Hidden Gems - May 2017 Block Lottery

Hello!

I’m Jill and I’m leading this month’s block lottery!

I chose a visually stunning paper pieced block from Diane Bohn of From Blank Pages. Diane's been blogging for more than seven years, began quilting while pregnant with her first child, (because you know, a baby needed a quilt), and designed her first pattern in 2011. To say I love her patterns is an understatement! 

Diane originally wrote Hidden Gems for The Bee Hive. It's a modern geometric block with killer points that are hard to come by with any method other than the precision paper piecing allows. What I love most, is the secondary design once all of the blocks are assembled.

Hidden Gems is available on Diane’s pattern page, here. She provides two options for printing - either legal sized or letter sized. I recommend choosing the larger legal sized paper in order to avoid taping pieces together.

Diane's step-by-step instructions are a great resource, as are the included coloring pages (for visualizing that secondary design) and cutting templates (especially good if you are fussy cutting or are using lovingly hoarded fabric).

For our version, please use yellow, blue-green, and navy.  The Background fabric is a low volume that reads white (can include some grey or black, but no tan or browns).

Note: The pattern pieces are lettered (A & B) and numbered (1 - 12) because they are mirror images. I made a little cheat sheet to help with color organization.

Low volume: 1, 4, 9, 12

Yellow: 2, 5, 8, 13

Navy: 3, 6, 11

Blue-green: 7, 10

Finally, before you start, here are my top paper piecing tips:

1 - Print accurately. Do not use the "print to fit" option. Templates should be actual size! Double check that the 1” line on the pattern really does measure 1 inch. Believe me, there is nothing worse than realizing after you’ve done a significant amount of sewing, that your block is the wrong size!

2 - Label your paper with the colors before starting. It’s so easy to mix up which color goes where and end up with a mess. Once you've printed the templates, take a few seconds to look at the cheat sheet and label each shape with the corresponding fabric color.

3 - Shorten your stitch length; it is much easier to rip out the papers later. If you want to be extra careful to make sure your fabric will line up right, use a normal stitch length or even slightly longer, to sew the fabric once. Then, after verifying that points match, seams match, etc., sew back over the line with a much shorter stitch length.

Now, you’re ready to sew!

Be sure to tag your social media pictures with #ecmqg #ecmqgblocklottery #fbppatterns #fbphiddengems.

Thanks for sewing with us. See you in May!

Jill

PS. You know I really want to win these blocks!

April 2017 Meeting

The April meeting was held on April 8, 2017 at Crestview First Baptist Church.  Cindy called the meeting to order at 10:15. 

Jill introduced our block lottery, Hidden Gems, for May.  Here is where you can read all about it.  All of those super sharp points are the result of paper piecing, which ensures accurate points.  Try it, you'll like it.

We discussed our May swap, Moda Grunge F8s.  

Thanks to Wendi for revising a donation form to fit our needs.  We will now be giving out donation forms to everyone who donates supplies, money, or time quilting.  Then, our sponsors can use this for their tax purposes.  Here is a link to the forms on our Facebook page.

Riley Blake Creative Rock Star Challenge makes will be revealed in May. 

Next month (June), we will be exchanging this beautiful One Hour Basket.  We will also include a nice notion or two (not to exceed $10 worth).  Have fun and be creative with your basket.  Just be sure and follow the original One Hour Basket directions. 


 

In our programs each month, Natalie has led us in a color challenge both in our block lottery and sit and sew projects.  Thank you, Natalie for your enlightening presentations on Color Theory!  They have been very useful in our quilt making!
   

We had eight door prize winners after Cindy explained the bundles and what they contained.  

We now have plenty of  blocks  for our charity Guilt of Valor.  In fact we have enough to make 2 quilts.  We discussed making one quilt for a local veteran and perhaps one quilt into a Quilt of Valor.


 Upcoming charity project will be an auction quilt for Fisher House.  It is due by August 15th.  Wendi had the idea for a Rose Quilt in one of our Modern Quilt books.  Be saving your reds and pinks for the roses.  The background will be a light blue/green.

