Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild

Sew Day March 3

2012-02-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned, there will be no meeting in March (sniff!). As such, there is still time to attend the private sew day Cynthia is hosting to which BAMQGers are invited.

When:Saturday, March 3

Where:The Whisman Station community clubhouse in Mountain View

Time:9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Cost: $20

Please RSVP to cynthiammarshall [at] att [dot] net NOW. You can pay the day of the event. Cash or checks made out to Melodee Wade are accepted.

CelebrateMarch and indulge in a day of sewing, inspiration, and camaraderie with MelodeeWade and Cynthia Marshall. Finish up a pesky UFO or tackle something new withexpert instruction and the support of your quilting community. Local teacherand long-arm quilter, Melodee Wade, will be on hand all day to help you withyour quilting challenges and to support your progress with any other assistanceyou need.

The daybegins at 9:30 am with coffee and a little something. We’ll also bring in alight lunch. Twenty dollars covers…

• A full day of sewing with expertassistance from Melodee.

• The cost of the room rental.

• Set up and take down of tables and chairs.

• Special areas and equipment for ironingand cutting.

• Morning coffee and treat.

• Lunch and beverages.

All youdo is bring your projects and your sunny dispositions! This event is not restricted to BAMQG members, so feel free to bring a friend -- and make new ones. It's a friendly, creative group of people you'll be glad to meet.

PleaseRSVP to cynthiammarshall [at] att [dot] net NOW so we can make plans! We'll send directions a few daysbefore the event.

New Member Coordinator

2012-02-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

The New Member Coordinator is one of the first people you will meet when you join!

Your name Sara M.
Your position New Member Coordinator
Your understanding of what the position entails I welcome new members and answer any questions they might have. I also make name badges and membership cards and approve new people on our forum.
Your hopes and dreams for the position My hope is to make new members and potential members feel welcomed into the guild and make the process of becoming a member as easy as possible.
The successes so far : I have already met many new people this year. We already have 45 official members for 2012! I am excited to see us grow even more as we continue this year!
How you are planning to pass information and what you have learned to the next person
I like the idea of creating an informal 'best practices' guidelines as we figure how to best communicate with people who are new to the guild.

New Member Coordinator is a really important position! This coordinator can make or break first impressions. When Sara isn't around we all need to step up and welcome new people.

Great work, Sara!

If you have comments or suggestions, please comment below.

Charity Co-Coordinator

2012-02-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

Your name: Jennifer A.
Your position: Charity Coordinator (Along with Deborah)
Your understanding of what the position entails: Organizing charity events for the guild, including picking projects along with charities, collection donations, making kits, organizing volunteers for completing quilts and distributing finished quilts to the various charities.
Your hopes and dreams for the position: My hopes and dreams WERE for the group to complete 24 quilts this year, but I think we are going to do even better than what Deborah and I had hoped for!
The successes so far: Below are the finished quilts we have so far! We also have quite a few quilts distributed to various guild members who have volunteered to finishing the quilts.

How you are planning to pass information and what you have learned to the next person: I think this has and continues to be a great learning experience for me. Deborah and I are in contact with each other through-out the month. We continue to adjust our plans according to the feed-back we receive from the guild. We want to make this as rewarding for all as we do good for others. By the end of the year we will know what works and what does not, and will happily pass this information on.

With charity quilts, every little bit helps. Can you make one block? Yes, that puts the guild one block closer to a finished quilt. Want to practice binding? Charity quilts are a great way to practice. Tired of a project? Donate it to the charity bin and something gorgeous will be made from it.

Comment below with ideas!

Charity Co-Coordinator

2012-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

The Charity Coordinators, Deborah and Jennifer, have made a big splash with the group in the charity arena. They have encouraged members to participate every month by bringing back blocks and quilts, binding and generally working together to spread some quilty love.

Your name Deborah A.
Your position Charity Co-Coordinator
Your understanding of what the position entails Organize charity quilting projects. Coordinate volunteers for piecing, quilting, binding and labeling the guild's charity quilts. Communicate opportunities outside of the guild's projects for members to get involved in charity sewing.
Your hopes and dreams for the position Hoping to inspire members to do some charity sewing, though it looks like the inspiration was already there judging by the enthusiasm so far! The plan is 24 quilts in 2012: four quarterly projects, six quilts per quarter, and a different charitable organization for each quarter.
The successes so far : We have 3 finished quilts, and 6 quilts in the hands of guild members in various stages of completion, and we're only in the first quarter!!! Thanks to all guild members who have generously donated their time and talents making blocks, piecing tops, quilting and binding!
How you are planning to pass information and what you have learned to the next person Most probably a recap of the year by quarter.

Some quilts the group has already finished

Spool quilt

16 patch quilt

Yellow-Green squares

Check out the Flickr Stream for more photos of Charity quilts.

If you have quilts or blocks you want to donate contact Deborah or Jennifer. Pat yourself on the back for your own contributions to this effort.

Sew Day Coordinator

2012-02-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

In the blog's continuing effort to inform the membership about what it takes to put on meetings and events, our Sew Day Coordinator, Diana, has this to say:

Name: Diana L.

Position: Sew Day Coordinator

Job: Plan Group Sewing events. This includes sew-days and the post-meeting sew-cials.

Hopes: I'm hoping to have monthly sewing events. I'm shooting for a varied schedule to accommodate people's needs (Saturdays, Sundays and Friday evenings). Once the ball is rolling for these events, I might plan activities or challenges for some of these events, such as technique demonstrations and instruction, or challenges to make something in a short period of time. We might also try to run a charity-only sewing event, where our group primarily focuses on charity sewing for the day.

Successes: One Sew Day in January, two more already booked (March 23 5-11pm and April 21 10am-10pm).

Information: I plan to document a list of potential host locations for group sewing events, along with the contact information and costs involved. I also plan to list out the "best practices" (once we figure these out) for bringing shared items such as irons, ironing boards/mats, design walls and snacks.

If you have ideas for Diana for locations or anything, leave a comment or contact Diana at a meeting. If you can demonstrate or bring something for an upcoming sew-cial, see Diana as well.

Thanks!

BAMQG Winter Retreat 2012

2012-02-19T23:05:00.000-08:00

BAMQG Winter Retreat 2012 is almost here!

Can you believe it??

Here is list of what to bring and other details you shouldknow.

If you have any questions, feel free to send email to the RetreatCommittee and Attendees at bamqgretreat2012 [at] googlegroups [dot] com.

Must Have's

Sewing supplies & projects
Sewing machine manual and accessories
Cutting mat and rotary cutter
$$ for meals

Optional

$$ for fabric (see Buying Fabric below) ;-)
Coffee/tea mug (to save resouces)
Water bottles/cups (to save resources)
Desk lamp if you prefer extra lighting
Chair Cushion
Stuff for the Freebie Table
Scraps for the Scrap Heap - This is your chance to get rid of scraps you'retired of and/or pick up something new and different. Very informal. "Have a few, leave afew. Need a few, take a few." Leftovers will go to charityprojects.
Extension cord and/or Power Strip if you have them handy.

Just for Fun
Bring a photo of the 1st quilt you ever made! (Optional)
If you prefer, you can Ning message this in advance to Rhonda or Angela

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL YOUR PHOTO TOTHE WHOLE RETREAT GROUP!!

Buying Fabric
If you would like to shop for fabric during the weekend, you havethree options.
1) Our very own Julie Dueck of Intrepid Threads will bring fat quartersfrom her shop on Friday for you to browse. She will be taking orders and will bring your fabric, cut-to-order, onSaturday. How cool is that?

2) Field trip to Hart's Fabric in Santa Cruz on Saturday morning

3) Natural Expressions in downtown Los Gatos

Ironing
The Retreat Committee will be providing a common area forironing. In addition, each hotel room has its own ironing board and iron that can be brought to the sewing room. So,unless you have an ironing board or iron that you can't live without, you can leave those items at home. Feel freeto bring a small ironing board for your personal area if you wish.

Cutting Area
The Retreat Committee will be providing a common area for cuttinglarger projects and/or for pin-basting. If you have an extra cutting mat to contribute, do bring it.

Snacks
Our contract with Los Gatos Lodge states that we are not permitted to bringoutside food and drink into our sewing room. But do not despair! The Retreat Committee hasarranged for catered snack breaks at various times throughout the weekend. Snack breaks are included in the fees you havealready paid. Also, the Bar and Grill is right across the hall from the sewing room, and we are permitted to bring food anddrinks from the bar into the sewing room. Of course, you can always takea break outside on the patio, or in your hotel room. Your room isequipped with a mini fridge for your convenience.

We look forward to seeing you Friday!

Demo Coordinator

2012-02-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

Your name - Rhonda L.
Your position - Demo Coordinator
Your understanding of what the position entails - My job is to arrange demos throughout the year to take place at our normal monthly meetings.
Your hopes and dreams for the position - I would like to showcase all the great talent we have in our guild so that the members can learn from one another. I am also hoping to invite members from nearby guilds to do demos as well so that we can broaden our knowledge base. I would like to focus on some basic skills like binding and machine quilting for those who are new to quilting, and also mix it up with some intermediate and advanced skills with a focus on "What is Modern?" for members who are ready for more challenges. I am hoping that many of our demos include a workshop as well so that members will get a chance to try out new skills first hand.
The successes so far - We had a great AccuQuilter demo by Patti Schafer at our January meeting, but I don't get credit for that, because I had nothing to do with organizing it. I am looking forward to organizing our first demo in May.
How you are planning to pass information and what you have learned to the next person - I plan to set up an area devoted to Demos on our Forum site so that members know where to go for information on upcoming demos. This will also serve as a historical record of all the talent we have to draw from in the future.

If you have comments, suggestions or want to volunteer to do a demo or help Rhonda, make a comment below.

Swap Coordinator

2012-02-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here is our second interview with guild swap coordinator, Amanda! Amanda highlights that she can't do it alone and has already been working with other people.

Your name: Amanda M.

Your position: Swap Coordinator

Your understanding of what the position entails: Setting up what I hope are some FABOO and FUN swaps to get us all stretchin' outside our comfort zones, and makin' and swappin' and givin' some great gifties! This year we're shooting for three swaps - the current pillow swap, and then a fun swap in the summer, and a year-end holiday swap like last year's.

Your hopes and dreams for the position: My dreams are small: I'd just like people to have FUN and get some excellent swap items out of the process! And of course, I'm always open to hearing ideas for swaps. Our second summer swap idea came from one of our members - and not me! :)

The successes so far (charity and retreat, I am looking at you!) ;-): So far we are in the midst of what I hope will be our first successful swap: THE PILLOW SWAP! We had 20 members bring in bags of scraps, that were turned into me and then given back out anonymously. We'll see the reveals in April 2012, and I'm SO looking forward to see what everyone made!

