Judi Mendelssohn - by Erica
Tuesday’s meeting started in the now familiar ‘new-normal’ fashion, with Grace cheerfully welcoming everyone aboard as we dutifully logged on for our 7:30pm start. We had an impressive 37 members log in for tonight’s meeting (and a few extras if you count some very helpful husbands who were on standby as tech support). Claire rightly pointed out that 37 is an attendance that we would reach at a normal in-person meeting, which goes to show how we are all adapting to this new cyber-socialising. Claire also noted that she is sure that we are much warmer in our homes tonight than we would be if we were in the hall at this time of year! - a reminder to look for the silver linings of lock-down where we can.
Despite the meeting being a cyber event, there was definitely a buzz of excitement in the air as we waited to welcome Judi Mendelssohn to the meeting as our first-ever digital guest speaker. Judi has 10 years experience in planning international tours for quilting enthusiasts, including 5 years of leading these tours herself. Judi presented an inspiring talk titled ‘Have quilt – Will travel’ and for the next 60min she whisked us away on a magic carpet quilt ride across the globe. We were treated to photographs of the wonderful sites that she has seen on her travels and the quilts and quilting techniques that these journeys inspired upon her return home.
Destination 1 on our tour was Paducah, Kentucky to meet the quilt show ambassadors Quilt Man and Bobbin Man (now that is my type of super hero!). A side journey took us to Kalona, Iowa, where the streets are paved in quilt blocks, quite literally! Judi’s experience with the local Amish quilting community inspired her to make a bold geometric quilt using her favourite hand dyed Cherrywood fabrics. We had time to admire some wonderful Amish quilting and cooking (a whole table of desserts!) before being whisked off to our next destination, Africa!
In Tanzania and Zanzibar we marvelled, along with Judi, at the open plains, the vistas of the Ngorongoro Crater and safari park, the wildlife, a magical glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the elegance and unquestionable stature of the Maasai tribes people. Here Judi attended a tie-dying workshop, which, despite a rudimentary appearance, yielded true gems of tie dyed cloth. She also showed us how she overcame her hesitations around incorporating colourful African wax print fabrics into her quilts. She learned that the potential of these fabrics can be unlocked simply by combining them with a coordinating solid. Judi demonstrated this in a quilt where she had used a black solid alongside bright African prints to make pinwheel blocks of graduation sizes. It was a very striking quilt and a technique worth remembering, especially given that we have several shops in central Croydon that sell these bold fabrics. Perhaps we could plan a shopping trip when things return to normal? But I digress…
Other destinations included
- New Zealand, where traditional woven grass matting, Maori outer wear and the intense greenery of the countryside inspired a black and green log cabin quilt with a lush, appliquéd fernery border.
- Japan, where we contrasted the minuscule (a 300 year old needle manufacturer, where glass pins are viewed with a magnifying glass) with the enormous (the queue for the Tokyo Quilt Festival!). There was also a home visit that turned into an impromptu banquet and quilt exhibition. Judi chose to commemorate this trip in an assortment of boro stitched postcards.
- and finally Colorado, where a workshop with Ricky Tims forced Judi to try some new techniques in attempt to capture the surrounding autumnal scenery. While the techniques were not her cup of tea, she did eventually settle on a way to finish these pieces. One piece was a landscape with a patchwork blue sky, rolling golden fields and stone walling in the foreground, and the second piece echoed the ceiling decorations from her hotel room - a reminder that we should be keeping our eyes open for inspiration everywhere!
Judi finished by saying that while she has seen many wonderful sites, the vistas that she never tires of are those that are on offer in the UK, and that she does feel blessed to live in what she considers to be one of the most beautiful parts of the world, proving that there really is no place like home.
Does this mean that her suitcase has been retired and her passport packed away? Nowhere left to see? ‘Oh no’ says Judi. When travel opens us again she hopes to visit Australia to see Uluru and the Sydney Opera House, Athens to see the Pantheon and the Arctic Circle to see the Northern lights.
It was a truly inspiring presentation and I for one cannot wait to see the quilts that are inspired by her next set of travels. Members thanked Judi for her presentation and encouraged her to visit us again soon.
We ended with a reminder from Claire to save our scraps (of all colours and sizes) for next months ‘itty-bitty’ activity and then at 8:45pm the meeting closed, and we all retired with our minds bubbling over with ideas!