Quilt Challenge Accepted!

Good evening it's KaSandra Lee & this is my first ever post!  

I have volunteered to be ECMQG's newest Charity Gal, heading up our Quilt of Valor efforts which we talked about during October's meeting.  Actually, Marcy asked us, challenged us, to assist our local QOV chapter in completing 100 quilts by 1 December to donate to Florida veterans.

So many of us in ECMQG have ties to the military.  All branches.  All ranks.  Active duty, retired, or reservists.  We are civilians who work for and with the military, or we're dependents, or military members ourselves.  This challenge is a perfect fit for us.

While that is a short time-frame, I'm confident with your enthusiastic response, we can complete several.  Through our active Facebook users, we even have several ideas in the works, including a new Pinterest board for inspiration!

Any quilt that fits the guidelines set forth by the national QOV organization will be accepted.  However, we are a MQG affiliate, and our group quilts will reflect that aesthetic. 

A few options for those that are able to make some blocks by our 9 November meeting are:  red, white, and blue HST to make a quilt similar to this modern traditional quilt.

photo by 4.bp.blogspot.com

Keep in mind the QOV guidelines for no star burst patterns and all of your fabric selections should be "high quality 100% cotton quilting weight fabric appropriate for an adult".

1.  4 inch unfinished HSTs like the ones pictured above in a white/blue or white/red color combo.  
2.  I will piece blocks at our next sew-in, so please keep blocks in their unfinished size.


The second quilt I'm requesting blocks for looks like the ones in these quilts made by Sewing Summit 2012 attendees.  

Photo by goddessinprogress.blog.com

Notice how these blocks are scrappy, in either a red or blue colorway, with a white center star.  Blocks should be 12.5 inches unfinished.


A third quilt idea uses scrappy string blocks, just like the ones we made for our first block lottery, only these will be red, white and blue!

Photo by quiltnqueen.blogspot.com

Please use 12 x 12 paper (scrapbook paper) as your foundation.  The center string should be white - at least 1.5 inches wide.  One side of your strings will be scrappy and red; the other side will be scrappy and blue.  

I can collect blocks as you complete them, or at our next meeting on 9 November.  I plan to spend the sew-day portion piecing blocks so they can be quilted - I do own a longarm - prior to 1 December.

If you are going to help in this wonderful charity, please post in the comments section as we did for the Christmas Swap.

1 - name
2 - block design(s) because it helps to know which layout(s) I'll be working with. 


Because this will be an ongoing ECMQG community outreach and service project, just like our Project Linus efforts, Cindy suggested naming this project HONOR.  I have to agree with her choice!

I just love and appreciate that word like no other.  As I put on my uniform each day, I am truly honored, and happy, to serve our nation these past 15 years (and counting).  

Let's make our mark and show our gratitude to the wonderful service men and women who have, and still are, protecting this wonderful nation!

Thank you for your time and efforts on behalf of veterans everywhere!

KaSandra
ECMQG Charity Captain for Project HONOR

Modern Maples Reveal

Christmas Swap Anyone?



Christmas pot holder - Fabric:  12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain (2010)



Hi!  Wendi Mihalik here saying "Merry Christmas!"  Well, maybe not yet.  But as the Spook-y Swap participants presented their goodies at the October 12 meeting, there seemed to be interest in a Christmas-themed Swap too.

To sign up to participate in the Christmas Swap, leave a comment below and tell us:

1.  Your name

2.  3 colors you would like your partner to use 

3.  One or two ideas about some cute quilty thing you would like to receive.  I've listed some ideas below, but the possibilities really are endless...

Sign ups will close Thursday, October, 24.  Partners will be assigned by Saturday, October 26 so you will have two full weeks to create your item. Be ready to present  your gift to your partner at the next ECMQG meeting on November 9. (This is a very short time frame, so you will want to plan your project accordingly.)



Christmas Stocking - Fabric:  Flurry by Kate Spain (2011)



Pillows

Mug Rugs

Tree Skirts

Stockings

Mini Quilts

Apron

Coasters

Fabric Baskets 

Placemats

Table Runner

Something else I haven't thought of?

Christmas Tree Pants (because not every tree wants to wear a skirt!) - Fabric:  Flurry by Kate Spain (2011)

So, here's the fine print:

1.  Please use modern quilt shop quality fabrics.  (No Jo-Ann's, Hobby Lobby or other Big Box store fabric, with the possible exception of fabric by modern designers.  Jo-Ann's for example, has fabric by Denyse Schmidt, Patty Young, Juliana Horner, ModKids and Cloud 9.)  Careful fabric selection is key - we are a MODERN quilt guild, after all.