How you are planning to pass information and what you have learned to the next person: Probably via an email document, and serving as a reference for them when they do swaps. I think one of the great things about doing swaps is giving the organizer freedom to figure out some fun and exciting ways to do it - let them run with their ideas! But it's good for them to have someone to talk to who has been there before, in case they need help.

Thanks for sharing your plans and dreams, Amanda!

Do you have comments or ideas? Leave them here in the comments area.

Speaker Coordinator

2012-02-14T09:21:00.000-08:00

The blog will be highlighting the various coordinators that make our guild work. Here is the first!

Your name: Cynthia M.
Your position: Speaker coordinator
Your understanding of what the position entails: Bringing interesting and relevant speakers to speak to our group.
Your hopes and dreams for the position: A minimum of two speakers this year.
The successes so far (charity and retreat, I am looking at you!) ;-): Joy-Lily's presentation in February.

Thanks to Cynthia for stepping up. Leave comments and feedback for Cynthia in the comments section.

Sew Day - March 3

2012-02-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

There will be no meeting in March (sniff!). As such, you may want to attend the private sew day Cynthia is hosting to which BAMQGers are invited.

When:Saturday, March 3

Where:The Whisman Station community clubhouse in Mountain View

Time:9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Cost: $20

Please RSVP to cynthiammarshall [at] att [dot] net. Then you can pay the day of the event. Cash or checks made out to Melodee Wade are accepted.

The daybegins at 9:30 am with coffee and a little something. We’ll also bring in alight lunch. Twenty dollars covers…

• A full day of sewing with expertassistance from Melodee.

• The cost of the room rental.

• Set up and take down of tables and chairs.

• Special areas and equipment for ironingand cutting.

• Morning coffee and treat.

• Lunch and beverages.

PleaseRSVP to cynthiammarshall [at] att [dot] net at your earliest convenience so we can make plans! We'll send directions a few daysbefore the event.

Habitat Quilt Process

2012-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

This charming story was sent to your editor and demonstrates how process can work in certain circumstances. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, a normally sane and productive quilter walked into a quilt shop and chose eight fabrics at random, while blindfolded. She brought the fabrics home, sight unseen, and dumped them out on the table. Lo and behold, there she found one gorgeous fabric (small dots on gray background), and... well... seven others.

Seizing the opportunity to "help", her enthusiastic cat, Gizmo, promptly leapt up onto the table and barfed on one fabric, and left copious amounts of cat hair on several others.

Totally undaunted, the intrepid quilter set out to make a modern masterpiece. "I will embrace my inner Wonky!", she declared, as she began to cut out pleasing wedges for her "organic" design. Several hours later however, she realized that her wedges were more "Wacky" than "Wonky".

Not easily discouraged, she thought, "Never mind. I can fix this. I will change my design and add some solids, and it will be fine." Thinking that the "overly bright" fabrics needed to be "diluted" (like adding ice to a glass of scotch), she chose three of the palest solids she could find. "This will help!", she said confidently, and "Yes! Why not have scotch over ice while I'm at it?"

So she poured herself a scotch on the rocks and proceeded to sew strips of pale solids between the wedges of misfortune to create strips of disaster. "There! That's better!", she thought, until she stepped back from her design board and realized that things were not moving in the right direction. "Those strips are too wide!", she exclaimed. It's too much ice! I need to add scotch!" But alas, she had no more scotch -- I mean, fabric -- so all she could do was remove "ice".

Feeling much less energetic at this point, she decided not to rip out the strips of pale solids and cut them down. Instead, she sewed a seam down each strip to narrow it. "No one will even notice.", she thought.

After she sewed the seams and stood back to admire her handiwork, she thought, "Ah! That's much better! Now I have strips of wedges and solids, and all I need now is a some sashing. What color should I use?" She pulled a few candidates out of her stash and showed them to the dog. "Why not let him choose?," she thought. "He has good taste." She laid the fabrics on the floor, and without hesitation, he flopped down on his favorite.

"Baby poop brown it is!! I could not have chosen better myself!" And as luck would have it, that very color appeared in seven of the eight fabrics...all the fabrics except that lovely gray one with dots.

So she sewed in the sashing with renewed gusto, and was totally delighted with the result. "Now I need the perfect name for my perfect quilt. I know!," she said. "I will call it 'Hangover'"

Thanks to Rhonda for her contributions!

~Jaye

February Meeting Notes

2012-02-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

The Bay Area Modern Meeting was yesterday and fun as usual. There is much talk of the upcoming retreat and also of the recent Sew Day. 46, the most EVER!, attended the meeting and the group had its first ever speaker. Lots of firsts.

A-B-C Challenge

There are about 7-8 participants. Diana just joined by doing one block and Jennifer joined, doing a-J (minus I). I really like this challenge. It is great that I have a reason to make a block every month (not that I really need an excuse).

A-Z challenge blocks

Angela brought two Hawaiian blocks (far left). I love it that she is doing these blocks in Hawaiian fabrics. Most people don't use Hawaiian fabrics as regular fabrics for regular blocks.Michelle is doing her blue and white blocks (also far left). It occurred to me that she might have the hardest job of all since not all blocks are suitable for two colors.Kathleen's blocks are still the black, white and red ones. She is doing a good job choosing how much print to put into each block.

Crayon Quilt

Jennifer's blocks

Jennifer is using the Lazy Girl ruler for her blocks (middle with all the points). She has just started the challenge and is catching up.

Jaye's blocks

Lynnette's Blocks

My blocks are on the top right. Lynette's are the grey and green on the bottom right. I like the way Lynnette's blocks have an on point sort of look. Many of them have half square triangles in the corners. She made a Glacier Bay block as well and it is really great to see how different it looks from mine. She uses fussy cutting in her blocks and the technique in Glacier Bay is particularly effective.

Speaker

Our Speaker was Joy-Lily. Check out the member spotlight for more background information on her.

Joy-Lily Prep

Joy-Lily brought books, Carefree Quilts, and quilts to her talk. The quilts she brought were all from her book, so we didn't get a sense of the evolution of her work. She organized the talk to coincide with sections of the book, which was a good idea, especially if one had the book and could follow along. A clever portion of the book is that if you make all the blocks you end up with an extra block from each of the projects with which you can make a sampler quilt. Joy-Lily had someone else make the sampler quilt and the maker did a great job. I really like the colors.

Sampler

All the quilts from the book are all kind of wonky.

Leaf Quilt

Disappearing 9 Patch

Flying Geese

Sewing Time
Adrianne was a madwoman (in a good way!) on getting us to our sewing time. We were done with show and tell at 3:05 and everyone started moving tables, setting up machines and working away. I
I wish I had gotten a photo of the little sewing pod in the middle of the room. Ruth, Adrianne, Kathleen and bunches of other people were set up there. Such a buzz of activity! It was wonderful.

Charity Quiltmaking
Deborah and Jennifer collected bunches of more fabric and quilts and other necessities for the charity quilts the group is making for the NICU at Stanford. It feels good to be helping children and their families in need. People retrieved more packets of fabric to make more of the 16 patch blocks (2.5" squares, 8 of a color and 8 white). Jennifer confirmed that the background can be any white.Good know in case you have scraps that would cut up to 2.5".

The charity goal is 24 quilts this year. They already have 6 so they think they will surpass that. Ruth quilted on project and handed it off to Angela for binding. Michelle is working in a series on stars and is using the charity project to perfect her star motifs. I think she has 3 charity quilts in progress. Stop for a moment, BAMQGers, and give yourself a pat on the back for your contributions!

Swaps
The Echo challenge is due in April. Ruth, the amazing Challenge coordinator, distributed fabric in January. If you haven't started, now is the time.

Amanda, the fabulous Swap coordinator, started a scrap pillow challenge. People brought bags of scraps and those bags were redistributed to others. Remember:

fill your pillow with a pillow form
consider a slightly larger size than the cushion cover you have made
if your bag says "scraps back", please return the scraps with your finished pillow
that BAMQG discount at Joann may come in handy if you need to purchase a pillow form
many of the pillow swaps on the web are 18", but choose any suitable size. Anyone doing a neckroll? ;-)

February Meeting: Ready? Set! Go!!!!

2012-02-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

The meeting is tomorrow!

DATE: Saturday, February 4th

TIME: 1pm-5pm LOCATION: Redwood City Public Library, Main Branch

Agenda

We have another great meeting planned. This meeting will have a speaker!!!
Joy-Lily will speak to us from 1-2pm about her life as a quiltmaker, and about her new book. Please come a few minutes early to get settled in.

Retreat: Rhonda will give us an update on the retreat.
Show and Tell.
New Swap

1-2pm Joy-Lily lecture
2-3pm Show and Tell, Swap, Retreat update
3-5pm Sewing

Stuff To Bring:

Show & Tell
ABC Blocks, This month's block name should start with letter G
Charity Blocks (Instructions)
Extra Fabric, batting, or orphan blocks for the Charity Bin
Project to work on
Supplies for your project such as sewing machine, extension cord, etc
Snacks

You can review the full post with many more details. It was posted Wednesday February 2. If you have any questions, contact me (or any of the other officers.

See you tomorrow!

February Meeting Prep

2012-02-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

We have a meeting coming up this Saturday and we hope you will all make it. As always, we will have the meeting between 1-3pm and open sewing from 3-5pm.

Logistics and Particulars

DATE: Saturday, February 4th

TIME: 1pm-5pm LOCATION: Redwood City Public Library, Main Branch

Retreat: Rhonda will give us an update on the retreat.
Show and Tell.
New Swap

1-2pm Joy-Lily
2-3pm Show and Tell, Swap, Retreat update
3-5pm Sewing

NOTES:

NO Question of the Month
NO Guild business
NO Sew Day Report (go read the blog post)
Joy-Lily's book will be available for purchase during the meeting for $27.99 (cash or check)

If you've never been to a meeting, come and join us!! The first meeting is free.

If you want to see a glimpse of what goes on at our meetings, read the post for new people.

Dues

Last month was the time to renew. Our dues are $30 annually beginning in January. Make your checks out to, "Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild". You can also pay online using your credit card or Paypal account. Click on the BUY NOW button on our membership page.

Swap Info

A new swap for a new year. Our Swap Coordinator, Amanda, is leading uson a Scrappy Pillow adventure. If youwould like to participate, please remember to bring those scraps. How many? A paper bag full. What size paperbag? You decide! Bring a lunch bag, and you might get asort-of-scrappy pillow. Bring a largebag, and you will get a super-scrappy pillow. It's totally up to you. This swapwill be secret (somewhat). You will *know*you're getting a pillow, but each quiltmaker has full creative license to use yourscraps however they want. Members can read about it more on this forum post.

