Programs & Workshops
Prairie Star Quilt Guild Contracts and Programs Vice Presidents schedule numerous renowned Guest speakers and teachers each year. Every Special Guest will educate us with their own unique skills and styles in both lectures and workshops.
Lectures are included in a PSQG Membership and, as a member, you’ll have first chance to register for workshops at a reduced rate.
Calendar of Events
Note: With the ever changing world, all events are subject to change.
May 2026 Program
June 2026 Lectures & Workshop
Candy Grisham
Candy of ICandy Quilts is a quilt artist, quilt teacher, author, maker of contemporary quilts & Modern Dresden patterns. Modern, contemporary or traditional Dresden quilts and blocks can be pieced by machine in multiple fabric and color combinations to create stunning, one-of-a-kind quilts and fabric art. These are great places to put your own stamp on your creative pieces.
June 22 — 7pm Meeting — Lecture: Creativity
June 23 — 9:30am Meeting — Lecture: The Dresden Reimagined
Candy Grisham Workshop
Reimagined Dresden
In this workshop you will create your own unique small wall hanging.
Date: Sunday, June 21
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: University Of Illinois Extension Kane County, 535 S Randall Rd, St. Charles, IL 60174
Cost: $57
July 2026 Lectures & Workshop
Amy Struckmeyer
While Amy values craft and tradition in design, she is energized by modern interpretations and creative remixes. Her recent work is rooted in an investigation of geometry and color.
July 27 — 7pm Meeting — Lecture: How to Break the Rules — A trunk show and presentation on how she got started making modern quilts, her creative process, and how she approaches quilt design.
July 28 — 9:30am Meeting — Lecture: Reframe Your Color Story — Learn to build color palettes for your quilts that create a specific mood, are dynamic, and that tell a story… your story. Amy will give you tools and ideas to gain confidence in creating your own color combinations.
Amy Struckmeyer Workshop
Wild Geese FPP
In this class, participants will learn the basics of foundation paper piecing (FPP) to make more-than-basic blocks. She’ll share tips for precise foundation paper piecing and discuss ways to strategically use color and geometry to create sophisticated designs with these unique blocks.
Date: Sunday, July 26
Time: 10am – 3pm
Location: University Of Illinois Extension Kane County, 535 S Randall Rd, St. Charles, IL 60174
Cost: $47
August 2026 Lectures & Workshop
Tina Craig
Tina specializes in precision piecing (foundation paper piecing and English paper piecing) and domestic machine quilting. She enjoys learning new techniques and has even stepped out of her comfort zone to try art quilting.
August 24 — 7pm Meeting — Lecture: Swaps, Bees & Raffles: The Joy of Group Projects — If you’ve ever assembled a group quilt, it may not have brought you much joy! Tina will show you some of her favorite group quilts (and some that are not so great) as she shares tips, tricks and best practices for group quilt success.
August 25 — 9:30am Meeting — Lecture: EPP vs FPP. The Showdown! — English Paper Piecing or Foundation Paper Piecing? What’s the difference? What are the pros and cons of each technique? Tina will show quilts and share many tips and tricks. Quilts from each technique will be pitted against each other and you will vote for your favorites. At the end, we will tally up the votes and declare a winner!
Tina Craig Workshop
EPP Design Party
Instruction includes EPP geometry, color & design basics, fussy cutting with Tina’s Wonder Window, basting options, various hand piecing stitches, curved piecing, and finishing options. Class handout includes a bonus table runner pattern.
Date: Monday, August 24
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: University Of Illinois Extension Kane County, 535 S Randall Rd, St. Charles, IL 60174
Cost: $54
September 2026 Lectures & Workshop
Eileen Daniels
Eileen is a quilt artist, teacher, and lecturer from Brodhead, Wisconsin. She has a passion for sewing and quilting and sharing her skills with others. Her winning quilts and wearables are inspired by nature and showcase many embellishments. Eileen’s goal is to encourage others to learn new quilting techniques and have fun at the same time.
September 28 — 7pm Meeting — Lecture: Vintage Textiles with a Creative Twist
September 29 — 9:30am Meeting — Lecture: Using Orphan Blocks with Sentimental Endings
Eileen Daniels Workshop
Here Is My Vintage Linen – How Do I Start?
In this workshop participants should bring a favorite or a special vintage linen to show and get ideas for possible quilted items. Eileen will give directions for the “how to” for many ideas! It will be another shorter trunk show, but with the actual written directions for you! Your friends can also make suggestions. No machines will be necessary, but be sure to bring notepaper and pen. There will be a handout for you to make further notes, too.
Date: Monday, September 28
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Location: Congregational United Church of Christ, 40W451 Fox Mill Blvd, St. Charles, IL 60175
Cost: $25
October 2026
Details to come
October 26 — 7pm Meeting
October 27 — 9:30am Meeting
November 2026 Meetings
Member Spotlight: Carole Bates
Featuring her award-winning quilt, “My Affair with Applique”.
