May Meeting Re-cap

Hi all!  May's meeting with full of fun times with new faces and some great show and shares.  We will be collecting the dues at June's meeting so please remember to bring them with you.

Also, don't forget that we have that great stash of fabrics that benefit the Jersey Shore Arts Council when we purchase so ask Diane at the meeting when a good shopping time is.  At this past meeting we sold 128 yards of fabric! 

Now on to the fun part... the pictures!! 

 We had some new faces at our meeting this month.
So excited to see our group grow
(And add a long arm quilter to the mix, Helen)

 Diane did such a great job piecing the charity quilt that we all created blocks for.  This pattern was made by cutting scrappy trip along blocks and making them into half square triangles.  They were sewn together and to me they look almost like rotating quotation marks.

 Diane then did a great job explaining the Floating Square technique by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Franson.  She used this technique when she worked on the quilt that was donated to the Austin Children's Shelter during Quilt Con.

Next up, Cindy passed out her fabrics since she is the Queen Bee for the month of May.  She asked for any square block using the light blue fabric in the picture, which she provided.  We can add other colors if we would like, too.  Please make the blocks no smaller than 8 inches.

Carolyn shared her Pyranha Quilt.  She printed the Pyranha kayak company logo onto fabric and used it in the center of the quilt.

 Carolyn also shared the quilted pillowcase that was made with all batik strings.

 

Rose shared a quilt top that she has been working on.  It is a black and white disappearing 4 patch that she is appliqueing yellow birds onto.  

 Next up, Kat shared her quilt bunting for Boston and her quilt block for Boston.  These were made to help support those who were injured during the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Kat also shared a beautiful quilt of lighthouses that she created for her husband.  And a space themed quilt she created for her son.  The space quilt reminds me of a nebula with the diamond in the middle.  

 Next up, one of our newest members shared a baby quilt she created using fabrics from her scrap basket.  The colors are so great in this!

 Jackie shared with us a fun quilt she made for her little baby girl.  It is an interactive quilt made with Dr. Seuss fabrics.  Each square has two flaps that can be lifted to show pictures underneath.  Such a fun quilt for a busy little girl.

Don't forget Cindy's blocks if you are participating in the monthly Queen Bee quilt block group.

See you all in June!!!  

Sending our love + support to Boston

Two of our fellow modern quilt guilds have asked that we share our talents.

We are all still confused/upset (you name it!) by the recent senseless bombing of the Boston Marathon.  The Boston MQG + the Vancouver MQG would like to show those affected by the event that we care!  Here are the details of their projects:

make 12 1/2" h x ?" w blocks in yellow/blue/gray fabrics

make 8" h x 6" w flag in cheerful colors

Here's what I've made:

If you would like to make a block or flag please bring it to our May 8th meeting and we will submit them all together.  You may always send them on your own. The flags for to Boston with Love are due no later than May 21st and the blocks for Quilts for Boston are due May 24th.

Diane

April Recap

Thanks everyone for being so patient and understanding when we were locked out of our room at the Arts Center!  We landed in another studio albeit smaller than Room 23.

I also want to thank Carolyn for taking over our blog Showcase and for updating pictures on our flickr site.  Heaven knows a photograper I'm not.  And Carolyn's captions are always more interesting than mine!  

By the way, please feel free to join our flickr site and add any photos of your quilts or works in progress.  It's not only for pics from our meetings.  

SHOWCASE

 Mary, our newest member, brought this great quilt that she had made out of batiks.  It is similar to a french braid pattern and so pretty.

 Diane showed off her awesome blue pinwheel quilt, looks like a storm in the ocean to me.  She also brought in a pretty heart applique quilt (that I didn't get a picture of :( ).  It was interesting to see how the quilting makes a difference in how poofy it is when using the same batting.

 Bonnie brought in this log cabin quilt that she is working on.  She decided to use up old orphan blocks for the back, but then decided she likes the back so much it could be another top.

 Kat brought this awesome disappearing 4 patch quilt.  It was made entirely of batiks.

 Carolyn brought two quilts to share, one called Fracture and the other is for her Aunt Carol, called Blue Wave.

Rose didn't do much sewing, but she did do some crochet.  She made Carolyn this pretty blanket for her birthday.

GUILD BUSINESS

We are officially joining the National Modern Quilt Guild, MQG.  Our guild dues to MQG for this year are $75.  Individual dues will be $25 and will be collected at our June meeting.  The extra money will be used to buy supplies for charity quilts.  Many thanks to Natalie for volunteering to be a co-signer along with me on our guild's banking account. 

Quilting Bee

Now for some fun news!  We are starting a monthly Quilting Bee.  At the end of the bee we will each have enough blocks for a complete quilt.  Here are the rules.

1. Each month there is a different Queen Bee.  That person tells the rest of the members what block to make which will be due at the next meeting.  The Queen may limit the colors of the block, or want it scrappy, or provide specific fabrics to be used.

2. Blocks must be modern.  We are a modern quilt guild after all. :-)  Please keep them simple for our newbies.  

3. You must commit to being a member of the Bee and making one block per month. 

4. Here are the randomly assigned Queen Bee months.  Except for Cindy who is brave enough to start us out in May, with blocks for her due in June (May/June).

• May/June - Cindy
• June/July - Mary
• July/Aug - Diane
• Aug/Sept -  Carolyn
• Sept/Oct  - Rose
• Oct/Nov - Kathleen
• Nov/Dec - Bonnie
• Dec/Jan - Gloria
• Jan/Feb -Natalie
• Feb/Mar -  Michelle    (Shannon, Jackie and Rachel - there's still time to join.)

5.  For inspiration check these out: Block Lotto, Bee Modern Too, and Bee Happy. 

  

Announcements

1. The Quilt Alliance is having a contest to celebrate their 20 year anniversary.  The contest theme is "Twenty" - the numeral, the concept and the word.  First prize is a Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen machine quilting system.  All entries must be 20"w x 20"h.  The deadline for submission is June 1, 2013.

2. The Brooklyn Museum has an exhibit "Works by Hand: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts."  The above Tumbling Blocks quilt is circa 1865-70.  It  looks pretty modern to me!  The exhibit runs through September 15, 2013.

3. The Modern Quilt Guild's first SewDown will be in Philadelpia, September 6-8, 2013.  Reservations will open in early May.

4. We are still collecting monochromatic wonky log cabin blocks for a charity quilt.  This quilt was made by Elaine Lane and you may use her block tutorial.  Please finish your block as an 8 1/2 inch square.

5.  Our next monthly Sew-In is May 4th, 1- 4 pm, at Fabric Inspirations.  Bring anything you would like to work on or need help with.  

See you then!

Diane