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September 2012
NW QUILTING EXPO
3
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Organizers share
what’s on tap at this
year’s NW Quilting
Expo in Portland
Ready for a supreme sewing
event that will leave you in stitches?
Organizers Laura Dickson, Geri
Grasvik and Shellie O’Donnell
began theNWQuilting Expo in 2000
because the Northwest has the
highest per capita of quilters in the
world, they said.
The women met through the
common interest — Dickson owns
A Common Thread in Portland;
Grasvik owns The Pine Needle in
Lake Oswego and O’Donnell
formally owned Yardsale Quilts in
Tualatin. And what started as a
1,5000 square foot gathering of 20
vendors at the Washington County
Fairgrounds has grown to a 72,000
square foot gala at the Portland
Expo Center with 80 vendors, 600
quilts and several national teachers.
And a whole lotta quilting
enthusiasts.
“This show brings in instructors
and vendors from all over the U.S.
And quilts from all over the world,”
O’Donnell said. “It’s a great
opportunity for people in the
Northwest to experience an
international show here in their
backyard.”
Need to buy fabric? Want to try
out sewing machines? Need a gift?
Gain inspiration for your work
through creative handwork classes
at the expo Sept. 20, 21 and 22.
O’Donnell said that guest
instructors will be available to to
chat throughout the event and 150
juried quilts will be displayed.
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Enjoy special exhibits such as
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt
Initiative
—a traveling quilt exhibit
focus ing on Al zhe imer ’s .
“Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From
Heartbreak to Hope” features 236
quilts. The long, narrow quilts are
made from 55 purple patches, each
marked with the name of a person
who has or hadAlzheimer’s disease
or dementia. The “name quilts”
create a wall of more than 10,000
names of some in the United States
with the disease. Additional quilts
tell the story of Alzheimer’s from a
variety of perspectives.
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The Twelve by Twelve: The
International Art Quilt Challenge
is a group of 12 quilt artists from
around the world each crafting
12-inch by 12-inch art quilts created
for two separate challenges — a
colorplay challenge and a theme
challenge.
“While the small works are not
patches, but small, individual
quilts, the 12-inch by 12-inch
creations are hung side-by-side for
display purposes only. They remain
individual pieces.
Since its members are not near
one another, the group uses the
Internet to track its workflow. And
in its five years, they also crafted
the website twelveby12.org and
released the book “Twelve by
Twelve: The International Art Quilt
Challenge” — published by Lark, a
division of Sterling Publishing. It’s
also available at Powell’s in
Portland and online through
Amazon and
Ba r ne s
and
Noble.
The book feat-
ures photos and
discussions about
quilts from the
challenges’
theme series.
Each of the artists
contributed a
chapter to share
e x p e r i e n c e s ,
creationsandgive
suggestions for
making art quilts.
But you can view
thework up-close at the expo.
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The Cover to Cover Book
Club Quilters
from Portland will
share their work inspired by
literature. For the past 12 years,
What:
NWQuilting Expo
When:
Sept. 20 and 21, 9
a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Sept. 22, 9
a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where:
Portland Expo
Center at 2060 N. Marine
Dr., Portland, OR
Cost:
$10 per day; $27 for
three day pass
Information:
nwquiltingexpo.com.
Laying the fabric for a
FABULOUS FESTIVAL
By
NICOLE DeCOSTA
Pamplin Media Group
Shellie O’Donnell, Laura Dickson and Geri Grasvik — who all shared a passion for anything related to sewing, quilting and other creative
arts — came up with the idea for the first Northwest Quilting Expo in 2001.
Attendees admire the selection at last year’s 11th annual Northwest Quilting Expo.
PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ
“The show
brings in
instructors
and vendors
from all over
the U.S. And
quilts from
all over the
world.”
— Shellie O’Donnell
CONTINUED / Page 4
Let’s Go To
The Show!