Stuff To Bring:

Show & Tell
ABC Blocks, This month's block name should start with letter I and J
Charity Blocks (Instructions)
Extra Fabric, batting, or orphan blocks for the Charity Bin
Project to work on
Supplies for your project such as sewing machine, extension cord, etc
Snacks

If you have any questions, contact me (or any of the other officers. See you Saturday!

Member Spotlight: Joy-Lily

2012-02-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that Joy-Lily will be speaking at the guild's February Meeting on February 4, 2012, 1-5 at Redwood City Library. The address is: 1044 Middlefield Rd., Redwood City, Ca 94063. We meet upstairs Community Room (the elevators are on the far left of the entrance). To get you ready for the meeting, here in a Member Spotlight with Joy-Lily!!!

1. Name:

Joy-Lily

2. In what city do you live?

San Francisco

3. How long have you beenmaking quilts?

Since 1985

4. How and where did you learnto quilt?

SF City College class with Caroline Libermann and through the SFQuilt Guild's various classes and by reading books.

5. Who inspired you to getstarted?

A woman for whom I sewed piecework squares into potholders. Thepatterns intrigued me.

6. Please describe your firstquilt:

It was a log cabin in turquoise,violet and red.

7. Where do you findinspiration?

I like to manipulate traditional quilt patterns to create newones.

8. Do you have a quilting"style"? If so, what is it?

Carefree and mismatched.

9. Do you belong to otherguilds besides BAMQG? If so, which ones and why?

San Francisco Quilters Guildis my local guild. It has many resources like a lending library lectures withwell known quilters and workshops. I have lots of friends there.

10. What do you generally dowith the quilts you make? Give away? Keep? Sell? Show?

Mostly show them.I rotate the large ones on my bed to enjoy them. I give away baby quilts.

11. What is your favorite blockpattern?

This week I'm messing around with King's Crown, so it's my currentfavorite.

12. In what room of the housedo you sew? Tell us about your sewing/quilting/crafting space.

My humongousbedroom is a quilt studio with a corner for sleeping and clothes. The rest istaken up by shelves of fabrics and books. There is a large sewing/cutting tablein the middle. Sometimes even the bed doubles for laying out blocks.

13. Do you create in any otherareas of craft? Is quilting your main creative outlet?

I also dye, paint andprint on fabric, sometimes all on the same piece. These fabrics are often formy quilts. My latest passion is for felting I make felt pictures and objects.Felt pieces are starting to wander into quilts too.

14.What is your favorite quiltbook? Are there any quilt books you recommend?

Naturally I recommend my book:Carefree Quilts – A Freestyle Twist on Classic Designs. It takes you through the basics of quiltingin a stress-free way. Joen Wolfram's books are a great resource forlearning about color.

Editor's comment: Joy-Lily has recently authored Carefree Quilts and it is available through a variety of bookstores and Amazon.
15. Are there any must havequilting tools?

I couldn't work without rotary cutting tools.

16. What are your favoriteshops either online or in the neighborhood?

The SF Sewing & Quilting Collaborative. I love working and teaching at the Quilting Collaborative because it is total immersion in everything quilting. Linda, who runs the foundation is a " yes and" person, up for most every new idea. Volunteers drop in and work together in a very collegial way. You've got to see this place to understand why I call it "quilt heaven".The SF Sewing and Quilting Collaborative, called the Quilting Collaborative for short, is at 2189 Bayshore Blvd. in the very southeastern part of SF - right near the Brisbane line. Their website is www.sfsqc.org. It is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make "warm hugs" for the community and to educate quilters. It is open Tuesday - Saturday about 11- 6 PM. One part is a longarm studio (topstitching available by donation and occasional classes that allow you to then use the machines.) Behind that is a classroom with a bunch of electronic Brother machines and every quilt tool one needs. The walls are lined with bolts of fabric used for the donation quilts. I teach a 6 session class there where students can do their own projects, in exchange for volunteering for 3 hours a session (+ my fee of $48). Next door is a fabric shop where the most expensive quilt yardage is $7!

17. Is there an area ofquilting you feel you would like to learn more about and why?

Free motionquilting on a home machine is a challenge for me.

18. Is there an area of quilting at which you feel you excel? Tell us about it. Do you prefer theprocess of designing, piecing, or quilting?

I love to design piecework and tostitch freehand with a long arm machine.

19.You have to evacuate yourhome quickly due to a natural disaster. What 3 things would you grab fromyour sewing room/space?

My laptop, as many quilts as I could carry.

20. Do you have a favoritesewing tip or trick?

Check ¼ inch below the edge to match seams. If they don'tline up, flip the seam allowances in the opposite directions. Twisted seams on the inside are invisible.

23.What else do you want yourfellow members to know that we have not asked?

I am a quilting instructor with23 years experience.

Check out more of Joy-Lily's work at her website : www.joy-lily.com

Take a look at our other Member Spotlights.

BAMQG Various & Sundry

2012-01-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here some fun links that might be of interest to members. Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks
Amanda has introduced us to her cat bed project. All People Quilt has a related tip about dog beds. Size them down to make smaller ones for Amanda's project. ;-) You can also use this tip to store your scraps until Amanda is taking them again.

Modern Patterns
Point me by Denyse Schmidt. Who will be the first to make it?

Quilter's Survey
Take the survey and tell the industry what you think. It closes on January 30!

Road to California
Check out the Flickr Stream of quilts from the show.

Tutorials

How to sew curves from Piecemeal Quilts.
Fresh Lemons Y seam tutorial.

Fabric
Aunt Edna from Denyse Schmdit is coming soon. Check out the DSQuilts website and follow her on Facebook.

Blogs and Web
Did you see the new look for the LizzieBCr8tive blog?

The Guild's First Sew Day

2012-01-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

The group held it's first Sew Day on January 21. There were about 20 people in attendance for most of the day, with about 10 people staying on from 4pm on. There was no meeting component and no scheduled activities, just people working on their projects.

We only had 11 tables for the room, so it was 2 per table during the busiest hours in the afternoon. We had 4 ironing stations set up for most of the day, but people mostly did cutting at their own tables. It's great to sit by the ironing stations because you get to chat with everyone when the come up to press their work! It's also great to sit by the back wall, which has a sort of fabric covering and worked as a huge (and semi-secret) design wall. Julie and Kathleen also brought design walls, and so many people were laying things out that there was also heavy use of the "design floor" areas near the windows.

People worked on a ton of projects. Some of them were:

Peggy - a postage stamp charity quilt for the guild
Sheetal - her first me-made blouse, with cute gathers in the back (Sheetal finished most of the blouse and then put sleeves on it the next day, wahoo!
Diana - wavy quilting on a curves quilt (Diana tried both free motion quilting and the walking foot over the course of her marathon day of quilting)
Adrianne & Julie - huge swoon blocks (Julie managed to finish two big swoon blocks during the sew day, leaving her 1/3 of the way done with this quilt!)
Lisa - half square triangles to recreate her first ever quilt with a more modern look (Lisa showed me her no-trim method for making multiple half square triangles and I am definitely going to try it!)
Colleen - Sewed stars and then laid out and assembled a fussy-cut Heather Ross Quilt (Colleen aaaaalmost finished this quilt top, she was working on the last row when we had to close up shop and go home at 8pm)
Ruth - Did an "over the hump" theme for the day, getting things rolling on several stuck projects: a postage stamp quilt from vintage sheet squares, an apron, oven mitt, and quilting her Kona challenge quilt
Kathleen - teal and red blocks
Jennifer - charity quilt for the guild, I believe, but I think she also did another project.
Deborah - red and teal cross blocks
Sara - was laying out a pretty quilt on the design wall
Mel - was laying something out on the floor in the corner but I didn't get to go see it (from the sew day pictures it looks like it may have been a baby quilt)
Claire - continued quilting a quilt that she started on the long-arm
Angela - quilted a cute quilt with one of my favorite animal prints on the back
Alison - I'm not sure what she was piecing, but she used the prettiest redish-orange and teal fabric to do it.
Lynette - 6 point-star quilt
Kelly was cutting in the back corner using an Accuquilt cutter, not sure what the project was for.
Rhonda showed the AWESOME robot quilt top that she recently finished, but I didn't get to see what else she was working on. She was very concerned about the South Carolina primaries going on that day, though.
Cynthia was there working away.

Kathleen took orders and picked up lunch for about half the people there at 12:30 (the rest went various places or brought lunch) and we all ate lined up in the sitting area right outside the sewing room.

People brought plenty of snacks and they lasted all day, although next time I'm going to bring my own tea bags. (Someone was trying to kill people by offering up decaf tea at 10am - the horror!) The coffee stand outside is really more of a self-serve deal with coffee for $1 per cup. I took a short walk down the street in the afternoon for a stretch break and to pick up some tea.

Overall, there was a ton of enthusiasm and people were really focused on their projects (unlike the sew times after our meetings, when more people use the limited time available to chat)

Also, in this room we are required to put away tables and chairs before we go home, and people were FABULOUS about taking care of their area before heading home. The last 5 of us to leave only had to put up our own stations and dispose of the remaining snacks before

Thanks to Ruth for helping with this report! You can find some additional thoughts about the day at Doodles and Designs.

~Jaye

January Sew Day

2012-01-19T21:05:00.000-08:00

DATE: Saturday, January 21

TIME: 10am-8pm

ADDRESS: Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, Ca

Food: The room rules state that we are allowed to bring "light refreshments" such as punch and cookies into the room. Basically, they want to keep it clean from spills and crumbs. You can bring your own lunch, or walk a few blocks into downtown Los Altos. We are not really planning out snacks, so use your own discretion.

Other Stuff: We will need to set up and take down tables and chairs, which are available at the library. Please plan to help with this.

Bring yourself, your machine and your tools. It should be a fun day!

January 2012 BAMQG Meeting Notes

2012-01-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

The BAMQG January meeting was Saturday.

Thanks for your Service

The 2011 Officers did a great job and the guild members took it upon themselves to get some gifts together. A few people made bags and everyone else added little bibs and bobs to create nice gift bags.

A-B-C Challenge

The A-B-C Challenge is going strong. We don't have many participants, but the blocks generated are wonderful.
From left to right the participants are: Lynette, Deborah, Michelle, Kathleen and Jaye.

Above is my G block for the A-B-C Challenge. It is called Glacier Bay and is from Around the Block Again by Judy Hopkins (pg.68). It is also a 6" block and I cut everything a little bigger and then trimmed. It is still a bit wonky, but I like the general effect. I don't remember ever seeing this block before. I think it would make a really cool secondary pattern if I put many of them together.

