture: How to Promote Your Work Without Appologizing

September 14, 16, 2015

Monday 9:00 am 09/14/2015     

Hanna Dustin Quilt Guild

http://hannahdustinqg.org

Program: “Promote Your Work Without Apologizing” 

Meetings are held at the Hudson Community Building (formerly the Lions Hall) on Lions Avenue in Hudson, NH.

From Route 93, Exit 3 – West on Route 111 approximately 8.5 miles. Turn right at the light just past Burger King. Turn left after the Dairy Queen onto Adelaide St. Turn right onto Lions Avenue.

From Route 3, Exit 5 – East on Route 111 to Hudson. Continue straight on 111 and turn right at the Dairy Queen onto Adelaide St. Turn right onto Lions Avenue.

 If you’d like to get directions: click here!

~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, 7:30 pm  09/16/2015  

RHODODENDRON NEEDLE QUILTERS GUILD

http://www.rnqg.org

Program:  Ms. V’s Solo Act:  A Quilter’s Life, a rib tickling informative trunk show, and performance.

RNQG "guild members hail from 37 towns in southeastern Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island. Experience levels range from beginner to professional." 

New Location:  

Walpole VFW Hall108 Robbins Road, less than a mile NW of their former site.

~~~~~~~~~~

October 13, 2015

Tuesday, doors open at 6:30, 10/13/2015

Cocheco Quilters Guild

http://www.cochecoquilters.com

Program:  New Work, Collections, & Skit

Located at the McConnell Center, 61 Locust Street, Dover, NH.  

• Park behind the library and enter through the door marked #2 (handicapped entrance: door #7).  
• Doors open at 6:30 pm, meeting begins at 6:45 pm. 
• Included in the business portion of the meeting are officer and committee reports, Show & Tell, and a fat quarter and door prize drawing.Each meeting features an interesting program, often with nationally recognized quilt teachers and artists offering lectures and trunk shows of their work.

Each meeting features an interesting program, often with nationally recognized quilt teachers and artists offering lectures and trunk shows of their work.

~~~~~~~

December 8, 2015

Social time 6:30, Meeting 7:00-9:00

Tewksbury Piecemakers Guild 

Tewksbury, MA 01876

*Please note: members only, not open to the general public*

~~~~~~~

December 8, 2015

Social time 6:30, Meeting 7:00-9:00

Tewksbury Piecemakers Guild 

Tewksbury, MA 01876

*Please note: members only, not open to the general public*

And Still We Rise Exhibit opened on October 12, 2013 in Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

240 Million Slaves Ago...encompasses not only the African experience in the Caribbean and the Americas but all forms of slavery all over the planet Earth from the first bound living creature in my way of thinking.

The initial project started out with me thinking I would depict the map of New Amsterdam in 1653 and the lives of the slaves who were there.  Then I began to research New Amsterdam and New York during that century.  Whew! It was hard to do and I was driven to and from the research by the information I was reading and the pictures I saw.  Other forms of slavery and being bound by another living creatures were exposed to me in a way I had not thought of recently.

Upset I began tearing fabric strips and pulling scrap strips from my stash then sewing batches of same color fabrics together.  The end result was that by the time I had built enough fabric to make the quilt I had calmed my spirit and the anger at the historic documentation I found was dissipating.  It took working on the entire quilt from start to finish, small one inch or less strips sewn together, cut, reshaped, cut, sewn, arranged and rearranged to end the anger and to find a sort of peace with my fellow man.

What started out as a wall became the bodies of the slaves, then I needed faces and bodies, the bloody feet, the Dutch slave ship, the town of Amsterdam, the British who were about to invade, the pier Eleven that still stands today that the slaves came to what later became New York. The quilt was made using strips of fabric for all parts, and they were less than one inch wide, even the faces were cut from strips of different black prints.

If you can go to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center before it comes down in March. The artistry displayed in that exhibit is breathtaking.

Below is a shot taken after the seven artist panel as we were leaving the auditorium by one of the other artist's husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Evidence of the Diaspora

And Still We Rise...

Link to the Poster for the Exhibit, opening October 11, 2013 in Cincinnati, Ohio

In every keystroke that sails across the internet

I see My People spread out and connecting before me as never before

I wondered where my village was, I thought myself alone in the ethos

I am found and am being reinforced by each unseen stitch, each seen keystroke

We do exist outside my prayers

We are talented, strong, amazing, and spirit filled

What a blessing to stroke the keys among you

We are empowered and refreshed for the days to come

Dare I say the battle yet fought

We represent a singular achievement of our ancestors

Griots, look we, we stand taller today
We appreciate from whece we all hail once again criss crossing the globe

We remember and sew their stories, their songs, and our DNA into our works

Many of us have walked not only in their footsteps but humbly, along side them

For sure we carry the burden and the glory of teaching and leaving those lessons for future generations

The soldiers in the Diaspora walk many singular pathways towards rejuvenation

We salute you Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi for this stage where in unity we are threading our needles and 

Stitching our stories, our truths so proudly

And Still We Rise…Opening in Cincinnati, Ohio, this October 11, 2013 at 6:30 pm. Go to the website of the museum to see further details, or click on the link at the top of this message.

Congrats to all who helped to make this possible, museum affiliates, artists, family members, mentors, supporters, friends and thank you so much for giving us this opportunity.

Warmest regards,

Ms. V

Landscapes, Sunrises, & Sunsets at John C Cambpell Folk School

Here's an opportunity to spend a week painting on fabric, we will paint skys the main focus when we start will be landscapes, sunrises, and sunsets, then as we all relax into the week we will begin to paint different times of day, weather, seasons, you get the idea!  If there are not slots you could get on the wait listing!  For those who are local and would be more comfortable toting their machines there will be time on the last day or so to put in a few machine stitches, I personally would rather paint as much as possible but we all have our comfort zones so feel free to bring that machine.  Sewing will be encouraged before or after class sessions...except the last day or sew.

Landscapes - Sunrises and Sunsets Instructor: Valarie Poitier
May 20-26, 2012

https://www.folkschool.org/index.php?section=subjects&subject_id=10

In a relaxed setting, learn how to use non-toxic, permanent textile paints on cotton fabric suitable for quilts. Spend the first few days painting in colors evoking earth and sky, and then incorporate your fabric into a wall quilt of your own pieced, appliqued, or fused design. Discover how fabric and design choices convey "mood" and "sense of place." Painting will be outdoors with moderate activity; no prior skills needed. However, students should have experience in piecing and applique.