New Charity Blocks - Fish Block C

If you haven't seen Fish Block A or Fish Block B, check it out on the previous post.

This is the second of a 3 block series, which will inspire your creativity.

Meet the medium fish!

Directions for Block B (or download the PDF!)

These directions were written by Michelle Boyd for the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild May 2014 charity block. The fish blocks are 12 inches, finished. These directions are for block C, which has two small fish.

Cut:

•  Background: big triangles (C) - one square 4 7/8.
• Background:  small triangles (C) - one square 2 7/8.
• Background: small square (C) - two squares 2.5.
• Background:  rectangle (C) - one rectangle 6.5 x 4.5.

Fabric for each fish. You will make two fish for this block so you will need 2 different fabrics. From each fabric cut:

• big triangles (C) - one square 4 7/8.
• small triangles (C) - one square 2 7/8.

How to make one block:

Step 1

Start with a 4 7/8 inch square each of the background fabric and one of the fabrics for
the fish. Draw a diagonal line on the back of one of the squares. Pin them right sides
together. Sew 1/4 inch on either side of the line. Cut on the line. Now you have two
half square triangle units for one of the fish bodies. Repeat with the the other 4 7/8
inch squares of background fabric and fish fabric.

Step 2

Lay the two half square triangle units out so that the fabric for the fish makes a bigger
triangle. Sew them together to make the fish body.

Step 3

Repeat Steps 1 and 2 with the small squares to make the tail sections.

Step 4

Sew one of the small background squares to either end of the tail section. Repeat for
the other tail section.

Step 5

Sew the tail piece to the back of the body piece, matching the center seams. Repeat for
the other fish.

Step 6

Now you have some choice about how to configure this fish block.

• What direction do you want the two fish to face? 
• Do you want them to go in the same direction or in opposite directions? 

Lay the block out the way you want. Our only suggestion is that the fish are staggered, one high and one low in the block. Now, sew the rectangles to the top of one fish and the bottom of the other fish. Then sew the two fish together.

New Charity Blocks - Fish Block B

If you haven't seen Fish Block A, check it out on the previous post and start your own school of fish!

This is the second of a 3 block series, which will inspire your creativity.

Meet the medium fish!

Directions for Block B (or download the PDF!)

These directions were written by Michelle Boyd for the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild May 2014 charity block. The fish blocks are 12 inches, finished.

There are three different blocks. These directions are for block B, which has one medium fish.

Cut:

• Background: big triangles (B) - one square 5 7/8.
• Background:small triangles (B) - one square 3 3/8.
• Background: skinny rectangle (B) - one rectangle 3 x 8.
• Background: big rectangle (B) - one rectangle 5 x 12.5.
• Background: small squares (B) - two squares 3.

• Fabric for the fish: big triangles (B) - one square 5 7/8.
• Fabric for the fish: small triangles (B) - one square 3 3/8.

To make one block:

Step 1: 

Start with the 5 7/8 inch square of the background fabric and the fabric for the fish.

1. Draw a diagonal line on the back of one of the squares. Pin them right sides together.
2. Sew 1/4 inch on either side of the line. Cut on the line. Now you have two half square triangle units.

Step 2:

Lay the two half square triangle units out so that the fabric for the fish makes a bigger
triangle. Sew them together to make the fish body.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2 with the small squares to make the tail section.

Step 4:

Sew one of the small background squares to each end of the tail section.

Step 5:

Sew the tail piece to the back of the body piece, matching the center seams.

Step 6:

Now you have some choice about how to configure this fish block. You can sew the
skinny rectangle of background fabric either to the top or to the bottom of your fish
section. Then you can sew the big rectangle to either the the front or the back of the
fish section. Notice that the fish can be made to swim to the left by rotating the whole
block 180 degrees.

Good job! Thanks for making someone's life better!!!

New Charity Blocks - Fish Block A

Happy Fish are the new charity blocks starting with the meeting on May 17. There are three different blocks (A, B, and C). You will use your own scraps for the fish and take backgrounds from the guild at the meeting or make 9+ blocks entirely from your own materials.

Directions: Block A (download PDF)

These directions were written by Michelle Boyd for the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild

May 2014 charity block.


Vitals:
The fish blocks are 12 inches, finished. There are three
different blocks. These directions are for block A, which has one big fish.
pieces:

Cut:

• Background:big triangles (A) - one square 6 7/8.
• Background: small triangles (A) - one square 3 7/8.
• Background: rectangles (A) - three rectangles 6.5 x 3.5.

• Fabric for the fish: big triangles (A) - one square 6 7/8.
• Fabric for the fish: small triangles (A) - one square 3 7/8.

Piecing:

To make one block:

Step 1: 

Start with the 6 7/8 inch square of the background fabric and the fabric for the fish.

1. Draw a diagonal line on the back of one of the squares. Pin them right sides together.
2. Sew 1/4 inch on either side of the line. Cut on the line. Now you have two half square triangle units.

Step 2:

Lay the two half square triangle units out so that the fabric for the fish makes a bigger
triangle. Sew them together to make the fish body.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2 with the small squares to make the tail section.

Step 4:

As shown in the diagram, sew one of the background rectangles behind the tail piece.
Sew one rectangle to the top of the tail. Sew the last rectangle to the bottom of the tail
piece.

Step 5:

Sew the tail piece to the back of the body piece, matching the center seams.

GREAT JOB! Thanks for making a charity block!

May 2014 Meeting

We had a great time at the meeting Saturday. People have been doing really great work and everyone is looking forward to the Retreat.

The next Sew Day is June 7, 10am -11pm. Look for details on the Ning and RSVP there.

Hope you can make the next general guild meeting, which is on June 21.

