March Meeting Notes

The March meeting was very fun. WOW! We had a lot going on and welcomed several visitors and new members. Hope you were there and were able to enjoy it as well.

1. Getting to Know You Question: To what music do you listen while quiltmaking? OR what TV show do you watch while quilting?

The answer were fun and surprising. Not everyone listens to something while sewing. Yes, we have a few silent quiltmakers.  Many listen to the radio and enjoy stations and shows such as KFOG, Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!, NPR, Coffee House on Sirius radio, Marketplace on NPR, the Giants' games and, surprisingly, we have two members who enjoy sports radio!

The TV watchers love NetFlix and watch various shows there. Others love romance comedies, Sex in the City, the E Network, House of Cards and other 'grownup' TV shows. Drop Dead Diva was mentioned as was Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The music crowd likes a wide variety including Jazz, Country Western, classical, ColdPlay, Adel and the dance channels.

There were some outliers who don't watch TV or listen to music in additio to the radio listeners. These outliers listen to podcasts, audiobooks and one member is trying to learn Swedish while she quilts!

This is a fun way to get to know each other better so we hope all of you will feel comfortable answering the question when attending the meeting!

2. Opportunity Quilt: the ticket sales at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association show went well. Amanda reported that we made $240 on the sales. Many tickets were given away, as mandated by the guild's tax status. This turned out to be a great marketing opportunity as many people were willing to stop for a minute and talk. The drawing will be at the November meeting and Amanda is looking for venues to show the quilt and increase sales.

3. Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association show went well. BAMQG has 3 bays of quilts, which held about 15 quilts. The Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association show committee reported a slight decrease in attendance (under 10%), but BAMQG members who attended reporting liking the quilts and the vendors.

4. Make it Modern Challenge (Alternative Grid): <Members should check the forum for more info>. the challenge is due at the May meeting. There is some information on the MQG blog about alternative gridwork.

5. Sew Day: due to Easter and Passover there will be no Sew Day in April. Get together with a friend, if you are free, and sew some Charity quilts. The next Sew Day is May 2, 12-8 in a new location in Sunnyvale. Look for Peggy's post about it with more details and information.

6. Charity: there are a number of small and large quilts to quilt. Kits are available for the postage stamp blocks or you can make your own. The Charity Girls needs the LeMoyne Star blocks back, so if you have one bring it to the next meeting in whatever form it is in. The LeMoyne Star block pattern was the special charity block pattern from a few months ago.

7. Cat Beds: Check the email sent out before each meeting to find out if Amanda is taking schnibbles. If you are making cat beds, be sure to double stitch each seam as they get hard use and. The cat beds that come apart after being donated to the shelters are thrown out, which we don't want. Cut your schibbles to 3"-5" or less and ~11" long by less than 1.75" wide for strips.

8. Several members talked about their QuiltCon attendance. The best part for almost all of the attendees was connecting with people they know from social media. There was an amazing swag bag given out. One member took a class from Bill Kerr who reminder her (and us by proxy) not to let the quilting distract from the design. He also gave the definition of "modern quilts are quilts that relect the times in which we are living" to modern quiltmaking. One member mentioned a good blog post on judged quilts. Christaquilts blog reviewed the judges' comments on her QuiltCon quilt entry.

Advice was also given:

• don't take classes the whole time. Leave time to meet people
• take one class because it is a fun way to channel all the inspiration. It is also a good way to meet people
• arrange in advance to meet with people

9. Quilty Happenings

• SF Quilters Guild Show was last weekend. None of could go because we were all at the meeting. The show was not held on Sunday
• Saturday was also National Quilting Day
• TQS had free shows all weekend
• Stitch Modern Show is from March 27-April 25 at the Piedmont Center for the arts. Times vary, so check more info on their blog.
• Abby Glassenberg podcast, While She Naps
• Peninsula Quilters fabric sale on May 2 at the Lion's Club building in Washington Park in Burlingame, 12-3.
• There was also a fabric and craft rummage sale in Los Altos over the weekend
• The C&T Warehouse sale was over the weekend.
• The Ventura Modern Quilters are having a guild meetup, to which you are all invited, on April 18.

10. Destash Party: there was a ton of stuff people wanted to give away and most of it went to new good homes. You had to see it to believe it.

11. Show and Tell was fabulous as usual! What great work our group does! Photos are posted on Flickr and the forum.**

12. Next meeting: April 18, 1pm at Redwood City Library in the Community Room









**If you want to view the forum, you need to be a member. Send your $40 dues via PayPal to: bamodernquilt@gmail.com