Very Special
Volunteer Faye Junker

Faye Junker’s imprint at WMQFA
is evident as soon as you enter the building.  Are you ever curious about our
beautiful barn?  Next time you visit, take time to look at the photographs in
our foyer, to the right of the main entrance.  Here you can see, step by step,
just how the facility grew.  We have volunteer Faye Junker to thank for this
visual history of our exciting museum!  She took the photos and printed them,
just so visitors could get an idea of how the Museum came to be.

Active in so many ways, Faye
has helped to coordinate the Museum’s busy University Days for five years,
worked at rummage sales, helped with mailings and so much more. As Faye says,
“If there is a special need I think I can help with I say OK!”  She is now busy
working on a quilted banner for this year’s upcoming University Days event.

Faye took the lead in
co-designing the celebration table toppers at the Museum’s grand opening last
year.  And every time you put on your new volunteer nametag you can also thank
Faye.  She co-designed them using the Museum’s signature colors, barn red and
cheddar.

Living in Grafton, Faye is a
member of the North Shore Quilt Guild and the Ladies of the Lake, a group who
creates charitable quilts for children.  She began as a pretty traditional
quilter many years ago, but “veered off” and now usually makes more imaginative,
one-of-a-kind art quilts.  (Faye is pictured above with her latest creation,
“Drifting.”)

Faye feels the Museum is “a
really wonderful project for the community” and she is very excited about its
future potential.  She loves to work at the Museum.  Her favorite thing is
greeting visitors and sharing WMQFA’s story with them.

As with all of our volunteers,
Faye’s can-do attitude is what makes this institution so very special.  It’s
obvious we couldn’t do what we do without volunteers like her!

Tonight is the last in our “make-and-take” ornament series. Make a beaded and embellished ball ornament for only $5. Tonight’s craft is led by Mel Hadcock, and runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Also at the museum tonight are living artists, at work in our Barn Gallery. “Celebrate the Artists” concludes this Sunday at 4 p.m.

Our seasonal exhibit, featuring red/white/green quilts and coverlets, 3-D snowmen, angels and Santas, and other treats for the whole family, runs through Jan. 8.

Holiday Closures: Dec. 24, 25 and 31; Jan. 1. Other days, we are open regular hours.

Join the Museum or Renew Memberships now!

If you support our mission, love the member benefits (like Museum Gift Shop discounts and priority class registrations), or just don’t like to pay admission every time you visit, now is the time to join or renew. Membership year runs January 1 through December 31. Get the full value of your 2012 membership by joining now.

Saturday, March 2, 2012     10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• $5 fee per rug or quilt

Due to the huge success of the last Documentation Day, we will be offering advance appointment scheduling!  Check back for further details!

Calling all quilts and the people who love them! Help us save the stories in the stitches by bringing your precious family heirlooms (or modern creations) to Documentation Day at the WMQFA’s farmstead. For just $5, we will record the history of the quilt, create a detailed description, take a digital image, and save this information in our archives.

We will include your quilt in an online database, the Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org), where it can be accessed and studied for years to come, at no charge. Our trained volunteers can tell you when and how your antique quilt was made, and give suggestions on proper care and storage.

Attention rug owners: Rug experts will be documenting old and new rugs, made in the traditional rug hooking style, using cut fabric strips. A record of your rug will be stored in the WMQFA library. The fee is $5 for each rug documented.

photo courtesy of www.candidbytracy.com

Effective January 1, 2012, Terri Kirchner will step down as President of the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. In this position over the last 2 years, Terri played a pivotal role in creating our new museum home. She served as construction manager from the last phase of plan development, through the 11-month construction phase, and since August, solving niggling post-construction issues.

Terri’s first encounter with the WMQFA was as a featured exhibitor in 2008. She quickly became enthralled with the museum’s mission to inspire and educate people from all walks of life in the creation of fiber arts. “I arrived at the museum at the most exciting time in its history, as it completed a $1.2 million fund drive and initiated its new museum construction plan,” says Kirchner.

An avid quilter since her early teens, Kirchner attributes her fiber art skills to the devotion of her grandmother, Mary T. Mathews. She has received several awards since she started quilting professionally in 1996, including the prestigious Judges Choice in Quilting Arts Magazine and Honorable Mentions at Madison’s Quilt Expo.

Terri’s decision to step down reflects the natural conclusion of the construction project and her desire to shift her focus to her family, to her professional career as an audiologist, and to her fiber arts business endeavors.

“I leave at a time when the Museum is financially secure and on the correct path to success,” says Kirchner. “Our dedicated volunteers continue to uphold our collective vision for preserving the history of this farmstead, creating an art-filled venue for our visitors, and educating the community of students, fiber artists and historians.”

“Though my commitment as President has changed, my love and desire for the Museum has not waned. I will continue to be an active volunteer as I leave the Presidency.”

“Most importantly, I wish to thank our dedicated Board and the many volunteers that I have been blessed to have the opportunity of working beside to make this wonderful, magical place a reality.”

Weather Closures & Holiday Hours

When weather conditions force us to close, we will follow the Cedarburg School District’s lead. You can always check the WTMJ website for our closure announcement, call us at 262.546.0300, or check our website, www.wiquiltmuseum.com .

We will be CLOSED for the following holidays:

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Day

Joyce Krueger of the Cream City Rug Hookers demonstrates techniques at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. Members of that guild, as well as artists Deanna Peterson and Heidi Trapp, will be in residence at the museum through Sunday, Dec. 4. Next week, a new crop of artists arrives. Come and be inspired!

Artists are working in the Barn Gallery, currently hosting “Seasonal Arts, Quilts & Coverlets” and “Saints, Celestials and Snowmen.” Bring the family to this wonderful holiday exhibit, running through January 8, 2012.

Strawberry Festival Challenge

Each year, in celebration of Cedarburg’s Strawberry Festival, the WMQFA challenges talented fiber artists to create a visual representation of this favorite Wisconsin summer fruit. 2012 contest applications, rules, and fabric selections are now available at the Museum Gift Shop. The kit of required fabrics costs $10, and is considered a donation to the museum.

Stop in and pick up a kit, and create your own expression as the snow flies in Wisconsin, dreaming of summer to come!

Documentation Day Huge Success!

Our recent Documentation Day was popular beyond our wildest expectations! Thirty-one quilts were documented for the Quilt Index data base in just six hours! Unfortunately, several owners had to be asked to return at a future date, and many experienced a longer wait than we would have liked. We will solve this problem: at our next Documentation Day, we will offer appointments, scheduled in advance, as well as walk-in documentation. Watch our website and Barn Blasts for announcements for our next Documentation Day.

Thanks to our dedicated volunteers who worked so hard to make the day a success!