June Meeting Recap!

The summer is flying by!   I hope everyone is staying dry and cool in this rain and heat.  Here is a review of the June meeting and some information for the upcoming months.

 

 Here is one more view of the completed charity quilt for Project Linus, using QuiltCon colors.  Thanks to everyone who created this beautiful quilt for a good cause!  We also discussed the amazing Charity Sewing Day we held in May for Project Linus, and 20 quilts were made for children in need!

We are continuing with the two Round Robin quilts, and they are almost ready to be completed and donated as small quilts for Project Linus!  If you have any nice unfinished blocks that you would like to use as the "center squares" of our next Round Robin quilts, please bring them into the meeting!  

 

For June, Johanna requested a "put a bird on it" theme!  She made a Pinterest inspiration board for her block, which you can see HERE.  All of the blocks turned out great, and they were in a wonderful range of styles (pieced, applique, wonky, etc.).  

For those who don't understand the "put a bird on it" reference, it comes from a satirical sketch show called Portlandia.  You can see the original clip HERE.

 

We had our "Fifty Shades of Grey" block raffle, and one lucky member won all of these beautiful blocks!  Thanks to everyone who participated...maybe you'll be the lucky winner next time!

 

Jessica gave a presentation about her role as a fashion/design/textiles teacher in the Broward school district.  She had some amazing show and tell pieces, and it was great learning about all of her wonderful and talented students!

Round Robin

Put a bird on it

Jessica

We continued to discuss the Modern Quilt Guild's decision to formalize its membership for the various guilds across the globe.  We have a few months to decide whether we would like to continue being part of the overall Modern Quilt Guild organization or become an independent guild.  Formalizing membership would provide a number of benefits, but it would also require us to charge dues (about $30 a year), plus form a board and become a tax-exempt organization.  

Quilt News and Events:

--eQuilter is requesting quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims.  Click HERE for more information about how to donate quilts.

--The American Quilter's Society is hosting a Modern Quilt Challenge, with $6,000 in prizes!  Quilt entries are due in August.  Click HERE for more information about how to enter quilts into the competition.

--Check out the news from the mailbag HERE and HERE

We discussed the ongoing Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  

http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/

For our "Things to Bring" for our July meeting, we are bringing two items:

a)  a Fat Quarter of fabric (18" by 22")

of a "fall-themed" fabric, for a swap.

b)  a block using THIS tutorial, in the 12 inch size, with scrappy colors and a white background.  One lucky member will win all of the blocks!  Here is a sample of the blocks:

We had some fun door prizes, including a mini quilt kit and books!  Please feel free to bring in any items you want to de-stash...we are always in need of fun door prizes!

Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great June show and tell photos!

Reminder:  our next meeting is Saturday, July 20th, from 10am to 12pm at StitchCraft.  See you soon!

~ Nicole Kaplan

November Meeting Recap!

Happy December!  It's hard to believe that the holidays and the end of the year are quickly approaching.  We had a busy November meeting and planned for the months ahead.  Here is a quick recap of the November meeting:

1.  We viewed the completed group quilt, which turned out beautifully!  It has been entered into the QuiltCon show, and we may also enter it into the upcoming Broward show.

2.  We have two Round Robin quilts starting up, with great center panels as an inspiration.  If you are interested in adding a row or side to the quilts, just speak up at the next meeting.

3.   We discussed the donation quilt to QuiltCon (not our citrus-colored one).  In a subsequent email, I asked for additional blocks or yardage to complete the quilt top.  Please bring the blocks or yardage to the December meeting.

4.  We discussed the Bee blocks for November.  Bee members were asked to make "improv chevron" blocks using THIS tutorial.  It was challenging but fun! 

October's Bee Blocks

We also noted that the Bee was ending after the December meeting.  If you are interested in joining Round 2 of the Bee (it is a yearlong commitment), please sign up at the December meeting or email me!

5.  We had Sarah, a wonderfully talented quilter, discuss her beautiful quilt labels and ideas about how to label quilts.  It is a great way to add history and value to your quilts!

6.  Quilt News and Events:

--The Boca Raton Museum of Art is still hosting a show called "Politics Not as Usual:  Quilts with Something to Say."  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit, don't miss out on this wonderful event! 

--The New York Metro Mod Quilters, eQuilter and Bumble Beans are requesting quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims.  Click HERE for more information about how to donate quilts.

--Quiltcon (the Modern Quilt Guild's first convention) will be hosting a quilt show in February.  

