Lodi was the center of Wisconsin quilting April 14, 2012 as the Lodi Valley Quilters Guild held its 3rd annual Quilt Academy at Lodi High School. Nearly 400 quilters attended classes and browsed vendor booths to learn new techniques and purchase the “perfect” fabric.
“The Academy is part of our mission to provide learning opportunities for quilters. There is always some new technique, new tools or new patterns that quilters want to know more about and it’s our goal to help them. Quilt Academy has become our signature event,” said Cheryl Eggert of Harmony Grove, who chaired the Quilt Academy committee.
Attendees had a choice of 16 lectures taught by quilt shop owners and staff from throughout southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Topics ranged from miniature quilts to sewing machine maintenance to quick projects using scraps. For Lori Meinholz of Middleton, the Academy was an outing with her mom, Ruth Ann Maier of Waunakee.
“We both enjoy quilting and are always eager to see what’s new. Quilt Academy is a chance to learn and to shop at different quilt shops without driving all over. This is the second time we’ve attended and it just keeps getting better,” she said.
More than 60 participants won door prizes such as baskets of fabric, quilt patterns and books, quilt kits and cookbooks donated by guild members, vendors and local businesses. The grand prize winner, Connie Larson of Winona, MN, went home with a Juki sewing machine and sewing table donated by Riverside Sewing Repair of Poynette.The quilt guild has already begun planning the 2013 Quilt Academy and Eggert expects it to be “better than ever.”
Information about the 2013 Quilt Academy will be available here after January 1.
