Meeting Programs & Events

Unless otherwise stated, all meeting programs are held at:

Faith United Methodist Church

432 59th Street

Downers Grove, IL, 60516

7:00 - 9:00 PM, unless stated otherwise

January 28, 2026

Program: Schoolhouse Demos

Schoolhouse Demo night is an annual favorite for all Faithful Circle Quilters. For this evening’s program, four or five member volunteers will each teach us a quilting-related technique or share a few sewing tips. The presentations are planned to make the demonstrations go smoothly.

This year, we are going to back to presenting this program via Zoom. Note the empty classroom in the image. We will not meet in person that night, but rather through your phones, iPads or laptops.

Meet our Schoolhouse Presenters!

  • Sara Hochhauser will be demonstrating Non-marking Free Motion quilting.

  • Dawn Wocjik will be demonstrating a Cathedral Window technique.

  • Claudia Moffet will be demonstrating... shhh — it’s a surprise!

February 25, 2026

Program: My Creative Adventures and Mistakes

Kennette Bledsoe

Kennette Bledsoe has been a Faithful Circle member since 2016. She learned to knit at the age of 13, and from there she was hooked on all forms of creative hand work. Kennette was a weaver for many years. She also learned to do crewel work, gel printing, quilting, embroidery, and pottery.

When she was weaving, Kennette’s one claim to fame was selling her items at local art fairs. Illinois House of Representative Diane Nelson purchased one of Kennette’s items. Some months later, Rep. Nelson sent Kennette a note wanting her to know that Diane had worn Kennette’s item at the White House earlier that day.

Kennette has many other wonderful stories to go with the many items she will share with us in her talk. She is a very prolific quilter and knitter. For her, it’s the process of creating and making things that makes it all fun.

March 25, 2026

Guicy Guice

This program is in the planning stages. We look forward to having Giuseppe Ribaudo, better known as Giucy Giuce, present a great program.

  • Hi there! My name is Giuseppe Ribaudo, but I am better known as Giucy Giuce.  

    I grew up in Long Island, NY. First generation Sicilian-American on my dad’s side and second on my mom’s, my family lived on the bottom floor of my maternal grandparents’ house. My parents were restaurant owners and as such spent much of their time working, so my sister and I were often upstairs with my grandparents. 

    My grandmother is a remarkably talented and prolific seamstress. She taught me to sew in the Sicilian fashion, which is to say she would show me how to do something and I would have approximately 10 seconds to demonstrate that I had learned it perfectly before she’d abruptly pick me up and sew the seam herself. I never much cared for the finicky elements of garment making, so sewing took a backseat for a while. It wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered quilting. I began with sewing improvisational  quilts before moving into modern traditional territory. I joined Instagram shortly thereafter and quickly found myself making long distance friends in the ever-growing quilting community via social media. 

    After bouncing around the country for about a decade, I decided to move back to New York to pursue  a career in textiles. Within a few months of being in NYC I was offered a marketing position at Andover Fabrics and was promoted to multimedia manager a year later. In 2018, I refocused my energy to fabric  design and released my first collection Quantum. In 2021 I released my tenth collection called Nonna, an homage to my beloved grandmother and her home where I learned to sew. My most recent release, Sleuth, is the third and final collection in a true crime series I have dubbed The Gnarls Hollow Trilogy. 

    In 2020 I relocated to Portland, Maine where I continue to design fabric and patterns, lecture, and  teach quilting workshops.