This is a great challenge as it allows people to make one block rather than a whole something. Kathleen wants to speed it up a bit, so we will be doing two letters each month for the rest of the year. Next month are I and J.

Question of the Month

Rhonda creates the QotM and this month it was: "What are your quilt resolutions?" Most were normal resolutions about finishing and curbing buying, but there was some variety as well.

use more than I buy
finish one project before starting another
buy less fabric
use scraps to make scrap quilts
finish virtual swaps and bees projects
teach
quilt one per month on the longarm
take sewing machine to be serviced
end year with 5 fewer UFOs than the year started with
improvise
organize so sewing does not take over house
make something from solids
stop fearing binding
make one charity quilt
bring something to show and tell
spend more time with real people than with sewing machine
trust the experience I am feeling
don't buy fabric I don't like
make husband a quilt
documenting quilts (labels and such)
be liberated and wonky
use orange and yellow
start a quilt/craft blog
make mom a quilt
try curved piecing
re-sort/organize fabric
finish husband's quilt
plan less and do more

Charity Quilts

Art Gallery Fabrics offers a bag of scraps free for people who will be using the scraps to make charity/donation quilts.

Two guild donation quilts were finished. A very large number of the postage stamp kits were returned as blocks this month. Almost all of the new kits were taken to be returned in February.

Accuquilt Go Demonstration

Patti provided an excellent Accuquilt Go demonstration. She also helped the charity/donation coordinators cut squares for more postage stamp blocks. Perhaps the guild should buy one to lend to members? ;-)

Echo Challenge

Ruth is the new Challenge coordinator and her first excellent effort is the Echo Challenge. The Echo challenge is a "Just for Me" challenge. Participants are directed to make something for themselves... something that they have wanted.

Some pattern ideas are:

Above are free patterns and they have not been tested. You can see some notes about the Sewing Machine Cover on Artquiltmaker Blog.

Schnibbles for Cat Beds

Sadly Amanda has too many scraps and will hold off taking any more until she has made more cat beds. She really needs help making the cat beds.

See you in February!

~Jaye

January 2012 Meeting

2012-01-03T08:53:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!

We have a meeting coming up this Saturday and I hope to see you all there. I'm excited to officially kick off the new year with our officers for 2012. This year's officers are Adrianne Ove, Kathleen Robertson, Sara Musko, and Amanda Materne. I'll also be introducing all of the new coordinators for 2012. We have an entire team of rock stars! : ) As always, we will have the meeting between 1-3pm and open sewing from 3-5pm.

DATE: Saturday, January 7th

TIME: 1pm-5pm LOCATION: Redwood City Public Library, Main Branch

We have a lot of excitement planned for the meeting. Patti will demo her new Accuquilt fabric die cutter. Rhonda will give us an update on the retreat. We will have a new Question of the Month and of course Show and Tell. If you've never been to a meeting, come and join us!! The first meeting is free.

If you want to see a glimpse of what goes on at our meetings, read the post for new people.

Ruth, our Challenge Coordinator is kicking of the year off right with FREE fabric (Echo by Lotta Jansdotter to be exact) and a brand new challenge. This is a guild sponsored challenge and you must be a member to participate. Ruth will be dividing up the fabric prior to the meeting on Saturday. If you haven't already, please RSVP on the forum, in this discussion.

Speaking of membership, it's time to renew. Our dues are $30 annually beginning in January. You can pay Sara by check or cash at the meeting. Please write your checks to, "Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild". You can also pay online using your credit card or Paypal account. Click on the BUY NOW button on our membership page.

Stuff To Bring:

Show & Tell
ABC Blocks, This month's block name should start with letter G
Charity Blocks (Instructions)
Extra Fabric, batting, or orphan blocks for the Charity Bin
Fabric scraps and schnibbles for Cat Beds
Project to work on
Supplies for your project such as sewing machine, extension cord, etc
Snacks

If you have any questions, contact me (or any of the other officers. See you Saturday! -Adrianne Ove

Member Spotlight: Adrianne Ove

2011-12-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Adrianne Ove

Name

Adrianne Ove

In what city do you live?

San Jose, Ca

How long have you been making quilts?

About 4 years

How and where did you learn to quilt?

I’m self taught through books, blogs, and tutorials.

Who inspired you to get started?

I was reading creative blogs like Wee Wonderfuls, House on Hill Road, the Mayfly, Hop Skip Jump, and Crazy Mom Quilts long before I started quilting. What lovely and inspiring women!

The one who actually inspired me to stop reading and get quilting was Dana from Old Red Barn Quilt Co. I joined a quilt along that Dana hosted in 2009. She is so much fun and she made the whole process seem very doable. I created a Flickr account, started a blog and I even tried free motion quilting. The support, inspiration and excitement that came from that group hooked me immediately. I continued on for two more rounds with the same group and made this quilt and this quilt.

Please describe your first quilt (Include a picture if you have it).

I don’t have a picture of my very first quilt, which was a baby quilt for a good family friend. I remember spending hours picking out just the right fabric. I do have a picture of my second quilt. This over-sized rail fence pattern was for the the original Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along. This is by far the most used quilt in my house even though it's far from perfect.

"Old Red Barn Co."

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere! I carry a notebook and a camera with me most of the time. My Regatta quilt was inspired by the local sailboat races. I see quilt designs in product packaging, television shows, architecture, clothing, children's books and all kinds of magazines. I also love creative blogs, Flickr and Pinterest.

"Regatta"

Do you have a quilting "style"? If so, what is it?

I don’t know what my style is yet. Someone recently described my quilts as modern and vintage at the same time. Reading that made me smile. I would say experimental right now. I love to try everything, tweaking what already exists and making it my own.

"Modern Peel"

Favorite quilting blogs?

I love too many to count. Here are some of them

Do you belong to other guilds besides BAMQG? If so, which ones and why?

Yes, the South Bay Modern Quilt Guild and the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild. I initially went to each one trying to find a guild to join. I met so many great people I had to go back for more. Since I became President of BAMQG, it has become my main guild.

Jaye and I at a BAMQG meeting

What guild job do you hold and why did you volunteer for that position?

I’m the guild’s President because I didn’t know what I was getting into! Ruth?! : )

Joking aside, the modern quilt guild movement is so exciting right now. I love sharing what I know and getting people involved. It's also a great way to meet the local quilters.

What do you generally do with the quilts you make? Give away? Keep? Sell? Show?

I give them to my friends and family with the expectation that they will be tossed around, loved and used up. I hold a special place in my heart for children’s charities, especially the local NICU, and I’ve made a few quilts for them.

"Born to Shine"

What is your favorite block pattern?

I like log cabins and stars.

"Happy Blocks"

In what room of the house do you sew? Tell us about your sewing/quilting/crafting space.

I sew at the kitchen table, usually with one or two kids working on crafty projects next to me. It’s definitely cozy and it needs to be cleared for mealtime. I recently added a cutting table and bookshelf to one side of the playroom and it's wonderful having a corner to call my own.

My Happy Corner

Do you create in any other areas of craft? Is quilting your main creative outlet?

My first love is photography. I've also dabbled in ceramics, knitting, and jewelry making.

On My Needles

What is your favorite fabric (line, designer, pattern are all ok) and why?

What day is it? : ) I confess, I am a total fabric junkie!! I cannot resist a good dot, stripe or paisley print. Some of my favorite designers are Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, and Aneela Hoey. Generally, I love bold patterns and happy colors. Echo by Lotta Jansdotter just came out and I am crushing on it big time.

Echo by Lotta Jansdotter

What is your favorite quilt book? Are there any quilt books you recommend?

I think everyone takes away something different from books. I would recommend looking at anything and everything that peaks your interest because you never know what you will learn or be inspired by.

My Crafty Books

Are there any must have quilting tools?

I need a pen and paper to jot down ideas. I love my Olfa rotary cutter, my Omnigrid 8”x12” ruler and my fabric. The rest is nice to have, but I’m not that picky.

Garbage Bowl for Quilters

What are your favorite shops either online or in the neighborhood?

I’m a busy Mama and I usually shop online late at night. I love The Intrepid Thread, of course!! : ) I also like Fabricworm and Fresh Squeezed Fabrics. Julie, Cynthia and Randi all have a great selection of modern fabrics and excellent customer service. They've become my friends over the years and I love supporting them.

Is there an area of quilting you feel you would like to learn more about and why?
There are so many techniques I haven’t even tried yet. I’d love to use a long arm quilting machine next.

Is there an area of quilting at which you feel you excel? Tell us about it. Do you prefer the process of designing, piecing, or quilting?

I love, love, love designing quilts. Piecing and quilting is just a way to make the quilts in my head come to life. Some of my quilts are pushier to be made than others. Sometimes I wish I had a stunt quilter.

Big Zig Design Page

You have to evacuate your home quickly due to a natural disaster. What 3 things would you grab from your sewing room/space?

If I could, I would grab all the homemade goodies that my friends have made me. They are my treasures.

Apple Pincushion by Georgia

Do you have a favorite sewing tip or trick?

I strip piece my bindings.

You can find me at www.littlebluebell.com, flickr, twitter and pinterest.

Charity Project Update

2011-12-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Wow!

We are so excited about the amount of interest we received for our new charity quilting program!

Thank you for all who donated orphan blocks, scraps, batting and yardage at Saturday’s meeting. All of it is greatly appreciated and will be used to, hopefully, brighten the day of someone in need. We will have a bin at the monthly meetings for on-going collection.

We are planning to have the first quilt(s) go to Lucile Packard Neonatal unit.

When Deborah and I had our 1^st brain-storming session, she mentioned that a postage stamp quilt might be a good idea. Our first block inspiration came from none other than Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. I thought it would be nice to have each block stand out and remembered the quilt-a-long that Amanda Jean hosted this summer. She has, kindly, given us permission to post her images. You can find more information in her post about the quilt-a-long.

Here is her beautiful finished quilt:

Photo Credit: Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

For our purposes, we knew we wanted to start with preemie baby blankets about 30ish” square so we needed smaller blocks. It also needed to have one element to tie the various squares together to make a cohesive quilt (the white fabric) since the blocks would be made scrappy.

Amanda Jean's quilt is made from 36 “36-patch” squares. Ours will be made with 16 “16-patch” squares! Thus our 8” 4x4 sample block was created:

Here are the specifics for your blocks:
-monochromatic block, any color of your choosing
-8.5" unfinished
-alternating 2.5" white squares and 2.5" scrappy squares (in your chosen color palette)
-bring blocks to the next meeting

Like Amanda Jean's each finished block will be a different color (mixed with white) to make a bright and cheerful quilt. Many of the pre-cut postage stamp block kits were taken home from the meeting. We can't wait to see them come back at the January meeting!! Feel free to use your own fabric if you feel so inspired. I know there has been some confusion so I hope this helps explain a little better.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here or on Ning.

