Annual Potluck and Business Meeting.

This will be our Annual Business Meeting and Potluck Dinner which will begin at 6:00 p.m. Please note that the Business meeting, beginning at approximately 7:00 p.m., is for OCQG Members only, and while there will not be a Guest Speaker there will be a special surprise during the Potluck portion of the evening.

Theme of this year's potluck is "Games" (but not sports - think board games). Decorate a table with a group of friends to join in the fun!

Bring a dish to share.

See the February 2026 Newsletter for more information.

Krista Moser is a sewing enthusiast and quilt pattern designer with more than thirty patterns under her belt since 2016. She's the creative mind behind the popular Creative Grids 60 Degree Diamond Rulers and taught sewing and quilting for over twenty-five years. With features in quilting magazines, published books, and displays in top quilt shops nationwide, as well as a featured display at Road2CA in 2024, Krista's passion for quilting knows no bounds. In her lecture and trunk show, Krista will tell her story of how she started very young and went on to design her own quilts, patterns, and those Creative Grids 60 Degree Diamond Rulers. We will be able to learn exactly why “Diamonds are a Quilter’s Best Friend.” If there’s time, there will be Q & A.

A familiar face at Orange County Quilters Guild, Pam Di Salvo is another of our talented Members whose skills have taken her, literally, to the far ends of the earth. Well, she’s a flight attendant, so that explains part of the story. At any rate, she is a fully Certified Teacher for Judy Niemeyer and has taught the techniques for making her paper-pieced beauties both here in Orange County and at official Judy Niemeyer retreats in various locations throughout the United States. She has taught at quilt shops, in private homes and just about wherever she is asked to go, including Alaska and even Hawaii, where some of our own guild members are soon to be joining her.

Pam tells us that one of the most amazing aspects of making these beautiful quilts is using Quiltworx, the Judy Niemeyer tool that allows you to design your own quilt pattern, choose your colors and fabrics, and see an image of what you are going to be making before you ever touch a scrap of fabric. In this presentation, Pam will explain “The Magic of Quiltworx” and why it is that each and every quilt design can be made to come out exactly as you wish it to be when finished.

Information about Quiltworx and Judy Niemeyer quilts can be found at www.quiltworx.com.

At our regular meeting in May, we will have the opportunity to observe some of our own Members as they demonstrate and explain techniques in quilting and sewing that will make our lives in our sewing rooms much easier. At least three or four stations will be set up in the room, and we will all have the opportunity to stop at each one to learn about the techniques that our friends will be teaching. This “Technique Sharing Night,” which we formerly referred to as a “Demo Night,” is always one of the highlights of our year. You are guaranteed to learn some new helpful hints on how to improve your own skills, create something new, or just make things easier. You won’t want to miss it!

Arlene Arnold is no stranger to Orange County Quilters Guild. She has visited us to give her informative and entertaining talks three times during the last fifteen years, but this time it will be especially apropos. Arlene has a deep respect and understanding of antique quilts and what they represent. Her own collection is growing all the time, and this year, she is bringing a portion of that collection with her that will illustrate and enlighten us about the lives of our predecessors in quilting for the past 250 years. In honor of our nation’s semi quincentennial birthday, Arlene has put together a program that includes one quilt for each decade since the founding of our nation. Yes, she really does have a quilt dated back to the American Revolution, and she will be sharing it with us, along with twenty-four other quilts whose history she will explain. What a fitting and timely tribute to help us celebrate our country’s birth, our craft, and the growth of both throughout those 250 years!

We take a break and do not meet during the month of July. For those who wish to attend, we do offer our annual Retreat at Vina de Lestonnac in Temecula this month.

Kena is a self-taught quilter whose origins are on the east coast. She was born in Pittsburg, PA, but moved to Harlem, NYC, where she lived for about 18 years before moving to California. While in Harlem, she was much influenced by Harlem Renaissance artists and ultimately became intrigued with portrait quilts. Soon she began creating raw edge appliqué story and art quilts using images that reflect African American people.

