"Subtracting for Minimalism" Workshop

This past Saturday, a group of our members thoroughly enjoyed a workshop with Cheryl Brickey called "Subtracting for Minimalism".

Cheryl spent the morning explaining the idea of starting with a simple quilt pattern and then taking away elements randomly, to create a modern, minimalistic quilt. She offered several options for design, including EQ8, Power Point and pencil and paper. She then showed us how to turn our designs into a pattern to make a quilt.

With pencil and paper, we all played with a Flying Geese block and each person came up with their unique design.

Cheryl was full of advice and ideas as we designed.

In the afternoon, we were able to take our designs to fabric and get a start on making our own minimalist Flying Geese quilt.

It was an inspiring and fun workshop and we all left with a great, new design tool!

Thank you, Cheryl! You can find more from Cheryl on her website, Meadow Mist Designs.

Highlights from the November 2018 meeting

Mitzie Schafer awed and inspired us with her quilting journey and trunk show this Saturday! She encouraged us to be fearless in our craft and we loved seeing all her beautiful creations. The scope of her work is amazing and equally amazing is the fact that she doesn't have any UFOs (unfinished projects). Thank you, Mitzie for sharing your talent with us! Visit Mitzie's website for more info and to shop her patterns at Jittery Wings.

SC MQG Swap

On November 3rd, several of our members traveled to Columbia, SC  to swap mini quilts in person. What a fun activity and look at all those happy faces!

Our members who attended, as proud owners of the lovely little quilts that they received:

Attendance

• We had 38 members, 2 guests and 2 new members present at our meeting this month.

Shop News

• Leslie just returned from Quilt Market and has a lot of new products and fabric coming to the shop!
• Amanda Murphy will be teaching a class: "Machine Quilting With Rulers on a Domestic Machine" in December. Contact the shop for dates and to sign up.

New Location for GMQG Meetings

We are excited to announce a new and larger location for our meetings, beginning January 2019! We will be meeting at the Fellowship Hall at St. Giles Church, 1021 Hudson Rd in Greenville. This location is about 3 miles from our current location and offers us more space as our guild grows.

Because of the move and the availability of the space, our meetings will change to the first Saturday of the month beginning January 5, 2019. Please note that on January 5th, the meeting will be held from 12-2 p.m. For the remainder of the year the meetings will continue to be held at our regular time of 1-3 p.m.

Election of New Officers

• The membership voted in favor of following slate for the 2019 GMQ Board:
• President - Elise Dunbar
• Vice-President - Valorie Kasten
• Secretary - Cindy Lammon
• Treasurer - Paige Alexander
• Membership Chairs - Sandy Helsel and Dagmar Theodore
• In addition, it was announced that Travis Seward will head up the Block of the Month, and Nancy deJong will serve as head of a newly formed Facilities Committee as we make our way to a new location
• Cheryl Brickey has taken the position of Coordinator for Outside Speakers as of September.

Junior Membership

• The membership approved the following dues proposal: Junior membership will be open to any interested quilter age 18 and under, at one half the regular membership rate. Junior members will have the same benefits of a regular membership. Junior members under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult member at all guild meetings and activities.

2019 Dues

• Membership dues of $50 for 2019 are now due and must be paid by December. Mail your dues to Paige Alexander (her address is in your Directory) or bring your cash/check to the December meeting.

"Subtracting for Minimalism" Workshop

• The workshop will be held on Saturday, November 17 from 10-4 at the Bernina Store. The workshop is limited to 20 people and is currently full. Please contact Valorie at spydeeland@aol.com for cancellations, to be added to a wait list or to get a supply list.

December Christmas Luncheon and Auction

• Our Christmas lunch will be held on December 8 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Bernina Store.  Please RSVP to Sandy at shelsel65@gmail.com by November 24th if you plan to attend. Sandy also needs one more volunteer to bring dessert. Let her know if you can help.
• In addition to the luncheon, we will also have our annual Lottery Auction. This is our only fundraiser and a super fun activity! You can purchase tickets for $1 and bid as many tickets as you like on each item. A winner is drawn from the tickets bid.
• Please bring new or slightly used, quality items to be used in the auction. These can be quilt related, such as fabric, books and finished quilts. We also love having decor items, artwork and gift certificates. Anything you know a fellow quilter would love to win!

