Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Save the Date: Sew-in Day

Thank you so much to Cindy who has arranged our guild's first Sew-in Day.  



Details:

When:  Friday, July 29th from 10am - 4pm

Where: Bernina Shop

Who: Everyone is invited!  No registration or sign up necessary, just show up.

What:  You can sew anything you choose from your latest project to a charity quilt to the quilt's challenge quilt for QuiltCon.

Lunch: On your own, you are welcome to bring lunch (there is a refrigerator) or go out

Snacks:  Cindy is bring some snacks and is looking for 1-2 other volunteers to bring snacks too.

To support the Bernina shop and thank them for the use of the space, we will be asking at each attendee purchase 1-2 fat quarters from the store.  We will hold a drawing at the end of the day for the fat quarter bundle.

Thanks Cindy for organizing this.  We hope to see you all there!

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Black and White with a Pop of Color Challenge

Is BLACK a color? According to Wikipedia, black is the darkest color, the result of the absence or complete absorption of light. Like white and grey, it is an achromatic color, literally a color without hue.

Is WHITE a color?  White is an achromatic color, a color without hue.[1] A mixture of the frequencies of all the colors of the visible spectrum results in white.
Explore what happens when a pop of color is added black and white.

We invite members to make a quilt using predominately black and white fabrics and include a “pop of color” of their choosing.  The quilts will be judged and ribbons awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places at the August 13, 2016 meeting.  Prizes will be announced soon. Updated 7/10/16: Winners will receive gift certificates from Bernina: 1st place - $20, 2nd place - $15 and 3rd place - $10.


---Official Rules---
1.      The quilt may be square or rectangle and must contain three layers (top, batting and backing).  No one side may be larger than 36” in length.   Traditional binding or facing is acceptable.
2.      Black and white fabrics may be solids or prints and should make up at least 75% of the quilt.  Try to include pure whites rather than creamy whites.  It is acceptable to include a little gray as long as it does not contain a noticeable hue.
3.      Pop of Color fabric(s) should only be one color or hue, but may contain tints or shades of the same hue and make up 25% or less of your quilt.  Your Pop of Color many be included in one or more of your black and white fabrics.
4.      A modern aesthetic is encouraged.  The show categories for QuiltCon East are Applique, Handwork, Improvisation, Minimalist design, Use of Negative Space and Piecing.  Please consider entering your quilt in the Small Quilts category.  See http://www.quiltconeast.com/quilt-show/categories/
5.      Bring your finished quilt to the August 13th meeting. UPDATED 7/10/16: Please bring your quilt concealed in a bag or such.  The members will vote to determine the winners and the quilt makers' identities will be revealed once voting is complete.


Links to explore:

Sunday, May 15, 2016

May Program Highlights

Many thanks to Cindy for such a wonderful workshop.....we all had such fun and learned so much about basting our quilts and quilting both the walking foot and free motion quilting designs!




Membership - We had two new members join our guild bringing our total member up to 44 members.

By Law Changes – The group voted on the bylaw change.  The motion passed and the guild has changed when dues are collected to better mirror the MQG membership calendar.

Sew-in Days – Cindy is leading the effort to organize some sew-in days on either a Friday or Saturday.  The group had a lot of interest in this, stay tuned for more information soon.

Financial Update – Paige has filed all of the necessary taxes.

GMQG Challenge – Paige is heading the challenge and came up with a Black, White, and a pop of color theme.  The quilt will be due at the August meeting.  Information was passed out at the guild meeting and will posted shortly in its own post.

QuiltCon 2017 Charity Quilt Challenge – MQG has announced the color palette and the focus on scale.  Valerie is leading with Faye helping.  Valerie presented an initial quilt design for input from the guild.

Silk Batik Scarf Workshop - Faye held 3 silk batik scarf workshops at her house.  Thank you so much Faye for opening your house and sharing your knowledge!  Here are just a few of the scarves being modeled...


Show & Share - We had a great bunch of Show and Shares this month.  We love seeing what everyone is up to (both in progress and finishes) and the stories behind the quilts.







Philanthropy - The block this month is 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" half square triangles (or quarter square triangles if desired). Colors are at the discretion of the maker.  

Blocks from current and past months will be displayed at each meeting and members are invited to take home as many blocks as they wish. The expectation is that the blocks will be used to make a quilt for our Quilts For Kids program or another charity quilt of the maker's choice. 

We encourage everyone to show these charity quilts at Show and Share at the regular meeting. This month we will be bringing 4 quilts to Quilts For Kids.

Here are two charity quilts Faye showed with the block for this month:




Here were some of the string blocks handed in last month:



Quilts of Valor - Lucy passed out Eagle block instructions at the April meeting and will be collecting the blocks in August for a Quilts of Valor quilt.  Additional copies of the instructions will be available at the June and July meetings for those that did not get the handouts.

Upcoming Events
  • Latifah Saafir workshops at the Charleston MQG (Bias Tape and Molehills) will be June 18th and 19th
  • MQG Riley Blake Challenge due at the end of May
  • Ongoing monthly events at Bernina Sewing Center

See you in June for a Specialty Ruler Discussion - June 11th from 1:00pm - 3:00pm --- And, as always, bring your Show & Share.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Reminder of our Upcoming Beginning Machine Quilting Workshop - May 14th

We hope you will come join us for our Beginning Machine Quilting Workshop with Cindy Lammon

This workshop will be on May 14th from 10am-3pm and will be open to all members. There is no need to preregister.  The first hour of workshop will be our meeting so please bring Show and Shares.  We will also be voting on the proposed bylaws change (more info here)

We are not going to be doing a group lunch so please bring a lunch (there is a refrigerator for your use) or plan to go to one of the local restaurants.


SUPPLY LIST

o Sewing Machine and manual (You must know how to thread your machine, sew a straight stitch and drop the feed dogs. Check if your machine has a needle down option. If your machine has a knee lifter and/or a surround for a larger surface – bring them)

o Walking Foot for your machine

o Machine Quilting or Darning Foot for your machine

o New “Quilting” or “Microtex Sharp” machine needles size 80

o Thread in colors to match your fabrics with filled bobbins

o Masking Tape

o Quilter’s safety pins size 1 or 2

o Fingertip Moistener or “Sortkwik” (available at office supply store) and/or quilting gloves

o Marking pen - washout or disappearing marker recommended

o 12” ruler for drawing

o Practice fabric:

  • 1 square of light, not “busy” fabric 18” x 18” 
  • 2 squares of light fabric 20” x 20” 
  • 2 squares of cotton or cotton blend batting 20” x 20” 
  • 1 Four Patch made from 4 squares of light, not “busy” fabric cut 9 1/2” x 9 1/2” each, sewn together, with seams pressed to one side 

Additional Info:

o A Walking Foot provides “feed” for the top layer of your quilt and is used for straight-line quilting. (Practice can be done without it)

o A Quilting Foot/Darning Foot is used for free-motion quilting where you will drop the feed dogs. o For those comfortable with free motion quilting, you can use the class to practice some new-to-you designs. (I’ll bring ideas!)

o Optional - instead of the 18” sample square, you can bring a small charity quilt to practice on. o

Feel free to email Cindy with any questions at: cindy (at) hyacinthquiltdesigns (dot) com