November 23 — 7pm Meeting
November 24 — 9:30am Meeting
December 2026
No meetings in December
January 2027 Lectures
Lorelai Kuecker
Join Lorelai Kuecker, the 17-year-old quilter, pattern designer, author, garment maker, and fabric designer behind Pigs in a Blanket Quilting.
During this 1-hour trunk show you’ll learn how this artist began her quilting journey at just 12 years of age, tackling new projects at electric speed and pushing the boundaries of conventional quilting with her custom couture garments. Using images of her work, Lorelai will share some of the lessons already learned, many of her successes, and a few glimpses into the surprises that lie ahead. At the end, there will be time for a show and tell of her most popular pieces along with a question-and-answer session.
January 25 — 7pm VIRTUAL Meeting
Lecture: “Stitch by Stitch” — A Youth Quilting Journey
Julia McLeod
Julie has specialized in making silk quilts, sourcing her fabrics from neckties, clothing and furnishing fabrics. She has a passion for reuse and recycling, and these reclaimed fabrics have become the starting point for her quilt designs.
Her newest work is a series of quilts in which older, well-worn quilts become the batting beneath new, sheer quilt tops. The outlines of the original blocks remain faintly visible, shadowing through the surface in ghostly fashion.
In this lecture she will share her inspiration, experimentation and the construction of four particular quilts. She’ll show you examples of layering, cutting away, trapping objects and building sheer quilt tops through piecing and fusing. This lecture is a great choice for fiber artists and art quilters.
January 26 — 9:30am VIRTUAL Meeting
Lecture: Ghost Quilts
February 2027 Lectures
Kelly Ashton
Kelly’s quilt designs range from “quick and easy” to “challenging”, thereby providing offerings to quilt makers with a wide range of skills and experience. In addition to designing quilt patterns Kelly teaches a variety of quilt-making projects and techniques using “modern” tools of the trade.
February 22 — 7pm VIRTUAL Meeting — Lecture: Fussy & Fabulous — Does a striped fabric give you anxiety? Do you see a large-scale, repetitive print and immediately think “border”? Through lots of examples and wonderful quilts and tops, Kelly will show you how to take these challenging and sometimes perplexing fabrics and turn them into blocks that add extraordinary visual and textural depth to your quilts! You may never look at fabric in the same way again!
February 23 — 9:30am VIRTUAL Meeting — Lecture: Spinners, Spirals, Stars- Hexagons with Movement and without Y-Seams — Kelly loves 60-degree shapes and the interesting blocks and quilts that can be made with them. Kelly also loves sewing “Y-seams” – AND she knows that isn’t true for everyone. So, she designed a bunch of interesting blocks and quilt settings using her favorite shapes – and NO Y-seams!! – so that everyone could enjoy the pleasure and satisfaction of making 60-degree quilts!
March 2027 Lectures & Workshop
Sarah Nishiura
Sarah uses traditional techniques to craft one-of-a-kind quilts from her own designs. She learned to sew from her mother and learned to love geometry from her father.
Sarah’s quilts are all pieced from 100% recycled cotton and vintage materials, backed with new yardage, and then hand quilted. It can take up to 4 months to complete a quilt, but the result is strong, durable, and suitable for warmth or display.
March 22 — 7pm Meeting — Lecture: Stars — This lecture explores the place of stars in the imagination of quilters and other artists, philosophers, and scientists throughout history. We discuss the quilts of Harriet Powers, Plains Indians, Faith Ringgold, and others while also exploring the geometry of star motifs. We cover some well-known star blocks and imagine ways to invent our own.
March 23 — 9:30am Meeting — Lecture: All The Things We Do Not Know: Thoughts on the history of quilts in America — So much of the history of quilts is lost due to the status of the people who made them and the fragile nature of the medium itself. In this talk, she explores the history of quilts in America by considering what we don’t know about these beautiful objects. She will share examples of quilts made since the founding of the United States and consider question that arise about their origins, their makers, and their techniques.
Sarah Nishiura Workshop
Consider Curves
From gentle waves to a full-on drunkard’s path, introducing curves into your piecing may be just what you need to send your designs in a whole new direction. This workshop will introduce students to basic techniques used to piece curves and will explore the design possibilities of adding curves to a straight edged piecing vocabulary.
Date: Monday, March 22
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Location: University Of Illinois Extension Kane County, 535 S Randall Rd, St. Charles, IL 60174
Cost: $37
April 2027 Annual Business Meeting
Get an update on the status of the guild and get the scoop on what the future holds!
Monday, April 26 — 7pm Meeting
(no Tuesday morning meeting)
May 2027 Program
Details to come