Meetings and Workshops
Connect, learn, and grow.
Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm. To promote COVID safety in our communities, most meetings are currently held online via Zoom. Members will receive an email with a meeting link. Non-members can contact us to receive an invite. See below for meeting and workshop details. Scroll down to see the dates for the 2021 calendar year.
December 2, 2021
Holiday Celebration!
It has been a difficult year, but we have a lot to celebrate! We're planning our holiday celebration now, so stay tuned for further details to come. The meeting will be an in-person meeting, with social distancing and COVID safety precautions observed.
November 4, 2021
Minimal Design, Maximum Impact: David Owen Hastings
David Owen Hastings is a quilter, graphic designer, print and textile artist, and former president of the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild. David's presentation will give an overview of his process for coming up with simple graphic quilt designs with a modern touch. He'll show examples of how to translate an architectural photo into a quilt design, share some thoughts on walking foot quilting, and how to break free from stitch in the ditch quilting.
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Acacia members will receive a zoom invite by email. If you are not an Acacia member and you'd like to attend the meeting, just click here to be added to our Zoom invite list.
Our October and November workshops will be shared with our sister guild, Quilters by the Sea. The Zoom workshop on November 13, will be by Karen Brow-Meier of Java House Quilts, teaching her pattern "Infrognito." In this workshop, we’ll create a modern frog block using the “Middle to Middle Piecing” method which makes sewing the frogs deceptively simple!
The charge for the workshop, which includes the pattern, will be $35.00. Please note the date for the shared workshop is the QBS customary workshop Saturday, which is a full week after the Acacia General meeting, and the start time is 9:00 a.m., not the Acacia usual at 10:00 a.m.
To register and pay online for the workshop, please click here.
October 7, 2021
Edgy! All About Borders: Linda Wagner
Borders: plain or pieced? What will give your quilt the best possible visual impact? How do you decide? Inner borders, outer borders, and binding all provide opportunities to add a little to the finished product. Join us to see and discuss dozens of options you have as the quilt maker/artist. Along with decision possibilities, we will discuss how to make it "fit". Don't let your borders and binding create a UFO ... let Linda share her knowledge on how to make a beautiful quilt finish!
This meeting will be held via Zoom. Acacia members will receive a zoom invite by email. If you are not an Acacia member and you'd like to attend the meeting, just click here to be added to our Zoom invite list.
Our October and November workshops will be shared with our sister guild Quilters by the Sea. The 3-hour workshop on October 9 will be with Linda Wagner, who will present Color Exploration - Ohio Stars. Do you love the Ohio Star pattern but don't want to sew triangles or figure out color combinations that work? Join us for this Zoom workshop where you will learn some fun ways to work with the Ohio Star block and use color in ways you might not have considered before.
The charge for the workshop is $25.00. To register and pay online for the workshop, please click here.
September 2, 2021
Sewing Ergonomics with Steve Shuman, Sewing Center of Orange County
Does the crick in your neck and the ache in your back match the size of the quilt you're working on? Maybe your sewing space has issues! Come and hear Steve Shuman talk about how to create an ergonomically sound, comfortable sewing space.
Please remember that this meeting is an in-person meeting at the Ehlers Event Center Plaza. Face coverings and social distancing measures will be observed. The meeting will be simulcast on Zoom. Acacia members will receive a Zoom link as usual. If you are not an Acacia member and would like to check in on the proceedings, please use the Be Our Guest feature to be added to our invite list. We'd love to see you!
Our September workshop will also be an in-person event at the Ehlers Center Picasso Room. Jo Melis, a former Acacia member, will teach paper piecing techniques to use without sewing through your pattern. Re-use your paper patterns and save time tearing your papers when the piecing is done. The cost of this workshop is $10.00. All workshop funds will be donated, at Jo's request, to the Seal Beach Animal Care Center. Make sure you sign up to reserve your spot.
Click here for fabric requirements for Jo's workshop.
