Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild

Black and White Half Square Triangles

Block Lottery for September 2018

Each block lottery block will consist of four half square triangles (HST), but the four HST will not be sewn together. More on that below.

The fabrics are Kona Snow for the white AND black and white prints, in any saturation - predominantly black, predominantly white, or fairly even.

To make one block lottery block, you will need:

Two (2) 6” squares of Kona Snow

Two (2) 6” squares of black and white print

Start with one Kona Snow square and one black/white square.

Draw a pencil line on the Kona Snow 6” square diagonally from corner to corner.

Layer the 6” Kona Snow square on top of a 6” black and white print square, right sides together. Your pencil line should be facing up so you can see it.

Stitch ¼” on each side of the drawn line.

Cut on the drawn line, between the two rows of stitching.

You now have two identical HSTs. Press the seams open.

Make two more HSTs using the same instructions. Use Kona Snow again, but the black and white print fabric can be different if you wish.

You now have four (4) HSTs. Trim all of them to 5 ½” square. These four HSTs count as one block lottery block entry, but DO NOT SEW THEM TOGETHER. Leave them as individual HSTs, and count four of them as one block lottery entry.

Have fun making the ever so versatile HST in black and white!

Maureen

July 2018 Meeting Minutes

President Loree called the meeting to order at 10 a.m.

President’s Activity: Advent Calendar for Christmas in July. $1 ticket for a prize.

OLD BUSINESS:

Sign up for food items.
Quilt Con registration open to the public.
Michael Miller fabric challenge
Pat is unable to complete the Dress a Girl project. Maureen agreed to take it over and will develop a plan for completion.
Continue making auction items for Instagram auction. All items are due by the October 13^th meeting. Auction will take place November 1-15. Popular auction items: Pillow covers, Tote bags, Zippy pouches. Check out our Pinterest page for bazaar ideas. Keep with the Modern theme.
Blog posting should be up to date. Lisa would be interested in the blog posting.

Door prizes winners: Bobbi, Laraine, Loree, Lisa, Maureen

NEW BUSINESS

All projects that the guild is expected to fund with fabric, batting, backing, etc., must be approved by the membership at large through a proposal process.
Fake email to ECMQG probably a Cox thing. Don’t click on the links Virus possibilities.
Charity Quilts for 2018: Hospice quilt, completed. Popsicle quilt – to be completed. Be thinking of possible charities and/or projects you would like to manage.
Laraine volunteered to put together another plus quilt from the blocks donated last year. Rachael volunteered to quilt it.
Plus Quilt completed by Loree from plus blocks made last year was given to Faye’s Uncle who was a World War II veteran
Christmas in July fabric swap was fun, fun, fun!
Possible paint chip challenge was discussed.

Anniversary scrap swap activity. Randomly pick 3 crayon colors. Your scrap fabrics are to match the crayon color palate allowing for variations in tints, tones, and shades. Your scrap baggy may also have a neutral of your choice – white, beige, gray or black. Bring baggy of scraps to next meeting. We will blind swap the baggies. Swappers will then meet with their partner to discuss design options. Makers are to create at least a 12” X 18” table topper and may add one color.

Faye won the triangle strip block lottery! Lisa presented the improv circle block. You may use solids or prints. Trim blocks to 12.5”. Check the Facebook PDF files for a copy of the instructions. Great presentation Lisa!

Show and Tell

Laraine made a wall hanging with beautiful quilting. She also showed her finished spool Block Lottery.
Marcia made a random square quilt with butterfly fusible appliqué
Lisa is making a patriotic economy hour glass block in red white and blue.
Maureen is making buckets like Marcy’s scrap buckets from the sew Modern labs. She showed an Alison Glass lap quilt, and a Beachy Blue quilt for a fellow dissertation committee member.
Rachael making a panel quilt for a baby! Welcome back Rachael!

A delightful luncheon followed the meeting with a productive sew day.

June 2018 Meeting Minutes

Loree called the meeting to order at 10 a.m.