We were also thinking of making some quilts for Project Night Night as well and a few of you had suggestions about where or to whom to donate quilts. Keep those suggestions coming! We want to make this a meaningful experience for all, so any personal causes are greatly appreciated.

We would appreciate any feedback on the organization of the current projects.

Do you like the kits?
Do you want simple, complicated, or free form blocks?
Should we do one block a month, every other month, or every quarter?
Have several options running at once?

Any feedback would help us focus our efforts to make this a successful and meaningful experience for all.

We're off to a great start to 2012! Thank you!

~Jennifer and Deborah, your Charity Coordinators

December Meeting Notes

2011-12-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Elections
The "new" officers are:
President: Adrianne
VP: Kathleen
Secretary: Amanda
Treasurer: Sara

Thank you very much to Ruth, founder and 2011 Secretary, who will be leaving the board and taking over the challenge coordinator position.

Thank you to everyone who ran for office.

December Secret Swap

Secret Swappers really did a nice job on the gifts they made. Very high quality sewing, gorgeous wrapping and inspired fabric choices.

Nota bene: the ribbon at the top of the post is a detail shot from one of the packages. Awesome work!

Heirloom Challenge

Zoom in to see the variety of log cabin blocks that people created within the log cabin format. Amazing!

Claire and Lizzie won the blocks. You can win blocks, too by joining the group and participating in challenges!

A-B-C Challenge

Next month is 'G' so get your G blocks on!

Show and Tell!
Everyone does such great work. When there is a large group there are a lot of projects to show and it is a great source of inspiration.

UPDATE: Dec. 3rd Meeting Info

2011-12-02T11:52:00.000-08:00

Hi, Adrianne here. Just popping in with the latest meeting information. For those of you bringing your sewing projects, please keep in mind that the meeting half is quite full. There will be time to sew, but it will be less than the usual two hours.

We've added signups for the first annual BAMQG Retreat to the agenda. Bring your $25 deposit to the meeting and save a spot for February's retreat. You can read about the retreat on the guild's ning site.

Also, as Ruth commented in the previous post, you do not need to bring snacks. The guild is sponsoring all the snacks for an end of the year party.

Here is a quick cut and paste from the latest email that was sent out.

Not only are we swapping presents, revealing our challenge blocks, and voting for the 2012 officers we are having an end of year party!!! The guild will be providing all the snacks so you don't need to bring a thing. Just come and enjoy. Everyone is welcome to stay, visit, sew and snack until 5pm.

The first half of our afternoon is jam packed with activities and we will go a little beyond the usual 2 hour meeting slot. Like always, we have the community room reserved for 4 hours in total, so there will still be time to sew and work on projects.

WHEN: Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

TIME: 1pm-5pm

WHERE: Redwood City Public Library, Community Room

1044 Middlefield Road Redwood City, CA 94063

Guild Business
Secret Swap
Heirloom Block Challenge
ABC Challenge
Show & Tell
Vote for 2012 Officers

I hope to see everyone there. : )

-Adrianne

Last 2011 Meeting

2011-12-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

What a great year for the our group! The Executive Team did a fabulous job growing our group and designing programs. We are starting to develop traditions and friendships. We are looking forward to a great year in 2012.

As usual, the agenda for tomorrow's meeting is full:

Date: 12/3/2011
Time: 1pm-5pm
Where: Redwood City Public Library: 1044 Middlefield Rd. Redwood City, Ca 94063 Upstairs Community Room (the elevators are on the far left of the entrance)
Cost: Free for the first meeting, $5/meeting after or reduced membership fee for remainder of the year (yes, I am vague about this; please see Sara M, the treasurer. She knows)

We will have a business meeting, show and tell and sewing time.

The Heirloom challenge blocks are due. The Heirloom challenge blocks should be made in any variation of the log cabin patternThis challenge is sponsored by the guild and you must be a member. However, if you are not a member, but want to participate, feel free to buy your own fabric and bring the log cabin blocks.

We are all waiting with bated breath for Rhonda's monthly ice breaker question.

Please bring your December Secret Swap gifts if you are participating. Contact Kathleen.

Bring yourself, your projects to share or projects with which you need help. Bring your A-B-C Challenge blocks, some snacks or drinks and a project on which you want to work. Bring a friend!!!

A-Z (A-B-C) Challenge News:

Make a block that starts with the letter 'F'. Some blocks which start with 'F' are:

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! (Quilter's Cache)
Flight of Swallows (Around the Block)
Flock of Geese (Around the Block)
Flower Pot (Around the Block) (directions posted at Artquiltmaker.com)
Flying Geese (Around the Block)

There are also a number of paper pieced blocks at Quilter's Cache.

Remember to bring your schnibbles for Amanda's cat bed project. She posted a photo ont he Ning site and the kitties look very happy!

Your 'To Bring' List (in an easy to read format!)

Heirloom challenge blocks
December Secret Swap gifts
A-Z (A-B-C) Challenge Blocks
Schnibbles for Amanda's cat bed project
Charity quilt supplies such as fabric, batting, orphan blocks (detailed info on 11/26 post)

See you there!

Election on December 3 - REPOST

2011-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:00

[I am reposting this for those of you who were busy and missed it last week due to Thanksgiving festivities]

We're going to vote for our 2012 officers during the December 3rd meeting. Mark your calendars now for Saturday, December 3rd. Don't miss out on this very special meeting.

The list of potential officers will remain open up until we vote. If you're interested in being an officer, please contact Adrianne. The only requirement is that you are a paid member.

Here is the slate of candidates for Executive officers so far:

President: Adrianne Ove
Vice President: Alison Schmidt, Kathleen Robertson
Treasurer: Sara Musko
Secretary: Alison Schmidt, Amanda Materne

Please email Adrianne if there are changes or additions.

In related news, we have filled ALL of the coordinator positions (and even added one)! Here is our All-Star team of coordinators for 2012!!!

Swap Coordinator: Amanda Materne
Demo Coordinator: Rhonda Ludwico
Challenge Coordinator: Ruth Costa
Speaker Coordinator: Cynthia Marshall
Charity Coordinator: Deborah Aspuria, Jennifer Altman
Sew Day Coordinator: Diana Lubliner
New Member Coordinator: Sara Musko
Photographer: Julie Dueck
Social Media Coordinator: Diana Lubliner
Special Events Coordinator: Angela Obeso

Have another coordinator position that you want to lead? As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, send Adrianne an email.

Heirloom Challenge

2011-11-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

The log cabin blocks for the Heirloom (Joel Dewberry) Challenge are due on December 3. Parameters are:

12.5" blocks
Any log cabin pattern
Heirloom int he Ruby colorway by Joel Dewberry fabric
Zen grey from Moda Bella
Add any other fabrics you want

Paid members picked up fabric at the last meeting, but you can still participate by buying your own fabric and making some blocks.

There will be a drawing or two for all the blocks brought in. We look forward to seeing what you make!

Charity Coordination

2011-11-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

Deborah and Jennifer are the new Charity Coordinators for 2012. They are starting their work early with the following message:

Hi fellow guild members- Deborah and Jennifer here!

We are excited to be the guild's Charity Coordinators. Our mission is to raise awareness about the different charitable organizations in the Bay Area that are in need of donation quilts, and to increase participation in charity quilting within the guild.

At the moment, we're still in the planning stage of challenges and projects for the coming year, but we've already got some fun ideas kicking around. We'd also love to have your input.

Have a favorite charity?
Ideas for challenges or activities?
Patterns that work well for charity? Please let us know!

We know there's a lot going on in December- the Secret Swap, the Heirloom Challenge, and personal projects you may have for the holidays. Because of this, we're waiting to officially kick things off in January at the regular meeting and at Sew Day.

That said, we are always in need of fabric and batting for the charity quilts we'll be making this year as a guild. If you have any of the following, please bring them to the December meeting, where we'll have a collection bin:

orphan block
fabric scraps 2.5" x 2.5"or larger
large pieces of unwanted fabric for quilt backing
batting scraps 5" x 10" or larger ("Warm & White" or "Warm & Natural" only as these will be pieced together)
new bags of batting
quilt tops or partially completed projects

Remember: Amanda also takes scraps, no matter how small, to fill the cat beds that she makes and donates, so bring whatever scraps you have laying around.

Hope you had a safe and happy Thanksgiving,

Deborah and Jennifer

________________________________________

The blog will be happy to feature, or link to, charity quiltmaking projects that you are working on individually or with other groups. ~Jaye

A-Z (A-B-C) Challenge

2011-11-25T06:33:00.000-08:00

Make a block that starts with the letter 'F'. Some blocks which start with 'F' are:

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! (Quilter's Cache)
Flight of Swallows (Around the Block)
Flock of Geese (Around the Block)
Flower Pot (Around the Block) - PDF Rotary Cutting Directions are available at: Artquiltmaker.com/blog
Flying Geese (Around the Block)

There are also a number of paper pieced blocks at Quilter's Cache.

Election on December 3

2011-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

We're going to vote for our 2012 officers during the December 3rd meeting. Mark your calendars now for Saturday, December 3rd. Don't miss out on this very special meeting.

The list of potential officers will remain open up until we vote. If you're interested in being an officer, please contact Adrianne. The only requirement is that you are a paid member.

Here is the slate of candidates for Executive officers so far:

President: Adrianne Ove
Vice President: Alison Schmidt, Kathleen Robertson
Treasurer: Sara Musko
Secretary: Alison Schmidt, Amanda Materne

Please email Adrianne if there are changes or additions.

In related news, we have filled ALL of the coordinator positions (and even added one)! Here is our All-Star team of coordinators for 2012!!!

Swap Coordinator: Amanda Materne
Demo Coordinator: Rhonda Ludwico
Challenge Coordinator: Ruth Costa
Speaker Coordinator: Cynthia Marshall
Charity Coordinator: Deborah Aspuria, Jennifer Altman
Sew Day Coordinator: Diana Lubliner
New Member Coordinator: Sara Musko
Photographer: Julie Dueck
Social Media Coordinator: Diana Lubliner
Special Events Coordinator: Angela Obeso

Have another coordinator position that you want to lead? As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, send Adrianne an email.

I'm Sew New Here!

2011-11-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hi, Bay Area MQG'ers!

