The Museum will be closed between Monday Jan 23 and Tuesday January 31st for an exhibition change and some deep cleaning and exhibit space preparations.
No tours will be available during this time.
The Museum will be closed between Monday Jan 23 and Tuesday January 31st for an exhibition change and some deep cleaning and exhibit space preparations.
No tours will be available during this time.
$35 per person, 5pm - 8pm
Join us for an intimate reception celebrating the museum and Counting Threads exhibition. Enjoy appetizers, provided by Miss Molly’s Catering. Senior Curator Emily Schlemowitz will provide a guided tour at 6pm.
Please note, WMQFA will be holding a virtual auction. We invite you to preview the items in person this evening and bid on the online virtual auction. Bidding Opens August 4 at noon. Click here to view auction.
Cover Image Credit: Caroline Hadley, Fanfold, 2020; cotton; 65 x 65 in. Courtesy of the artist.
Free Virtual Program: Friday, March 18 at noon CDT
Join us for a virtual conversation about WMQFA’s origins, based on the year-long oral history project conducted in 2021. This program will focus on the women who were interviewed and instrumental in the museum’s creation.
Donations, large and small, built WMQFA, and they are still appreciated! Registration is not required but donations allow us to keep programs like this free.
The program will be live via Zoom and WMQFA’s Facebook.
Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86991164264
This program is sponsored by grants from the American Quilt Study Group, Kohler Foundation, and Wisconsin Arts Board with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
Free Virtual Program: Friday, February 25 at noon CST
Join us for a virtual conversation about WMQFA’s origins, based on the year-long oral history project conducted in 2021. This program will focus on the museum’s transition and creating the museum you know and love today.
Donations, large and small, built WMQFA, and they are still appreciated! Registration is not required but donations allow us to keep programs like this free.
The program will be live via Zoom and WMQFA’s Facebook.
Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87966869762
This program is sponsored by grants from the American Quilt Study Group, Kohler Foundation, and Wisconsin Arts Board with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
Friday, February 18, 2022 at noon central time
Join WMQFA and Hooked by Design artists Tracy Jamar, Susan Feller, and Kris McDermet for a lively panel discussion about their work, inspirations, and more!
This program is free, but donations are appreciated. Click here to make a donation.
Join here via Zoom or watch live on Facebook. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85858230035
Hooked by Design and its programming are supported by Jan Schley and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Free Virtual Program: Friday, February 4 at noon CST
Join us for a virtual conversation about WMQFA’s origins, based on the year-long oral history project conducted in 2021. This program will focus on the museum’s beginnings and the Wisconsin Quilt History Project.
Donations, large and small, built WMQFA, and they are still appreciated! Registration is not required but donations allow us to keep programs like this free.
The program will be live via Zoom and WMQFA’s Facebook.
Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84943403132
This program is sponsored by grants from the American Quilt Study Group, Kohler Foundation, and Wisconsin Arts Board with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
Friday, January 14, 2022 at noon central time
Join WMQFA and Hooked by Design artists Sharon Felten, Heather Goodchild & Ann Willey for a lively panel discussion about their work, inspirations, and more!
Registration is not required. This program is free, but donations are appreciated. Click here to make a donation.
Join here via Zoom or watch live on Facebook.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82292889298
Hooked by Design and its programming are supported by Jan Schley and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Happy 10th Anniversary!
Free Virtual Program: Friday, December 10, 2021 at noon CST
2021 is WMQFA’s 10th anniversary. Throughout the year, WMQFA has been collecting oral histories from past Board Members, volunteers, and Founding Mothers - all the people who envisioned and drove the effort that became the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. Join us, FREE, for a special one hour zoom presenting these stories on Friday, December 10 at 12pm CST.
Donations, large and small, built WMQFA, and they are still appreciated! Your gift supports programs like this!
The program will be live via Zoom and WMQFA’s Facebook.
Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81303327740
This program is sponsored by grants from the American Quilt Study Group, Kohler Foundation, and Wisconsin Arts Board with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
Join us for our free Family Fun Day. Enjoy fiber arts themed crafts, scavenger hunt, the current exhibition and take part in creating a Community Art Project!
About Susan Carlson
I've been creating art with fabric since 1983 while attending the Maryland Institute, College of Art. There, I used any excuse I could to use fabric as an art medium for my illustration assignments. I painted on fabric, inked, dyed, drew with thread, did traditional piecing, appliqué and reverse appliqué. My influence was my mom, who trained as a dressmaker and seamstress. From her I inherited my love of fabric. I think it's the tactile nature of it. My husband has more than once noted that when I shop for fabric, my hands are as busy fondling fabric as my eyes are drinking in the pattern and color.
As I continued to experiment with fabric for a few years after college, I yearned for something more immediate, more like painting and less like construction. In 1990 I drew on my collage skills, though this time with fabric and not paper, though still using glue. Since I had approached quilting from an art direction rather than a traditional one, I didn't realize how out-of-the-box gluing fabric was. A true quilter was not supposed to glue. But that's what I did, and I've never looked back. And there's even raw edges! As you may have figured out, I don't worry too much about what I'm not supposed to do.
I grew up in a crafty household with parents who like to "figure things out" and made things to sell. My mom sews and my dad does woodwork. The first decade of my career (the 1990s) I spent a lot of time making small quilts—16 x 20 inches or so—to sell. My first ones were mostly of fish—I must have made a thousand of them. I started to teach my fabric collage process in 1994 and slowly the teaching overtook the production of pieces for shows or galleries. These days I concentrate on making the quilts I want to make, usually for myself, unless they're commissioned. I make on average one big quilt a year allowing me to put a lot of myself into every piece. They're not usually for sale, but I do submit them into quilt shows, and use them as examples for my teaching.
By the end of 2016, I will have spent fifteen weeks teaching. For a homebody like me, that's a lot. I try to limit teaching to one week per month on average. But between prepping for a trip, travel, teaching, and recovering from a trip, each week of teaching actually uses up about two weeks of my time and energy. Which helps to explain why the remainder of the year I want to concentrate on my own work.
$65 per person
Celebrate WMQFA’s 10th Anniversary! Join us for a socially-distanced outdoor, tented picnic. Pick up a delicious boxed picnic dinner from Shully’s and a celebratory cupcake. You may dine at the museum or bring your dinner home if you prefer. Enjoy beer, wine, soda, and water as you stroll the grounds. Exhibit Curator Emily Schlemowitz will also provide special tours of the museum’s anniversary exhibition.
Please note, due to Covid, WMQFA will not be holding a formal program at a set time for this event. Instead, we invite you to enjoy the open house and bid on the online virtual auction (https://WMQFA2021.givesmart.com).
Anyone from age 12 and up is invited to sign up for this day fun workshop! Register for yourself, for a child or grandchild or even sign up together.
About Ammu
My passion for Indian textiles has always been a part of my life. I grew up in Muscat, Oman and lived in various cities across India. Growing up I watched a lot of American, British and Korean television and movies. All of these influences has impacted my aesthetic and helped me embrace my Indian heritage with a global influence. AMU is my interpretation of my culture.
I am a self taught designer with no prior fashion background. This gave me the freedom to create my own path and line without following the industry taught rules.
After moving to the USA early 2016, I decided to pursue my childhood dream of creating my own clothing line. Since then it has been an incredible journey of doing several fashion shows, winning and award and getting published.
Anyone from age 12 and up is invited to sign up for this day fun workshop! Register for yourself, for a child or grandchild or even sign up together.
Chris began quilting with traditional pieces, working by hand and with a machine. She collected antique quilts for their charm and link to the past. She eventually began designing her own pieces and a passion for art quilts evolved.
Having had no formal art training, Chris understands the delightful discovery of creative talent. She teaches quilting and design at Wisconsin’s Waukesha County Technical College. She also teaches for guilds, shops and shows throughout the United States.