Activity this month was a chance to win a Carrot Cake baked by Lisa.

OLD BUSINESS

Arrive early to help set up.
Sign up on the Show and Tell form and food sign-up form when you arrive.
Please continue to make items for our raffle in November.
Quiltcon is February 21-24, 2019. MQG Charity Quilt parameters are out. If you are interested in a design proposal submit it to the guild. Include fabric costs, (top, back, and binding) and a timeline for completion. Don’t forget reservations for your rooms for Quiltcon. They do fill up fast. List of hotels is on the Quiltcon website. June 26^th is the day to begin registering for classes. 9:00 AM Eastern time for the beginning of registration. The catalog is out, so you can begin looking at teachers and who you may want to go to.
Anyone interested in a program with Joe Cunningham contact Pensacola MQG.

Treasurer’s Report: Linda gave us an updated account of our funds at this time.

New Business:

Next meeting will be Christmas in July. We will do a modern Christmas fabric swap. Bring up to 3 yards of fabric to swap. Look at Facebook site. We will be posting ideas for modern Christmas fabric to bring. We wrap it up…each yard in Christmas paper and exchange with other members.
Also, bring fun quilty gift ideas for Christmas to share with the group. Bring your samples, patterns, and ideas.
We shared a Quiltfest from Jacksonville in September 20, 21, and 22^nd in case anyone is interested in going.
Door prizes were drawn: Winners were, Lisa, Loree, Lisa, Marsha

The Block Lottery: Marsha won the blocks this month and Linda shared next month’s Block Lottery block. It was the Triangle Strip Block which consists of 4 pieces. Linda had printed directions. Next month, Lisa does her block for August.

PROGRAM
Westwood Acres Fabrics has had lots of experience in blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, and Instagramming. We invited them to give us some information on tech tools and using them for our quilt guild and personal use. They shared some recent makes. On Instagram most people like to see finished quilts. They said when they posted finished quilts, they got the most hits.

They explained that most businesses like online fabric businesses have at least a Virtual Assistant and a Physical Assistant.

They explained that the value of Social Media may be great in some areas, but that we have a loneliness epidemic in America, too. It is better to know the people and have fewer contacts than to have many friends and they be mostly people we don’t even know.

@sewshabbyquilting was another site they recommended.

They shared how they start designing a quilt by:

1. Drawing the block, first

2. Working to eliminate seams

3. Figure out finished measurements

4. Figure out unfinished

5. Figure out quantities to buy

Hashtags were explained as folders to keep info. Following hashtags can be fun. The feed is filtered. Some recommended following are: #igreads #quiltblock

For our Quilt guild members were reminded to look at #ecmqgsews

When typing hashtags go to the next line right after punctuation…no space.

Instagram—she recommended just exploring as well as Pinterest.

Another good book is by Penney Sturgis is The Toolbox.

On Pinterest we reminded our members we are: Emerald Coast MQG

Show and Tell, Lunch and Sew Day followed an exciting meeting.

May 2018 Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order promptly at 10:00 by Loree our President.

Loree’s activity of the month: Fishing! $1 ticket for a chance to fish and win.

OLD BUSINESS

Arrive early to assist, visit and sign in.
Sign up for Show and Tell, we are celebrating making
Sign up for Food Sheet for upcoming meetings as you check in for attendance.
Please continue to make auction items for our November online fundraiser. Popular items include: pillows, bags, zippy bags, baby and dog items.
The Tiger Lily Tote challenge is in June. It is a bag challenge using at least some of the Kona COTY which is Tiger Lily this year. The bag will be yours to keep. The guild has Tiger Lily fabric for sale.
Strip piecing will be delayed until June. Please bring your strip piecing materials for the next Sit and Sew.

Treasurer’s Report: Linda presented a treasury report.

