NCCC News
July 2008 – A stitch in time: The Adirondack North Country Quilt Camp returns to NCCC
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Crazy Daisy Stack ‘n’ Whack by Sandy Zmyjewski
For the second Summer in a row, the ladies of the North Country Quilt Camp came to the Saranac Lake campus of NCCC to weave their magic. Okay, weaving wasn’t on the agenda, but the three day camp did, according to their literature, “focus on all aspects of quiltmaking,” with classes designed to help and inspire quilters of all skill levels.
For the uninitiated (or those who don’t know the difference between needles and thread) there might not seem to be much to quilting; however, for those who are in the know, this was a little slice of heaven on earth.
17 years along
Begun as part of the Adirondack Centennial in 1992, the first “camp” was “locals with a local theme,” and held at Paul Smith’s College. The original group of organizers knew that – according to Joan Sleinkofer of Rainbow Lake, one of the originals herself – “If we were going to have a quilt show, we should have quilters (from all over the state and region, if possible), so we put together a committee.”
Sleinkofer went on to add that 17 years later they have continued to prosper thanks to the love of the craft shown by the quiltmakers and those who come to instruct and inspire them.
Where ideas become quilts
This year there were eight instructors, giving some 19 workshops on topics as diverse as one of Wendy Butler Berns’s workshops Photo Album: Picture Image Appliqués – “creating simple figurative and pictorial quilts from a photograph -- to one of Lisa Fagan’s three classes, one of which was Moose Penny Rugs.
Other instructors held classes in Prairie Samplers, Heirloom Machine Quilting, Introduction to Computer (quilting) Design, Needleturn, Victorian Tote (bags), and what may have been a lifesaver for some, an open Studio Class in which the craftsperson could finish up earlier projects, get inspired to begin new ones, or (per the brochure) “work uninterrupted on the project of your choice.”
Speaking of brochures, Sleinkofer said, “We have a large mailing list; we put out brochures in the Winter, so (the quilters can) sign up and come.”
As to the teachers, she noted that they “tend to work two years (at the Quilters Camp) and then rotate onward.”
Tom Finch, Vice President of Academic Affairs, claimed, “North Country Community College was privileged to host this marvelous event. The creativity and expression of their work was evident in the display area.”
Of course, not to be overlooked were the vendors who were present for all three days. Their selection of books, fabric, and equipment were phenomenal.
For some samples of this wonderful event, please go to this PHOTO PAGE.
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