Suzy's Fancy
by Suzanne Labry
Quilters de Mexico
Column #123
ARCHIVES
Column 205: Spit and Vinegar and the “World’s Largest” Quilt
Column 204: Balloon Quilts of
Albuquerque- Updated
Column 203: Elaine Ellison’s
Mathematical Quilts
Column 202: Organ Donor Memorial Quilts
Column 201: Rose Marie Agnant,
Haitian Quilter
Column 200: Cherrywood Challenges
Column 199: Game of Thrones Quilt
Column 198: A Civil War Love Story—
Sealed with a Quilt
Column 197: Hub Cap Annie—A
Quilter’s Story
Column 196: Cama Beach Quilters
Column 195: Quilts of Southwest China
Column 194: Erick Wolfmeyer—Dealing with Loss and Finding Identity Through Quilts
Column 193: Feed Sacks—The Colourful History of a Frugal Fabric
Column 192: Pam Holland’s Bayeux Tapestry Quilt
Column 191: Irish Magdalene Laundries Story Quilts
Column 190: Quilting Tool Envy Sparks Quilt-Inspired Collages
Column 189: A Queen’s Protest Quilt
Column 188: The Sierra Club’s Wilderness Quilt Project
Column 187: Pamela Arnosky—Flower Farmer and Quilter
Column 185: Celebrating Canada’s Sesquicentennial
Column 183: Canadian Quilters Host
Big Bee for 150th
Column 182: Indiana Bicentennial
Quilts—Pt. II
Column 181: Indiana Bicentennial
Quilts—Pt. I
Column 179: Studio Art Quilt Associates
Column 177: The Newark 350
Commemorative Quilt
Column 176: Crimean War Military
Uniform Quilts
Column 175: The Changi Prison Quilts
Column 173: Cowbelles Brand Quilts
Column 172: Quilts Providing Hope
for the Homeless
Column 170: Chuck Threat - A Quilter's Story
Column 166: The Superstitious Quilter
Column 164: The Michael Jackson
Story Quilt
Column 163: Oakland Quilters & The
Great Migration
Column 162: Quilting Through A Tragedy
Column 161: The Boise Peace Quilt Project
Column 160: Bikers Like Quilts, Too!
Column 159: The Willy Nelson Picnic Collection
Column 158: Muslin - Workhorse or Rarity?
Column 157: Governor's Necktie Quilts
Column 155: The Magna Carta Quilt
Column 154: U.S. National Park
Centennial Quilts
Column 153: Suzy's explores the rich history
of cotton and quilting.
Column 152: Haiti "Peacequilts"
Column 151: Plains Indian Star Quilts
Column 148: Quilt of Belonging
Column 147: Kanthas—The Quilts of Bangladesh
Column 145: Suzy on Carolyn Mazloomi's Groundbreaking Quilt Exhibit
Column 144: Texas Community Marks Juneteenth Sesquicentennial with History Quilts
Column 143: Maya Embroidered Patchwork
Column 142: Huipil Patchwork Quilts
Column 141: Tom Korn’s Military
Medal Quilts
Column 140: The Return of Double Knits!
Column 138: Home of the Brave Quilts
Column 137: The Story of Fabric Yo-Yos
Column 134: Deaf Initiatives—Communicating Through Quilts
Column 133: My Betty Boop Quilt
Column 132: Maura Grace Ambrose
Column 131: All You Need Is Love
Column 129: The Quilted Chuppah
Column 128: Patchwork Around the World: Yoruba Dance Costumes
Column 127: The Bowers Co-Op Quilts
Column 126: Fon Appliqué and Haitian Voodoo Flags
Column 125: The Quilt Garden at The North Carolina Arboretum
Column 124: Harriet Powers and
Handful’s Mauma
Column 123: Quilters de Mexico
For those of us who live in places where quilting enjoys a long history, widespread interest, and a healthy infrastructure, and where fabrics, tools, expert teachers, and the camaraderie and inspiration of other quilters are easy to access, it may be difficult to empathize with those who do not.
That was the situation in Mexico until just a few years ago. As we all know, once quilting fever gets a toehold, it spreads rapidly, and that’s what is happening in Mexico today.
Trudi Kerslake, an avid quilter from the United States moved to a small village in north-central Mexico in 1998. She shared her skills with others in the village, but she still felt isolated and wanted a larger community with which to share her passion.
In 2009, she launched an invitation via Facebook in the hope that there might be other quilters in Mexico who would join her in staging a quilt show in Zacatecas City. She received responses from Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Mexico City, and Nuevo Leon, and the first quilt show took place in an open-air city market.
Delighted with that first success, Trudi joined with Rosy Garnica, Lourdes Cruz, and Wendy Amoore in putting on additional shows in Zacatecas in 2010 and 2011, under the name Expo Patchwork and Quilt.
In 2012, the Expo was held in Puebla, in the southeast part of the country.
“Each year the show got bigger and bigger, with more exhibited quilts, more vendors, and more visitors,” Amoore says.
In 2013, Carolina Flores, Lourdes Cruz, and Eduardo Ramírez took over responsibility for the Expo, and they eventually formed Quilters de Mexico®, “an initiative that promotes quilting in Mexico and the Mexican expression through quilts,” according to Ramírez.
Although Quilters de Mexico is the organizing group behind the Expo, it is not an association. It draws support from the three quilt guilds in Mexico, quilt shops, and independent quilters who come together to participate in the seminars, contests, workshops, international quilt exchanges, special events, tours, fashion shows, and exhibits available at the annual Expo.
Now, people come from all over Mexico and from all over the world to share their love of quilts and quilting and to learn from master teachers.
The group’s next Expo will take place February 26-28, 2015 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City on. For more information, visit the website www.quiltersdemexico.com, or on Facebook at Expo Patchwork & Quilt.
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