NEW BUSINESS:

A roll of batting was purchased.
Jill donated a baby quilt which Maureen volunteered to bind.
Lisa volunteered to make a carrot cake to auction next month as well as one for our luncheon.
Wendi expressed a need for recruiting new members. The board will review options at the next meeting.
Loree discussed a month of “Help! How do I make this work?” where we bring in unfinished and perhaps difficult projects and get help from our fellow sewists.
MQG 2019 Quiltcon EastMQG is in Nashville in February, 2019. MQG has announced the colors for their 2019 Charity Quilt. Design proposals will taken and voted on by the guild. Provide the following information: cost estimates, timeline, and proposed work sessions. Deadline for submissions TBD.
QuiltCon registration opens at the end of June. Go to the website now and look for the list of faculty and their descriptions, so that you can decide what classes/lectures you would like to take. In 2020, Quiltcon goes back to Austin, TX, where it originated. Quiltcon hotel information is available on the MQG website. The Lecture Series is a good way to go if it is your first time at Quiltcon. The Quilt show is fantastic and even the Quiltcon rejects on Instagram are awesome!
On May 3^rd there is a survey you can take to help determine the decisions made by MQG.
We received a letter from the Pensacola MQG about Joe Cunningham coming as a speaker. He is known as Joe the Quilter and is online mostly an art quilter.
Loree opened discussion of introducing a designer each month as a learning experience. For example, Cotton and Steele, announced a group of new designers coming onboard. Cindy explained how you can follow fabric shops and designers on Instagram and learn more about them. You can also subscribe to newsletters from: Hawthorne Threads, Intrepid Threads, I Love Fabric, Pink Door, Stash Fabrics, etc. to name just a few. Pinterest boards are another way to follow modern fabrics and designers. ECMQG has a pinterest board that shows modern fabrics and designers.We talked about some of the retro designs that are supposed to be “modern” designs that we have our doubts about.
We also discussed the Craftsy free weekend during this Mother’s Day weekend. Cristina Camelli was mentioned as a great free motion quilter we might want to watch during this free weekend. You Tube has Angela Walters who is beginning a new type of classes. Might want to check these out also.

Block Lottery winner was Lisa. Bobbi presented the next block lottery block, Two Way Street Block by MSQ. Use any Allison Glass, except for her batiks and Kona Charcoal. She had Kona Charcoal for sale. Thank you, Bobbi!

Program: Loree shared hand embroidery stitches, how to transfer pictures to cloth, types of threads and tools, books that are good about embroidery, etc. We brought some of our projects in to work on during Sit and Sew and Loree gave some one on one lessons to several people.

Door prizes went to: Wendi, Faye, Marsha, Bobbi (2), Linda, and Lisa.

Show and Tell:

Amy—utilitarian scrap swap bag for Jill
Wendi—a finish with the quilt that looks like banners. Utilitarian and traditional.
Marsha—already completed bag with Kona Tiger Lily and Puffy quilt for grandson. Both, utilitarian items.
Maureen shared a quilt she had redone and her Doctoral thesis that is finally complete! Congratulations Maureen!

A yummy lunch was enjoyed by all and Sit and Sew included machine sewists and embroidery sewists.

April 2018 Meeting Minutes

The April Meeting of the Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild was called to order by president Loree promptly at 10:00 a.m.

Flower Power fundraiser – buy a $1 ticket for a tissue paper flower and a chance to win a cake. Cindy was the lucky cake winner

Our guests were introduced: Megan, Pat’s daughter came visiting with her, and it was good to see Jane and Amy whom we haven’t seen in a while.

Reminders:

Sign up for pot luck, be sure to take a turn at the entrée category
Sign up for Show & Tell and add details
Come to the meeting before 10 a.m. if possible to help set up
Our sit and sew for the Strip Piecing quilts will be next month in
May instead of this meeting.
Reminder: Be making auction items. We had quite a few zippy bags donated from our Valentine swap. Keep making.
Our Tiger Lily (Kona color of the year) challenge is due at the June Meeting. These bags are NOT a swap, as you will be keeping your own creation.

We discussed Quilter of the Month on our blog and did not come to a conclusion for sure on whether we would do it. Everyone seems to want others to do it, but not themselves.