2019 Retreat

• Mark your calendars! The 2019 Retreat will be held at Wildacres in Little Switzerland, NC from Thursday, April 25 to Sunday April 28.
• Registration begins at the January 2019 meeting.
• The 3 night slots may be split between 2 people, but must be arranged by the individuals and paid with one payment.
• The cost is $235 and includes the double occupancy room, meals, gratuities and use of the sewing room.

January Meeting

• Our program in January will be presented by our member long-arm quilters. Learn what you need to know before sending you quilt out to be long-arm quilted!

Block of the Month

• We have 2 fun blocks for you to try this month!
• The first is a Chicken Block. Please use the colors choices found at Quilty Love. You'll find the block tutorial at Sew Inspired. 

• The second block is Dog Gone Cute from Sew Fresh Quilts. Choose either dog #5 or #6 or do both!

Show and Share

Cindy Lammon - Swap quilt on right

Didi Salvatierra - Quilts of Valor Quilts

Faye Jones - center and right, Charity Quilt

Johellen George - sweatshirt jacket

Jackie Callis 

Denise Frick - Art journalling turned into Mini quilts

Denise Frick

Joan Manfre

Sheryl Sane - Swap quilt

Johnnie McKenzie

Johnnie McKenzie

Dagmar Theodore - Swap quilt

Carrie Barcroft - Triangle Transparency Workshop

Debbie Graves - Swap quilt and Cow from Mitzie's class

Cheryl Brickey - Swap quilt on left

Helen Hale 

Paige Alexander - Swap quilt on left

Pat Davies - Needle Felting

Ruth

Tonya Maxwell

Leigh Ann Lukens 

Hope you can join us for our holiday luncheon and auction on December 8, 2018 from 12-2 p.m. at:

Bernina Sewing Center

2310 East North Street, Suite A

Greenville, SC 29607

November 10, 2018 - Mitzi Schafer

 

For this month's program, we are delighted to welcome Mitzi Schafer, a GMQG member.

Mitzi is a self-described, hyperactive, never idle, joyful realist living with a rare neurological disorder, Tarlov Cysts. She enjoys making a "life that soars" by embracing her jittery limbs and ADHD which gives her business it's name - Jittery Wings. Mitzi's interests include not only quilting, but creating a handmade wardrobe, writing and camping with her family.

Mitzi's quilt designs fall into 3 distinct categories: paper piecing, modern and art quilts. She isn't fond of being held to any particular box. Her greatest loves are designing and quilting. She is the creator of Quilt Yoga, a method for teaching free motion quilting that involves learning one's own body to encourage more fluid and comfortable quilting. Her Quilt Yoga concept was featured in Make Modern Magazine, Issue 24. She has 2 patterns published with Make Modern as well, and will soon have a quilt of the month with MQG, as well as a monthly block study in the e-news sent to members. She has a number of patterns available on her website, Jittery Wings.

A Few Reminders:

• Be sure to take a few minutes to complete your 2019 GMQG survey!
• Our Block of the Month is the Bulls Eye Block. Please use 10" background square, bright colors and leave your block in one piece.
• November will also be "Amnesty Block" month. Blocks from previous months may be brought in (maybe blocks were started and not finished) or you may bring back blocks you brought home, but couldn't come up with a good idea for using them.
• We'll be voting on new officers for 2019!
• We look forward to seeing your "Show and Shares" this month.
• Please return any library books that have been checked out.

Hope to see you, Saturday, November 10, 2018 from 1-3 PM at:

Bernina Sewing Center

2310 East North Street, Suite A

Greenville, SC 29607

Highlights from the October 2018 Meeting

October brought a very special guest to Greenville MQG! Yvonne Fuchs from Quilting Jet Girl traveled from California to share her tips, tricks and designs for creating transparency in quilts.

We enjoyed a lecture and mini trunk show on Friday evening, followed by a workshop on Saturday. Twenty of our members participated in a fun, relaxed and inspirational class on making Yvonne's Triangle Transparency pattern.

We not only enjoyed the pleasure of sewing together, but found inspiration in each person's fabric choices and interpretation of the design. Some of the highlights of the weekend in pictures:

Announcements

• In case you missed it, this month's announcements can be found in the previous post.

2019 Survey

• If you haven't completed a survey yet, we would appreciate you taking a few minutes to do so. Your input will be a valuable tool in planning programs and activities for next year.
• GMQG 2019 Survey

November meeting

• Our speaker will be Mitzi Schafer from Jittery Wings.

