Quilting group threads modern style into old-fashioned hobby

When your catchphrase is "This is not your Mama's quilting," you know things are going to have a modern vibe. The Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild was founded in 2011, and social media has helped it grow to 40 members.

"The reason I wanted to start it," said Christa Watson, guild president, "is because there's a national guild — the Modern Quilt Guild — so we wanted to be an official affiliate chapter so we could get all the benefits and camaraderie of the national guild, which we lovingly call 'The Mother Ship.'

"Quilting has been around a long, long time, and there are lots of different styles, but this particular style — modern quilting — hasn't had the organizational structure until the (national) group ... formed about 2009," Watson said. "It took a couple of weeks for us to get the word out ... because these modern quilters use technology like Instagram, Facebook, blogging, social media things ... all of a sudden, all of these people heard about it and came to the meetings. We realized how fun and friendly we all are, and so we became, like, instant friends."

She said modern quilters tend to be around 40 to 60 years old, about 10 years younger than traditional quilters. The Las Vegas guild meets regularly at The Christmas Goose, 2988 S. Durango Drive, Suite 109, in the Durango Edna Plaza Shopping Center. The classroom there has various quilt examples hung on the walls.

At the June 24 meeting, the big news was that registration was opening soon for the national conference, QuiltCon West, planned for Feb. 18-21, 2016, in Pasadena, Calif. Watson is slated to be an instructor. It's open to the public, but, by virtue of being an affiliate, Las Vegas guild members can attend free. For more information, visit quiltconwest.com.

Watson also had an announcement of her own: Her newest book, "Machine Quilting With Style: From Walking-Foot Wonders to Free-Motion Favorites," is set to be released in September. She brought along a proof copy.

The meeting also included information on where to find patterns, different classes being offered, why King Tut quilting thread was preferable, the challenge of sandwiching fabrics, the nearly impossible task of finding the same dye lot when one ran out of fabric, and when to hand-bind versus use a machine.

"If it's (a gift for) a little kid, and you know it's going to be washed, I'll machine bind it," said Ida Ewing, vice president of membership for the guild.

Members came from different backgrounds and with different amounts of experience. Andy Arzate came from Cedar City, Utah, where he's involved in a group. His mother recently moved to Las Vegas, which he said is a perfect excuse for him to join the Las Vegas guild, which allows him to get involved with the national group.

What does he say to men who question why he wants to be involved in a women-dominated hobby?

"I tell them to come try it; it's fun," he said. "The first quilters and seamstresses were all men. And then, when the men went off to war, the ladies had to do all this stuff. But it was originally men, and they had guilds that did that."

Sue Greene said she was a "fake" quilter for years but, after taking classes at The Christmas Goose, she now felt she was one "for real. I made baby quilts for 30 years, but I just winged it."

Jane Armstrong, originally from Australia, brought a quilt she'd worked on for about two years. Her quilt had a purpose: She lost her mother to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), so the quilt would be donated to Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS to help that cause.

She said the Las Vegas guild had a good camaraderie, and it was nice to be around others who "appreciate the work that went into the craft."

Only 21 of the guild's members attended the June meeting, a testament to the penchant for Las Vegas residents to vacation in cooler climates during the summer. But the meeting didn't lack in energy, and the number fit perfectly with the planned activity, Drop and Swap, which required people to break into circles of seven. Everyone had been instructed to bring a yard of solid color fabric. In keeping with modern quilting parameters, the fabrics were in vivid, eye-catching colors.

All participants tore their fabric in half and passed the extra piece to their neighbor on the right, dropping the "keeper" piece on the floor. Then they took the new piece and repeated the action until everyone had fabric of various sizes at their feet. They would take them home and create a quilt project.

"The Drop and Swap challenge is to take them home and make something from it," said Ewing. "Now, Christa wants to make nice and said, 'Yes, you can add a color of your own, then bring it next month.' "

The evening ended with special speaker Bobbie Stoner, show chairwoman for the Desert Quilters of Nevada, talking about the quilt museum in Lincoln, Neb., and what to remember when entering a quilt show.

Jeanette Sherrick and Andrea Marquez, mother-and-daughter store owners of The Christmas Goose, said hosting the guild was good for their business.

"Sometimes, I'll go back and listen," Sherrick said. "They're full of good ideas."

For more information, visit lasvegasmqg.blogspot.com.

— To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.