I am Alison Schmidt, and I've been living in the Bay area for 3 months and a day now. I moved to Oakland for a new job (a dream job for me - I edit quilting books!) in the East Bay in August. I am new to the Bay Area MQG, but not the Modern Quilt Guild overall. Just two years prior, I became the third member of the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild, after the founders Alissa Haight Carlton and LatifahSaafir, back when we were still just a bunch of online folks who had found each other through Flickr, setting up a site on Ning to help us get to know each other. By the fall we had our first meeting, at an adorable shop called 'Home Ec' in Silverlake, and I was totally hooked and blown away at the same time. There were only 20 of us at that first meeting (I got there late, due to crazy-long working hours in my former career as a costumer in the film & television industry.) Two hours later, we had 4 officers: President Latifah,VP Alissa, a secretary, and a treasurer; a Media/PR person; and a full slate of ideas. We knew we wanted to meet one weeknight a month for business and non-sewing (speakers, demos, and my personal fave, show’n’tell). We started right off scheduling a fabric swap and show’n’tell for the next meeting. We were also charged with finding a location to sew regularly on weekend days once a month.

The first Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild meeting, 10/14/2009
by handmadebyalissa
© All rights reserved

I came home that night and I could barely sleep, I was so full of ideas & inspiration.

We started sewing at a rented space in a church on the Westside of Los Angeles soon after, and the extended hours together (usually 1pm to 6 or 7pm) really allowed us all to become friends. I have other friends who sew & craft, but haven’t spent hours on shared activities like this since college (I was a theatre major, so I spent many hours stitching costumes together with classmates.) I was surprised at how much I loved that time, and my goal on moving to the Bay area was to find another group of folks with whom I could enjoy those productive (or not ;) afternoons sewing. When I pulled into the Redwood City library for my first meeting, and saw other women lugging in their sewing machines and bags of fabric and supplies, I felt like I had found a new home!

In the time since the guild started, we have had speakers, swaps, and demos, made 2 charity/fund-raiser quilts, planned group trips to fabric stores and quilt shows, and had a three-day quilting retreat to snowy Big Bear. Denyse Schmidt even came out for a talk and to teach two workshops! The Guild has had some moves, some unplanned (when the brick&mortar shop where we met Monday nights closed and went online-only), and some planned (to another member’s new fabric shop, Sew Modern). We have switched our weekend sews from various Saturdays and Sundays throughout the month on the Westside to the same Saturday every month at a new location on the east side of Los Angeles (Hollywood, to be specific). One of the biggest challenges has been finding large, affordable meeting space with enough tables and electrical outlets for the growing group of quilters (The Redwood City library is a great location! Elevator. ‘Nuff said). The Modern Quilt Guild has grown right along with Los Angeles - there are guilds up and down this state, around the country (two started by LA guild members who have moved on), and even overseas. Quilt Market has seen official (and unofficial) meetups of Modern Quilt Guild members who also work in the quilting industry….some as pattern and fabric designers, some authors, shop owners – more and more, traditional quilting business are trying to learn how to attract the modern quilters’ dollars. I for one am happy to let them know what I want, whether through the images I pin on Pinterest, favorite on Flickr (where I go by the handle 'msalleycat', an old,old nickname), stitch and show on my blog, www.theoccasionalpin.com, or talk about on our – the Bay Area’s – Modern Quilt Guild website.

Adrianne Represents BAMQG Well!!!

2011-11-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Adrianne of Little Bluebell, and our esteemed president, is being featured TODAY on the Modern Day Quilts blog.

Adrianne created her quilt using the Jay McCarroll Habitat fabrics from the guild's recent Habitat challenge. This challenge was unveiled to wonderful reviews at our recent meeting. You can see photos of the meeting and read a bit about the quilts on this blog in the November 2011 meeting notes.

Really great job, Adrianne! Keep up the good work!

You, too, can be featured on this blog. Please email Jaye.

November BAMQG Meeting Notes

2011-11-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of business to do - discussion about officers for next year, ideas for events for next year, challenges for next year, the Habitat challenge, show and tell, etc. There will be a Sew Day in January. We have gotten the same time and location for our meetings for 2012.

Mark your calendars for the following dates.

Saturday, 1/7/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 2/4/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 4/7/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 5/5/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 6/2/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 7/7/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 8/4/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 9/8/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 10/6/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 11/3/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday, 12/1/12 from 1:00pm-5:00pm

If you look carefully at the list above you will notice two changes from 2011.

1) There is no scheduled meeting in March (the room was booked)

2) In September we opted for the week after Labor Day weekend, instead of the first Saturday of the month.

No question from Rhonda this month, perhaps next time.

Habitat Challenge Presentation

The group had a special show and tell presentation of the Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge quilts. I was, once again, impressed by the talent in this group. There was a lot of frustration surrounding the type and variety of prints, but people came up with wonderful ways to use it. My thought during the entire discussion was that this fabric was a really challenge.

: Habitat Challenge Group

All of the quilts were so creative. A number of people didn't like what they had come up with and I was impressed to see that they had persevered and not given up. I was pleased to see how much collaboration there was during the meeting on the quilts that weren't quite finished.

Lynnette's quilt, 'Love Beads'(far left, bottom), is one of my favorites. I thought it was the Chinese Lanterns pattern. It certainly looks like Chinese Lanterns, but the pieces are a slightly different shape - a nice, elongated shape. Someone said that the connector between the two circle shapes is a little different.

: Rhonda's Habitat

Rhonda's top from the Habitat Challenge has wonderful vertical lines.

One of the things I noticed was that people said as they cut the pieces of Habitat fabric up, the fabric became easier to work with. I think that some fabric works better in smaller pieces. This thought seems to be adverse to the idea of a Modern Quilt. At least I didn't think that Modern Quilts used lots of small pieces. I suppose it depends, just like every other type of quilt.

Ongoing Challenges

: Eva's Delight

For the A-B-C (A-Z) Challenge, this month's letter was 'E'.

: Kathleen's A-B-C Challenge Blocks

Kathleen brought all of her A-B-C Challenge blocks. She made two 'E' Blocks, Eccentric Star (second from the bottom row, 1st block on the left) and Electric Fan (bottom row, middle) As you can see, she is using blacks and whites with a bit of red. I think she has done a lovely job of choosing blocks. Also, the black and white really work well together with the variety of blocks.

Next meeting is December 3. Be there or be square. If you would like to know more about Modern Quilting see our FAQ.

Heirloom Block Challenge

2011-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Image Source: Joel Dewberry

Our last challenge of the year is the Heirloom Block Challenge. Create as many blocks as you want and we will raffle them to a lucky member (or two) during the December 3rd meeting. Maybe you will be the lucky winner!! : )

One block = one entry. There is no limit on the number of blocks.

STARTS: November 5th, 2011

ENDS: December 3rd, 2011

BLOCK: 12.5" (unfinished) Log Cabin

FABRIC: Heirloom by Joel Dewberry in the Ruby colorway, Moda Bella in Zen Grey and anything from your own stash (solids, prints, blenders)

Ready, set, go!

Many Hands Make Light Work

2011-11-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

2011 was a huge year of growth for the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. We grew from nine members to over forty members, many of whom are active. We now average 5 new members every month!! Our president is so proud and excited of the guild we are building for modern quilters in the Bay Area.

Looking forward, we would love to continue hosting challenges, swaps and hopefully bring in some speakers for 2012. There is a lot of organization happening behind the scenes to make each month fun and inspiring. We need more volunteers to help keep this great momentum going. What can you contribute? Many hands make light work.

Most importantly we need to fill the roles of President, Vice President and Secretary for 2012. Sara has agreed to stay on as Treasurer and based on the way the banking is set up this makes for a very easy transition. Thanks Sara!!! Below Adrianne has added some additional roles. These are loosely based on the work we've been doing (or would have liked to do, ha!) this year. Suggestions are welcome.

Guild Positions:

Treasurer (Sara): collect dues, manage expenses, bank account and PayPal account.
Secretary: take notes at each meeting and post to group, manage the member contact sheet, manage the guild calendar.
Bloggers(Jaye, Julie, Alison): post content to the blog.
Swap Coordinator: Oversee organization and arrangements for a variety of different swaps. This person can form a committee to assist, or get volunteers to organize specific swaps. Some of the swaps we did this year were, fat quarter swap, mug rug swap, and the upcoming secret swap.
Demo Coordinator: prepare or get help preparing a demo for each, or almost every meeting. Organize the vast talent within the guild and the offers to demos. Let's schedule it and make it happen.
Challenge Coordinator: Oversee organization and arrangements for a variety of different. This person can form a committee to assist, or get volunteers to organize specific challenges. This coordinator will also oversee the ongoing challenges, such as the A-B-C (A-Z) challenge. Adrianne loves our challenges, and wants to keep it going.
Speaker Coordinator: let's schedule some speakers for 2012!!
Charity Coordinator: find opportunities to contribute to our community and organize the guild to participate. There has been a lot of interest in charity quilts. This can be an ongoing group project, but someone needs to organize it.
Sew Day Coordinator: arrange sewing room, snack sign ups, iron & ironing board sign ups, design wall (batting).
New Member Coordinator: greet new members, answer questions, create name tags and membership cards. Experience with Adobe Illustrator helpful, but other programs could be used.
Photographer: take photos at meetings and events, post to Ning, Flickr, Facebook and make available to bloggers.
Social Media Coordinator oversee Ning, Facebook, Flickr & Blog

If you would like to volunteer, please email Adrianne and let her know. She will be at the November 5th and December 3rd meetings if you have any questions.

You can volunteer for more than one job! For example, Secretary and Photographer. You can send Adrianne a list of possibilities in order of preference. For example, I'm interested in being, (1) President, (2) Demo Coordinator or (3) Charity Coordinator.

If you have any questions, or interest, now is the time to speak up. Adrianne will be emailing and organizing everyone throughout November and December. The only requirement is that you are a current guild member (in other words, you've paid your membership dues). New officers will be announced at the BAMQG meeting, January 7th.

***Special Note from Adrianne. Some of you have encouraged me to be President for another year. I have loved being President and I still plan on being very active with the guild. I can't make the same kind of time commitment for 2012. I am terrible at asking for help. This list is me asking for help. : ) If we can fill out this list, it might be possible for me to stay on for 2012. That being said, if someone else would like to be President that would be great too. ***

Are You Ready?

2011-11-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

The Meeting is Soon!!!

Date: 11/5/2011
Time: 1pm-5pm
Where: Redwood City Public Library: 1044 Middlefield Rd. Redwood City, Ca 94063 Upstairs Community Room (the elevators are on the far left of the entrance)
Cost: Free for the first meeting, $5/meeting after or reduced membership fee for remainder of the year (yes, I am vague about this; please see Sara M, the treasurer. She knows)

We will have a business meeting, show and tell and sewing time.

