Community Update

NSQG
Selects Hoffman Estates Woman as Featured Quilter

By
Jayne Borgelt, NSQG Publicity

Every odd year, the members of the Northwest Suburban
Quilters Guild put on an amazing quilt show for the public. It is a major event
and fundraiser for the guild and the Quilt Show Committee works more than a
year to pull it together. Over two hundred members display hundreds of their
finest works: quilts of all sizes and techniques. At each show, the highest
honor is reserved for the Featured Quilter, a
talented quilter who represents the very spirit of the guild. This fall, the
honor will be bestowed upon Shirley Dickenscheidt of Hoffman Estates. A
twenty-three year member of NSQG, Shirley will have her own booth to display
her lifelong projects.

Inspired by her mother, Shirley has loved fabric and
sewing since her childhood growing up in Chicago. As a suburban mother of four,
Shirley sewed clothing for her children, one daughter and three sons. She
became hooked on quilting in 1968 when she created a barn-themed quilt for her
sons’ bedroom. In 1990, she joined NSQG and was overjoyed that so many other
women liked quilting as much as she did. As Shirley says, “It is great to be
part of this organization of supportive and friendly women.  I found my home.” 

Shirley’s quilts have won several awards in local shows
and her quilts have been in shows in Indianapolis, IN and Paducah, KY. She
likes to create her own patterns because her quilts are filled with family memories
and they enable her to “express her artistic side.”  Her focus is to express the love and joy her
family has given her over the years. Appliqué is her preferred technique for
translating her stories into fabric and can be seen in her holiday quilts, Ghosts of Halloween Past and Cindy’s Christmas Memories.  Shirley does all of her own quilting either by
hand or by sewing machine. In 2008, Shirley participated in a challenge contest
with her quilt, A Sprinkle of Petunias,
her original design based upon a photo in a Burpee Seed catalogue.

Over the years, Shirley has contributed to her local
community as a school room mother, Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout den mother, and
through projects at her church’s quilting group, the Trinity Lutheran Church in
Roselle. Each fall, her church invites needy families for a meal, haircut,
dental work, etc., and the Trinity Lutheran quilters present each family with a
quilt.

She also belongs to two other local guilds: the Prairie
Star Quilt Guild, which meets at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Charles,
and the Illinois Quilters Incorporated, which meets at the Beth Hillel Congregation
in Wilmette.  Shirley weaves her part
time work schedule as a medical receptionist around her busy quilting
life. 

Visit Shirley at her Featured Quilter’s booth
at the Our Quilts in Bloom NSQG Quilt
Show to learn about the stories behind her quilts and admire her work.  Shirley is kind, warm and soft-spoken and
when you meet her, she makes you feel as if you have known her your entire
life.  

“Our Quilts in Bloom” NSQG Quilt Show 2013 will take
place at the

Prairie Stone Sports & Wellness Center, 5050 Sedge Blvd. Hoffman
Estates, Illinois 60192. Quilt show dates and times are Friday, September 20 at
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. AND Saturday September 21 at 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Visit our website: nsqg.net/quiltshows.html for more details and admission
coupon.

NSQG was incorporated in Arlington Heights in
1979 and is one of the largest and oldest guilds with over 200 members from all
over the Chicagoland Region, and all levels of quilting expertise are welcomed.
NSQG supports many local businesses and charitable organizations. The guild
meets on the third Thursday of every month (excluding December) at the Concorde
Banquets, 20922 N. Rand Road in Kildeer, IL. At each monthly meeting, world
class quilting instructors are invited to lecture and inspire the audience with
their colorful quilts and exceptional creativity. Workshops may be available on
the following Friday and Saturday.  Join
us on Facebook or email us at nsqg.info@gmail.com.