Chris also is the author of four books, a fun and educational blog, and hosts exciting, international quilt excursions.
Join us Friday, June 19, at noon CDT for a free, Zoom panel discussion with distinguished artists Patrizia Ferreira, Holly Wong, and Michael Sylvan Robinson. Learn about these artists' inspirational practices and creative processes during a lunchtime talk moderated by WMQFA curator Emily Schlemowitz.
Catherine has been weaving since 1984 and has taught weaving at the Midwest Weavers Conference, for the Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc and has also been a longtime teacher at the WMQFA. She is a member of Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles in Cedarburg and enjoys creating a variety of fabrics, including scarves, hand towels, table runners, placemats, and rugs on her several looms. In addition to offering her fiber arts at Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles, Catherine participates in a dozen juried art fairs annually. Catherine is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Craft Council, Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Wisconsin Handweavers.
Join us Friday, May 22, at noon CDT for a free, Zoom panel discussion with Milwaukee artists Linda Marcus, Heidi Parkes, and Nirmal Raja. Learn about these artists' inspirational practices and creative processes during a lunchtime talk moderated by WMQFA curator Emily Schlemowitz.
About the Artists:
Linda Marcus is a nationally-recognized textile designer and fiber artist whose work embraces the expressive possibilities of fiber alongside less traditional materials.
Heidi Parkes is a decorated quilter and quilt instructor whose evocative quilts utilize textiles from domestic culture, fashion, family heirlooms, and scavenged prints. These cloths are often beset with hand stitching that functions as a layer of “drawing” on the quilts' surface.
Nirmal Raja is an interdisciplinary artist whose sensitive practice examines notions of memory, identity, place, and belonging through a range of materials and processes.
Registration for the panel discussion is not required.
Please click this link to join the Zoom webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87939364481
Thank you for your support! Please consider making a donation to continue the vitality of the museum's programming
Virtual lecture with author Bobbie Malone celebrating the publication of "Striding Lines: The Unique Story Quilts of Rumi O'Brien."
About the Book:
Bobbie Malone reaches beyond the quilts to tell O’Brien’s own story, from her initial foray into the quilting world to her developed dedication to the craft. Contributions from leaders in the art, textile, and quilting community, including Melanie Herzog and Marin Hanson, contextualize O’Brien’s work in the greater community of quiltmakers and artists. This book celebrates the ingenuity of O’Brien’s enchanting story quilts, which take inspiration from her Japanese heritage and Midwest home.
*Books are available for sale at our partners, Boswell Book Company*
Event sponsored by University of Wisconsin Press and Boswell Book Company.
Welcome to our Zoom video conferencing! Thank you for coming along as we navigate our new virtual learning. We will be making online lectures and classes available via Zoom while the museum is closed to the public.
Easy to use and reliable, Zoom is available to download for free on your PC/Mac or by using a dedicated app for iOS and Android. Before you join us, you will need to sign up for Zoom using a free Basic Plan.
When you join one of our programs (referred to as a meeting in Zoom), we will do a brief greeting, and then ask you to mute your microphones for optimal sound quality. With the Zoom meeting active, as you hover your mouse over the bottom of the page, you will click the icon of a microphone. We will have moderators standing by to assist you with this process.
We encourage you to ask questions at any time, by using the Chat feature or by simply raising your hand via the hand signal and turning your microphone back on.
Once you have downloaded the program, Zoom allows you to test your Internet connection by joining a test meeting.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out via info@wiquiltmuseum.com.
Can I tell you a secret? I might be known for my use of color, but did you know that I firmly believe you don’t have to learn about color theory. Not learn color theory... what?! Yes! It's true! Why learn about color theories and "sciency" stuff when you can invest your time and energy learning tools and tricks that allow you to easily work and play with color? By learning Playful Color strategies, not only will you start building your Playful Color Toolbox, but you'll actually end up learning about color theory in the end. Go figure!
Apart from my "don't learn color theory" manifesto, in this lecture I'll be sharing a few of my favorite tools and strategies to quick start your Playful Color Toolbox. Oh, and there will be plenty of quilts to see!
