Regional Meeting May 15, 2021
Our guest speaker was Dr. Leslie Whitby, a Canadian environmental scientist and negotiator, who played a role in key environmental solutions to these issues in Canadian and International circles, the last 20 years in the circumpolar Arctic. She shared her stories about her journey as a scientist and art quilter. We learned how she merged her passion and respect for the planet, the First Nation and her art.
Barbara Kibbie our Chair of Exhibitions shared information about an upcoming regional call for entry called Prism Play. This will be an exciting opportunity for members to explore color in a new way. Barbara requested that members send her an email with ideas for future regional exhibitions and give feedback about making exhibits more accessible to members, especially newbies.
Breakout Groups – We broke into small groups and discussed ideas for regional exhibits. Each group will send their notes to Barbara Kibbie.
Show and Tell
3rd and Townsend -Karren Lusignam 
Beach Wedding – Lynn Tubbe 
By a Thread – Deborah Weir 
Chateau Landon – Sue Siefkin 
Corona Variants – Frances Dack 
Klimt’s Muse in Lace – Adriane Dedic 
Laura’s Tree – Lynn Tubbe 
Mt. Diablo Spring – Frances Dack 
Stacy – A Force for the Future
Susan Lane
Teaching and Traveling Detritus
Holly Brackmann
Woodland II / Year’s End – Phillippa Lack 
Wounded Sentinels – Deborah Weir
Next Meeting – Be sure to join us at our next regional meeting on August 21, 2021 at 11 am. Our guest speaker will be Paula Kovarik.
Regional Meeting February 20, 2021
We had a great Zoom meeting with over 160 members attending.
Betty Busby was our guest speaker. She presented her lecture, Expect the Unexpected, where she shared her sources of inspiration which often come from unusual places, including the old, the broken, the cast aside. She took us on a journey through some of her works from the initial spark to the completed piece. She shared many of her unique techniques and materials that she uses in her work, including some 3-D pieces.
Break-out groups – We broke into smaller groups and brainstormed fundraising ideas for our region. We recorded the ideas and sent them to Jean and Cara.
Show and Tell – Several members shared recent work. Here are some highlights.
Firestorm – Cathy Miranker 
Self Portrait – Jan Soules 
Sisters – Jean Renli Jurgenson 
Mountains – Joy Troyer 
Vista – Phillippa Lack 
San Francisco Streets Re-imagined
Kalynn Oleson
Click on the image to see more detail.
Regional Meeting September 14, 2020
Our September Zoom meeting was well attended with 98 members and guests signed in. Our guest speakers Phyllis Cullen in Hawaii and Cindy Richard in Israel presented their lecture It’s All About the Face (& Figures & Hands & Feet).
Fabric collage/threadwork/quilting
22″ x 26″
A new addition to the family album, Violet and Zephyr
Photography by Randall Duryea
They talked about their fabric portraits including many examples of different types, how they are made, tips on making and quilting them and the stories that they tell. Their book It’s All About the Face is now available on Amazon. You can see more of Phyllis’s work on her website phylliscullenartstudio.com and more about Cindy at cindyrquilts.com.
In our breakout session discussion question, we got to know a few members and guests in a smaller group as we discussed our favorite color palette. Several members shared some of their newer work in our Show and Tell session.
Regional Meeting August, 2020
Our Regional Exhibit, Stitching California, was the star of our regional meeting. Sixty-eight people attended with a number of guests, two from Kansas. Everyone was given a task during the breakout session to come up with a THEME for a regional virtual exhibit for the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) virtual show in October. Many wonderful, inspired topics were shared. As it turns out, after consulting with the PIQF people, we are going to be able to share with them the entire Stitching California exhibit, including artist statements and the Guide to Call feature.
