Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild

Develop and Encourage the Growth and Development of Modern Quilting through Education and Community Activities

Category Archives: Events

Retreats, Workshops, Trunk Shows, Exhibits and more


by Leave a comment

Giants at the VMFA

Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys is coming to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition from the collection of musical and cultural icons Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys is expansive and features more than 130 works of art by 40 Black artists from Africa, Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean.

Join us January 25th 2026 at 2.pm.

We’d love for you to join us for an inspirational art walk and sit and sew connected to the GIANTS exhibition at the VMFA.

We’ll start by walking through the exhibition together, taking time to notice themes like scale, strength, and presence in the artwork. From there, we’ll gather to stitch, turning ideas and reflections into something made by hand.

You don’t need any stitching experience to participate. Just bring your curiosity and willingness to slow down, look closely, and create alongside others.

It’s a chance to connect, reflect, and make something together. We hope you can join us!

We plan to go to the exhibition on January 25th, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Click here to get your tickets

$12 Adults
$10 Seniors 65+
$10 Groups of 10 or more
$8 Youth (age 7–17)
$8 Students with ID
Free for Children 6 and Under

Want to learn more about the exhibition?

We need to be our most giant selves: to think our most giant thoughts, express ourselves in the biggest way possible, and give ourselves permission to be giants. —Alicia Keys

High Museum of Art Article on the Exhibition

From the Brooklyn Museum

“Giants” refers to several aspects of the Dean Collection: the renown of legendary artists, the impact of canon-expanding contemporary artists, and the monumental works by such creators as Derrick Adams, Arthur Jafa, and Meleko Mokgosi. Immense pieces—including the largest ever by Mokgosi—are paired with standouts such as Parks’s seminal photographs, Wiley’s revolutionary portraits, and Esther Mahlangu’s globe-bridging canvases.

The term also evokes the strength of the bonds between the Deans and the artists they support, and among the artists themselves. Along with examining these links and legacies, the exhibition will encourage “giant conversations” inspired by the works on view—critiquing society and celebrating Blackness


by 1 Comment

Save the dates : 2024!

Make 2024 your best quilting year yet! The Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild is excited to bring you a lineup of some of the best quilting instructors!

Please be on the lookout for emails regarding details for the following events, and consider signing up soon since registration is limited.

Deborah Boschert @deborahboschert: Virtual / February 1-2

Heidi Parkes @Heidi. parkes : In-person / June 12-16

Maria Shell @mariashellquilts: Virtual and in-person / October 4, October 11-12, November 1.


by Leave a comment

Workshop: Fabulous Free Hand Curves with Cindy Grisdela

Mark your calendars! CVAMQG is pleased to host an in-person workshop with Cindy Grisdela @cindygrisdelaquilts this August!

Learn to cut large scale curves freehand without templates or patterns. Add dots, skinny lines, wonky triangles and more to give each curve its own personality, then combine them into a fun original design.
We’ll talk about color and design to create the composition as well as the techniques needed.
Best for students with some experience with curves–not for beginners.


This promises to be a fun, exciting workshop!

Register for the workshop here!


by Leave a comment

National Quilting Day 2023!

Central Virginia Quilt Guild Celebrates National Quilting Day on March 18, 2023!

The CVAMQG will celebrate National Quilting Day on March 18 at the Gayton Branch Library, 10600 Gayton Rd, Richmond, VA 23238, from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm.  We will have coffee, tea, muffins, etc. for breakfast.  Lunch will be on your own. Please feel free to bring your lunch with you, or have lunch at a nearby restaurant. 

As part of the celebration, we have a group project for members, the Reversible Fabric Basket by Svetlana Sotek. Please take a look at the You Tube video for the instructions and requirements.  (Pellon SF 101 Interfacing is suggested, but you may want to use something else.  You should have all other supplies.)  We will have irons for use, but feel free to bring your own.  This is an easy project, and would qualify for our 2023 challenge using scraps.   Of course, you are not required to make a fabric basket to participate in celebrating the day.  You are free to bring your own project to work on on Saturday! 


by 2 Comments

Virtual workshop with Sujata Shah

We are over-the-moon excited to offer the “Stories in Stitches” online workshop with Sujata Shah. Participants will learn how to make a Siddi kawandi. (“Kawandi” means quilt.) Natalie took her workshop last month at the Vermont Quilt Festival and loved it so much, she contacted Sujata about teaching our guild. The only available time she has is Friday, September 17th 6:00 – 9:00 pm. The cost to each member is $50; nonmembers $60.

Here are 10 reasons why you need to take this workshop.

