PIQF Volunteers Needed!!

by Amanda

 Hello Everyone!

PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival) is coming up quickly - October 15-18th at the Santa Clara County Convention Center.  It runs from 9-6 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and from 9-3 on Sunday. 

As you all hopefully know, we are displaying our Opportunity Quilt at PIQF and are trying to raise money for the guild by selling tickets, so we need people to (wo)man the opportunity quilt booth.  Also, we are doing some white gloving for PIQF itself, so we need volunteers for that portion as well.  Every slot is a 2 hour shift, and the more you volunteer, the more chance you get of winning a fabulous PRIZE (or collection of prizes) from the BAMQG!

We still need volunteers at the following times and in the following roles (especially Thursday and Sunday!):

White Gloving:

Sunday, 10/18, shifts from 9-11, 11-1, 1-3

Opportunity Quilt Booth:

Thursday 10/15:  2-4pm, 4-6pm

Friday 10/16:  2-4pm

Saturday 10/17: 10am-noon, 2-4pm

Sunday 10/18:  9-11am

If you can volunteer for any of these shifts, please email Amanda or leave a comment here. Members can sign up on the ning forum.

Thanks so much - every shift helps! And every shift gives you a better chance at winning some great prizes!!

Setting up the Quilt Show

BAMQG has three bays at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association 40th Anniversary Show and a group of us went to help set up on Friday.

This show is held in the same location as PIQF, but in a different hall (I think). I went late, but got there in time to help finish hanging the BAMQG quilts. Amanda, Kelly and Michelle had it well in hand. I added an extra pair of hands and driving skills.

There was some putting up and taking down, redoing and moving, but it went very smoothly. Kelly was well organized and Amanda has great project management skills. The quilt show has interesting tools for doing the hanging and some balance is required, especially for the larger quilts.

The biggest problem we ran into was the creases in the quilts. I know there isn't much we can do about it in general, but we went to lunch to decide on our next move. At lunch we decided that yes, we needed a steamer or a super duper steam iron. On the way back to finish our work, we stopped at Fry's to see what they had.

I have to say that steamers are the way to go. They don't, however, absolve all sins, but it did a great job with the folds, etc, from storage.The quilts looked better.

Funnily enough, everyone else at the quilt show came running over when they saw the steam, thinking there was a fire. When they saw what we were doing and that there wasn't a fire, they thought we were brilliant.

A few others, including the featured artist, asked to borrow it. Every quilt show management should have one.






Bay Area Modern Banner Pre-Steamed

Bay Area Modern Banner Post-Steaming

We thought the quilting stood out a lot of more, though I think my phone photos don't really do the work and expense justice.

We had a fun time and the quilts look great.

Members Exhibit Quilts

During December 2014 member of the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild will exhibit our quilts in an exhibit called "MOST MODERN." 

The Quilts are hanging at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road in Los Altos and are available to view during regular library hours.  There is no entry fee. 

One of the benefits of such an exhibit is that people who would normally not have the opportunity to see quilts as art get to see them in a setting that is not scary.

A team of guild volunteers led by Peggy did the hanging of the quilts on December 1.

Thanks to Peggy L for organizing and hanging and the Los Altos Public Library for the opportunity.

BAMQG Shows Up with Force at the San Mateo County Fair!

by Amanda

With a stitch-stitch here and a press-press there, so began the 2012 San Mateo County Fair - or at least the part we BAMQGers were interested in: the Quilt Show! BAMQGers found out about the fair only two months prior to entries being due, and it was a mad sewing dash to the finish - at least for some of us! - to complete what we wanted to enter and turn it in.  As it turned out, our members were very ambitious and prolific in a short period of time, resulting in a fabulous representation for our first foray into the San Mateo County Fair.

Our talented members entered in a variety of areas.  First there was a group of us entering in the Challenge section of the quilt show.  With a requirement of six entries for any challenge showing, we had eight BAMQGers who braved the fair judges and entered our quilts from our 2011 Kona Challenge.  The Kona Challenge was open to any member who wanted to participate.  The quilter received a charm pack of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Bright solids.  With that charm pack you could create any size quilt, but could use only other solids with it.  Here is the Wall of the BAMQG Kona Challenge, Eight Quilts Total:



The BAMQG quilts took first, second, and third place amongst the entire Group Challenge quilts in the fair!  That deserves some close up shots, don’tcha think?  First, some shots of the ribbon winners:
Two Margaritas by Ruth Beeby, First Place ribbon winner

Kona Challenge Quilt by Jaye Lapachet, Second Place ribbon winner

Modern Peel by Adrianne Ove, Third Place ribbon winner

And here are close up shots of the remaining 5 BAMQG Kona Challenge Quilts:




Angela Obeso & Cynthia Marshall

Amanda Materne & Rhonda Ludwico


The BAMQG was also well represented in several other divisions - in fact, we didn’t know how well until several of us went to the fair and found out by looking! Some were even ribbon winners in their different divisions.  We obviously have some modest members in our guild, but their beautiful works will be outed here:

Blocks of Crazy by Michelle Boyd

Echino Challenge quilted bowl by Michelle Boyd

Homeward Bound, Third Place ribbon winner by Michelle Boyd

Night Gallery by Leona McCann
Leona McCann’s First Place ribbon-winning Asian Quilt

Leona McCann’s Honorable Mention ribbon winner “Circle of Life”

Cynthia Marshall’s Second Place ribbon winner “Crazy Eights in Purple”

Christine Crawford’s quilted wall hanging

Christine Crawford’s “Just Peachy”

Christine Crawford’s “Celestial Views”, Third place ribbon winner for Best Use of Color




Marci Gore's "My Secret Garden"

And finally, because all you’re seeing is quilts quilts quilts (and who says that’s a bad thing?) we had to end with a great shot of one of our members actually WITH her quilt.  Here is Angela standing with her beautiful Kona Challenge quilt:


We hope we got everyone’s quilts that were in the fair, but if yours slipped through, don’t be shy - let us know!  And send us a photo of it if you snapped one.

Thanks to all who entered the 2012 San Mateo County Fair - it was great to see the BAMQG so well-represented, with so many winning quilts.  Let’s do it again next year!