August Meeting Recap

Reminder: We are now a part of the international Modern Quilt Guild! Visit our site here, after you have signed in. Please refer to the email sent a few days ago about getting into the group - and feel free to email the account or any of the officers about any questions you have. Please remember that the website is all new to us, too, so we'll all get used to it together! We will be phasing out BigTent, so take some time to acquaint yourself with the new site - and we will try to do a demo at the September meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We had a seriously HUGE turnout at our August meeting! It was great to see everyone and meet new and potential members!

Important Dates

• By August 30: Sign up for the Riley Blake MQG Fabric challenge (similar to the Madrona Road challenge a few months ago)  at this link (our guild's forum). See the same link for all the info on the challenge (Sept.-Dec.)

These are the prints (but not the exact colors) that Riley Blake will be sending all those who sign up!

•  MQG SewDown in Philly - Sept. 6-8. It is an all-inclusive sewing event with workshops and lectures from 4 instructors. You can also choose to go just for the day - lectures are posted here. Remember - as you are a guild member, you can receive a 15% discount.

• Sept. 8 - Gloria Loughman, contemporary quilter, teacher and author, will be giving a lecture at the Courthouse Quilters meeting in Frenchtown, NJ. The fee is $5. See the website for more info.

• September Meeting:  Tues. Sept. 10 @ Pennington Quilt Works, 7-9:30pm (more info at the end of this post)

• Sept. 27-28 - Paula Reid machine quilter and instructor of “Fluff and Stuff” will be lecturing and giving a workshop at the Byrnes Sewing Connection in New Britain, PA. Contact the store at 215-230-9411 for more information.

• Sept. 28th is the Quilters Take Manhattan event. For those interested, tickets can be purchased online at www.allianceforamericanquilt.org.

• Denyse Schmidt will be at the NYC Library on Sept. 28th from 2 – 4 pm for a “crafternoon”. This event is FREE but you must reserve your spot - see here for more info.

• October 8 - NO REGULAR OCTOBER MEETING - lecture, trunk show, and quilt planning with Barbara Persing. Barbara is the author of “Listen to Your Quilt” and will discuss how to plan and design quilting choices for your quilt. Her lecture will be from 6-10 pm (*please note the earlier time) at the PQW on Tuesday, October 8th in place of our general meeting. (thanks to Kathleen for providing this important info!)

Annoucements

• At this meeting, we voted and unanimously passed the motion to add a section to our by-laws about being a non-profit (501C 3).

• New York City trip to NYC survey coming SOON to an inbox near you! (as in, this week)

•  Pinterest and Flickr usernames so far have been posted on the tab at the top (Members' Social Media Links), so we can follow each other! If you haven't already added yours to the thread on Bigtent, please do so HERE on our new site.

• Look for more info SOON about the multi-guild retreat, April 3-6, 2014, in Lancaster.

• We have started our "freebie table" at meetings, which Neva has generously volunteered to manage. Bring any books, magazines, tools, and quilting fabric only (no smaller than a ¼ yard) that you do not have a need/want for.

• Who wants to be in the “Spotlight”?  Please consider volunteering for this part of our meeting in the future - you'll bring in quilts and tell us about your journey as a quilter.

Meeting

• I gave a presentation/demo on Flickr. I will be posting more on this soon (a summary of what I went over). We also discussed the difference between Flickr and Pinterest (pictures vs. organization of links/pictures). Remember, you can use your Yahoo or Google ID to log into Flickr now and start documenting/sharing your quilt projects!

• Challenge: Members made 8.5" modern blocks for the CJMQG banner. Check out these beauties (which were posted to our Flickr group)! Those of you who still need to complete the challenge have until the September meeting. Reminder: please save your large scraps/any leftover fabric and hand them back, as we will use them for the backing and binding! 

 

Neva's block

 

Rachel's block

• This month, members participating in the guild bee made string blocks for Alison. Check out the strips of color we added!

 

 Show and Tell:

 

 

 

 

 

(Neva was super busy the last couple of months!! Look at all that gorgeous quilting!)

 

 

 

 

 (Kathleen made a bag to match her quilt :D)

 

 

 Robin made this cute quilt top that day!

 Robin got help from Barbara Persing for quilting this one - she can do the same for you in October!

 

 

 

 

 

And we're proud of our guests/new members! 

 

 

  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September Meeting (Tues.,  Sept. 10, 7-9:30 pm, Pennington Quilt Works)

• Possible demo on the new site
• Carol Esch will give a demonstration on constructing wonky star blocks.
• September Swap – Make a “mug rug”, a mini placemat, in the modern quilt style to swap with another participant.
• September Challenge – Remaining volunteers complete banner blocks
• Spotlight – Eugenia, if she's available

See you then!
-Jess S.

Reminder: August Meeting

Please join us for the August meeting! Members can RSVP here.

When:	Tue Aug 13, 2013, 7–9:30 pm
Where:	Pennington Quilt Works Pennington, NJ
	At this meeting we will: - vote on our revised by-laws. They are available online on Bigtent under files. The change is the addition of Article 10 for 501(c)3 requirements. Please review before the meeting. - have a quick presentation on flickr - have a discussion on our favorite books and magazines - please bring some to share - share our challenge blocks for the guild banner (you can bring your in Sept also) - have a spotlight on Eugenia - general business -regular show & tell and brainstorming Dont' forget to bring sewing notions, fabric, books, etc for our freebie table. It will be up for grabs for other members. See you then! -Jess S.

July Meeting Recap

*I apologize that it took me so long to write this post. I should be good to go for August!

