Visiting the Beach Cities Quilters Guild and making some fun pillows

I visited the Beach Cities Quilters Guild last week and enjoyed some lovely weather and a large and creative guild. The Guild has around 300 members and there was a great turn out for my lecture:

Yes, that is Jean Impey front row, second from right. We have crossed paths at a variety of venues, but never met. It was great to meet her. I was pleased with the strong response to my “Imperfection” lecture.

This was the snack table – oh my! Every month has a theme and the chairperson asks for small quilts to fit the theme. This month it was garden and flowers. This was fit for a wedding reception! I feel sorry for the person that takes this position next. This is a high bar!

During the meeting it was reported that last month there were 158 charity quilts turned in and a bazillion pillowcases (I don’t remember that number exactly). Wait, what?? 158 charity quilts in one month for a guild of around 300?

Class the next day was held in a lovely, spacious, well lighted and furnished room at the local Community Center. Mission Viejo is a Master Planned community established in the 1970’s and is the second largest planned community in the country. It is located in south Orange County. It is beautiful as the landscape is so well established. What a luxury to have classes in such a beautiful space.

Sixteen students had fun and got very creative. This is a very creative guild and very supportive of each other. There were several students from surrounding guilds and everyone was so welcoming. This is a collage and free motion class and those that were new to free motion just picked it right up! It was such a fun class.

I actually remembered to take photos; shocker! Here we go, what a huge variety of styles! Several (maybe 5?) of the students were totally brand new to free motion quilting. I was so delighted to see how each student created their own vision. This is a very low stress, super fun class:

Did you see the alligator? How about the 4th of July, underwater, surf shack, cats, birds, and floral? Isn’t that fun? And Karen went right home and put on the finishing touches, found the right pillow form and look:

I just LOVE that pieced backing!

And I actually got a class photo:

It was a great visit to SoCal and the Beach Cities Quilters Guild. I absolutely LOVE to travel, meet new people, and inspire them to free motion quilt and find joy in the process. I’ll be home for a while and will co-judge the San Mateo County Fair later this month. It is good to be home for a bit!

I’ll be linking up:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday