CJMQG Guild Banner

 

At long last, I'm here to blog about the banner our guild made earlier this year! Members voluntarily made all of the blocks; their challenge was to make any modern block (whatever that meant to them) with the fabrics provided. Our chosen color scheme was a range of blues, greens, and a touch of orange. I just love how the orange adds to the overall feel!

Various members helped piece the quilt using several solid fabrics. Jessica Levitt and I pieced the scrappy backing. Jessica L. also longarm quilted the banner, and Robin B. bound it. The quilt was already featured at the Quilt Fest of NJ X in March - see more about our special CJMQG exhibit here at Jess L's. blog. We display it at many of our guild events, including the Mid-Atlantic Mod Retreat!

You can next see the banner at our outdoor exhibit at the Pennington Farmer's Market at Rosedale Mills in Pennington, NJ on 10/4 (9am to 1pm). Several of us will be there with our modern quilts, handwork, and guild information, ready for you to come say hello!

Great job members! We will surely cherish this guild banner for years to come!

-Jess S.

October Meeting

Please join us for our October Meeting!

Tuesday, October 14, 7-9:30 pm (6:30 optional social/shop time)
Pennington Quilt Works, Pennington, NJ
Members, RSVP here.
Guests welcome! Please email us if you would like to come!

-Swap - The Great Fabric Trade – destash – trading, bartering or selling your fabric/books/notionsl. Bring small bills (use money at your own discretion - I originally decided "cash only" but checks are allowed now). Please limit what you bring to an amount that could fit right in front of you on a table. :) This has the potential to become a large, exciting, and annual event!

-Discussion- Scraps (using them and organization)

-Challenge: Make (or bring in) a scrap quilt using at least 30 fabrics

-Hand in ALL charity quilts for the Center for Great Expectations

-Receive fabric for Jessica Levitt's challenge (Cascade from Windham Fabrics) plus fabric for QuiltCon Charity Quilt block

 -2nd round of Bee
   
-Share Guild QAL blocks (Modern Mondays)

-Show and Tell

Can't wait!
Jess S.

September Meeting Recap

It was awesome seeing everyone back from a long and productive summer! Wait until you see all the show and tell there was... :) Not all pictures are included in the post due to space. Just FYI. :)

 -Meetings will now start with social time from 6:30-7! No obligation to come, but this is a great time to catch up with friends, get to know others, and shop at PQW.

Upcoming Events:

• CJMQG exhibit at Pennington Farmer's Market - 8am setup, 9-1 at Rosedale Mills on Route 31 (a couple minutes from Pennington Quilt Works) - members can bring a modern quilt to show, a chair, and handwork (if you wish) while we share our craft with the community! Sign up here. I'll be going to the Courthouse Quilter's Show (below) afterwards, if you'd like to come with!
  

• Courthouse Quilter's Show (Quilts in the Mill) - Oct. 3-5, 10am - 5pm, Prallsville Mills, Route 29, Stockton, NJ - see bottom of this page for more info 

• Mid-Atlantic Mod Registration - around Nov. 1 - see here for more info and the call for instructors! The retreat will be in Lancaster (Doubletree Hotel) from Apr. 23-26.

• November Retreat- Hyatt House in Bridgewater, NJ. As of 9/13, 10 out of 20 spots have filled. This retreat is now open to guests, too! Please email the account if you need Kristina's address (where you will forward your room payment of $50 - for guests this payment is $70).
• On Saturday, volunteers will be offering short, free classes for how to make handmade Christmas gifts (for example: folded star ornament, voile or lawn infinity scarf, etc.) We are taking teacher volunteers, and a supply list will be available before the retreat if you are interested in attending. You can participate in all, some, or none - your choice! :)
• To reserve a hotel room, we have a special rate available until 10/6 - (6 one bedroom suites @ $107 a night + tax and 4 two bedroom suites @ $164 a night + tax) - all have king sized beds with 1 pull out couch per suite. Please email the account for info or, if you are in the guild, check the Bigtent invite for how to reserve your room.

•  Charity quilts  for the Center for Great Expectations are due at the October meeting! Please machine bind for stability and quilt densely (straight lines are fine, too).

• Enter the QuiltCon quilt show by Nov. 30!!

• QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge - the Modern Quilt Guild has challenge individual guilds to make quilts based on this color palette:

 (picture from MQG blog)

I am designing a quilt with alternate gridwork in mind, and members have signed up to make blocks by November. You will receive fabric in October with more info!

Meeting:

-To start, each person shared what they think might be their "specialty" in sewing. We asked this question over a year ago and it was fun to hear the responses!