7.  We discussed the ongoing Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  

http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/

8.  For our "Things to Bring" for the December meeting, members are requested to make "holiday crackers!"  

Steps:  (a) find an empty roll of toilet paper; (b) stuff the inside of the roll with a few small quilt notions, such as a spool of thread, a needlebook, a small pincushion, etc.; (c) wrap a piece of fabric (about a fat quarter size) around the toilet paper roll and tie a bow at either end to make it look like a wrapped piece of taffy; (d) swap the crackers at the next meeting and get your surprise treats!

9.  As another December event, we are having Johanna from StitchCraft discuss the latest collections and finds from Quilt Market!  Come for an interesting discussion!

10.  As a final December event, feel free to bring in (non-messy) holiday snacks for a potluck celebration!

11.  Just in case you missed the last post, the newest quilter, Sabrina Judith, was born on November 26th, 2012 at 10:41am.  Everyone is happy and healthy! 

Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great November show and tell photos!

~ Nicole Kaplan

September Meeting Recap!

Happy autumn!  We had a short but sweet September meeting, followed by a great trip to the Boca Raton Museum of Art to view the quilt exhibit!  Here is a quick recap of the meeting:

1.  We admired the beautiful entries from StitchCraft's summer sewing challenge!  There were a lot of amazing entries, and it was fun to see the creative ways that everyone used the focus fabric.  We also found out that the grand prize for next year's challenge will be a BabyLock sewing machine!

2.  We admired the beautiful finished chicken block quilt, made with the paper pieced blocks from the August meeting.  It looks so fun and will be donated to a child in need, thanks to Project Linus!

Thank you to Jeanne for the incredible quilting!

3.  We also admired the completed Round Robin quilt!  This will also go to a child in need through Project Linus.

Another big thanks to Jeanne for quilting this piece!

4.  We viewed the great quilt blocks that folks made for our group quilt.  We hope to enter the group quilt into QuiltCon and/or the Broward quilt show.  

As a reminder, blocks are due at the OCTOBER meeting! 

Click HERE for instructions.  

Some of the completed group quilt blocks.

More completed group quilt blocks.  Beautiful!

Fabric for the Group Quilt.

5.  We enjoyed checking out the Bee blocks for September.  Bee members were asked to make colorful wonky log cabins.  Love the wild colors and modern shapes!

6. Quilt News and Events:

--The Boca Raton Museum of Art is still hosting a show called "Politics Not as Usual:  Quilts with Something to Say."  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit, don't miss out on this wonderful event! 

--The Gold Coast Guild is hosting a contemporary quilt show at the Highland Beach library from August 1st to October 26th!

--Quiltcon (the Modern Quilt Guild's first convention) will be hosting a quilt show in February.  

--Quilters are donating quilts to aid and comfort forest fire victims in the Western US.  General guidelines are: adults 72x80 inches, children 60x70 inches, and babies 45 inches square.  The quilts are being mailed out by the end of October.  If you're interested, email me for more information.

--The Mancuso World Quilt Show will be held in West Palm Beach from November 8th through 10th.  It is a great event, with lots of beautiful quilts and vendors.  The Gold Coast Quilters Guild is also having a special "red and white" mini-show at the event!

6.  We discussed the new Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  

http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/

7.  In lieu of "Things to Bring" for October, we are just finishing our QuiltCon group quilt blocks.  Feel free to also bring in lots of show and tell!

Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great September show and tell photos!

October Meeting Reminder

:  Save the date for Saturday, October 20th, from 10am to 12pm!  

As a special treat, we will have a very talented long-arm quilter guest speak about the ins-and-outs of longarm quilting.  Also, please feel free to bring in your show and tell, especially if you have Halloween-themed show and tell items!

~ Nicole Kaplan

November Meeting - Things to Bring

Our inaugural meeting in November is coming up in less than a month!  Each meeting, it would be great to have the attendees make and bring something to the meeting.  Accordingly, here are November's "things to bring":

1.  Make a nametag for yourself!

You can make the nametag as simple or complicated as you like.  Try some embroidery, piecing, or just use a marker on some colorful fabric.  This is a perfect opportunity to try creating a nametag using Tonya's new book, Word Play Quilts.

HERE HERE and HERE are other great photos of some nametag ideas.

2.  Bring a fat quarter (or two) of fun fabric!

Modern and/or whimsical fabrics are preferred.  We will be doing a Yankee Swap so get ready to share and swipe your favorites.  If you bring two fat quarters, you will have two chances to participate.  Check out this Youtube video of a Yankee Swap marriage proposal.  Too cute!

Of course, please bring the standard items for each meeting as well.  You can find the general list HERE. See you soon!

 

~ Nicole Kaplan