The Village Quilters of Loudon, Tenn.

I just got back from presenting and teaching at The Village Quilters of Loudon, Tennessee. Wow! What a great guild! My mother helped found The Village Quilters about 12 years ago when she moved to this community south of Knoxville. They started out with 10 members and now have 257 members, making it the largest in the Knoxville area. In the past few years, they’ve brought in some world-renowned speakers, so I was really flattered that they wanted me.

Originally, they asked me to speak and then teach my “Start with a Photo” workshop in the afternoon. Apparently it filled up quickly, and my mother found herself on the waiting list! (Pretty funny, I thought.) So I got a call asking if I could teach it again the next day. What a fantastic group. Everyone was so friendly, interested and enthusiastic. The program chair, Sharon Clayton, even invited me to dinner at her beautiful home on Friday evening, where I got a chance to get to know some of the members better and feast on their contributions to the dinner. Quilters are so great!

Here are some shots taken during the classes, held in a spacious, well-lit and wonderfully furnished classroom in one of the community’s two recreation centers:















This is Pam George, who brought in some of her needle-felted creations to show me:







They are the cutest critters! She has quite the menagerie. Pam is going to teach a class later this year (and gee, I wish I were a member of their guild so I could take her class!)

Lots of The Village Quilters are going to be volunteering at AQS Knoxville Quilt Expo July 22-25, so you might meet some of them if you are going (I am!). A group of their members also made a drop-dead gorgeous quilt featuring Tennessee symbols and landmarks that has been added to the convention center’s permanent art collection. I saw photos of it at the meeting and I’m going to make sure I see it in person when I go.

Many thanks to The Village Quilters for making my trip so enjoyable.