The Heirloom challenge will start. This challenge is sponsored by the guild and you must be a member.

We are all waiting with bated breath for Rhonda's monthly ice breaker question.

People will reveal their Habitat challenge quilts (tops, bags, etc are all GREAT!)

Bring yourself, your projects to share or projects with which you need help. Bring your A-B-C Challenge blocks, some snacks or drinks and a project on which you want to work. Bring a friend!!!

A-Z (A-B-C) Challenge News:

Make a block that starts with the letter 'e'. Some blocks which start with 'E' are:

Eccentric Star (Around the Block)
Economy Patch (Around the Block)
Eddystone Light (Around the Block)
Eight Pointed Star (see tutorial)
Envelope (Around the Block)
Electric Fan (Around the Block)

There are a number of paper pieced blocks at Quilter's Cache.

Remember to bring your schnibbles for Amanda's cat bed project.

December Secret Swap

2011-10-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

One of the fun activities for December will be the Bay Area Modern first ever secret swap! It will happen as part of our December meeting.

Why are we telling you this now? So you can plan, of course!

Here's the plan:

You must be a paid member to join this swap.
You will indicate you want to participate. Members will reply to the secret swap post on the Ning site.
You will provide us with some suggestions of item(s) you would like to receive, such as a mini-quilt, table-runner, placemats and napkins, sewing machine cover, pin cushion, mug rug, tote, purse, basket, notions, etc.
You will also tell us your color choice(s) and some of your favorite fabric designers or fabric lines. You can ask for solids, stripes, dots, etc. You can ask for holiday fabric or request that holiday fabric is not used. These are suggestions and requests, so please be aware that you might not receive an item made from the exact fabric you requested.

You'll bring this information (printed on a card or printed out with your name and contact email information on it) to us at the November meeting. You can aksi Ning mail it to Kathleen.

Secret partners will be assigned the day after the meeting via email. Watch your provided email for the exciting revelation of your secret partner's information! You will need all of these tidbits to prepare the swap gift items.

You will have approximately 30 days to complete your secret partner's requested items(s). Wrap up the items prettily and identify yourself. Bring your package to the December meeting for the exchange and big reveal. If you can't make the December meeting, contact Kathleen and see what you can do to have someone else bring the package to the meeting.

So, let's go over the steps:

Step 1. Anyone who wishes to participate in the swap will respond to the Ning discussion and let us know that you want to participate. Sign is as simple as saying "I'm In!"

Step 2. Participants should complete their wish lists / suggestions / requests to give their secret partner ideas for the type of item you would like to receive, color preferences, fabric lines or designers and whether Christmas fabric is acceptable or not. Try to give several options for items you would like to receive.

Step 3. You will be assigned a secret swap partner and provided her preferences, choices, etc. shortly after the November meeting. Keep your partner a secret. Please don't contact your secret partner directly. If you need more information, email Kathleen and she will act as go between.

Step 4: You'll complete your secret partner's items, wrap up, include your information on a card and bring to the December meeting for the swap. Bonus points for pretty, creative wrapping, cards, etc. ;-)

Step 5: Pay your dues so you can swap!

If you can't make the December (or November) meeting, but want to participate, contact Kathleen directly so we can make that happen.

Any questions?

Let the swap begin!

Cat Beds

2011-10-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have often judged the amount of work I have done over the course of a week by how full my garbage can was. Still, I wished that I could put those bits of fabric somewhere to use without having to store them myself. I am sure that many of us have been wondering why tiny bits of fabric couldn't be recycled. As I tossed out stockings and holey socks, I wondered if there wasn't something that could be done with them? If they were clean, why couldn't the fabric be used for something else?

Reading Victorian mystery novels didn't help, because they mention 'rag pickers', but who wants that job? I haven't heard of a modern job called rag picker or 'reusable fabric engineer'.

A few months ago, Amanda came to the BAMQG meeting and solved my problem! She told us that she and some friends were making cat beds for a local homeless cat shelter. She asked us to save our tiny bits of fabric including worn out clothing (no underwear!) such as t-shirts and sweatshirts. She would use them to fill the cat beds she was making so the beds would be soft and comfy for the cats.

Despite the fact that I had long thought about saving tiny scraps and doing something with them, I thought saving the tiny bits would be too much trouble. Then I remembered

all the times I had been reluctant to toss tiny bits;
Pam and what what good care she takes of her cats; and
how lame I was acting.

I got myself a zipper bag and started tossing scraps in.

Thread, schnibbles, bits of batting, and selvedges all go into the cat bed filling bag. I was shocked at how many tiny bits I had and how quickly I filled up a bag. I brought two bags of bits to Amanda the first time she collected them! I wasn't the only one who brought schnibbles. At one meeting Amanda had two paper grocery bags of schnibbles.

Trimmings from quilting, e.g. the edges of the quilt sandwich fill those bags up faster. It is another kind of sorting to do daily and it is hard to find the right spot for the bags.

I am really happy to do this one small thing to make a cat's life better and to help Amanda, who is doing the heavy lifting on this project. The other good thing is that my garbage can is a lot emptier, which means less stuff going to the landfill.

So, Amanda will be collecting schnibbles at the meeting on November 5. Bring your Schnibbles.

Jaye Represents at PIQF!!

2011-10-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Make sure to check out Jaye Lapachet's quilt, Zig Zaggy at PIQF.

Jaye put a new twist on Oh Fransson's popular New Wave quilt pattern. She has a tutorial of her variation on her blog.

Kathleen Represents at PIQF!!

2011-10-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

My name is Kathleen Robertson. My quilt, called The Sunflower, was accepted into the New Quilts of Northern California exhibit at this year's PIQF. I pieced the quilt and my good friend and quilter, Dee Small of Groveland, California did the amazing quilting on this 60" x 60" quilt.

The inspiration for this quilt was a class that I took at Eddie's Quilting Bee. It is a variation of Drunkard's Path using many non-traditional quilt fabrics to give it sparkle and depth. Most of the blocks that make up the sunflower itself are pieced with strips of many different fabrics, again to give it depth through the use of light, medium and dark value fabrics.

My favorite thing about this quilt was finishing it! And my second favorite thing was working with Dee Small, who "got" my vision of the effect I was after with the quilting. If I made this quilt again, I would try to be more precise in my cutting of the curved pieces so that the assembly of the quilt was easier and the end result had fewer blocks that had to be "massaged" into place.

What am I working on next? I am assembling a string quilt made from scraps and, my current favorite, a sampler block quilt made from Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow fabric. Members of a bee that I am in made some of the blocks for me and I made the remainder. And, I'm working on an improvisational block quilt that I hope will be visually striking and go on my bed.

I regularly post my work on Flickr.

Member News

2011-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Our fabulous President, Adrianne, was featured on Creating the Hive on 10/3/2011! Check out the lovely post. Congrats, Adrianne!

Angela and Jaye have their quilts displayed with the New Quilts from Northern California exhibit at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, held from October 12 (preview night) through October 16, 2011

Rhonda entered a quilt in the last Modern Quilt guild Challenge

You can see the Scrap Art exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles for a few more days (ends Oct. 16). Rhonda and Jaye both have quilts in that exhibit.

Julie was interviewed on the Quilter in the Gap podcast episode 12. Go take a listen.

~Jaye

Angela Represents at PIQF!!

2011-10-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

I am so excited and button-popping-proud that three of our guild members have quilts hanging at PIQF this week. PIQF, or Pacifiic International Quilt Festival is the largest quilt show on the West Coast. It's big people. Lots of quilts, lots of vendors and lots of fun! Show starts this Thursday. Don't miss it!!

This week I am going to highlight each of these members so we can learn more about them and their quilts. If you go to the show keep and eye out for Angela's quilt, Kona Color Waves.

Name of quilt: Kona Color Waves

Size: Approx. 60"x60"

Materials: All Kona Solids

You can see more of my work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/california_angie_o/ (CraftyAO)

This quilt, "Kona Color Waves", is the result of many designs and redesigns and more redesigns for the Modern Quilt Guilds' Robert Kaufman Kona solid fabric challenge. It is completely different from the very first sketch I made after receiving the charm pack, but I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about and sketching all the possibilities that the little charm pack held. Having never designed an entire quilt and never having made a quilt entirely of solids, this was quite a challenge for me. I was inspired by the rainbow order that the Kona charm pack came in and I wanted to highlight the fabric in that way. I decided to set the colors off with a black to white gradient. The quilt back (or other front, I plan to use both sides) was heavily inspired by the "Cascade Quilt" by Christina Cameli (and admired by me many, many times on Flickr where she's known as afewscraps'), but instead of just one set of colors, I wanted to highlight all of the color families from the Kona charm pack. It is quilted by stitch in the ditch vertically and with 5 large wavy lines horizontally to play off of the wavy feeling of the colors. This quilt is made entirely of Kona solids: front, back and binding. For me, modern quilting means challenging myself and stretching my skills. This truly achieved that for me. I believe that most quilt designs have been done before and to come up with a new "design" is very difficult, so the uniqueness of a quilt comes from the interpretation of that design and how the fabrics and colors are assembled within that design. The basic layout of this quilt is quite simple, just a number of rectangles, but it's how the fabrics and colors are situated that make it different and modern to me. The different shades of the colors also give the quilt a sense of movement, which I also see quite a bit in modern quilts these days.

I made my first quilt in 2000. It was an extremely traditional sampler throw quilt that I machine pieced and hand quilted. I taught myself the basics through books and much trial and error. After I made that quilt, I made a few simple pieces of clothing, but no more quilts again until I decided to take a beginner class at a local quilt shop in 2005. The rest, as they say, is history and I now have a quickly growing stash of fabrics, a huge WIP and want-to-make list of quilty projects, a very long list of quilting blogs I check in on regularly and I now carry an idea and sketch book with me for when inspiration suddenly strikes. One of my favorite parts of being in the Modern Quilt Guild is the inspiration I gain from others, the openness and willingness of others to show me new tips and tricks and the camaraderie of other creative people.

I think the biggest thing I learned through this challenge is that I am progressing into a bona-fide creative quilter; I'm no longer a beginner. I'm becoming more confident with my ideas, designs, eye for color and skills. I am excited by the possibilities that I now hold as a quilter and I'm eager to try more new things and take on more challenges.

My next projects include my Little Apples quilt, the A-Z blocks for the BAMQG quilt along, the Jay McCarroll Habitat challenge quilt, a quilt containing the fall blocks that I just won at the last BAMQG meeting, a Dia de los Muertos quilt, the Kona Castle Quilt Kit from Fat Quarter Shop, a Fifi and Fido quilt, a Max & Whiskers quilt, some bags and pouches, a novelty fabric quilt in the style of Jaye's Fabric of the Year quilts, some crocheting projects, my art journaling . . . . I could go on for days.