2.  Make your item the best you know how.  Be sure to make something you would like to receive.

3.  Stretch yourself a little.  Maybe try a new process or technique.  We would love to have this little swap expand your quilting horizons a bit.

4.  Be sure and say "thank you" when you receive your gift.  It's only good manners, after all.

5.  Have fun!

I can't wait to see all the wonderful things you will create!

Happy Swapping!

EDIT:  Comments/Sign-ups are now closed.

October was a Busy Month

To continue where I ended the last post...

Marcy and Kelly had bundles of goodness waiting for everyone participating in the MQG Riley Blake Basics Challenge.
  
Other than the national MQG rules, we dubbed ours as the New Year, New Skills Challenge.  Try something new.  Something you've avoided.  Something you think you can't do.  You'll be pleased how fast that word - can't - is eliminated from your vocabulary and way of thinking.  

If you're a precise piecing type of quilter, try improv.  If you're an improv piecing type, try precise piecing.  If you're afraid of the zipper, make something with a zipper.  If curvy piecing intimidates you, try curvy piecing.  Not a hand quilter?  Here's your opportunity.  Are you a straight line only quilter?  Try free motion quilting.  Just try something new.

Projects are due at the January meeting. 

Marcy, through another local guild, had an urgent request for Quilts of Valor.  There was a little bit of discussion as to what the requirements were, but we all agreed modern QOV could be done.  More on this opportunity to help is in the works.  However, start pulling from your stash, MODERN fabrics that are obviously, red, white, or blue, but also light gray. Our members from A&E - Liz, Rosemary, Glenna, & Rhonda - graciously agreed to quilt and bind it for us if we made the blocks and quilt top(s) .  

Show & Tell.  This is the highlight of our meetings.  All of your creativity on display.  Stories about how the quilt came about and who it was made for.  Details of the piecing and quilting processes.  What you liked or didn't like.  What you'd do differently.  What you learned.  Color.  Fabric.  Design.  Texture.  Sharing.  Learning.  Inspiration.  I love it all.

Let me apologize in advance for failing to get pictures, let alone details, of your quilts.  I was too busy talking and handing out Riley Blake bundles!  Also, some of the pictures are blurry.  :(

Here is Wendi's quilt top from the Wonky-Cross Block Lottery she won last month.  Beautiful.

Crazy colorful string block madness.  Wavy organic wood-grain quilting.

Another of Wendi's beauties.  Her Bow Tie Quilt.

Quilting detail.  They look like sand dollars, although I believe she said they were daisies.

I have no idea who's this is.  But, look at the dogwood quilting and the star & moon!

Marcy's Black, White, & Turquoise quilt created for another guild's challenge.  Of course, Marcy put a modern edge to that challenge with her fabric selection and quilting designs, especially the pebble quilting.  

Back of Marcy's Black, White & Turquoise quilt.  The pebble quilting is more apparent on this side.

Bev's quilt.  (Apologies, I have no details.  Please let me know and I will edit this post accordingly.)

 Up close detail of Bev's quilting, albeit a bit blurry.  

Leslie's, aka The Purple Bug, color-blocked, improv pieced, I-Cleaned-&-Organized-My-Stash quilt.  Just look at the texture.

Up close detail of Leslie's quilting.  She "played" with Marcy's longarm one day.  Awesome!

Melissa J's low volume Modern Maples WiP.  With a seven-month old, I think we understand how finding the time to quilt is a luxury.  

Cindy's Make Them Go Away scrappy ROYGBIV Circle of Flying Geese envelope pillow for a friend.  The combination of improv and traditional paper piecing equals one crazy busy pillow.   

I believe that wrapped up the Show & Tell portion of our meeting.  If I failed to photograph your item, please let me know.  I am more than happy to edit and include what I missed.  

While everything else was taking place, Gina, was organizing and setting-up our mock booth for the upcoming St. Simon's Craft Fair.  Again, apologies for no pictures.  Sigh.  So much going on.  Which really is a good thing.   Please contact Gina directly if you have items to donate or, if you'd like to volunteer to sit at our booth for several hours during the event.  

The remainder of this post is for your viewing pleasure.  Just pictures of what happens during the Sew-Day portion.

