Mod Bee - February Blocks

We have started a virtual quilting bee for South Florida Mod, and 10 lovely ladies are members so far!  For February, I am the "Queen Bee."  I asked the other ladies to make a scrappy chevron block, using THIS great tutorial.

Here are my sample blocks, which were a lot of fun to make:


Still interested in joining the virtual Bee?  We have a "Queen Bee" spot open for November...send me an email for details!

"Things to Bring" for February Meeting

For the February meeting, here are your "Things to Bring!"

1.  SCRAP BAG
a)  As part of our "Scraptacular, Scraptacular" meeting in February, we are having a scrap swap!  Please bring a small ziploc baggie (quart size) of your scraps!  If you have a lot of scraps, feel free to bring two baggies for an extra swap!  Please include usable scraps of cotton fabric, approximately 1 inch on each side or larger.  
Scrap-a-licious!
b)  If you have any projects that you've made with scraps, please bring them for Show and Tell!
c)  Check out this amazing website for great scrap quilt ideas (look on the right-hand side of the page for FREE patterns):  http://www.quiltville.com/


2.  STRIPS FOR OUR GROUP QUILT
We are continuing to bring in strips for group quilts, which we are sewing together for Project Linus' wonderful cause.  This is an ongoing project and benefits a wonderful cause! 

a)  Size:  Please bring in at least one "strip" of fabric that is 44/45 inches wide (the width of quilting fabric from selvage edge to selvage edge).  It can be any height, but should probably be at least 2.5 inches tall.
b)  Pattern:  You can piece the strip with interesting patterns.  Alternatively, you can just bring plain strips (or excess Jelly Roll strips).
c)  Color:  If you piece your strips, please include at least a bit of white in the strip.  If you bring in plain fabric strips, any color is fine.  


3.  FABRIC, PILLOWCASES AND/OR SEWING MACHINE (OPTIONAL)
StitchCraft is holding a sewing day to make pillowcases for children in need of a smile!  ConKerr Cancer provides cheerful pillowcases to pediatric cancer patients as a way to brighten hospital rooms.

On Friday, February 17th (10am-4pm) and Saturday, February 18th (1-4pm, after our meeting!), you can "sew a smile."  StitchCraft has kits for sale and a limited number of free kits from customer-donated fabric.  A few options, if you want to help:  (i) come with your sewing machine to sew some pillowcases; (ii) drop off completed pillowcases (instructions and fabric requirements are HERE); or (iii) donate juvenile-suitable fabric for a great cause.


4.  MISCELLANEOUS
Of course, don't forget your standard "Things to Bring" for each meeting (you can see the standards items HERE).  Feel free to email if you have any questions.  See you on Saturday, February 18th at StitchCraft!

January Meeting Recap

Another successful meeting of The South Florida Modern Quilt Guild!  We had about 25 lovely ladies in attendance last weekend.



For those who didn't have a chance to attend, here is a quick recap:

1.  We welcomed everyone and had an icebreaker game.  It was fun to hear everyone's stories and get to know our members a little better!
2.  We discussed our upcoming meetings and events:

3.  February Meeting:  Scraptacular, Scraptacular!

  • On Saturday, February 18th, we will be having a regular meeting at Stitchcraft from 10am to noon.
  • The theme of the meeting will be scraps!  Learn about how to sort and handle your scrap collection.  See samples of scrap projects.  Hear from members how they use their scraps.
  • Johanna from Stitchcraft has graciously offered to demonstrate the Accuquilt system, a great item for cutting your scraps into useful sizes and shapes!  

4.  March Meeting and Field Trip:

  • On Saturday, March 17th, we will be having a casual field trip to the Quilters By the Sea Quilt Show in Fort Lauderdale!
  • We will hold a regular meeting at Stitchcraft from 10am to 11:30am.  Afterwards, we will be caravanning down to Fort Lauderdale together (in our own cars) to see the show.  You can return home anytime.
  • No fee for the field trip, aside from the cost of show admission.
  • We encourage everyone to come to the meeting, whether or not they are attending the field trip afterwards!
  • If folks from Fort Lauderdale are meeting up with us directly at the show, we will probably arrive at the show around 12:15pm.

5.  April Sewing Day:

  • On Saturday, April 20th, we will be holding our first sewing day instead of our regular monthly meeting!  It will be held from 10am to 2pm (4 hours of glorious sewing)!
  • The sewing day will be held at the new Boca Raton Library on Spanish River Boulevard (not Stitchcraft that month), which is a beautiful space.
  • We will be sewing mainly to support Project Linus, an amazing group that gives small quilts to children who are sick or in need.
  • The fee is $150, unless at least 2/3 of the individuals live in the City of Boca Raton.  We may or may not be able to meet that criteria, so there may be a small $10-$15 cover charge (to be determined).  
  • Bring your own sewing machine, iron (And ironing board), extension cord, fabric, batting and sewing supplies.
  • Be on the lookout for child-friendly fabrics!  Pull from your stash, stock up online and shop at Stitchcraft.  Fabric.com and Fabric Shack online tend to run good sales.
  • Please invite knitters, other sewers and folks who want to participate in a great cause.
6.  We had a great member-led "Ten Minute Tutorial" on bindings.  

7.  We discussed Round Robin quilts and Quilting Bees.
  • Bring in any of your small unfinished quilt projects for a Round Robin!  The piece will be given to another interested quilter, who will add on to the project.  It can make a few "rounds," and you'll end up with a beautiful collaborative quilt to keep!
  • Quilting Bee signup was a success, and those who have contacted me or signed up will receive an email soon.


8.  We talked about quilt news in the area and handed out fliers for upcoming events.
9.  We laid out the strips for our strippy quilt, which will turn into a Project Linus quilt.
10.  We decided on February's "Thing To Bring" (to be posted in an upcoming post).
11.  We showed off our beautiful mug rugs and had a swap.
12.  We did a Show and Tell of our latest projects.
13.  We had a doorprize raffle of fabrics, magazines and Girl Scout Cookies!

Here are some photos of the meeting:

Binding tutorial.

Strippy quilt layout










Project Linus Quilt #1
Project Linus Quilt #2

Mug rug madness!


"Things to Bring" for January Meeting

For the January meeting, here are your "Things to Bring!"

1.  MUG RUG
As a follow-up to our great mug rug tutorial from the December meeting, we are having a mug rug swap!  Please bring in one (or more) completed mug rugs that you would like to swap with other members.  Mug rugs can be any size, but 6 inches by 9 inches is usually a good standard.

For those who are asking "What the heck is a mug rug?," check out this link:  http://www.twomoreseconds.com/2011/03/mug-rug-madness-what-of-mug-rugs.html

For those who need mug rug inspiration, check out these great links:
http://www.twomoreseconds.com/p/mug-rug-madness.html
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mugrugmadness/


2.  STRIPS FOR OUR GROUP QUILT

Size:  Please bring in at least one "strip" of fabric that is 44/45 inches wide (the width of typical quilting fabric from selvage edge to selvage edge).  It can be any height, but should probably be at least 2.5 inches tall.

Pattern:  You can piece the strip with interesting patterns (such as flying geese, stripes, log cabins, etc).  Alternatively, you can just bring plain strips (or bring in excess Jelly Roll strips).

Color:  If you piece your strips, please include at least a bit of white in the strip.  If you bring in plain fabric strips, any color is fine.  

Here are example photos from the New York Metro Mod Guild, who created their own strip quilt a year or two ago:

Strips that each member brought.  Some were plain, some were pieced.  All were beautiful!

The finished quilt!


Detail of the finished quilt.


Of course, don't forget your standard "Things to Bring" for each meeting (you can see the standards items HERE).  Feel free to email if you have any questions.  See you on Saturday, January 21st at Stitchcraft!

Guild Discount - Pumpkinvine Corner!

For those who couldn't attend December's guild meeting, we have been offered a special discount by the owner of Pumpkinvine Corner!  This online store is a great supplier of discount Aurifil thread (a wonderful thread that quilters love for piecing and quilting).  Here is the special offer for South Florida Mod members:


1.  Decorative wire quilt hangers are 25% OFF!



Samples.  Lots of styles available on the website!

2.  Spools of Aurifil 40wt thread have been reduced to $7.75!  The 40wt spools (green plastic spools) are slightly heavier and stronger than the 50wt spools (orange plastic spools).  They are great for machine and hand quilting, and the quilting stitch stands out a little more.



