May Meeting: Mr Holice Turnbow

Hello again all BMQG members and followers! Our May meeting has come and gone. This month, our meeting was dedicated to creativity. Mr Holice Turnbow graciously accepted to give us a presentation on the subject.

Mr Holice Edward Turnbow is a quilter, artist and textile consultant. For the past 40 years, he has curated, judged and taught in various quilting events throughout the country. (Mr Turnbow has an entry in Wikipedia, where you can find more information about his life and career). We started off by learning that Mr Turnbow grew up amidst a family of quilters. His "think outside the box" set of mind lead him to start teaching quilting without having actually quilted before!

Without giving away all of Mr Turnbow's tricks, I tought I would share some key points he told us to keep in mind. First of all, about developing your technique. "If it doesn't work, rip it out and find out WHY". It isn't enough to start over. You must strive to understand why you made a mistake so that you can prevent it next and save yourself MUCH frustration! Also, always remember the 3 golden rules of quilting: accurate cutting, accurate measuring, accurate sewing. On the subject of creativity, I feel like the following statement sums it all up: "sometimes, you have to break some rules in order to keep the project and idea alive". A warm thank you to Mr Holice Turnbow for his fun and insightful presentation. It was a pleasure to listen and learn!

(Mr Turnbow directed us to a book called "Damn Good Advice", as well as a website where he has made a 6 part series on quilting, Quilters TV.)

Mr Turnbow's grand-mother's modern quilt.

Put your scraps to good use, be creative!

An example of how Mr Turnbow thinks outside the box. This "Circle of Life" quilt was created for a Circles challenge!!!

Creativity meets humor with this "Longarm Quilt", which Mr Turnbow presented for a longarm challenge (get it???)

And of course no meeting would be complete without some show and tell from our very own members:

Aimee made this HUGE twister quilt for her daughter. I love the colors.

Alice made this one using a pattern from the new Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr magazine "Modern Quilts Illustrated". Nums nums.

Bonnie made this fab little quilt. Inspiration: a rust patch on a truck she was following during a long road trip!

Elise's circle quilt, which she was working on at the retreat. People; she quilted these perfect circles on her home machine!!! (Elise, you NEED to show us your neat trick!) 

 Another of Elise's projects. The center is teeny squares, quilted with waves. Amazing.


Janis made a series of mini quilts using a "slashing" technique she recently learned. It involves multiple layers of quilted fabrics being cut between quilted lines, thus exposing fabric from inside the quilt.

Front and back of a beautiful string quilt. These colors make me think of the Pastoral Symphony. Beautiful.

Here's the first of two baby quilts Lia showed us. I love how the the space between the webs looks like stars. Neat!!!!

Second baby quilt from Lia. I LOVE birds on quilts and, well, pretty much anything! This is lovely.


Rachel made this darling baby quilt.

Front and back of a shot cotton quilt Rachel made for a wedding gift for a friend. LUCKY!

Rebecca made is stunning baby quilt for a coworker. I hope it was appreciated, it looks like a lot of work and love was put into it!

Samantha made this stunning appliqued turtle quilt, which has recently been accepted for show at a Portsmouth exhibit. What a piece of art!

This one's a bit of a cheat. I (Melissa!) brought in this quilt at the meeting but had to leave before show and tell. It's a quilt with a diamond center I've made for my mom's 60th birthday. It's quilted with swirls. I hope she'll like it!

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting. By the way, if you are a paid member and haven't received your 2012-2013 membership card, please email me so I can send you one. Hope to see everyone in June (sew-in at Lia's, 7pm June 11th. Meeting in Arlington June 23rd at 12:30pm). Check our Bigtent site for event schedules and details.

Mel

xoxox