The Crayon Quilt is almost finished for a child.  It will go to Project Linus, Ronald McDonald House, or a needy child.  Pat is going to quilt it for us.


Next month's (May) program will be a Traditional Stash Bash program.  We all have those stashes of traditional fabric.  What do we do with them now that we are sewing Modern?  Next month's program will help you with that!

We listened intently to Pat discuss the Dress a Girl Around the World program.  We will plan an extra sew day to work on this project.  Go to their website to see what it is all about. 

       Cindy and Mary  won our Wonky Flying Geese Swap for April

Jill explained the techniques for the May Block Lottery.  Natalie also challenged us with the block lottery to decide what each color will be.  For example, navy is a shade of blue.  It is blue with black added.  We will be using the medium value of blue green fabric.  The yellow is more of a gold.  Use a low volume with less black....more grey...to avoid a grey look.

 

Our Color Theory program also brought about a review of vocabulary by Natalie. She has vocabulary booklets for sale for a dollar.

The formal part of the meeting was dismissed to Show and Tell.

During Show and Tell, Diane assisted members with their strip piecing.

Respectfully submitted,

Roxie

Secretary

Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild

Scenes from March Meeting

Goodies from Quiltcon East were on full display as we entered the little room at the church for our March 11th meeting.  Cindy, Loree, Natalie, Mary, and Laraine all were eager to share experiences and stories.  

                             Goodies from QuiltCon East.



Laraine's sample from Modern Triangle Workshop at QuiltCon East.

                      The book Laraine used for the Modern Triangle Workshop.

      Our door prizes consisted of Heather Ross from Westwood Acres... Mermaid bundles.

Natalie shared the finished charity quilt for Emerald Coast Hospice. 

Charity quilt blocks for our Quilt of Valor project.

Loree won the blocks from our block lottery...Letha's Fan.

Natalie continued her lessons on Color Theory emphasizing value.

Loree explained our next block lottery, which are wonky flying geese with varying color value.

Respectfully Submitted,

Roxie, Secretary

You Showed Us - March 2017

Jo shared her denim woven purse - upcycled - the sides made from the hems of the jeans.  Wonderfully, creative, Jo!         

 

Marcia had two upcycled denim blanket/quilt tops that have a home on bunkbeds in her house.  These were from her daughter's jeans.

 

Mary had a very busy February and early March, creativewise.  Here's the beginning of a pillow made from our block lottery Letha's Electric Fan.

The fabric she bought from our Donation Table last month turned into a couple of Noodlehead Open Wide Zippered pouches and a pillow top.  

Mary's last project was a quilt, like the one we made and donated to the Ronald McDonald House last year, from a stack of 3.5" squares Cindy had gifted her.  Both quilts were scrappy versions of the Reverse Rainbow Star.  

Wendi had two old UFOs completed.  The first was her Fresh Flowers quilt.  

The second was her Spools quilt, orginally started at Stash Bash several years ago.  The pattern is from Camille Roskelly of Thimble Blossoms and is jelly roll friendly! 

Feeling Swappy, Anyone?

Are you feeling like it's time to swap something?  Well we've got just the thing!  Two things, in fact!

Thing One.  Moda Grunge F8 Swap.

First up, it's a Moda Grunge fat eighth swap.  Natalie suggested we each swap a warm color, a cool color, and one of the newest, Grunge Hits the Spot (any color).  That way, we'll get a great variety of modern basics in our stash.  There are more than a hundred different colors, so duplicates shouldn't be a problem.

Grunge is a really unique basic fabric because it's dyed first, then printed to give it a textured look.  The color variations add a lot of depth and interest to your quilt projects.

As always, you can swap up to three one-yard pieces (each choice must be one yard).  Cut them into modern fat eighths, fold them individually, and put them into a zip top bag labeled with your name.  Bring your bag(s) of fabric to the May 13th meeting where our swap team will sort and return to you, eight different Grunge pieces.  Please sign-up in the blog comments section, or our Facebook group, with your color choices because we want to reduce duplication.  
Need to know how to cut a modern fat eighth?  It's easy-peasy!  This blog post will walk you through it.

