February Meeting Recap

February was our first meeting with our 2014 officers! It's going to be a great year!

Sneak peek at the guild banner, made up of modern blocks from our members - it will be done very soon. See below for more info!

News:

- Dues are due. In order to stay on the active roster, please pay your dues of $50 today to Kristina. New members will get their pins soon. Membership cards from the MQG are on their way!

- PLEASE RSVP for meetings! We still use BigTent for meeting and event reminders. You still need to sign up for the MQG site as well. Let us know if you have any questions or need help.

- Survey results – more swaps, more show and tell, more events!

- Please enjoy our giveaway table and feel free to donate.  However, please don't bring very large items and please only bring quilter's cotton fabric (or the kind of designer home decor or laminate etc. sold in quilt shops).

-We are hoping to get Jacquie Gering, modern quilter and author of Quilting Modern, to lecture and lead a workshop in August. We should have more info for you at the March meeting.

 

-Mid-Atlantic Mod - a modern quilting retreat is full!  Dates and location are: April 3-6, 2014 at the Doubletree Hilton in Lancaster, PA. If you're still interested, register and you'll be on the wait list. Some wait-listers have been given the chance to join already.

-Next month I will have a paper contact list available of guild member towns and emails. The purpose of this list is to help members connect with each other outside of meetings. You can see our social media list here. Those who did not want to be included have indicated so. If you didn't write your name down at the meeting (as in, you don't want to be included on the list that will go out to all members), feel free to email the account (centraljerseymqg(at)gmail(dot)com) before the March meeting. 

-The Quilt Fest of New Jersey is coming (March 6-9) and we have an exhibit of modern quilts! If you volunteered to help hang out or clean up, you should have already signed up to be there. When you know when you are going, please post on the BigTent thread so some of us can meet up and tour the festival together!

-Banner update – it’s almost done, thanks to volunteers within our guild! It will be on display at Quilt Fest. Jess L. is currently longarm quilting it and adding the finishing touches.

-Treasurer Report from Kristina - Kristina discussed the guild's expenses from last year.

-Charity update – We are hoping to start making baby quilts for a local organization - we will have more info at the March meeting. We hope to dedicate a sewcial soon to sewing baby quilts.

-Presentation/Discussion:– Neva discussed the tools she uses for Free Motion Quilting, and showed how her quilting has evolved via quilt sandwiches (a piece of batting between two pieces of fabric). She also demonstrated how drawing out your design on paper/doodling will help you practice for the machine. I also discussed inspiration (Pinterest, other people's quilts, nature/architecture) as well as the importance of taking breaks and letting yourself relax. In March, come in and show us a new FMQ design or your quilt sandwiches! Try it!

-Swap: Modern Valentines! Many members made something for our swap.

Thanks to Laura for the pictures, as usual! You can see more of them full size by clicking her name and visiting her Flickr account.

-Guild Quilt-A-Long (QAL): Jenifer Dick, Modern Mondays – Members showed us their 6 completed blocks for the month of February. It's been so fun to see all the fabric combinations our members are coming up with! You can jump in at any time and make blocks. See more info here.

-Challenge – Riley Blake. Members shared MORE amazing Riley Blake quilts! We had a lot of participation with this challenge. The workmanship, creativity, and effort of our members are just amazing. See the bottom of this post for the link to RSVP for the NEW Michael Miller challenge!


 

1. CJMQG February meeting, 2. CJMQG February meeting, 3. CJMQG February meeting, 4. CJMQG February meeting, 5. CJMQG February meeting, 6. Antithesis

The last one on the bottom right, Rachel's Antithesis, is in the MQG Top Ten Challenge Quilts! We are so proud to call her our own!
 

-Show and Tell:

 


1. CJMQG February meeting, 2. CJMQG February meeting, 3. CJMQG February meeting, 4. CJMQG February meeting, 5. CJMQG February meeting, 6. CJMQG February meeting, 7. CJMQG February meeting, 8. CJMQG February meeting, 9. CJMQG February meeting, 10. CJMQG February meeting

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March Meeting
 March 11, 2014, 7pm - 9:30pm, Pennington Quilt Works

- Presentation – Meg Cox, Quilt Index and Quilt Alliance Challenge

-Discussion – Radiant Orchid – color of the year – bring in fabrics and those you think would coordinate - slideshow of inspiration by Jess S.

- Challenge – free motion a new design and/or bring in your practice quilt sandwiches
 -Share pictures from Quilt Fest!
-Discuss QuiltCon, Quilters Take Manhattan, and the Michael Miller Challenge

RSVP for the meeting here!

Other RSVPS:
Quilters Take Manhattan (ends March 1)
Michael Miller Challenge (ends Feb. 27)


Can't wait!
Jess S.