Our memorial quilt was delivered to Emerald Coast Hospice for the Celebration of Life ceremony and is now hanging in the front office at their Fort Walton Beach location.

Treasurer’s Report: Linda provided a report. Our monthly fundraisers devised by Loree are fun and successful. We will purchase a roll of batting for guild use.

Door Prize winners for this month are:

Linda, Natalie, Natalie, Linda, Wendi, and Cindy

We received a letter from the guild in Santa Rosa, CA., thanking us for our donation of fat quarters.

We received the Modern Inspirations book which is the exhibit from this past MQG convention and placed it in our library.

We discussed a possible Sew Along from Wendi on the Sew Together Bag. You can get this pattern from Craftsy for $12. The group agreed this would be fun, however no time has been decided on yet.

Our May meeting program will be on Handwork by Loree.

We discussed a possible program on Navigating Tech with Wendi. Possible topics were reviewed: Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and the MQG website. Most wanted to know more about the MQG website.

Show and tell:

Natalie showed four The Cube bags she made for the bridal shower and The Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks she completed for a shower gift.

Block Lottery—3/4 Log Cabin quilt by Pat. The lottery was won by Loree! Congratulations

May’s Block Lottery was chosen by Laraine and comes from the MQG website. It is called Asymmetry. Colors: All solids: white background, black stripes, one strip a pop of color. A scant ¼” seam is needed for this block.

Laraine presented a program called “Stuff It.” She demonstrated how to finish a pillow top. She also created an ECMQG Pinterest board of ideas. This program was a lead-up to the Holiday Dirty Santa Swap Pillows scheduled for the December meeting.

Natalie and Loree presented a modern/not modern floral program with examples on cards that were discussed by the group.

Following the meeting was a wonderful lunch and productive sew day!

Strut - May 2018 Block Lottery Info

This months block comes to us directly from The MQG, one of the benefits (patterns, discounts, webinars, etc.) of membership. (Not a member? Join here or here.)

Strut, from February 2017, is an exercise on how to use asymmetry to make bold quilt blocks or quilts.

Loree and Laraine liked the suggestion given by the block's designer, Silvia Sutters, about using color to help define asymmetry within an individual block so much, we are running with that exact idea - black and white with a single pop of color!

(Black and White Strut blocks and bright Kona FQs)

Silvia is an accomplished designer, pattern writer (quilts and garments), and teacher whose work has appeared in print and digital magazines you might own - Modern Patchwork, QuiltCon, Make it! Patchwork, Simply Moderne, and Love of Patchwork and Quilting. Her online patterns can be found here.

(Black and White Strut block with Kona Pomegranate )

ECMQG will not post the link to the PDF. Please sign-in to your MQG account, navigate first to the Community section then the Resources section. Once there, type 'Strut' in the search bar.

(Black and White Strut block with Kona Dahlia)

Please use Kona White for your background. There is no manufacturer preference for the black pieces or for the pop of color, other than using quilt shop quality fabrics.

(A stack of Kona solids - Dahlia, Pomegranate, Tomato, Sunny, Pickle, Parrot, Malibu)

Choose a color you love... a color you've been hoarding... a scrap... a piece of a new FQ or F8 you've been waiting to cut into.

(Cool and warm stacks of Free-Spirit solids)

You could even use a why-do-I-have-this-in-my-stash color!

(Black and White Strut block with Kona Pickle)

The instructions require you to print a muliti-page template. Check your printer settings beforehand and print to size. You will need to tape and cut your template pieces together.

Other important things to remember: a scant .25" seam allowance is absolutely necessary because of the number of seams (unless you choose to cut your pieces slightly bigger and trim down once each is sewn); a light spritz or two of starch eliminates stretch and distortion; seams within the striped portion should be pressed towards the darker fabric.

Lastly, as seen in the photos, the pop-of-color chosen to replace ONE of the black pieces can be any of the five sizes listed in the instructions.

As always, thanks for participating! We'll see you May 12th when we'll choose a winner of these bold and minimalist blocks! You can't win if you don't sew.