October 1 Meeting Notes

2011-10-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

The meeting was, once again, well attended and packed with fun and information.

The latest block exchange were 9 patch blocks in Halloween colors. Allison and Angela won the blocks , which they divided up into Halloween and Fall groups. People did really creative things with the 9 Patch grid and there were a lot of purple and bright green in addition to the normal orange and black.

Local quilt work is really good, in general, and the BAMQGers work is no exception. Angela, in particular, is really taking off in terms of work. I do know that she took a class in reverse applique called Stencil Quilting by Dan Rouse at New Pieces in Berkeley. There will be another class in December. Angela said that this technique was different from traditional reverse applique'. I really am excited that Angela is trying new things and really pushing herself in her quilt work.

Her Kona Challenge quilt was accepted into the New Quilts for Northern California along with my quilt, the Zig Zaggy quilt.

The next challenge will be with a line called Heirloom. This is a guild sponsored challenge. Adrianne was going to hand out fabric, but the block the group voted on required some solids, which people wanted to coordinate, so there was a little back and forth about that. The Board decided to wait so they could decide what to do about the solid. The fabrics, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be handed out next month to paid members.

The awesome, Lisa, at C&T sent us a prize pack. We did a giveaway and I handed out all the postcards. I asked her for the Studio Color Wheel postcards to hand out and she sent me a giant box of goodies, including a copy of the Studio Color Wheel, which Deborah won, and an Ultimate Color Tool.

Upcoming:
-Giveaway for Elizabeth Hartman's book "The Practical Guide to Patchwork". Members must add content to the Flickr group and Facebook page to be entered.
-Heirloom block challenge
-E block due in November for A-B-C (A-Z) challenge
-Habitat challenge due in November
-Guild elections
-volunteer positions available, please see Adrianne
-Scrap Art Show at the San Jose Museum ends on Oct.16. Jaye and Rhonda have quilts in this show.
-Intrepid Thread Julie was interviewed on the Quilter in the Gap podcast.

~Jaye

May Meeting Notes

2011-06-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

A reminder to everyone, tomorrow is our June meeting - 1pm-5pm at the Redwood City Public Library, hope everyone can make it! I am looking forward to seeing all of the Kona Challenge tops tomorrow.

Last month we went over a few business items:

Adrianne has posted the guild directory. If you are a member you should have gotten an email with the link. If not, please talk to Adrianne and she can make sure you have access.
The shop hop is coming up in June. It sounds like we might follow the official shop hop or we might break out and do our own tour of our favorite bay area fabric stores. It should be awesome either way.
The third modern quilt guild challenge has been posted and the theme is "organic." Anybody planning to enter?

Of course we did our usual show & tell time, and you can check out the pictures on the ning site.

Finally we did an "Heir and a Spare" swap before buckling down for some serious sewing.

April Meeting Notes

2011-04-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Activities

Last month we asked members (on the membership form) what activities you are most interested in for the guild – Adrianne shared the top results from the membership forms that are in so far, which are:

Block challenges
Sewing retreats
Fabric swaps

We’ve already started having block challenges, and the officers will be putting our heads together to work on fabric swaps and sewing retreats.

New Challenge:

We have a new challenge! Robert Kaufman is sponsoring a challenge to use a charm back of their solids (the “bright” colorway).

The Rules (such as they are):

1) Made a quilt, any size.

2) You can add fabrics, but try to keep the focus of the quilt on the charm pack fabrics. It’s definitely fine to purchase and add additional bright charm packs if you want.

3) We will show the tops (if you have completed the quilt that’s fine too!) at our June meeting (on 6/4/11).

4) If you take a pack and then decide not to participate, we ask that you contact Adrianne and return the pack so that someone else can take part in the challenge.

Discussions:

We discussed the “Infinite Variety” quilt exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum.

We also talked about the blog posts that have sparked a fire around the internet – the “Dumbing Down of Quilting.”

Quilts for Japan:

North Hills Quilter is organizing a shipment of quilts to Japan. You should check out her site. She showed a picture of the quilts she had collected so far, JUST from Southern California – piled up to the ceiling on top of her son’s bunkbed. Finished quilts are being accepted in addition to quilt tops (floppies) that will be finished and sent to Japan.

Ning website and our internet presence:

We discussed how members are using the web, and our current problem with the ning site – our membership there is capped at 150 and we are approaching that limit. Right now anyone can join the Ning site, but we decided to change this so that only guild members can join the ning site. People who are interested in our guild but have not paid dues will still be able to join our Facebook and Flickr pages and view our guild blog.

Gift to outgoing president:

Adrianne presented awesome and incredible bag of gifts to former Prez Ruth (me). Wahoo! I can’t believe all the great fabric (especially the bird fabrics!) and all the little presents you guys collected, including the great bag that Jaye made for everything to go in. Thank you everyone – I was seriously blown away!

Modern Meadow Challenge results:

Everyone showed off their Modern Meadow challenge blocks, and we had enough to draw two names as winners, they were Adrianne and Amanda M.

Show & Tell:

Ruth showed her twin size quilt for her niece
Rhonda showed her monochromatic quilt, in white.
Colleen showed her star block – she’s making a doll quilt for her daughter.
Lisa showed her “Side A” rectangular blocks for a quilt class that she attended at New Pieces in Berkeley.
Claudia showed the mermaid doll that she sewed and embroidered for her daughter’s birthday.
Cynthia showed her plum and green quilt top with a squares pattern.
Leslie brought a wall quilt that she made improvisationally with fabric that she dyed, and a knitting bag that she made from Japanese fabrics.
Peggy showed her quilt-as-you-go baby quilt in blue and tan and her mosaic block pillow in green.
Jaye shared her newest chubby charmers bags (she is making them for her husband’s family for Christmas this year.)
Kris showed a wall quilt that featured appliqué flowers. Each of the flowers was on a separate mini-quilt type thing that’s quilted to the top of the quilt. It’s hard to explain, so check out the pictures!
Heather showed her mod mosaic pillow cover and her Nicey Jane quilt
Patty showed her quilted bag, with a vintage shoe buckle.

See all the photos on Adrianne's Flickr Set

Quilts for Japan

2011-03-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Quilters Newsletter is calling out for quilts for Japan. I will be collecting 5" charms at our next meeting, April 2nd at the Redwood City Library, Main Branch. I have some charm packs of Oh-Cherry-Oh and Bliss from my personal stash to get us started. Can you look and see if you have any aqua, red, pink, or green fabrics you can spare?

Photos by the Fat Quarter Shop

Please do what you can, donate 5" charms, thread or batting, volunteer to help assemble quilts. Do you have a new finished quilt that can be donated? If you are a member and would like to donate but can't make the meeting, please email me. You can also contact Quilters Newsletter via their link below.

LINK for information and quilt donations

CALL FOR QUILTS FOR JAPAN

Project Modern: Challenge 2

2011-03-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about Project Modern? The deadline for Challenge 2 is approaching fast. Get your rotary cutters ready!! My inspiration just struck late last night. Now it's a race to the finish. : )

THEME: Monochromatic
JUDGE: Malka Dubrawsky
DEADLINE: March 31, 2010
RULES: Posted Here

PRIZES:

A copy of Malka’s book Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration.

And a Robert Kaufman Bounty of Basics box of Kona Solids – a box of 100 Kona solid fat quarters!

Read the details here on the Modern Quilt Guild blog.

March Meeting & Sew Day

2011-03-06T23:28:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to see so many new and familiar faces on Saturday. I think this was our biggest meeting yet! Thank you to everyone who came. I really appreciate the distances you travel to be here every month. Also, thank you for all the delicious snacks. You guys are awesome!

SOLID STRIP CHALLENGE
After setting down our project bags, sewing machines and snacks... we added our challenge blocks to the design wall. In February we blindly exchanged 2.5" solid strips. The goal was to make 3-5 12" blocks using the strips you picked plus only one additional solid fabric from your stash. Many of us were challenged by the colors we drew. Isn't it interesting how many different style blocks and approaches we came up with as a group? Quite and eclectic mix!

We drew names and Chris won all the blocks!! w00t!!

NEW LOGO
Our new logo was unveiled and membership cards were handed out.

Go BAMQG!!

COMMUNICATION

We talked about our ning site, Facebook, Flickr and our blog. What is the best way to leverage all these tools for information and communication. We will revisit in April with a live tech demo.

SHOW & TELL
I love show and tell! It's always fun to see the projects people are working on. You can see any of the pictures larger by clicking on the links below.

1. BAMQG - Amanda and her placemats at Show and Tell March 2011, 2. BAMQG - Angela's free motion practice piece, 3. BAMQG Angela's Pinwheel Show and Tell March 2011, 4. BAMQGMarch5meeting010, 5. BQMQG - the back of Rhonda's table runner March 2011 Show and Tell, 6. BAMQG - Julie's Show and Tell March 2011, 7. BAMQG - Lisa's 9 Patch March 2011 Show and Tell, 8. BAMQG Show and Tell -Adrianne's Hexagons March 2011, 9. BAMQG - Kathleen's Outside the Box top for Show and Tell March 2011

MOD MOSAIC DEMO
Kathleen demonstrated how to make a Mod Mosaic block based on Elizabeth Hartman's (Oh Fransson) pattern. She brought many colorful examples and shared tips for success for our own blocks. Kathleen generously brought extra fabric and sashing strips so that we could make some too. Thanks Kathleen!!

CHALLENGE
Are you up for a new challenge? I'm calling this challenge, "BE Square". Oh dear, I think I must be channeling Huey Lewis. Anyways... We're making any kind of square type blocks (square in a square, nine patch, log cabin, etc) measuring 10.5" unfinished, using Modern Meadow and complimentary fabric from your stash. I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with. All the participants will be eligible to win all the blocks at the April meeting. You can still participate even if you weren't at the meeting. You will need any fat quarter of Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry (the Pond color way) and fabric from your stash. Bring your block in April for the drawing.

Fabric anyone?! : )

Image from Hawthorne Threads

Here are some follow up links from the meeting:

CQFA has a new show in San Francisco called Primal Green
Connecting Threads is having a sale on solid charm packs
Oh Fransson's Mod Mosaic Tutorial
Project Modern: Challenge 2 Monochromatic
Joann's VIP Program
Quick cutting and machine piecing Hexagons
Jane Market Tote by Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy
Urban Home Goods Swap on flickr
Challenge fabric is Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow
Moda Bakeshop has lots of free quilt patterns available.