The offer is good until January 31, 2012.  If you are interested, please email us for the special discount code.  Thanks to Pumpkinvine Corner for this amazing offer!  

December Meeting Recap

We had a great meeting in December, and it was so much fun seeing everyone again!





For those who didn't have a chance to attend, here is a quick recap:

  1. We welcomed everyone and recapped the concept of modern quilting and what it means to be part of the Modern Quilt Guild movement.
    1. We discussed examples of modern versus traditional quilts, including "Jelly Roll race" quilts.
  2. We discussed the goals of South Florida Mod:  the education of quilters in modern quilting techniques, the creation of community through swaps, group challenges, members teaching members, sewing days, charity activities and possible group quilt shows.
  3. We discussed what we needed to do to reach our goals for South Florida Mod:
    1. We discussed advertising the guild and handed out fliers.
    2. We discussed the idea of a Guild sewing day, possibly in February.
    3. We discussed the possibility of a field trip to a quilt show in Fort Lauderdale, which will be held in March.
    4. We heard all about Project Linus and how we can help children in need by making small quilts for donation.
    5. We discussed a virtual quilting bee for the Guild.
  4. We talked about quilt news in the area:
    1. We handed out fliers for upcoming quilting events in the area.
  5. We had a "ten minute tutorial" from a member discussing mug rugs!
  6. We had a brief break while we explored the shop, ate some snacks and chatted.  :)
  7. We had a great show and tell session, where members displayed their beautiful quilts and works in progress!
  8. We held a ninepatch swap.
  9. We decided on next month's swap and group quilt.
  10. We wrapped up the meeting by holding a raffle, of quilt books and various items!
Here are some photos that I took, which showed some of the beautiful show and tell examples.  Feel free to email me with your photos!

Learning about mug rugs.













Other Information:  
If anyone is interested in joining our Guild's virtual monthly quilting bee, we will be starting that up soon.  Email us if you're interested in participating.  Find out what a "virtual monthly quilting bee" is HERE (this was a sample for another guild)!

I will post the "things to bring" for January in another post soon.   The next meeting is on Saturday, January 21st from 10am to 12pm!

PS:  For those who are interested in Jelly Roll races, here is a video!

Sun Sentinel Article - Stitchcraft and South Florida Mod!

I wanted to share this great new article that appeared in The Sun Sentinel today!  The story discusses the opening of Stitchcraft (the beautiful quilt shop where we hold our meetings) in Boca Raton and the resurgence of quilting as a popular hobby.

We also got a quick mention in the article...check out the highlighted sentence!




We're (almost) famous!  You can read the entire article HERE.  Congratulations to Johanna for the fabulous article about Stitchcraft.  It's well-deserved.

See everyone on Saturday for our second meeting.  Don't forget to bring a folding chair (or two), a show-and tell-item and a ninepatch block for our swap!


More Holiday Ninepatch Blocks

Two of our members sent photos of their completed holiday ninepatch blocks for next week's holiday block swap!

Charlotte sent in a picture of the numerous ninepatch blocks she made.  She notes, "I had some scraps left over from a old Moda holiday square package and couldn't stop making these cute little 9 patch wreaths."  Great job!


Carolyn states, "I went with a Halloween theme and used the fat quarter that I received in last month's fat quarter swap.  I sewed some scrap strips together then cut out the half square triangles."  Looks fabulous, and I'm so happy that you got to use the swap fabric from last month's meeting!

 

Keep sending in your great photos, and I look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday!

How to Post on the Blog

We have set up South Florida Mod as a blog format.  How does this differ from a normal website?

Member participation!  Members of South Florida Mod are encouraged to post photos and other items to the blog as often as possible.  It's a great way to show off your latest projects, let members know about quilting events in the area, ask advice (we've all had the "eek, how do I quilt this" conundrum), and post photos of your challenge and swap blocks for the guild meetings.  We also intend to use it for announcements about guild meetings.

If you don't have a blog, this is a great way to show off your projects online!  If you do have a blog, you can link back to your own blog and increase your readership!  You can also add your blog to the Blogroll on the right-side of the page.

As an example of how we intend to use this site for South Florida Mod, please visit the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild (the NYC chapter of the Modern Quilting Guild).  They have a great, active site that members constantly use!  Click HERE for their blog.

Want to post to the Blog?  Click on Posting to Blog and Blogroll now!