Our monthly guild meetings are at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the Fourth Tuesday of the month; Except during the summer months (June, July, August) when there is just one meeting at 6pm.
West Des Moines Christian Church, Building 2,
4501 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, IA
We have a wonderful line-up of speakers for 2027. More details on their presentations will be posted soon.
| Date | Speaker | Program / Topics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 26 | Sue Penn | 1:00 pm & 6:30 pm — Lecture: From Art to Fabric | |
| February 23 | Catherine Redford | 1:00 pm — Trip Around the World in FOLK Art Stitches 6:30 pm — Lessons Learned While Quilting |
|
| March 23 | Melissa de Leon Mason | 1:00 pm — The Perfect Fabric Pull: Building Color Mastery 6:30 pm — Quilting Is Your Therapy |
|
| April 27 | Jane Sassaman | 1:00 pm — Art & Ornament: A Survey of Sassaman Quilts 6:30 pm — Under the Influence |
|
| May 25 | Teresa Coates | 1:00 pm — Quilt Coats–Wearing Our Heart on Our Sleeve 6:30 pm — Adding Quirk to Your Quilt |
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| June 22 | Carol Anne Grotrain | 6:00 pm — Indigo Blues | |
| July 27 | Ilene Bartos | 6:00 pm — Borders, Sashings and More | |
| August 25 | 6:00 pm — Social | ||
| September 23-25 | Quilt Show | ||
| October 26 | Julia McLeod | 1:00 pm – Everything but the Cotton 6:30 pm — Rescue Me! –Breathing New Life into Forgotten Textiles |
|
| December 4 | 9:00 am — Tea and Annual Meeting |
Sue Penn Artist, Fabric Designer, Quilter
suepenndesigns@gmail.com
Sue Penn grew up loving everything about art and creating. Her grandmother was her biggest cheerleader and paid for six years of drawing and painting classes. In her early twenties she began her love affair with sewing, quilting and all things fabric related. She swears that her children’s first words were “pattwen” and “fabwic”. Sue has been designing fabric for more than twenty years. Her first love is color. She enjoys designing from her extensive collection of vintage and antique fabrics, but her hand-painted designs are her favorite. Sue is a mother of four married children and twelve beautiful and energetic grandchildren.
Lecture: From Art to Fabric Tuesday January 26: 1 PM and 6:30 PM
Join Sue Penn as she shares her nearly 30-year journey from fine arts to fabric designer. Sue reveals how her original paintings are transformed into vibrant fabric collections. Her colorful trunk show showcases the artwork, fabrics, and bright, bold quilts inspired by them.
CATHERINE REDFORD Quilter, teacher, speaker, author
catherineredford.com
@catherineredford
facebook.com/catherineredfordquilter/
A maker since childhood, Catherine Redford is an award-winning quilter and a popular teacher at the local and national level. Catherine is a frequent magazine contributor and has enjoyed being a guest on Quilting Arts TV, Love of Quilting and theQuiltShow.com. She is enjoying the resurgence of interest in handwork, teaching classes for all skill levels and writing the embroidery book Butterfly Stitches (C & T 2020). A BERNINA Ambassador, Catherine delights in finishing her own quilts on a domestic machine! The second edition of her book, Modern Machine Quilting was published by C&T in December 2025
Catherine was interviewed by the Quilter on Fire July 2026. Listen to the full episode here: https://quilteronfire.com/podcast/
LECTURES
Trip Around the World in FOLK Art Stitches. Tuesday FEBRARY 23: 1:00PM
A humorous, educational and interactive lecture including a game with prizes! Catherine will take you on a trip around the globe with the quilts from her exhibit that debuted in April 2017 at International Quilt Festival in Chicago and was at Houston in October that year she employed
Lessons learned While Quilting Tuesday FEBRARY 23: 6:30PM
This is an inspiring and entertaining yet informative lecture which employs professionally shot photographs projected on a screen for a detailed look at my quilts and a selection of items for even closer examination.
Melissa de Leon Mason Desinger, Quilter, Therapist
www.quiltallthethings.com/
www.instagram.com/quiltallthethings_
Melissa de Leon Mason is an award-winning modern quilt designer and Instructor. She is also a therapist and a mother. She lives in Logan, Utah with her husband and 4 children.
Her quilting journey started 18 years ago when she was living in Cairo Egypt. In this short time her quilts have hung in hung at the National Quilt Museum, International Quilt Market, and QuiltCon, and have been featured in numerous quilting publications, including Make Modern Magazine, Simply Moderne, and Curated Quilts. She has taught workshops and given lectures to guilds all over the world. Currently she serves as co-Chair of the Modern Quilt Guild IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee.
LECTURES
THE PERFECT FABRIC PULL: BUILDING COLOR MASTERY Tuesday3/23/27 1:00 PM
In this lecture, Melissa will help you retrain your brain to see color more intuitively, understand why and how fabrics interact, and build palettes that feel cohesive and dynamic.
She’ll cover practical strategies for selecting focal, supporting, and background fabrics, along with simple color theory you can actually use.
QUILTING IS YOUR THERAPY Tuesday. 3/23/27 6:30 PM
Join therapist and quilter Melissa de Leon Mason to understand the links between quilting and well-being. She will help you understand the mental health benefits of quilting, and you’ll learn mindful practice skills and be inspired to unlock your own creativity while taking care of yourself.