Hope you can join us for our next meeting on November 10, 2018 from 1-3 pm at:

Bernina Sewing Center

2310 East North Street, Suite A

Greenville, SC 29607

October 2018 - Yvonne Fuchs and Important Information

We're excited and honored to have a special guest this month! Scroll down for all the details. We won't be having a regular business meeting in October, so first up, here are some important things you need to know:

2019 Slate of Officers

• The election of new officers will take place at our regular November meeting. The Nominating Committee has recommended the following members to serve on the Board in 2019:
• President - Elise Dunbar
• Vice president - Valorie Kasten
• Secretary - Cindy Lammon
• Treasurer - Paige Alexander
• Membership - Sandy Helsel and Dagmar Theodore

2019 Dues

• Your guild membership dues are due by the end of November. Please turn in your cash or check for $50 to Paige Alexander, our treasurer, at the October or November meetings. You can also mail your payment to Paige (you'll find her address in your directory).

November Workshop

• Cheryl Brickey will be conducting a free workshop, "Subtracting for Minimalism" on Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. The workshop is currently full, but if would like to be added to the Wait List, please contact Valorie at spydeeland@aol.com.

Junior membership

• The Board has approved a proposal to create a Junior Membership for our guild. This would be available to anyone 18 and under, and offer the full benefits of membership at half the cost. The membership will vote on this proposal at the November meeting and if passed, it will become effective immediately.

December Meeting Luncheon and Auction

• We are providing lunch and hope you can join us at Bernina on December 8 from 12 to 3 p.m. To get an idea of how much food we'll need, we ask that you RSVP at the November meeting or email Sandy Helsel at shelsel65@gmail.com by Nov. 24.
• In addition to lunch, we will also have our annual Lottery Auction (aka Chinese Auction). This is a great opportunity to go home with some wonderful items and is our guild's only fundraiser.
• How does the auction work? You can buy as few or as many tickets as you like for $1 each. Then use your tickets to bid on any item(s) you want to win by placing one or more tickets in the "hat" for that item.
• It's time to start looking for items you'd like to donate to the auction! Donations should be new or nearly new and can be quilt-related, holiday-related, educational, and decorative. Some suggestions are gift certificates, books, fat quarter bundles, Charm packs, quilted items or quilts, sewing tools, gift/snack baskets, artwork and centerpieces. Please bring your donations to the December meeting.

Block of the Month

• Our next Block of the Month is the Bulls Eye Block and will be due at the November meeting.
• In addition to our regular BOM, we will also be having an "Amnesty Block" collection. Blocks from previous months may be brought in (maybe blocks were started and not finished) or bring back blocks you brought home, but couldn't come up with a good idea for using them.

Show and Share

• Because of our Friday evening lecture with Yvonne Fuchs, there will be no regular Show and Share this month. Save your latest makes for our November meeting!
• Please do bring any quilts that you've made using Yvonne's patterns to Show and Share on Friday evening or Saturday.

2019 Guild Survey

• As the Board begins planning programs and activities for 2019, we'd love to have your input! We've created an online survey and ask that you complete it by November 10. We will also have paper copies at the November meeting if you prefer.
• Click on the link to be taken directly to the survey. And thank you!
• 2019 GMQG Survey

Yvonne Fuchs Lecture and Workshop

Yvonne Fuchs has been quilting for 20+ years. In her earlier career, Yvonne worked as an aerospace engineer until April 2014, when she radically redesigned her life to focus on her physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Her company name, Quilting Jetgirl, is a blend of her professional histories and the tagline "Sewing at the Speed of Sound" is a nod to her work on the second privately funded (non-government) vehicle to break the sound barrier. Yvonne is a Quilter, Designer, Tech Editor and Blogger with a love for monochromatic minimal quilts. She often explores transparency in her designs and considers being transparent as a life challenge: removing the sense of needing to live behind a veil of secrecy and living fully and authentically.

Find Yvonne on social media at:

Quilting Jetgirl 

Instagram 

Facebook 

Newsletter

Friday, Oct. 12 - Lecture, "Transparency Color Selection Tips and Tricks"

• Doors open at 6 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7 p.m.
• The lecture is free for GMQG members. This is a great opportunity to bring along a friend/guest! Guests will be charged $5.
• If you are taking Yvonne's Workshop on Saturday and would like her help with your fabric selection, feel free to bring your fabrics to the lecture for Yvonne's advice.