While living in Harlem, Kena had access to many African shops and boutiques along 125th Street, so she began infusing African wax prints, kente cloth and mud cloth textiles into her quilting projects, making wall hangings, table runners and quilted bags with them. You may have seen some of her work at Road2CA, as she has had a vendor booth and taught classes there for the past couple of years. If so, you may have noticed some of her projects featuring African Adinkra. Adinkra are symbols from Ghana that represent distinct concepts, proverbs, principles and expressions. They hold an important place in the artwork we see on so many beautiful fabrics and prints. Kena will share her own quilts and artwork with us as well as her knowledge about Adinkra and these exciting fabrics and will inspire us to try something new in our own quilting.

Dana E. Jones has traveled the world to explore different types of quilting and fiber arts. One such place is Caohagan Island. Through her lecture, you’ll be transported to this tiny island — just 13 acres — in the central Philippines as you enjoy images and stories of the colorful quilts and the more than 100 quiltmakers of Caohagan Island. You’ll see photos of more than 50 of these handmade, one-of-a-kind quilts plus be introduced to the unique techniques developed by these quiltmakers whose tools are simply fabric and scissors, needle and thread. Dana spent more than a month on the island, quilted with the residents, went fabric shopping with them on nearby Cebu Island, and snorkeled the reef that surrounds Caohagan. Those who view the quilts come away smiling, inspired by the creativity of these talented women and men.

The title of Carl Brown’s presentation makes us wonder just how one accidentally becomes a fiber artist? If he didn’t set out to work in this field, what else has he done? The fact is that Carl spent more than 30 years as an oncology nurse, researcher, book author and health care executive. What then inspired him to become a fiber artist?

Although he has been sewing and quilting as a fiber artist for only six years, Carl is very successful in this field. His work has been juried into a number of prestigious shows in the USA as well as Salon Pour l’Amour du Fil, in Nantes, France. He was named “Emerging New Artist” at Interpretations 2023 at the Visions Museum of Textile Art in San Diego. His fiber art pieces have been exhibited at Road to California, where he was a semi-finalist the last two years, QuiltCon, Mancuso’s QuiltFest shows, and numerous American Quilt Society shows as well.

Mama Lohde is an accomplished sewist and stitcher of beautiful wool embroidered art quilts, both large and small. She formerly taught classes on wool applique and embroidery at both Quilt Passions in Mission Viejo and at Piecemakers in Costa Mesa, and is teaching classes at Road to California in January 2026. Her work is colorful, whimsical and inspiring. On her website www.mamalohde.com you can view examples of the type of work she does, but we are going to be treated to seeing some of it in person as Mama Lohde tells her own personal story from childhood to the present. She will share how stitching and embroidery bring her joy and how she has come to be a skilled and inspiring teacher of an art that we all hope to see preserved for many generations to come.

Although we do not have a visiting Guest Speaker at this meeting we will be treated to presentations by two or three of our own Members who will bring some of their own favorite quilts to share with us. They will tell us about themselves, how they got involved in quilting, what inspires them, what type of quilts they like to make, and so on. They may reveal some interesting surprises about themselves, too. By the way, the identities of these Members will remain a tantalizing secret until they are introduced; but, you can be sure this will be a fun program, whoever they may turn out to be.

We are fortunate to have Lyn Brown returning to OCQG for our first meeting of the new year on January 12, 2027. This presentation and lecture were inspired by a particular quilt from Lyn’s antique quilt collection that she showed to us in 2024. It was a unique and eye-catching alphabet quilt which we all admired and wanted to know more about. Lyn took it a step further and built her presentation around that idea. Isn’t it nice to know the teacher?

This will be our Annual Business Meeting and Potluck Dinner which will begin at 6:00 p.m. Please note that the Business meeting, beginning at approximately 7:00 p.m., is for OCQG Members only and there will not be a Guest Speaker.