San Mateo County Fair: Lynnette kindly offered to take our quilt entries to the San Mateo County Fair intake day. She left with a  pack of quilts. We will arrange pick up at a later time.

Amish Exhibit: November 2014 at SJMQT. Joe Cunningham will do jurying. Entries are due October 1, so get busy designing. ;-) Kelly is organizing a small group to encourage people to work on their projects and get them ready for the exhibit. Remember half of them will need to be for sale and the proceeds will be shared with the museum. You can set your own price.

Jacquie Gering Workshops: July 26, 27 - there are still spaces available, so if you want one for a friend or haven't signed up yet.

Charity: There is a new block for this quarter - the fish block. There are actually 3 fish blocks, which are the same parts in different configurations. Look for directions and handouts soon. 60 finished charity quilts will be taken to the NICU at Stanford this week. Peggy finished a number of them in the past on  charity sew day.

• From the Cat Bed department: Amanda couldn't make the meeting and will accept schnibbles in June only. Bring your fabric scraps and batting cut into sizes of 3" or smaller next meeting.

Small Groups:

• Hand quilting and hand piecing - the group has been expanded to include other kinds of handwork. Angela worked on a binding while Rhonda stitched hexagons together using the English Paper Piecing method. She bought a Tula Pink kit to get started.
• Jaye brought blocks for the Tula Pink City Sampler small group, but the rest of the members were curiously absent.
• We saw Nicki's finished Round Robin and Cheryl's almost finished Round Robin in Show and Tell, but no groups met.
• Nobody in the Color groups  met. 

Personal challenge: bring a hand quilted or hand pieced project to the next meeting.

December 2014 has been reserved at the Los Altos Library for an exhibit of Modern quilts. All sizes welcome. More details forthcoming in June or July.

If you have not received an email from MQG setting up a username and allowing you into the members only site, respond to the thread on the Ning. You must be a paid member of BAMQG.

BAMQG and the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild are participating in the Swap Challenge Swap Extravaganza. People who brought orphan blocks could sign up to make something that will be exchanged with someone at the St. Louis Guild. All orphan blocks were turned in. They will be doled out by Angela to anyone who signed up (contact Angela if you were not at the meeting and want to play). You won't get what you brought, but someone else's orphan block to work on. Then the projects will be turned in and sent to St. Louis and the SLMQG will send us a package back and those items will be doled out. You will be able to make anything and do anything with the orphan block you receive. Some ideas are:

• placemats
• coasters
• tote bag
• zipper pouch
• lanyard
• wall hanging
• etc

Meeting TODAY!!!

Here's a friendly reminder that our Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild meeting will be held today, May 18, at our usual meeting room in the Redwood City Library. The meeting is scheduled to start at 1:00. 

Things to bring:

• Show 'n Tell
• Personal Challenge Item (quilted tote bag)
• Your name tag
• Charity blocks and quilts
• Small Group projects (City Sampler blocks, hand quilting projects, information, Round Robin projects)
• Information about local/national quilty happenings
• Non-messy snacks
• San Mateo County Fair quilt entries -- Lynette will deliver them if you'd like! (Thank you Lynette!!)
• an orphan block (or two. or ten.)
• *Enthusiasm and a positive attitude! 

Special Notice: Please do *not* bring schnibbles for the cat beds! Save them up for the June meeting please!

Please note: the above list is not necessarily all-inclusive. It's quite likely there's something important that's been left off, so if you think of something that should be added, please speak up at the meeting! 

There will be lots of time to visit, too, especially after the meeting. So plan to stick around and have some fun!. Meet new friends, chat with old friends, and eat some yummy snacks!

May Personal Challenge: Tote Bag

The personal challenge for May makes use of your quilted piece from last month. If you didn't practice your machine quilting, you can still do it and then make the bag.

These are very loose instructions. There are enough bag makers in the group to get help if you need it.

 

Take your quilted piece and "square it up" -- going for clean lines, not perfection here. If you have a serger or overlock stitch, go around three sides of the panel (sides and bottom). If not, or if you want a cleaner look inside, then you can either make a lining, or do Hong Kong seams (essentially narrow single fold bias enclosing the sides/bottom of the piece) or French seams (but that will be bulky for a later step...may want to reconsider that, but it is doable).

Then fold the piece in half, Right Sides Together, and sew the short side and bottom of the bag with a generous 1/4" to 1/2" seam allowance (or do the French seam if you'd prefer). 

Bind the top, same as you would a quilt. Gives a nice finish!

Box the corners -- depth is whatever you'd like. Generally, I go for a visually pleasing proportion, which allows you to play around with the look. That just means that it depends on what purpose the bag has. If I want to carry bulky things, like quilts, etc., I go a little deeper (4" deep or so). If it's for cutting mat/rulers/fabric, then a narrower depth (up to 2"). 

Attach handles -- length and placement is personal preference. I usually figure out the length I want by trial. These are added last since placement depends on the depth of the bag.

Next Sew Day is Tomorrow!!!

The next sew day is:

•  TOMORROW: Saturday May 3, 2014
• 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM
•  Los Altos Library meeting room
• 13 S. San Antonio Road
• Los Altos, CA 

If you plan on being there please respond to the discussion on the Ning.  Shout out if you can bring some light non-messy snacks.  In addition we could use:

• Irons (3)
• Ironing boards (3)
• Large cutting mats (2)
• Design wall (2)

New policy, if you are the first one there, please go into the children's room and check in with the children's librarian. She will open up the doors, and the storage room doors for the chairs. 

Reminder, bring and extension cord along with your machine.  Night owls, you may want to bring your own iron, ironing board and cutting mat.  The last one out, please see that both doors are closed and the front exterior door closes completely.
Hope to see you there.