Where Does Your Rainbow Lead? - Meeting Minutes March 10, 2018

Our meeting began promptly at 10 am with the clanking of the bell by our junior member Ava.

Old Business

* Our zippy pouch swap from February “Bring Two, Take One” added 8 new items to our upcoming online auction inventory.

* The Tiger Lily challenge was discussed. A bag or tote using a pattern (or not) that the maker is comfortable with. Tiger Lily fabric was on hand for purchase. (We bought ours at A Quilter's Place)

* Members were reminded to use the guilds Pinterest boards for ideas. Boards have been created with specific programs in mind.

* Mary will be heading back home with beachy “Bits of Friendship” for her modern group at The Pine Tree Quilters of Muskoka.

* Hospice quilt deadline is March 22.

New Business

* We looked at and discussed the category winners from QuiltCon.

* Members discussed the purchase of a roll of batting for charity quilts, members voted, all agreed to the purchase.

* Laraine will be presenting the April program “Something Pillowy”.

* The March program was presented by Natalie on Modern Blenders.

Design, color and motifs were discussed. A card with a side by side fabric swatch was passed around to each member, then discussed why the fabric was either modern or traditional.

* Members wanting to participate in the Modern Blender F8 Fabric Swap were asked to sign up for warm, cool or neutral fabrics.

F8’s are due at the April meeting. Instructions for cutting are in the blog March 2016. Members were reminded to shop locally.

* Natalie will be on hand at Sit and Sew to help members that started their Strip Piecing project work toward completion at the April meeting.

* Mary won the Knee Socks Block Lottery.

* Pat presented the April Block Lottery, 3/4 Log Cabin by Ara Jane Olufson using bright saturated colors.

* Door prizes were won by Linda, Lisa, Natalie, Loree, Laraine and Jill.

* Natalie won the drawing for the Pot of Gold!

3/4 Log Cabins - April 2018 Block Lottery Info

For the month of April, Pat is taking a turn at hosting our block lottery.

from Pat

She picked a bold and modern 3/4 log cabin that is anything but traditional!

from Bobbi and Cindy

Pat's inspiration is from the blog 'you know what I love?' by Ara Jane Olufson a quilter from the other side of the country, Seattle. Like many blogs now, hers has succumbed to inactivity, but if you click around, you'll find beautiful quilts and several tutorials.

Read about the planning and design thoughts for Ara Jane's quilt blocks and tutorial here. We are making ours exactly the same way. It does involve a little bit of improv piecing, but it's not crazy improv piecing if that makes sense.

from Pat

Pat started with a pile of richly colored solid fabrics which she cut into various size strips. The point of having different width strips is where improv piecing comes in to play - each log cabin will have three sides of the same color, but they can be different widths.

from Pat

You could also work from scraps building out your blocks from what you have on hand if you don't want to cut yardage.

from Cindy

Some of your cabins will be singles measuring 12.5" x 12.5" once you've added three or four rounds (or five!!) of color and trimmed to size.

from Linda

Some could be doubles, stacked on top of each other or nestled side-by-side to get to that all important 12.5" x 12.5" measurement.

from Bobbi

Variety in colors, as well as variety in the scale of your cabins within the individual blocks are more improv components.

from Loree

Play. Have fun. Make colorful blocks.

from Cindy

You know you want to win!

We owe big thank yous to Pat for bringing this block to our attention, to Ara Jane who enthusiastically gave her support and permission allowing us to link to her tutorial, and to the makers (Pat, Bobbi, Cindy, Linda, and Loree) for the samples pictured in this post.

ECMQG Ambassadors of Modern Quilting at the Surfing at the Beach Quilt Show

Wowza! Put a goal out there, then make it happen. That’s what members of the Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild did. Our display of minis showcasing Flamingo, the Kona COTY 2017, at the Surfing the Beach Quilt Show by The Flying Needles Quilt Guild looked great!
Since this was our first time having a booth at the show we were a little unsure how it would come together. Luckily our members were able to dig into their stash of finished projects to help prop our booth.