 

-We discussed Jacquie Gering's August visit to our guild, and members who attended the Slice and Insert workshop showed their progress since then. You can see more about the lecture/trunk show here and the workshop here. We absolutely loved hosting Jacquie for the weekend jointly with the Philly MQG!

 

 –We presented Cala with a surprise quilt for her baby daughter!

Pattern/free tutorial here by Dani Miller, pieced by members, pieced together, basted, and bound by Amy B., quilted by Jessica L.

 

Demo: Susan Flick taught us how to make a snap bag. These are so cute and versatile! You could make a whole bunch for the holidays. Susan provided us with paper instructions to take home as well. Thanks!

- 2nd round of the CJMQG Bee – Amy received her blocks! This one was from Lee:

 

-Fall Mug Rug Swap - members who made mug rugs (or snack mats/small wall hangings) for the fall participated in a blind swap. It's always so neat to see what everyone comes up with!

-Show and Tell 

Miggie shared her Michael Miller challenge quilt:

Susan shared her charity quilts: 

Janneke had two finishes as well!:

 And, last but certainly not least, our guest Nicole shared this beauty:

 
-We moved our discussion on scraps to our next meeting.

-Thanks, as always, to Carol Esch for pictures, Amy Blanchard and hospitality for treats and Kathleen Stanish for the minutes! 

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OCTOBER MEETING

Tuesday, October 14, 7-9:30 pm (6:30 optional social/shop time)

Pennington Quilt Works, Pennington, NJ

 

• Swap: The Great Fabric Trade – destash – bring your fabric/books/notions to trade, barter, or sell. Bring small bills (use money at your own discretion - cash only!) Please limit what you bring to an amount that could fit right in front of you on a table. :) This has the potential to become a large, exciting, and annual event!
• Discussion: Scraps (using them and organization)
• Challenge: Make a scrap quilt using at least 30 fabrics
• Hand in all charity quilts
• Receive fabric for Jessica Levitt's challenge (Cascade from Windham Fabrics) plus fabric for QuiltCon Charity Quilt block
• 2nd round of Bee
• Share Guild QAL blocks (Modern Mondays) 
• Show and Tell

-Jess S.

September Meeting Reminder

Please join us for our September meeting!

Members, please RSVP here. Guests, please email us and let us know you are coming. Thank you!

When: Tues. Sept. 9, 7-9:30 pm (6:30 optional social/shop time)

Where: Pennington Quilt Works, Pennington, NJ

 

Demo: Susan Flick, snap bag tutorial

Discussion: Using/storing scraps - be ready to share your storage methods! Bring any scrap projects, too, to share.

Swap: Fall mug rug - make one and bring it to swap! A mug rug is a mat you can put coffee and a snack on. I like to use mine as wall hangings, too!

Challenge: Make something from low volume fabrics

Charity quilts: Due at this meeting or October's (you can still pick them up at the meeting)

2nd Round of the CJMQG Bee

Guild Quilt-A-Long

Show and Tell 

See you then! :)

Jess S.

Blogging tips

Here are some of the tips I discussed at the August meeting. As I mentioned there, I would not consider myself a blogging expert. These are tidbits I've picked up along the way as a blogger of 4 years (the banner below leads you to my site if you're interested). Enjoy!

Info about blogging: A blog (like this!) is a website where you can journal and share pictures. Blogs are credited with the boom that started "modern quilting" but they have since transformed a bit. I see blogs used for two reasons now: education and community. Bloggers write about their projects and techniques of quilting. They also  create places for their readers to interact, such as linky parties (you link your blog to theirs so others can see), contests, and more. Today, Instagram, a phone app, is a place where you see a lot of what people make, and some go into more detail on their blogs. Instagram has become more prominent in the last year or so due to its quick and easy nature, but blogs still hold more content and info.

If you are looking to start a blog or improve one you have, here's what I suggest:

1. Try Blogger.com to start if you don't know HTML. It's really easy to start a blog and formatting really isn't difficult. If you have any questions and you'd like some help, I'd be happy to. I only suggest Blogger because it's what I'm most familiar with, but I've heard good things about Typepad and Wordpress, too.
   