Saturday, Oct. 13 - Workshop, "Triangle Transparency"

• The workshop, for those that have signed up, is 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a half-hour break for lunch. Doors will open at 9:45 a.m. Feel free to drop your machine off at the front door before parking.
• Bring your lunch! Refrigeration is available.
• Please do not park in front of the shop. Extra parking is available behind the building and in the business lot to the left of the shop.
• Enjoy learning from one of the best!

We're super excited for this month's lecture and workshop! Hope to see you at:

Bernina Sewing Center

2310 East North Street, Suite A

Greenville, SC 29607

Highlights from the September 2018 meeting

Quilt As Desired

This month our very own Cheryl Brickey (an engineer by profession) shared her systematic  approach to choosing quilting designs. Cheryl began with her thought process for deciding between custom versus allover quilting. She considers such things as time, money, end use, texture versus highlighting and whether the fabrics are solids or prints. We enjoyed seeing her many quilts as she explained options and tips for both custom and allover quilting, including thread choice. We all left with some great guidelines on how to "quilt as desired"!

Find more of Cheryl's work on her website at: Meadow Mist Designs.

We also encouraged our members to design and make a new "modern" name tag this month!

It was so interesting to see each person's creative interpretation! Sandy's was unique with a name badge magnet. You can find the Exelmark Magnets on Amazon.

Attendance

• We had 31 members and 2 guests in attendance this month.
• Our members donated 5 quilts to our philanthropy efforts.

Shop News

• The shop is offering classes for the Jelly Roll Rug and One Block Wonder.
• An Aurifil Thread of the Month is starting. Sign up to get your first spool and a plastic storage box.
• Leslie shared some of the new fabric that has recently arrived.

Block of the Month

• We had a nice collection of Swirling Star blocks turned in! 

• Our next Block of the Month is the Bulls Eye Block from Simple Simon and Company. This block will be due in November, since we won't be having a regular business meeting in October.
• Use a 10" background square and cut your circles any size, as long as they fit on the background.
• Leave the blocks in one piece, so the person who takes them can do whatever they want.
• Please use bright, happy colors.

Business

• The membership overwhelmingly approved a dues increase to $50 for 2019.
• The nominees for the 2019 Board of Directors will be posted on our blog in early October. Voting will take place at the November meeting.

Upcoming Meetings and Activities

• October 12 and 13, 2018 - Lecture and Workshop with Yvonne Fuchs. Find the details here. There is one opening left, due to a cancellation. Please contact cindy@hyacinthquiltdesigns.com to sign up. We encourage you to support the Bernina Store when buying your supplies for the Workshop.
• November 2, 2018 - Sew-In from 2 to 10 p.m. at the Bernina Store.
• November 10, 2018 - program to be determined.
• November 17, 2018 - Workshop with Cheryl Brickey "Subtracting for Minimalism". This is a workshop that Cheryl will be presenting at QuiltCon 2019. She is offering it as a free workshop for our members at the Bernina Store from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The class is limited to 20 and as of our September meeting, there were 3 spots open. Email Valorie at spydeeland@aol.com to sign up.
• December 8, 2019 - Holiday Luncheon and Chinese Auction. The Chinese Auction is our only annual fundraiser and we ask our members to donate new or nearly new, desirable items for auction. Sandy Helsel is leading a team of volunteers to organize the luncheon and activities.
• Keep up to date with plans and get more information on our Meeting and Activities Tab.

Upcoming Shows and Events

• Quilt Shows and other local guild activities can be found on our new Events and Shows Tab.

Show and Share

Jean Gardiner - Charity Quilt

Michelle Blake

Cynthia Steward

Pat Davies

Elise Dunbar

Faye Jones - left Charity Quilt

Faye Jones - Charity Quilt

Travis Seward - published in Curated Quilts magazine

Darlene Sanford - Charity Quilt

Valorie Kasten - Charity Quilt

Cheryl Brickey - published in Quilter's Planner

In October, we will host our special guest, Yvonne Fuchs, for a lecture on Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m., with a "social hour" starting at 6 p.m. All members are welcome and guests will be $5. You don't want to miss it! Join us at:

Bernina Sewing Center

2310 East North Street, Suite A

Greenville, SC 29607