  • Sujata is an amazing teacher.  Gentle, wise, extremely knowledgeable, and an exciting artist.
  • The class connects quilting and life in ways I hadn’t thought of before.
  • To make a kawandi, you don’t need scissors, rotary tools, irons, or sewing machines.  Just needle and thread and a thimble.
  • When you make a kawandi, you do the binding, piecing, and quilting all at once!  When it’s done, it’s done.
  • You won’t know what your quilt really looks like until you sew on the final piece.  Surprise!
  • Making a kawandi is a terrific use of scraps.
  • But if you don’t want a scrappy look, Sujata has made some beautiful kawandi using solids for a totally different look.  (Visit her web sitehttps://therootconnection.blogspot.com ). Also, Margaret Fabrizio is crazy amazing, too: http://margaretfabrizio.com/quilts/index.html
  • If you are new to hand quilting, this is a fun and “safe” place to start.  Sujata talks about how our stitching, in all its “imperfections”, is really telling our story. The learning process is part of our story.  Kawandi stitching is relatively small, not larger stitching as you may have seen in kantha quilting.
  • Sewing a kawandi is addicting, and it feels glorious as you add more and more rows of stitches.
  • If you don’t believe me, here is a blog post by a woman who took Sujata’s class: https://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/2020/11/kawandi.html


by 2 Comments

Sherri Lynn Wood Workshops Excellent Learning Experience.

The Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild hosted Sherri Lynn Wood for a weekend of Improvisation on Saturday, February 1, 2020, for Patchwork Doodle, and on Sunday, February 2, 2020, for Grid Busting Mashup. The classes were full and we all learned so much.

The classes started with a centering meditation exercise and then 30 minutes of sewing, no talking. Amazing how much work we all got done in those 30 minutes and many of us have made this a regular practice before sewing. From there, Sherri Lynn demonstrated techniques, walked us through several Evaluations, and told us the positive way to approach “mistakes”–Whoopie! During the free lecture Saturday, February 1, 2020, entitled Ruler Free Mashup, Sherri Lynn had us pick any fabric from the scrap pile and then crafted a wonderful quilt top before our eyes. And, yes, we did select the ugliest fabrics we could find in the bin.

Workshop Descriptions:

Patchwork Doodle:

1-day 6hr / intermediate / all skill levels welcome

Doodle with your scrap stash! Let go of expectations and build patterns with simple shapes and negative space. Learn ruler-free patchwork techniques. Collaborate with your patchwork with a YES AND as you affirm and respond in the moment to the pattern as it unfolds. Discover a responsive approach to composition and design that lies somewhere between randomness and planned.

Featured in The Improv Handbook For Modern Quilters. Her book will be available for purchase at the retail price, $27.95, during the workshop and lectures. She will be available during the lecture to sign her book.

Grid Busting Curves:

1-day 6hr / intermediate / all skill levels welcome /

Discover the freedom and ease of piecing template free curves. There are no mistakes here! The goal of this layered curve improv workshop is to bust out of the grid.


by Leave a comment

Sherri Lynn Wood Workshop Registration opens August 16, 2019

The Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild is excited to host Sherri Lynn Wood for a weekend of Improvisation!

Join us Saturday, February 1, 2020, for Patchwork Doodle, and on Sunday, February 2, 2020, for Grid Busting Mashup.

We are also happy to provide a free lecture Saturday, February 1, 2020, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., entitled Ruler Free Mashup.

Registration opens to the public on Friday, August 16, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Non-members are invited!!!

Location:

DoubleTree by Hilton Richmond Midlothian, 1021 Koger Center Boulevard, Richmond, VA, 23235. Room rate is $109 per night. Provide our name when making reservations. Room reservations are separate from the workshop registration.

Workshop Descriptions:

Patchwork Doodle:

1-day 6hr / intermediate / all skill levels welcome

Doodle with your scrap stash! Let go of expectations and build patterns with simple shapes and negative space. Learn ruler-free patchwork techniques. Collaborate with your patchwork with a YES AND as you affirm and respond in the moment to the pattern as it unfolds. Discover a responsive approach to composition and design that lies somewhere between randomness and planned.

Featured in The Improv Handbook For Modern Quilters. Her book will be available for purchase at the retail price, $27.95, during the workshop and lectures. She will be available during the lecture to sign her book.

Grid Busting Curves:

1-day 6hr / intermediate / all skill levels welcome /

Discover the freedom and ease of piecing template free curves. There are no mistakes here! The goal of this layered curve improv workshop is to bust out of the grid.

Cost?

BOTH WORKSHOPS which will include a free signed book ($27.95 retail) and free lecture:  $300

INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOP:  $145 (includes lecture but not free book)

Return to our website on August 16, 2019 to register and pay for the workshops using PayPal. Space is limited so it will be first come, first served.

(Refund of half the fees if cancelled before December 1, 2019. No refund after that date. To cancel, send us an email at cvamqg@gmail.com)