2. Blog for you and no one else. This is really important. It's fun to get people to follow you, write, and to show off your work, but if you don't like to blog, it will be a chore. If you are committed, find a system that works for you. Which brings me to my next point:
3. Get involved! There are lots of linky parties that you can plan your blogging around. Then, you link up (copy and paste your post URL) onto the respective website on that day. You will find posts to read and other readers/bloggers will find you. We have quite an active community! Here are some of the most popular ones :

•  WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
•  Finish it Up Friday  @ Crazy Mom Quilts
•  TGIFF (Thank God It's Finished Friday)  

4. Start out writing all you can think of, then edit it down. I like to write posts in my spare time and then schedule or save them for later. Write when you are inspired!
5. Take great pictures. This can be hard depending on when you do the majority of your quilting and the resources you have, BUT, you can take good pictures with a phone these days.  If you want to emphasize your finished quilts, take them to scenic places to photograph them. You can also find a nice brick wall to take them by (I use the side of my apartment building on a regular basis). Brave the snow or visit a new park. Take your quilts to the city or beach. The natural light will enhance your photograph and make your post all the more attractive. There are some more photo tips on Bijou Lovely that you might enjoy.
6. Ask for help and collaborate. Again, feel free to ask!

I hope this is helpful!

-Jess S.

Jacquie Gering Visits! (Post 2 of 2)

Earlier this week I posted about Jacquie's lecture and trunk show with our guild. Today I'm here to share some pictures of the Slice and Insert workshop she taught to 20 members and guests the same weekend!

First, Jacquie shared her Slice and Insert quilts (again, amazing to see in person!) and demonstrated the method.

 

Then, we had the opportunity to try it ourselves! Halfway through, Jacquie shared methods for piecing slice and insert blocks together.

As we worked, I walked around and snapped some pictures of the design walls. It was so interesting to see the different color schemes everyone chose! Plus, some used wedges and 1 inch strips while others made use of small scraps. Jacquie gave her time to each and every student throughout.

A busy, happy room!

 From the left: myself, Jacquie, and Jessica L.

We had a fantastic time! Thanks again Jacquie for sharing your talent, expertise, and encouragement! Members, please feel free to bring your blocks to the September meeting so we can all see them in person!

-Jess S.

Jacquie Gering Visits! (Post 1 of 2)

I have a lot of pictures to share with you today! Modern quilter, renowned teacher, and author Jacquie Gering visited our guild and the Philly Guild last weekend. I wrote more about my personal thoughts on her trunk show and teaching over on my blog if you are interested. Below I've written some additional commentary and included just some of the pictures I have. Also, you can see Jacquie's e-portfolio, which contains professional photos of these quilts and many more.

Every year, our guild brings at least one quilting speaker/demonstrator to the area! The lecture and trunk show were on a Friday night at Pennington Quilt Works (thank you to Jan for hosting!), and it was free to members. Guests and members had the opportunity to attend her all-day workshop, Slice and Insert (voted on by members), on Sunday.



Jacquie is such a talented quilter and engaging speaker! Our guild had the privilege of taking a tour through her life and her quilts. Some quilts were for her sons, some were for her book, some were for causes of social justice, and some were just because she wanted to make them. What makes her unique is her use of straight line (walking foot) quilting and her angular style (in my opinion). Did I also mention Jacquie is the Chairperson of the Modern Quilt Guild Board of Directors? She said she's so proud of our modern movement and what we've done so far. It was exciting to hear so much about modern quilting!

This is the front of the quilt ("Not Lost in the Woods") from above - modern log cabins (another class Jacquie offers).

Jessica and Andrew, President of the Philly Guild, helped as quilt holders - thanks!

 

We found out her favorite color is orange. :) 

Jacquie used this quilt to discuss the scale (size) of blocks and negative ("blank") space. Check out the quilting! This is a bee quilt that will be donated to the red cross. I believe the quilting was done by Angela Walters.

 The amazing things Jacquie does with a Dresden ruler!

We loved this representation of TVs! Also, you can see it was hard for me to get a good picture of her!

 "Shattered," one of the best-known quilts from her book, Quilting Modern. She made this using the Slice and Insert technique, which we learned on Sunday.

This is a supernova quilt using the stitch and flip technique. Love her color scheme and the quilting!

With this quilt, Jacquie demonstrated the versatility of the 1 inch strip. That fabric above in the "grass" is NOT pieced... check out the backing to see where it comes from:

Here are some more stunning quilts using the "slice and insert" technique and a more "modern" border. Modern quilts don't usually have all-around borders but as Jacquie said, these quilts wouldn't be the same without this quarter of a border:

More striking linear quilts:

Below is "Building Bridges" which was inspired by Kansas City and Chicago. This is one of my favorites!

 

Jacquie made "Aftermath" to work through her feelings after the Boston Marathon Bombing. It was striking to see this quilt in person.

Thanks, Jacquie, for such a hilarious and inspiring talk! I know I speak for many when I say we can't wait to see what's next for you.

Up next... Part 2 - the workshop pictures!

-Jess S.