August 5, 2021
Got Color? with Linda Sullivan
What's your favorite color? Do you find yourself going back to tried and true color combinations because others just seem too hard to wrangle or always end up looking not quite how you imagined? Boost your color confidence and learn to work with every color of the rainbow in your quilts in this Zoom presentation from Linda Sullivan from Colourwerx. You'll learn the basics of color theory, see color concepts in action, and learn how to create and combine dynamic color palettes. Linda will share tips and tricks on how to find color inspiration in everyday objects to inspire, infuse, and ignite the color in your next quilting project. If you are not an Acacia member and you'd like to attend the meeting, just click here to be added to our Zoom invite list.
Linda's presentation will be followed by a workshop on August 7 to use wonky piecing and easy applique in your choice of one of three fun projects. Slash'n'sew piecing, off-kilter stitching, and easy machine applique will be used in a fun and stress-free workshop. Students will learn wonky piecing techniques and work on a ModDog, ModCat, or ModFish collage. Click here for the workshop supply list, and stay tuned for information on how to sign up to participate!
July 1, 2021
Challenges: What To Do
Acacia is happy to announce that Kim Brownell, the Wackydoodle Quilter, will be the speaker (via Zoom) at our July meeting. Kim calls herself the Wackydoodle Quilter due to her easygoing, whimsical style. She's not big on always following the rules, and the "Quilting Police" have no jurisdiction over her! Her work gravitates towards animals, nature scenes, and bright colors, using fabric collage, raw edge applique, and other techniques to let her creativity flourish. She has a passion for entering quilt challenges, and she'll be speaking about how to enjoy challenges, avoid panic, and venture into new quilting happy spaces. In addition, she'll be giving us a look at her beautiful work, such as "Everlasting Phoenix," pictured here. Isn't it just gorgeous? We look forward to seeing you in our Zoom meeting. If you are not an Acacia member and you'd like to attend, just click here to be added to our Zoom invite list.
June 3, 2021
Annual Meeting and Installation of Officers
Is it possible? Could we meet in person in June? Yes, we can! And we are! As you can imagine, the safety of our members and guests is our top priority. We are planning to meet in person at the Ehlers Center in the Senior Center outdoor patio area. Masks are required, and physical social distancing guidelines will be followed.
The June meeting will cover the installation of 2021-2022 officers, and we'll get to see who won our UFO challenge, and we will celebrate our 17th Anniversary. Sweet Seventeen! We hope to see everyone there.
May 6, 2021
Author and Speaker, Meg Cox
We are thrilled to welcome Meg Cox as our May meeting speaker. Meg is a nationally known leader on the topics of quilting and family traditions. Her expertise on quilting stems partly from the 25 years that she has been a passionate quilter. She served on the board of the national nonprofit Quilt Alliance for ten years and was President for 6 years. She has been published by dozens of national magazines and the Wall Street Journal, where she was a staff reporter for 17 years. She is the author of The Book of New Family Traditions, The Quilter's Catalog, The Heart of a Family, and Got Traditions?
Meg will be speaking on Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Quilt Museum in the World, and we will see many of the quilts featured at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Meg will also share how we can view those amazing quilts online at our leisure.
April 1, 2021
Quilter's University
We're no April Fools! Quilters are always learning new things! At this meeting, Denise Howard will give pointers for machine quilting. Caroline Carpenter will give an introduction to Electric Quilt 8 quilt design software.
March 4, 2021
Art and Landscape Quilting with Lori Dickman
Lori Dickman will demonstrate her techniques on how she portrays her love of nature in beautiful art and landscape quilts. She’ll inspire us with her simple and amazing applique and thread techniques, and she’ll demo how she incorporates her love of ‘scraps’ in her art quilts to create visual eye appeal and drama. Lori's presentation will be followed by a workshop on Saturday, March 6th, to work on Sleepy Sunflower art quilts. What fun!
