Trunk Show and Featured Quilter:
Angela Blahak
Fiber Artist Extraordinaire

High Plains Quilt Festival
Portales, NM


    Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15, 2011
    9:00 am to 5:00 pm


     



    Angela, who lives in Abilene, Texas, is a member of the Ogallala Quilt Guild. She learned to sew about age 12 because she didn’t like a dress her mother made for her. She was ok with that, and said, “Then you need to learn to sew for yourself.“ At the local five and dime store they bought fabric for her first attempt, an apron. This was on a treadle Singer machine. She was hooked. Her grandmother had earlier taught her to crochet and then sewing was equally fun, and, as it turned out, rewarding. She often made and sold clothes for her classmates in nursing school, in Ft Worth, Tx.

    In Ft. Worth, she met and married an Air Force man from Nebraska who was stationed there. Their first household purchase was a Singer sewing machine, because he valued the fact that she could sew. They eventually had 5 children, for whom she made “a lot of clothes.” Her first quilt was for their first baby and was made out of clothes scraps. And, according to Angela, “It was pretty pathetic, but served a purpose.” It eventually made its way to the dumpster, not realizing that someday it might be a treasure.

    Angela’s quilting began in the early 1980s. Three of her friends, who opened the first quilt shop in Abilene, taught her about rotary cutters, colors/patterns, a quarter inch foot for seam allowances ( Angela just thought she could estimate as she’d done in sewing clothes, yeah! right!) and more. Eventually, a guild started in Abilene, for which she chaired the quilt show for 3 years. She has 6 Saturday Sisters, who meet monthly to share and quilt. She has won many blue ribbons and monetary awards for her exquisite quilting at various shows, and two of her quilts were juried into the International Quilt Festival in Houston,Tx. As they say, the rest is history.

    Meet Angela at our Dinner and Awards Ceremony, Thursday, October 13, 2011, 6:00 pm at the VINES RESTAURANT, on the Square, Portales.
    Angela will have a "trunk show."

    Don't miss Angela's fabulous display of fiber art and quilts at the High Plains Quilt Festival.
    Angela will be available to answer your questions, and talk about her quilts.





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