PAQA Songs

PAQA is this amazing group of art quilters and I have the distinct privilege of being a member. The group is so inspiring I was driven to write songs - something I very rarely do. I had my singing debut at the April PAQA retreat and another performance may follow at the June PAQA meeting. As requested by Mrs. Mel I've posted the words below.

First the wonderful sing-a-longs
Words by Amy Climer and Pat Kroth
April 2005

(sung to the tune Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Fuse, fuse, fuse your quilt
Never have to sew
PAQA here, PAQA there
It’s the way to go

Stitch, stitch, stitch your dress
Hem up every seam
Add some beads, embellish it
The crowd will really scream

Dye, dye, dye your cloth
Rinse it, wash it clean
Stamp it, foil it, try some paint
You’ll be an art cloth queen

(sung to the tune Take Me Out to the Ballgame)

Take me out to PAQA
Take me there with a thread
Buy me some fabric and I don’t know what
We’ll make something that will kick your butt

For it’s press, press, press with fusing
If we have to stitch it’s a bitch
For it’s dye, cut, fuse if you choose
We’re at PAQA again

The PAQAette
Words by Amy Climer
April 2005
Follows the tune The Gambler By Kenny Rogers

On a cool spring morning
In a car bound for Rosemont
I met up with a quilter
We were both too tired to speak
So we took turns a starring out the windshield of her van
But boredom overtook us and she began to speak
She said gal I’ve made my life quilting lots of stitches and choosing the colors to make them look just right.
So if you don’t mind me saying you could use a little guidance
for a piece of your dyed fabric I can give you some advice
So I handed her my stash and she chose my best piece
Then she bummed a cookie
And asked me for some tea
The morn got deathly quiet
Her face lost all expression
Said if you’re going to play the game gal you gotta learn to play it right

REFRAIN:
You got to know when to fuse ‘em
know when to stitch ‘em
Know when to walk away
Know when to stay
You never count your stitches when you’re quilting at your table
There’ll be time enough for counting when the ribbon’s won

Now every quilter knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw ‘way and knowing what to keep
‘Cause every quilts a winner
And every quilts a loser
The best you can hope for is an oooo at PAQA
So when she finished speaking she turned back to the window
Drank her last tea and faded back to silence
In somewhere in the dawn the quilter she broke even
And in her final words I found an ace I could keep

REPEAT REFRAIN

You got to know when to fuse ‘em (when to fuse ‘em)
know when to stitch ‘em (when to stitch ‘em)
Know when to walk away
Know when to stay
You never count your stitches when you’re quilting at your table
There’ll be time enough for counting when the quilt has sold.

REPEAT REFRAIN

The PAQA Rap
By Amy Climer
April 2005
Rapped to the tune Paul Revere by the Beastie Boys

This is about the people in PAQA and my initial experiences joining the group.

Now here’s a little story I got to tell about a few iron maidens you know so well. It started way back in history about four years ago in Chicago I-L.
I had a little need for something new
Just me and my quilts were feeling kind of blue
Using bright colors, original designs
Turning heads of blue hairs ‘cause I wasn’t their kind.
One sunny September day, driving in the car with Zoelzer-Levine
Heading to PAQA and the Fine Line Scene
I was feeling unsure like an amateur
Looking for a for a few, I ran into a crew
They called themselves PAQA and they know how to fuse

(beat box)

They told a little story, it sounded well rehearsed
When the gals get together it’s like a sunburst
Roberta calls to order, Judy takes the money
Melody’s up front making it funny
She was a founding member
Welcomed me in
Told me how it works
and this is what she said…

Now my name is MJ and I got a license to fuse
I think you know what time it is
It’s time for you to choose
No what do we have here, a newbie cavalier
I run this place, you understand
I make myself clear
We stepped into the wind, she had a look I had a grin
You think this story is over, but it’s ready to begin

(beat box)