Our July meeting was Tuesday, July 9. Thanks to Kathleen for writing up the minutes!

 Upcoming Events:

• August Meeting - Tuesday, August 13 @ Pennington Quilt Works, 7-9:30 (see bottom of this post for more details)
• Look for an email/survey soon about an impromptu quilters' NYC trip. :)
• The MQG’s first Sew Down will take place in Philadelphia, Friday to Sunday, Sept. 6-8. It is an all inclusive sewing event with workshops and lectures from 4 instructors. Registration is open and members of guilds belonging to the national guild will receive a 15% discount. That email (about the discount) was sent before the July meeting.
• Sept. 28th is the Quilters Take Manhattan event. For those interested, tickets can be purchased online at www.allianceforamericanquilt.org.
• We are now part of the national Modern Quilt Guild! Look for an email soon about switching over from BigTent.
• Make sure you fill out the survey about the joint retreat for next April in Lancaster - it's in your email! Even if you aren't planned on attending, it would help if you filled it out. Thanks!

Icebreaker: “What is your favorite summer activity?” The 27 members attending answered everything from quilting (of course!), to biking, to laying on the beach. Sounds good to me!

Guild Business:
I gave out the fabric packets for those who volunteered to create modern blocks for our guild banner. If you volunteered and weren't at the meeting, see me at the August meeting and I'll hand it over!

Banner Block Guidelines:

Blocks should be 8.5" x 8.5" - due in either August or September. PLEASE return leftover scraps (you should have some) to be used for binding/backing/etc.

Please only use the fabric given.

See my Pinterest board for some modern quilt block ideas. :)

Challenge
Members shared their free motion quilting projects based on skills they learned at the Angela Walters workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational Topic
Liza Lucy gave out pre-cut pieces of fabric and demonstrated how to sew a Y seam. I will be posting a tutorial on this shortly. For now, check out Rachel's practice! Thank you, Liza!

 

 

 

Show & Tell
Bee members shared their completed blocks for June and July (since we didn't have a July meeting). For more info about the bee, see the tab at the top of our blog.

 

For Laura's quilt

 For Linda's quilt

And, of course, members shared completed projects and works in progress.

 

"Sew" cute - okay, I won't say it again. :)

 

 

 Gorgeous scrappy trip-a-long!

 

 Pretty chevrons by Jess L.!

 

 The quilting on these gorgeous stones is amazing!

 

Love this so much, Kathleen!

 

 

Check out Kristina's beautiful dress! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August Meeting:

• Educational topic: I will be giving a short demo on Flickr! So, you'd better be there!
• Challenge – Create your modern 8 ½ inch block for the CJMQG banner. Woohoo, August is all about me :D Just kidding. Though really, so far, it is! Just saying.
• Discussion – Bring in a favorite book or magazine and share your interests. This has the potential to be a really great discussion!
• Spotlight – Eugenia
• A “Freebie Table” will be set up at future meetings. Neva has volunteered to maintain it (thanks, Neva!). Bring books, magazines, fabric (no smaller than a ¼ yard), tools, etc. you no longer want or need (in relatively good condition!)

See you on the 13th!
-Jess S.

Saturday Sewcial (pictures)

We had a totally awesome Saturday Sewcial last week in BEAUTIFUL (though hot) downtown Hopewell. Lori was kind enough to reserve the old train station and set up for us. Don't worry - it wasn't hot inside :) But we had a lot of fun, and many of us took a break to visit the local farmer's market for a tasty lunch. It was an awesome and relaxing day! I snapped pictures of most who were there, and what they were working on:

 Neva was appliqueing and making a table runner

 for her son's Boy Scout Troop... she was hard at work all day! It looked amazing (I sat right by her, I can verify!).

 Here's Rachel hard at work on her star blocks...

She came out with a huge stack of them at the end! The ones in front are actually made of scraps from ANOTHER quilt... you go, girl.

Here's Michelle pressing... and see what she finished by the end of the day! Completely gorgeous!

We love how the sun was shining through! We had some great natural light :)... though apparently not enough towards the floor. I finished quilting my wedding quilt, and planned out my scrappy binding!

 

Laura, our resident photographer,  FMQing like a beast:

 For real... check out those leaves! So pretty!

It was Tatiana's birthday! Sorry for the totally blurry photo - Robin baked her a cake and we allllll ate it :)

Tatiana was FMQing (also like a beast) - she loves Angela Walters' fabric panel.

Speaking of Robin, Here she is sewing... she made these cute coasters! I love how they fold!

 And Kristina, who also made amazing cupcakes, was working on some Swoon blocks. Love those fabrics!

 How could I almost forget Lori, who we have to thank for it all? She was cutting and piecing a brand new quilt.

If you're a member, please consider joining us for one of our Sewcials! We try to do them once a month or every two months :) 

-Jess S.

Upcoming July Meeting!

*We are FULL for our Sewcial tomorrow (7/6) unless you'd like to bring handwork and join us! In other words, there is no more room for machines.*

Please join us for our July meeting! Guests welcome as usual!
RSVP here on BigTent

Tue Jul 9, 2013, 7–9:30 pm
Pennington Quilt Works

At this meeting we will:
- have a demonstration on Y seams
- discuss the design and hand out fabric for the guild banner!
- share our challenge - free motion quilting (inspired by our lecture and workshop with Angela Walters last month)
- share and exchange blocks for the guild bee (those participating)
- general business
- regular show and tell and brainstorming on your current projects

See you there :)! Let's beat the heat and spend the night talking about quilting!
-Jess S.