Sew and Show

As retirement crept up on Francine Landau, she knew she would need a hobby to fill all the hours she once spent as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft.

When friend and co-worker Hazel Wetts suggested she give quilting a try she had to stifle a laugh.

“I had never sewn a thing in my life, but I knew I needed something to make the transition into retirement,” Landau said. “Now I’m an addict. I even tried to go back and do some consulting, but I found it got in the way of my quilting!”

Wetts knows the feeling. She started quilting when her first granddaughter was about to be born in 1992.

“Quilting has almost taken over my life,” Wetts said. “It’s just like reading a good book, you can’t put it down once you’ve started.”

The reasons to start quilting will vary from person to person but this weekend the pair will join hundreds of other quilters in a common quest--viewing as many quilts as possible during the “Quilting in the Valley 2000” show at Cal State Northridge.

The annual event co-sponsored by two local guilds, the San Fernando Quilt Assn. and the Valley Quiltmakers Guild, takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After paying a $5 admission fee that covers both days, visitors can look at the more than 150 quilts on display in CSUN’s Student Union.

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The quilts are made by members of the two guilds. Each member can enter one quilt, and one member is selected as the featured quilter. This year it’s Gerry Sweem, a longtime quilter who will exhibit 15 of her creations. Her quilts have been on the covers of five issues of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, featured in six books and in the international Quilt Japan magazine. Her latest quilt, “Little Sister Revisited,” was awarded the Masters Award for Excellence in Traditional Quilts by the International Quilt Assn. It will be displayed at CSUN.

“Many quilters bring their work in for show and share at the guild’s monthly meetings, but [Sweem’s] are on the road a lot at different shows so we don’t get to see them,” said Landau, a member of the Valley Quiltmakers Guild. “The show gives us a chance to get up close to her work and see her evolution as a quilter.”

Among the groups’ members are three women whose quilts were chosen for the “100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century” by the Alliance for American Quilts, the American Quilt Study Group, the International Quilt Assn. and the National Quilting Assn.

The trio of quilters, Zena Thorpe, Margarete Heinisch and Judy Mathieson, will have quilts displayed at the local show.

“You can call it a powerhouse quilt guild,” Landau said of the three internationally known quilters. “It really brings the level of quilting up.”

The event also features a doll display, fashion show, vendor show and a live quilt auction.

The quilt guilds date back 17 years for San Fernando and 12 years for the Valley. Several members belong to both. The cost to join is $20 a year and includes a monthly newsletter. The main difference between the guilds is the meeting times. The San Fernando guild meets the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. and the Valley group meets the second Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

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Members take their quilts to the meetings to show and share, discuss upcoming quilt shows, listen to guest speakers, sign up for workshops and plan field trips to museums, quilt shops and shows. Membership is limited to 300. The San Fernando has a waiting list but spots are available with the Valley group, which has 157 members.

“On the average most of the ladies in the day group are older but we have a lot of stay-at-home moms, too,” said Wetts, who belongs to both guilds.

The guilds are for people of all ages--the oldest member is 92-year-old Libby Laderman, and the youngest is 13-year-old Katie Robinson--and from all walks of life.

Members include pilots, lawyers, students, military personnel, teachers, engineers and librarians.

“The best thing about joining one of the groups is the friends you make,” Wetts said. “Quilters are the most wonderful people, the kind you want as your friends.”

Besides the monthly meetings, the quilters form mini-groups that get together and quilt as often as each individual group wants.

“It’s more of a social thing because quilting is very relaxing,” Landau said. “It’s a labor of love.

BE THERE

“Quilting in the Valley 2000,” Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. Tickets: $5 for both days. Call (323) 874-1557.