Goodbye from the 2014-2015 Board

Jessica Levitt (founder, former President, current VP), Jessica Skultety (former VP, current President and Webmaster), and Kristina Bobo (current Treasurer) have been on the board for the past two years (or more). We'd like to collectively thank you for all of your help in making our guild a wonderful place to be! It's been a pleasure to serve the CJMQG.

Jess S. (left) with Jess L.

Kristina at one of our retreats

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Laura Schafer, who is staying on as Secretary through 2016, also has some words: "I'm excited to continue working with the guild leadership in the position of Secretary. The CJMQG has made a huge difference in my creativity, confidence and capabilities in quilting, and I'm happy to do my part to assist others in their quilty journeys. I really enjoy our activities, learning experiences, and new friendships. Let's make Year 5 a great year!!"

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I'd personally like to thank all of you for your continued support of the guild and my own quilting. I never thought that I would be in the position of guild president when I joined four years ago as a very intimidated college student (you are all STUNNINGLY talented!). You have become friends and loyal comrades, and it feels like coming home whenever we have a guild meeting or event! Thank you for making all of it worthwhile. I'll still be around, but you can look towards the back of the room instead, where the old board will surely be cackling like Statler and Waldorf.

Maggie Schreiter is taking over all newsletter and blogging duties as the Webmaster, so you can look for her posts here. Neva Asinari is our new President! They have both taken over their duties with grace and thoroughness. Thank you also to Christina DiMarco and Krishma Patel for volunteering for the essential roles of Vice President and Treasurer! I can't wait to see where our guild goes next!

-Jess S.

January Meeting Recap

Our January meeting is typically our end-of-the-year celebration. This meeting was an exciting one, full of wrapping up and new beginnings!

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Elections: Our new board for 2016 will begin at the February meeting!
President: Neva Asinari (@somelikeitquilted)
Vice President: Christina DiMarco (@free2bslah)
Secretary: Laura Schafer (@helloquilts)
Treasurer: Krishma Patel (@krishmaquilts)

Congrats to the new board!! We can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

Also, we have new appointed positions for 2016 - thank you for volunteering!

Photographer/Webmaster: Maggie Schreiter
Hospitality: Jamee Pemberton, Janet Bergman, Teddi Munslow, Lynn Pilquist, Connie Stephens, and Linda Schulz
Philanthropy: Lori Saporito and Janneke Van Der Ree

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Laura Bennett shared the QuiltCon charity quilt. Thank you to all those who made blocks, Laura for designing and organizing, and Krishma for quilting. The quilt is on its way to QuiltCon Pasadena!


Our WIP It Up Contest ended! All the prizes are listed here. Thank you to Pennington Quilt Works, Windham Fabrics, Cloud 9 Fabrics, and Aurifil for donating prizes, and congrats to all those who finished quilts this year!


We held the largest swap of the year, the Secret Quilter Holiday swap. 24 members participated this year! It was a blast. Here are some of the pictures from the swap - see our Instagram account, @cjmqg, or our Flickr group for more.

Yes, you saw that right - in that last picture, Jamee made Catherine an entire QUILT! Wow!!

Though it was tough to top that display, as always, we had show and tell.

Susan finished her Saturday Sampler from 2014!

Krishma shared her response to the poaching of Cecil the lion.

Lori had a lot of fun with Liberty fabrics, and it shows!

Jamee made this bright and lovely medallion-like quilt.

There are more pictures from show and tell here!

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Get ready for a great 5th year of the CJMQG!

February Meeting

Guests welcome, as always!

Please see our guest policy here.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016
6:30 optional shop/social time, 7-9:30 meeting time

Pennington Quilt Works, Pennington, NJ

• Swap: Modern Valentines (mug rugs, pillow cover, bunting, table runner, anything you want Valentines themed)

• Demo: Faux Piped Machine Binding Tutorial given by Elaine Hagaman

• Discussion: Patchwork City Quilt-A-Long 2016 - Bring in samples of the fabric/color story and tell us what layout options from the back of the book or your own alternate grid work you will be using for your quilt.