After a successful 25-year career in marketing, public relations and communications leadership roles, Linda Sweek has had the good fortune of pursuing her passion of fiber and mixed media art and starting her own business – Linda Sweek Designs. Besides fiber and mixed media artistry, Sweek teaches workshops and is the founder and host of Sew & Sew Retreats.
Linda Sweek started to embroider at the age of eight – to her it was like painting a canvas. Additionally, her grandmother, who was an artist, took her to art museums and galleries for instruction, and welcomed Sweek into her studio to work with clay, pastels and paints. Applying this knowledge of studio art, Sweek’s preferred medium became fiber.
Colorful blocks of polymer clay are adaptable for many purposes. Whether your specific interest is in beads, buttons, jewelry or simply exploring the possibilities of polymer clay for the first time; this class has something to offer. Everyone will learn to build simple canes and create sheets of intricate repeat patterns. How each student applies these might vary from a simple dish to covering a container, a handle or a light switch plate, or beads, pins or pendants. There will be choices. Individual expression is always encouraged. If anyone has a project possibly in need of polymer accessories, please bring that with you. Be prepared for a day of creative discovery and fun!
Catherine has been weaving since 1984 and has taught weaving at the Midwest Weavers Conference, for the Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc and has also been a longtime teacher at the WMQFA. She is a member of Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles in Cedarburg and enjoys creating a variety of fabrics, including scarves, hand towels, table runners, placemats, and rugs on her several looms. In addition to offering her fiber arts at Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles, Catherine participates in a dozen juried art fairs annually. Catherine is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Craft Council, Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Wisconsin Handweavers.
Catherine has been weaving since 1984 and has taught weaving at the Midwest Weavers Conference, for the Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc and has also been a longtime teacher at the WMQFA. She is a member of Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles in Cedarburg and enjoys creating a variety of fabrics, including scarves, hand towels, table runners, placemats, and rugs on her several looms. In addition to offering her fiber arts at Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles, Catherine participates in a dozen juried art fairs annually. Catherine is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Craft Council, Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Wisconsin Handweavers.
About Heidi Parkes
A highly skilled fiber artist, Heidi Parkes is a 2005 graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Active on social media, Parkes has 5,000+ followers on Instagram, and has her finger on the pulse of the contemporary fiber art world. She taught at the Modern Quilt Guild’s QuiltCon 2018, 2017 and 2016, where she has won 1st place in handwork, and 2nd place in improvisation.
About Heidi Parkes
A highly skilled fiber artist, Heidi Parkes is a 2005 graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Active on social media, Parkes has 5,000+ followers on Instagram, and has her finger on the pulse of the contemporary fiber art world. She taught at the Modern Quilt Guild’s QuiltCon 2018, 2017 and 2016, where she has won 1st place in handwork, and 2nd place in improvisation.
Catherine has been weaving since 1984 and has taught weaving at the Midwest Weavers Conference, for the Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc and has also been a longtime teacher at the WMQFA. She is a member of Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles in Cedarburg and enjoys creating a variety of fabrics, including scarves, hand towels, table runners, placemats, and rugs on her several looms. In addition to offering her fiber arts at Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles, Catherine participates in a dozen juried art fairs annually. Catherine is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Craft Council, Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Wisconsin Handweavers.
Catherine has been weaving since 1984 and has taught weaving at the Midwest Weavers Conference, for the Wisconsin Handweavers, Inc and has also been a longtime teacher at the WMQFA. She is a member of Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles in Cedarburg and enjoys creating a variety of fabrics, including scarves, hand towels, table runners, placemats, and rugs on her several looms. In addition to offering her fiber arts at Cedar Creek Unique Collectibles, Catherine participates in a dozen juried art fairs annually. Catherine is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Craft Council, Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Wisconsin Handweavers.
Join us for our free Family Fun Day. Enjoy fiber arts themed crafts, scavenger hunt, the current exhibition and take part in creating a Community Art Project!