Now PAQA’s got skills and you need a few
You got two choices of what you can do
It’s not a tough decision as you can see
You can show your quilts or be absentee
I said I’ll show my quilts if you promise not to tease
I’m new at this it makes me weak in the knees
I did it once; I did it twice, now I do it every time fortunately
I’m on the run I need a heat gun and right about now it’s time to have some fun.
Amy Climer that is my name and I’ll take you trapeze flying if that is your game
We rode for 2 hours ‘til we hit the spot
The stitchers were networking and no one was lost
This gal was starring like she knew who we were
We took an empty spot next to her in a chair
Levine said – yippee-yo, you know this gal
I said I didn’t but I knew she did
The gal said get ready ‘cause this might be funny
My name’s Wasilowski and I like to get money
Pulled out the tune and aimed real high
Belted out notes that started to fly
Smiles grew big and no one ran for the door
She said Paqaderms weren’t dinosaurs
I’m Frieda Anderson I got a dog George
Wake you in the morning, but I won’t make porridge
Bryer-Fallert was with it ‘cause she’s the ace
Her classiness gives PAQA a little bit of grace
Her art is amazing winning big shows
And she shares everything she that she knows
MJ makes us laugh, Wasilowski can sing
In my life PAQA adds that little bit of zing

(beat box)

PAQA Retreat - 2005

On Tuesday, April 12 - I went to the PAQA workshop with Keiko Goke in Racine, WI. We stayed at a retreat center on Lake Michigan. The workshop was pretty good, but the best part was hanging out with everyone afterwards.


Here we are working hard!

After dinner Melody showed us a hilarious slide show of her and Laura's trip to Japan. The we had a concert and sang the songs Pat and I wrote on the way home from Rosemont (see previous post). First we sang "Ode to Laura" and crowned her queen for all the hard work she did for the retreat and PAQA.


The Queen of PAQA - Laura Wasilowski!

Then we had a few sing-a-longs, Laura and I sang "Oh Frieda", I risked everyone's ears with my horrible singing voice for a rendition of "The PAQAette" (sung to the tune of The Gambler by Kenny Rogers), and finally conlcuded with "The PAQA Rap" accompanied by DJ MJ (rapped to the tune of Paul Revere by the Beastie Boys).



Melody and Amy rapping


"oh my gosh, this is so funny!"



It's too long to memorize!

Oh yeah!

Words to all the songs will be posted soon for your own singing enjoyment.

Rosemont

Yesterday, I had a fabulous day traveling to Rosemont, IL with Pat Kroth and hanging out at the Chicago Spring International Quilt Festival. We spent the morning looking at the quilts and the afternoon going to a couple vendors, basically stocking up on Superior thread - our favorite, well next to the beautiful hand-dyed thread of Laura Wasilowski. We had a pictures taken at the HP booth and printed on fabric then I sat in Laura's booth while she had her picture taken. We made our way to the PAQA 10th anniversary meeting. It was great. Wendy passed out flowers to all the great people that keep PAQA going. Laura sang a song and Melody MC-ed and made us all laugh.

On the way home Pat and I wrote songs to various tunes that we'll sing at the Keiko workshop. When I got home I was so energized from writing songs, that I spent the next two hours writing a rap song about my experience in PAQA. It's to the tune of Paul Revere by the Beastie Boys. I mention several other PAQAderms in it ("PAQAderms" is even in the rap). I felt like I was in 8th grade again when my best friend and I were hired to write a rap song for her mom's friend's husband's 40th birthday. We were paid $40. I wish I still had a tape of that. Of course, by the end of our rapping career we were so burned out that we stopped listening to rap and started listening to heavy metal. Who would guess that today I like country music?

I am looking forward to the Keiko retreat and rapping for everyone. I'll tell you how it goes!

Moolaade

Last night I saw the film Moolaade, which was part of the Wisconsin Film Festival. The film was about female circumcision in West Africa. Despite it's difficult subject it was a great film and had a liberating ending. The movie took place in Burkina Faso, a country where Hollis Chatelain a fellow art quilter lived for many years. Many of the images from her quilts were in the movie, such as a mosque with an ostrich egg on top of it, vibrant, colorful fabric, and happy, beautiful people. It was so neat to see where she lived, since her experiences are reflected in her quilts. I highly recommend the film if you have a chance to see it.