2025 Programs
January 9th – Movie Night
Guild Movie Night looking at the incredible work and mind of Cindy Grisdela. This will be a “movie night” zoom meeting only. (Popcorn is up to you!)
The plan is to join the meeting, make greetings and then the recorded program will be shown, followed by discussion and show n tell time. It is a ‘textile talk’ also available on youtube: Abstractions in Color: Virginia Quilt Museum with Cindy Grisdela.
February 13th – Candace Hackett Shively
Welcome art quilter Candace Hackett Shively. Every quilt has a story! It is the tale of its inspiration, purpose, creation, evolution, and response. Hear and see stories behind the art quilts of Candace Hackett Shively: What inspires them, how they are made, and the lives they take on as their own. Ponder how you might explore your own art quilt stories. Visit her website.
March 13th – Magical History Tour with Eleanor Levie
Sit back, and let the author of American Quiltmaking: 1970-2000 lead you on a rollicking journey through quiltmaking in our time. Eleanor will share many secrets and stories about the explosion of fabrics and designs, the groundbreaking tools and techniques, and the larger-than-life personalities. She’ll show you some of the best and best-loved quilts and art quilts of our lifetime. Bet many of you find this a trip down memory lane. And new quilters will see that we’ve come a long way, baby. Click here to learn more about Eleanor.
April 10th –My Creative Journey to Yes!-Christina Johnson
Our April meeting will be in person at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian. 7pm. Christina Johnson, one of our long term members, talk title, “My Creative Journey to Yes!” Christina shared, “The title provoked many questions. Am I really an artist? If so, how did I get here? What is the defining moment that inspired me? Finding answers helped me realize that I have been on a fantastic journey. A journey that I want to share.”
May 8th – Material Love with Carla Bednar
Textile expert, curator, and artist, Carla Bednar, gives a behind-the-scenes look at unique projects based on Thomas Jefferson University’s textile collections. Discover the inspirations for East Falls Tapestry, Design in Motion, Lace in Translation, and Black Beauty, along with private studio pieces — works of art and design with origins in historical costumes, swatches, fabrics, and artifacts. Learn about the research process and see how creative interpretations take place.
Textile expert, curator, and artist, Carla Bednar, gives a behind-the-scenes look at unique projects based on Thomas Jefferson University’s textile collections. Discover the inspirations for East Falls Tapestry, Design in Motion, Lace in Translation, and Black Beauty, along with private studio pieces — works of art and design with origins in historical costumes, swatches, fabrics, and artifacts. Learn about the research process and see how creative interpretations take place.
June 12th- Annual Potluck Dinner
Fall 2025
September 11th- UFO
Welcome back Bring your UFO project that you’re just trying to figure out and we will workshop together!
October 9th- Laura Guertin
(member of Undercover Quilters)
Distinguished Professor Laura Guertin holds a Ph.D. in Marine Geology & Geophysics from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science and has served as faculty at Penn State Brandywine (PA) since 2001. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has received additional national recognitions, as well as grant funding from the National Science Foundation to enhance teaching and student learning in undergraduate education. With a passion for science outreach, she taps into creative approaches such as quilting to engage audiences in learning about Earth science and its applications.
Website featuring quilts, links to professional information, click here.
Instagram: @drlauraguertin
November 13th- Marni Bowen
(member of Studio Art Quilt Associates – PA region)
My work sometimes appears as a vision but more often it is a serendipitous combination of techniques, materials and my favorite question, “What if?” The ubiquitous circle is my present muse. In my current body of work, I am exploring the intersection of monoprinting, screen printing and painting on fabric; using hand and machine stitching as a drawing tool. I have always had a calling to make things. Fiber art and hand sewing is not a new medium for me; it has always been as close a my Mom, who is an excellent quilter and seamstress.
Marnie received her BFA in printmaking from Kutztown University. Coming full circle, she is back to printmaking after spending the last 25 years as an independent contractor doing decorative painting and faux finishes. Marnie is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) and the Surface Design Association.
Instagram: @marnicle_b
2024 Programs
January 11th – Flavia Lovatelli – Zoom only
Flavia’s passion is collecting the throwaways; the scraps, the forgotten, the broken pieces and lending them into unique works of art using tools, color, imagination and a dash of whimsy. She is a multidisciplinary artist focused on marrying traditional and non traditional materials into a curious narrative of harvested objects; with a recurrent theme of ‘fun.’ She is one of the pioneer recyclers and sustainable artists before these terms even existed or became popular and a Founder of Art Ecologie Group, a movement of like minded sustainable artists who created the Annual ecoFAB Trash Couture (an acclaimed inspirational recycled fashion show) and the subsequent traveling show “Re-Current.” In Re-Current, each artists’ ecoFAB Trash Couture piece is displayed with cohesive wall art and a sculpted piece to show how art is influenced by everything.