Thing Two.  One Hour Basket Swap.

Photo courtesy of KelbySews.com

Next up for the June 10th meeting is this cute, fast, and useful (utilitarian even, to use Cindy's new favorite word!) basket to swap.  

This fun little basket is Kelly Bowser's 1 Hour Basket (original size) available on Cratsy for $1.  She's updated the pattern with multiple sizes.  (Fun Fact:  Did you know Kelly was a founding member of ECMQG??  Yup!  It's true.)

Here's the way this swap will work.  Everyone who wants to play will make a basket and add a few favorite things valued at NO MORE THAN $10.  Items such as candy, a piece of fabric, a sewing tool, a couple of lottery tickets, some homemade caramel corn, etc.  You get the idea.  It's your choice to make either the basic basket, or jazz it up any way you want.  Search the web or Instagram for ideas - there are hundreds of these easy baskets out there!

Then, at the June meeting, we'll number each basket received, set them out for display and oohs and ahhs, everyone who made a basket will receive a number, (only not the number that matches the basket you made), our Super Secret Basket Team will put each in a brown paper bag, and finally, randomly draw participant names.  

So choose some pretty, modern fabric and get cracking on a One Hour Basket.  Your quilty ECMQG friends will thank you.

April Show and Tell

                                       April Sharing

Natalie shared a Bonnie and Camille swap bag.  Her swap partner likes the Bonnie and Camille line of Little Red Riding Hood fabric.  The great thing is, it is reversible!

Elaine shared a bag she made using the Candice Bag pattern.  It used all batiks.  The main batik was a dragon print which is Elaine's favorite motif. 

Loree made a very pretty utilitarian triangle zippy pouch.  We all love triangle shaped zippy pouches.

Jo shared a wonderful Road Trip Memory quilt she made to celebrate her cross country trip.  It had a US Map in the middle with her trip outlined in embroidery on the map.  It also contained postage stamps blocks from the states they were in, t-shirts from the cities they visited, and beautiful pinwheel blocks around the edge for border.  The back was a beautiful tie-dyed looking fabric.

Jill shared an Instagram Round Robin Quilt she made along with 8 other quilters.  They passed the quilt among themselves and added their part.  It included Jill's favorite things:  giraffes, stars, and rainbows. 

 Pat brought her quilt entitled "The Connections Between a Physicist and his Daughter."  This is a Modern Traditional quilt. It contained batiks from D.C. by Jinny Beyer.  Cindy will bind it for her in exchange for time on her quilting long arm!  The pattern is Whoosh!

Laraine shared a modern quilt she made.  She won the Adora-Le block lottery and created this stunning quilt.     It contains lots of negative space, minimalism, big blocks,and bold colors, all aspects of modern quilting.

Wendi shared two beautiful projects she made.  The first is a pillow cover.  The fabric is by Magic by Sarah Jane.  She installed a zipper for those that wanted to watch during sit and sew.  She also shared a baby quilt.  Her inspiration was from Amy Smart's Diary of a Quilter.  it is made of big half square triangles.   She was going to bind the quilt for those who wanted to watch during sit and sew. Beautiful!  Thank you for sharing your skills during sit and sew time!

Cindy shared two Scrappy traditional quilts using up more of her valuable scraps.  The design was called Scrappy Trips.  She completed them with scrappy backs, too!

Elaine shared her Jelly Roll Race quilt made with two Kate Fassett Jelly Rolls.  One was a warm Jelly Roll and one was a cool Jelly Roll.  She alternated the warms and cools. 


After lunch, we began our sit and sew session with Diane looking over our strips we made last month.  She gave us many more ideas to do with Strip Piecing from her Nancy Crow workshop. Enjoy the photo gallery below of our sit and sew time.

Respectfully submitted,
Roxie
Secretary
Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild