PPQG Quilt Challenge
"I Love Chocolate"

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.
Exhibit remains through April 4, 2010
Gualala Arts Center

In March 2010, Gualala Arts Center's Burnett Gallery will brim over with chocolate.

"I Love Chocolate" is the theme for the Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild's fourteenth annual challenge show. Members of the guild will host the show's opening on Saturday, March 13, 2010, with wine and varied tidbits from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. The quilted items, some for sale, will remain on display through April 4.

The challenge to devise chocolate-themed wall hangings, table or bed coverings, garments or objects by chocolate-loving needle artists is open to over 100 PPQG members, novices and experts alike. A fabric that resembles chocolate chip cookies will be recognizable on every article, although its use may be subtle. Come see for yourself!

Quilters everywhere find the concept of a "quilt challenge" irresistible. For over a dozen years on our coast, annual Quilt Challenges have delighted residents and visitors with colorful, creative examples of the art and craft of quilting. Even before local quilters organized to form Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild in 1996, they sponsored annual challenge exhibits at Gualala Arts, each with a special theme or a required fabric or design element. Rules have always been simple, and there's no judge or jury: it's all about participation.

In preparing their projects for these exhibits, quilters of all levels stretch to expand their skills and creativity - and that's the essence of "challenge." The result is an exciting event that involves the wider community, as hundreds of people either attend the opening reception, or visit the show afterwards.

In 1996, the long tradition of quilting in the coastal communities of California from Timber Cove to Fort Bragg was transformed into the Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild thanks to the leadership of Anita Kaplan and Gayle Stewart. The guild encourages creativity at every level.

Monthly programs often feature world famous textile artists who bring their talents to our community through lectures, trunk shows and workshops open to the public.

Talented guild members also share their skills, teaching basic and advanced classes to anyone who is interested. Consequently, PPQG has grown from about 40 members in 1996, to 120 members.

The quilters of PPQG contribute greatly to the life of the community, providing raffle quilts for the annual arts scholarships, hundreds of "comfort quilts" for those in need, and advancing the arts in general. The annual Challenge show is always a popular event.

For more details about this year's challenge, check the registration form or call Karen Shanower at 707-884-3010. For more information about PPQG, visit pacificpiecemakers.org.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.