Lecture: Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Zoom Only
Gather at 6:30 p.m. / Meeting Starts at 7:00 p.m.
Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island
Speaker: Dana Jones
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After too many years of dreaming about making quilts, I decided it was time to live into that dream. While many folks gradually drift into quilting, I claim a specific date when I declared I was a quilter: September 14, 2003. That was the final day of a three-day Martha Pullen quilt event in Huntsville, Alabama, at which I encountered today’s quilt world for the first time. I spent the next three days driving home — I lived in White Plains, New York, at the time — stopping at more than a dozen quilt shops enroute. I was hooked..
It was a few years before I could give quilting much attention because I had a more than full-time job, but I did take classes at shops in New York City and surrounding areas and attended quilt shows, exhibitions and events whenever possible. When I was able to step away from full-time employment in 2007, I finally had time to quilt and soon began teaching at Quilter’s Crossing in West Nyack, New York, a wonderful shop that sadly is no more though its owner Colleen Nunes continues as a skilled long-arm quilter. I thank her for taking a chance on me as a new quilting teacher. In 2009, I moved to Colorado where I landed a job as an editor with Quilters Newsletter magazine, and less than a year later, I was running the magazine. I also had the opportunity to do a two-year stint as editor of the SAQA Journal (Studio Art Quilt Associates) before stepping down from that position to research and write my book, Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island. I spent several years on the road telling the amazing story of the more than 100 women and men on this tiny, 13-acre Philippine island who have created a form of art quilting that supports themselves and their families. That effort pulled together my fascination with fiber and art, my commitment to justice for all people, and my work as a journalist devoted to telling stories that don’t make it into the mainstream, for-profit media.. I was honored to assist in mounting exhibitions of the island quilts at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky; the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in San Jose, California; and Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, Colorado. I live at 9,200 feet in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains where I watch the wild critters — elk, moose, bobcats, mountain lions, rabbits, squirrels, birds of prey and songbirds — from my quilt studio that faces Mount Thorodin. I enjoy designing and making quilts and teaching others to do so. And I enjoy speaking and writing about quiltmaking and quiltmakers. I have a special passion for foundation paper piecing so many of my quilts and classes incorporate that technique. I’m also addicted to insetting circles and find great joy when I help others see how easy it is to do. I’m a regular teacher at multiple quilt shops in Colorado, have taught at Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and for more than 100 guilds across the United States and Canada. In 2022, I taught and spoke at International Quilt Festival in Houston and at Amerian Quilter's Society shows in Daytona Beach and Grand Rapids. I also teach open-enrollment classes from my home via Zoom. Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island You’ll be transported to a tiny island — just 13 acres — in the central Philippines as you enjoy images and stories of the colorful quilts and the more than 100 quiltmakers of Caohagan Island. You’ll see photos of more than 50 of these handmade, one-of-a-kind quilts plus be introduced to the unique techniques developed by these quiltmakers whose tools are simply fabric and scissors, needle and thread. I spent more than a month on the island, quilted with the residents, went fabric shopping with them on nearby Cebu Island, and snorkeled the reef that surrounds Caohagan. Those who view the quilts come away smiling, inspired by the creativity of these women and men. This lecture is perfect for warming up a winter guild meeting. |
