World Quilt New England is coming to the Radisson Center of New Hampshire on August 17-20, 2016 and is bringing its world renowned faculty with it! Our lecture lineup features an impressive group of women, among them Rosalie Dace and Bonnie Dwyer. The two will speak at the World Quilt New England’s luncheon lectures.

Internationally renowned instructor Rosalie Dace will travel from Durban, South Africa to speak at the 12:30pm, Saturday August 20, 2016 luncheon lecture. Rosalie will explore the ideas of Old Traditions, and New Directions. Rosalie is a South African studio artist with a background in art and education. Not only has she spent years teaching and lecturing but also judging and exhibiting around the globe. Although she values tradition she believes that a quilt should say something about its time and place in history. Rosalie’s colorful, South African, surroundings inspire her textile work, which gives all her pieces a particular character.

Rosalie’s lecture will speak to the abstract and give insight to difficult questions asked by quilters. She will shed light on questions such as: Why do we take such obsessive pleasure and delight (and a measure of agony) in making our quilts?; What drives us to seek out new directions and techniques?; What are the traditions we work from and why? Her talk will ask listeners to think outside of the box, and reflect on the roots and traditions of quilting, as well as where we go from here.

Rosalie’s luncheon lecture won’t be the only one that asks its listeners to reflect. Bonnie Dwyer will speak at the 12:30pm Thursday, August 18, luncheon lecture on The Roots of Modern Quilting. Bonnie’s professional experience in the textile arts community began in the 1980s. However, her sewing experience reaches back much farther than that. She began to sew at the age of nine and grew up surrounded by family members who were prolific at knitting, tatting, crochet, embroidery, clothing construction and, of course, quilt making. She believes that the modern quilt revival of the early 21st century is quilt history in the making.

The Roots of Modern Quilting lecture will showcase Bonnie’s study and findings about the Modern Quilt Guilds and how they reflect the development of modern quilting. This lecture will help its listeners understand what modern quilting is, what it looks like, and who and what it influences.

To register for these lectures or for more information on all World Quilt New England activities, please click here.