Beautiful.  Creative.  Inspiring.  Fun.  Friendly.  Modern.  

            
What will you create until the next time we meet?

Cindy
ECMQG Secretary

October Meeting Recap

It.Never.Fails.

After spending an entire Saturday talking, sewing, seeing, and touching all of the projects everyone has made, I need a few days to decompress and let it all settle.

ECMQG has so many talented, inspiring, creative women.  Our October meeting and Sew-Day was no exception.  

We started normally - energetic and frenzied - as everyone signed in, purchased door prize tickets ($1 each), claimed table space for the Sew-Day portion, introduced their guests, set out potluck dishes on the communal food table, paid a no-name-tag penalty (.25¢) if they'd forgotten theirs, entered blocks in the block lottery ($1 each), or just caught up after being apart.  It's crazy!  It's fun!  It's exhilarating!  It is, so I've been told, what makes us different from some of the other local guilds.

Door prizes this month came from members - Marcy (Halloween mouse) and Gina (Halloween pillows) - as well as Aurifil, Michael Miller, and Robert Kaufman.
  

Our first and most important business item was the discussion of board elections next month - November 9th - for the coming calendar year.  Marcy provided a list of job descriptions for the major positions as well as some of the ancillary positions necessary because of our growth.

Diane, who attended Camp Stitch Alot earlier this summer, was scheduled to present her projects and dish on her experiences, but had a last minute conflict.  Luckily, Kim, having just returned from Sewing Summit agreed to share her experiences.

While public speaking is not to her liking, (but hey, we're all friends here) in our back and forth, question and answer format, Kim told us everything.  From why she chose to attend; the process and excitement of signing-up and selecting classes; her self-described introvert trepidation about traveling (and meeting and talking to all of these people that although you know them online, you don't really know them); the shopping and camaraderie; the keynote speaker; the hospitality (and swag!!) of the Salt Lake MQG; and her Sewing Summit projects made both before traveling and while there. 

Because I was talking and not taking pictures, I'm thankful Kim is active on Instagram.  Her photos tell her story so well.    

I'd say Kim had a fantastic time, wouldn't you? 

Next, Kira who recently volunteered to be our Block Lottery Captain, spent a few moments describing and showing details for November's block.

  

It is a simple snowball.  It is a traditional block, BUT with the use of MODERN fabrics and colors, it fits our aesthetic.  All of the details - color palette, size, types of fabric - can be found here.

These are just some of the 80, (Yes, you read that right!) pinwheel blocks turned in this month.  

The lucky winner?  Me.  Aren't they beautiful, colorful, and cheery?     

After the drawing for the block lottery, came the door prize drawings.  Again, lots of smiling faces and squeals of delight.

The reveal for the Spoo-ky Swap was next.

Nona made these Screamin' Halloween strip-pieced pillows for Kira.

Bobbi,  inspired by an image from Pinterest, made this 12" x 12' HST pillow cover for Melissa L.

I made Amy three small items, including a wonky-pieced Spook-tacular stand-up container, a coffee cozy from Jeni Baker's tutorial, and a tiny Hello, Halloween! ticker tape inspired mini quilt. 

Dee made Faye an Autumn colored pillow with Thimbleberry fabrics.

 Kira made the appliqued Boo Bat mini-quilt for Kasandra. 

Amy made a set of Autumn inspired coasters for Wendi.  Upon signing-up for this swap, Wendi let us all know she preferred Thanksgiving to Halloween.  Amy's coasters were EXACTLY right for Wendi.

Kasandra made this mini-quilt for me.  I love the intricate piecing and jack-o-lantern colors. 

Melissa L, not having any Halloween fabric in her stash, went shopping at our LQS/Pharmacy, A&E, for the fabrics for Dee's trick-or-treat basket.  Check out those pom-poms!  

Wendi, through the swap discussions on Facebook, knew Bobbi preferred Autumn colors.  She pieced a smaller Modern Maple leaf and surrounded it with long strips of saturated color.  What this picture fails to show is the hand quilting.  A beautiful understated table runner Bobbi can use well past October 31st.

Faye made Nona two mug rugs.  The one you can't see is a smiling jack-o-lantern!

Our meeting ran long, because as wrote at the beginning of this post, our group of women are talented, creative, and fun.  We are also enthusiastic prolific quilters. 

Stay tuned for the pictures, and what I can remember, from our Show & Tell, and Sew-Day scenes.

Cindy

ECMQG Secretary