• Update on our guild mini quilt display at the Hillsborough Library

• CJMQG Bee - Bring back and display Beth Carmody's  blocks and Janneke will hand our her instructions.

• Challenge for March: Finish up your 2015 Guild Quilt-A-Long quilts

• Show and Tell

-Jess S.

Contest Sponsors

Thank you to all the sponsors for our WIP It Up contest, which ran from February 2015 to January 2016! Members entered their finished quilts during that time into a raffle. Winners were then chosen using the random number generator at our January meeting.

Those who entered finished 251 quilts this year, and there were over 1100 entries in the contest! Wow! Great job members!!

Here were the prizes up for grabs:

 A thread pack of "Reel Time" Aurifil 50 weight thread from Aurifil

A fat Quarter bundle of Cirrus Solids from Cloud9 Fabrics

 

A pouch full of hand-sewing and paper-piecing goodies from Pennington Quilt Works

7 Artisan Cotton charm packs from Windham Fabrics 

A "Mendocino" by Heather Ross fat quarter bundle from Windham Fabrics

A "Story" by Carrie Bloomston fat quarter bundle from Windham Fabrics

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Bring in your finished (quilted and bound) Quilt-A-Long quilt from last year to the March meeting! You'll have a chance of winning one of two prizes:

If you completed a quilt containing between 6-11 of the QAL blocks, you can win this neutral fat quarter bundle from Windham Fabrics!

 If you completed a quilt with all 12 blocks, you can win this Mendocino bundle by Heather Ross from Windham Fabrics!

 

Thank you to all of the sponsors for your continued support of the Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild!

-Jess S.

Join The CJMQG in 2016!

Now is the time to renew your membership or join the CJMQG for the first time! The new board will start at the February meeting, so what are you waiting for?

If you'd like a join, send an email ASAP to centraljerseymqg(at)gmail(dot)com. We'll get you information. We hope you'll join us!

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Details:

• $50 for the year - checks can be made out to Central Jersey MQG
  • About $15 of this per person goes to the international/larger Modern Quilt Guild

CJMQG Benefits:

• Free or discounted rates at all events, lectures, workshops, and sewcials
• Inspiration and skill-building at our meetings (as always!)
• Interactive swaps, guild bee, yearly charity project, and yearly guild quilt-a-long
• Free access to our newsletter and Bigtent website, where members interact daily on forums
• Your dues go towards: instructor visits and lectures (such as Lizzy House in 2015, Jacquie Gering in 2014, and Michele Engel Bencsko in Jan. 2015), guild quilts (such as this years QuiltCon Charity Quilt fabric and materials, plus supplies for our Quiltmakers, who voluntarily make quilts for guild members), giftcards for members who volunteer their lessons at meetings, hotel sewcials, fabric challenges, and more. 

Larger MQG Benefits (paraphrased from their website):

• Access to a free, modern monthly quilt pattern
• Access to the online community
• Access to the monthly webinar series
• Opportunities to participate in international fabric challenges (Riley Blake, Michael Miller from the past)
• Discounted rates on conferences and events such as QuiltCon and SewDowns
• Priority and early-bird registration on conference and event admissions
• Discounts and special offers with MQG sponsors and affiliated companies
• Membership Card
• Pin
• Blog Button
• 10% discount on online MQG merchandise purchases
• And more!

Don't delay - renew or join today! We hope you'll join us for what's bound to be a fun 2016.

-Jess S.

WIP It Up Contest Reminders!

The WIP (work-in-progress) It Up contest is coming to a close at the Jan. meeting, and there are several fabulous prizes up for grabs (even more than the once we shared at the meeting)! We already have 231 submissions (finished quilts from Feb. to Jan.) and counting! Wow!!

• You may submit up to 11:59 PM on Jan. 11 (the day before the Jan. meeting).
• You should be able to view (but not edit) ALL past submissions here so that you do not submit the same quilt twice.
• If you will not be at the meeting in January and your name is drawn as a winner, you will get the last prize that is left (which is not necessarily a bad thing - you just won't be able to pick your own prize). You can also appoint someone to choose a prize for you should you be chosen.

Let me know if you have any more questions. All other info on the WIP It Contest, including the form, is right here.

Thanks!
-Jess S.