Sunday, December 23, 2012

Holiday Get-Together

At our December meeting we had a mini-party with delicious food and wonderful stories that ran the gamut from quilts to pets to centipedes!  I haven't laughed so hard in ages!!

We also had our potholder swap made from fat quarters we exchanged in October:


And here's this month's Showcase:

Carolyn's nephew's quilt best viewed with 3D glasses! 


Shannon's modern Log Cabin.



Two Christmas quilts by Bonnie.



Beautiful hand appliqued blocks by Michelle.


And blocks for our QuiltCon Quilt by Carolyn and Rose.

That's the perfect segue for a reminder that we will be working on the QuiltCon quilt on January 5, 2013, 1-4 pm, at our monthly sew-in at Fabric Inspirations.  This quilt is our quild's first charity quilt.  It will be shown next year at QuiltCon, the Modern Quilt Guild Conference, and then donated to the Austin's Children Center.

I wish you all fun filled holidays and health, wealth and happiness in the New Year!
Diane

Saturday, December 8, 2012

December's Meeting + November's Recap

Exciting news!  We now have a new partner - Linda, owner of Fabric Inspirations! We will be having a monthly Sew-In, the first Saturday of each month, at her fabulous shop!  Linda is having an Holiday Open House on Sunday, Dec 16th, noon - 4 pm.  There will be refreshments, demos and holiday specials.  I know I'll be there.

Our monthly meeting this Weds, Dec 12th, is a pot-luck event.  Please bring one of your favorite dishes - appetizer, entree or dessert.  I'm supplying dishes, cups, utensils, bottled water and ice.  Oh, bring a beverage for yourself if water isn't your thing!

Don't forget your potholders to exchange and one of your projects to Showcase (aka Show and Tell).

And November's Showcase:













We had a very successful fabric spree and raised $450 for the Jersey Shore Arts Center!  Many, many thanks from Herb and Brendan, President and Manager, respectively, of the Arts Center.  Your donations allow us to hold our meetings rent free!


I'll see you Weds!
Diane


Monday, November 12, 2012

What a month!

Hurricane Sandy and the nor'easter just a week later really left destruction in their wakes. This photo, from one of our favorite quilt shops - Quilting Possibilities, shows the extent of the blackouts from Sandy.


Pretty mind boggling!  Some of my friends and family are still without electricity!  I hope everyone is well - please, please let us know if your friends at Jersey Shore MQG may help you in any way get through this tragic event.

If anyone would like to help our neighbors, eQuilter has started a drive to collect 5,000 quilts to be distributed to Sandy victims.  For more information - Quilt Relief.

We'll still be having our monthly meeting this Weds, Nov 14.  Due to the power outages we will postpone our potholder swap until December.  Bring something for show + tell and get ready for our first excursion!

Diane







Friday, October 12, 2012

A great beginning!

We had a very successful first meeting.  Thanks to everyone who came and made it so!  

The best parts of the meeting were introductions, where we found out how everyone came to be a quilter, 


L to R: Shannon, Cindy, Bonnie, Carolyn + Rose

L to R: Rachel, Jackie, Gloria, Michelle +
behind the camera - Diane

and Show + Tell, when we got to ooh and aah over the beautiful quilts members had made!




Jackie's Christmas present to her British husband;
the London Railroad system is printed on back 

Halloween quilt by Jackie

For her daughter - Shannon's improvisational quilt
(she rarely uses a pattern!)

This is Bonnie's grandmother's house
(sorry the pic does not do the intricate work justice!)

Congratulations to Rose on her very first quilt top

Carolyn's first solids only quilt

Diane's bullseye

and a very special wedding present by Rachel

Sorry Michelle and Gloria, the pictures of the shoulder bag 
made by your friend, Sonji Hunt, did not turn out!

We also discussed the following:

Web Presence
This blog will be used to announce upcoming meetings and events.  For more detailed information members will use BigTent where anyone can begin a discussion on any topic they like or join in previously started ones.  Members will be receiving an email to join the site.  Please accept the invitation and feel free to share your ideas on any subject!

QuiltCon
If anyone is going to QuiltCon we would like to participate in the Modern Quilt Guild Block Swap.  

Vision Statement
My goals for starting the guild were simple: to meet like-minded quilters, have fun and give back to the community.  I invite everyone to help create the unique vision statement for our guild.

Bylaws
A first draft of our guild's Bylaws will be found on BigTent.  It describes the roles of the guild's president, vice-pres, secretary, treasurer, swap captain and other potential committee positions.  Please look them over and self-nominate for any position you would like to help out in.  

We all agreed to a yearly membership fee of $50 to help defray costs to purchase materials for charity quilts and pay for speakers.  Dues will start being collected in January 2013; afterwards new members' dues will be paid at the third meeting attended.

Sew-Ins
We would like to get together once a month to work on personal projects and/or charity quilts; preferably Friday night or Saturday afternoon.  

Up Coming Meetings
In lieu of a regular meeting in December we will have a potluck dinner and instead of a fabric swap it will be a cookie swap!  Of course there will still be Show + Tell.

Our First Fabric Swap
We each exchanged two fat quarters to make one or two pot holders to swap at our November meeting.  The rules are - there are no rules!  For those of you not at the meeting you can still join in the pot holder swap by making one or two from your own fabric stash.  

It was wonderful meeting you all in person and I look forward to many more fun and memorable times together!

See you November 14th!
Diane

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Just Days Away!

There's only six days to our first meeting.  This will be a brainstorming/planning meeting so bring your ideas. 

I hope you'll also bring one of the following to share:
- a quilt or project you've completed or are working on
- an inspirational book
- your favorite quilting tool

And for our first swap - bring two fat quarters you're able to part with!

Please RSVP if you'll be there.

'till then,
Diane


Sunday, August 19, 2012

We Have a Home!


I'm thrilled to announce that the JSMQG has found a home in the historic 
Jersey Shore Arts Center. This is the old Neptune High School Building built in 1896, brought back to life in 2000 under the leadership of Herb Herbst to promote local arts. We are most appreciative of Mr. Herbst's generous invitation for our Guild to meet in one of the former classrooms- complete with original slate chalkboards!   

We will be meeting the second Wednesday of the month which makes our first meeting October 10, 2012, 7-9 pm. As promised, it's located less than a mile from the beach in Ocean Grove, NJ!

RSVP if you'll be there or just interested. Call Diane, 732-776-8663, if you have any questions.



First meeting of the JSMQG 
Weds Oct 10, 2012
92 Lawrence Ave
Ocean Grove, NJ 07756

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Coming Soon!!

I hope you'll join us in October for the first meeting of the Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild. The guild is a chapter of the world-wide Modern Quilt Guild.

We are creative, free-spirited, fun loving quilters (women + men, young + old, experienced + novice) who look forward to sharing our passion for modern quilts. Actually, we love making anything from fabric.


We are still working on the details for our meeting place but can assure you that it won't be far from the beach!


Please send an email letting us know that you would like to be a part of this new adventure.


See you all soon,

Diane