Flavia will tell us about what she does, how she does it and how it all started for her. She promises to teach us how we can do it too.
February 8th – Joel Fermion – Zoom only
Growing up in his grandparent’s upholstery/fabric shop and being the son of an interior designer, Joel’s early college education centered around architectural and interior design.
As he explored the fine arts, particularly painting, he eventually created his own technique of “fabric collage”. This very tactile artwork is an intricate blend of fabric and leather to create collages that are then further enhanced with painted details.
The result is remarkably detailed images that startle the eye and intrigue the mind. Click here for bio. Visit Joel’s website.
March 14th –Teresa Duryea Wong – Hybrid Meeting
The Calling of Quilt Collectors
Quilt collectors play a critical role in the circle of life of art. When museums and collectors purchase a quilt, the work of the artist is immediately validated, and the quilt obtains a monetary value that didn’t exist before. The collector also has a critical role in preserving quilts, and ideally, presenting them to viewers, either by hanging it in their home, or loaning it for exhibitions. This lecture will explore the collections of major antique quilt collectors such as Joanna Rose, Eli Leon, and Robert & Ardis James — and why their vision and passion are so important to quilt preservation. In addition, you’ll be introduced to the collections of contemporary quilt collectors Robert & Helen Cargo, Frank Klein, Jack Walsh, and Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi. Hear the stories of these collectors came to own hundreds, even thousands of quilts, and learn how their passion kept them hunting for more.
Visit Teresa’s website.
April 25th – Art Quilt Elements 2024, Wayne Art Center field trip
History of Art Quilt Elements
Wayne Art Center for a private exploration of the ART QUILT ELEMENTS exhibition. Nancy Campbell has curated a selection of 10 amazing pieces from among the 50 on display, and Susan Leonard has graciously agreed to be our docent that night.
The members in attendance met Carolyn Harper, artist with her piece William P. hand embroidered Batik. She shared her inspiration for this piece and her other works of art. To learn more about Carolyn, click here.
May 9th – Rose McBride
My Quilt Journey
My name is Rosemary McBride and I live in Ardmore, PA. I became interested in quilts in the 1990’s but didn’t get serious about quilting until 2008. Through the years, I took many classes in person and online. I have been most influenced by Lisa Call, Maria Shell and Carol Taylor. My style is to piece or fuse geometric shapes interacting with color. My work has been hung at Goggle Works shows in Reading, PA, Jenkins Arboretum in Devon, PA, regional SAQA PA shows, Sacred Threads over the years and Harmony both in the DC area.
In 2018 I began to play with mark making and dyeing fabric. I am inspired by it all, mono printing, screen prints and deconstructed screens, stencils, wax resists, fabric paint and dye-paste. I was on a roll and then covid isolation slowed my creativity. My happy spirit has returned and my quilts are full of brightness and color. I am also nourished by the women in my Crit Group, 8 women now 6 that meet once a month since 2010, my SAQA PA friends, and my local Heartstrings guild. This year it was a pleasure to be on the planning committee for Art Quilt Elements 2024. My goal is to consistently make more work and to continue to grow as an artist.
September 12th –Welcome & UFO (UnFinished Objects)
Bring your UFO project that you’re just trying to figure out and we will workshop together!
October 10th-Andrea Finch-An exploration of texture
Andrea’s fiber art combines three once separate parts of her life: macro-photography, quilting and botany. Once a traditional flat quilter, her work now rises from the surface to taunt the viewer to reach out and touch. She reveals aspects of the natural world few stop to see, with intense dives into nature from a bee’s eye view. For Andrea, no materials are off limits–using recycled designer samples, wire, glass, canvas, traditional quilting fabrics and a liberal use of thread to bring texture to her work.
November 14th-Carolyn Harper AQE-Social Justice
Carolyn has a strong social justice component to her work, creating images of people or groups who have been marginalized, discriminated against, or abused. Her current works depicts specific Philadelphians; someone living in an area homeless shelter or on the streets. She creates large hand dyed and hand stitched pieces with strong graphic elements that shout out: ‘Look at me! See me!’
Follow Carolyn: Instagram & Facebook
Heartstring Quilters Guild 