Regional Meeting June 27, 2020
We had a full house last Saturday at our virtual regional meeting with 97 members attending! We had SAQA members from all over the US as well as Canada and England. Hollis Chatelain’s talk on the Emotion of Color in Art was lively and enlightening as was all the beautiful work done by members revealed in Show and Tell. We were able to visit with friends, old and new, in our breakout rooms.
Joy Troyer 
Sanja Campbell 
Carol Larson
What Tess Black wrote about their Monterey LC virtual meeting applies to all of us; “It was wonderful to see everyone, share stories, and enjoy our continuing journeys through this time in our lives when everything alive (including our earth!) is in process of such immense transformation. Sometimes I think it’s luckiest to be an artist during times like these. Our lives are sustained on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually – by our ongoing curiosity and exploration of ways to express what’s most intimate and unique within each of us.”
Regional Meeting February 1, 2020
The February Regional Meeting was held at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. This program was open to the general public as well as SAQA members. We began with an Artist Talk, where artists from both the Art Quilt exhibit and the How Did They Do That? exhibit spoke of their work. After a lunch break we reconvened for some announcements. Catherine Devriese, Creative Director of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, had a few opening words, after which Bill Yoes and Jen Landau spoke about being jurors of Art Quilts. They shared their experience and then answered a number of questions posed by members, shedding light on a process that can seem mystifying to those who enter exhibits.
Angie Frey 
Carol Hirsch
Gerrie Mann Petersen
Holly Brackmann 
Laura Fogg 
Lin Schiffner 
Karin Lusnik 
Linda Blust 
Barbara Kibbe 
Laura Lee Fritz 
Leti Duenas 
Laura Fogg 
Sharon Cahn
Regional Meeting November 13, 2019
The November regional meeting was at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. We had an interesting presentation by Nancy Williams of the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA) share the organization’s mission of piecing together youth voices, textile art, and community in a 21st Century Sewing Circle.
We learned about the history of the organization, the current curriculum, and future plans. We saw two large quilts and a few smaller ones. The large quilts, shown below, take about 40-45 volunteers to complete. People from all over the world can work with the SJSA by embroidering and finishing the blocks created by the artivists. If you are interested in working with them or have questions contact them at sjsacademy.com
Nancy Williams 
SJSA Quilt
Regional Meeting Sept 20, 2019
Some highlights from our regional SAQA meeting at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah. We listened to a great presentation by Katie Pasquini Masopust and had an opportunity to see the Stitching California exhibit.
Katie Pasquini Masopust gave a side presentation about working in a series.
Stitching California artists who attended the meeting each gave a short talk about their quilts. A few are shown below:
Katie’s Valerian Still Life 
Barbara Confer – Sanctuary II 
Adriana Dakin – Hard-to-Count California 
Carol Larson – Fire & Flood 
Photos of the quilts turned into a cool mobile! 
Pixeladies – Fault Line
To learn more about Stitching California, be sure to see the blog post about the opening reception here.
Regional Meeting July 20, 2019
Our meeting at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek was a big success.
Our featured speaker, Mel Beach, lead an interactive exercise where we created improvisational little art pieces using only magazine images, glue, and tape.
Members enthusiastically at work (or should I say play) with Mel’s challenge.
Mel suggested several resources for doing exercises to break out of your comfort zone and stretch your creative muscles.
Lean more about Mel at melbeachquilts.com
Jen presented news about the Stitching California opening on August 20 in Ukaih. Our next regional meeting will be there as well. We saw many of the pieces for the exhibit during our Show and Tell.
Regional Meeting February 19, 2019
Our first regional meeting of 2019 was held at the Carmichael Library.
Korean textile artist, Youngmin Lee spoke about the art of Bojagi, beautiful hand sewn Korean wrapping cloths, and how they are used in Korean culture. To learn more go to www.youngminlee.com
We unveiled our new Regional website, saqanorcalnv.com at the meeting. A huge thank you to Priscilla Read who created it and will keep it updated. As usual, we had an inspiring show and tell.
Past Meetings
Members at regional meeting
