Friday, January 27, 2017

By-Law Amendment Proposal for Nominations, Executive Board & Committee Formation


Dear Members,

At our next meeting on February 11, 2017, we would like to have a vote on the following GMQG By-Law Amendment proposal.  The copy in "red" are modifications and/or new content insertion into the By-Laws. 

As GMQG continues to grow and expand, there are additional valued roles needed for our organization. We appreciate you taking a moment to review and of course, if you have any questions please feel free to contact one of the Board members listed below.




For questions, please contact:

President, Cindy Lammon: cindy@hyacinthquiltdesigns.com
Vice President, Faye Jones:  birdie1345@aol.com

Thank you for your review and time,
-Marilyn Hagopian

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

GMQG 2017 Retreat


A Quilting Retreat in North Carolina
April 7th - April 9th


All right......get your calendars out because Faye Jones & Sandy Helsel have organized and confirmed our beautiful location at Wildacres Retreat Conference Center.


We invite you to come join us!  Just think "springtime" in the North Carolina mountains...we all know how pretty and inspiring that is!!!!

Here are all the details:


Date*:  Friday, April 7 to Sunday, April 9th
Cost:  $160 (which includes 2 nights lodging (bedding is included) + five (5) family-style meals.
Availability:  30 openings (note: after March 7th, sponsored guests may be invited)
Accommodations:  We will lodge two (2) persons per room. There is a private bath in each room.

*Note: Check-in time will be at 2:30pm on the 7th and check-out time is 10:00am on the 9th  (however, we may continue to use our workspace).

Some additional items to note as you plan are:

  • There are no elevators, so we will have some stairs to our rooms and workroom
  • There are no TV's
  • Cell service is variable
  • Consider bringing snacks (for in between meals)
  • Alcohol is allowed on the premises

What's planned for the retreat:


It's an excellent "Mystery Project" where the pattern and some fabrics are provided, if you'd like to participate. In addition be sure to bring a project or two you would like to work on. Additional tools that will be provided are a couple of large cutting mats, ironing boards and full-size irons.

The supplies you will need to bring are:


  • Sewing machine, cutting & measuring devices
  • 3 extra assorted fat quarters
  • 40" x 40" batting
  • Fun & conversation ;-)

How do you register?  It's easy:

Two ways:

  • Bring a check (made out to Greenville Modern Quilt Guild) to Sandy or Faye at our next meeting in February. 
  • If unable to attend the February meeting and would like to make a reservation, please email Sandy Helsel at shelsel65@gmail.com or Faye Jones at birdie1345@aol.com . 
If you need assistance finding a carpool and/or roommate and/or have any additional questions, please email Sandy.

Thank you Faye and Sandy for planning out all the details for us to getaway for an enjoyable weekend of quilting!




Monday, January 23, 2017

Sew In Day January 27th


Everyone is invited! No need to sign up!

This Friday, January 27th is our guild's Sew-In Day. Join your fellow guild members, bring your own project and enjoy some fun, social sewing time.

The Sew-In is at our meeting location - the Bernina Sewing Center. We'll be there from 10-4, but feel free to come for a few minutes or the entire 6 hours. Don't forget to bring your lunch!

We ask that you purchase a half yard of fabric from the store to be given away to one lucky participant.

Hope to see you there!


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Highlights From January 2017 Meeting

WHAT IS MODERN QUILTING?

Sew Charmed by Paige Alexander, Quilted Blooms


We love modern quilts! This month we explored how we can create the modern look in our own quilt designs. After a mini trivia quiz on modern quilt history, we reviewed the design elements found in modern quilts according to The Modern Quilt Guild.

We defined and shared an example of each of the following:
  • Bright and or graphic color palettes
  • Use of negative space
  • Minimalism
  • Lack of borders
  • Improvisational piecing
  • Alternate grid work
  • Asymmetry
  • Modern Traditionalism
Our members then shared their own modern quilts and we had a fun exercise finding the modern elements in each. Hopefully, we all went away with some new ideas on how to add some modern flair to our quilt creations!

Thank you to our 2015-16 President Cheryl Brickey

Cheryl was presented with the finished Spool mini quilt, pieced by our Board members and quilted by our VP, Faye Jones.



QuiltCon 2017 GMQG Charity Quilt

Valorie Kasten presented the finished quilt for this year's QuiltCon charity project. Thank you Valorie for organizing, cutting and quilting this one. Many of our members participated by piecing the blocks, stitching them together and our Treasurer, Paige, finished up with binding. We couldn't be happier with the results! After QuiltCon, the quilt will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.


Valorie Kasten and Charity Chairperson, Faye Jones

Modern Skill Builder - Block of the Month
Cheryl Brickey will be selecting our monthly block. The blocks will be modern and feature many different piecing techniques. It's the perfect opportunity to learn something new in a simple one block format. You can choose to keep your block or donate it to the guild to be used for charity quilts.

This month's block is Cloud9 New Block designed by Carole Lyles Shaw (our Regional MQG representative)



Find the block here:
and a detailed 12 page pdf tutorial here:

Block size is 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" unfinished.
Fabrics to be used (if submitting blocks to the guild charity): Solid fabrics in blues and greens
Extra note: This block sometimes creates quite large scraps from trimming the block to the finished size. Please bring these block scraps also.

Be In the Know

Quilters of SC Spring meeting is in Aiken on March 25. The speaker is Cindy Grisdela author of the new book "Artful Improv".

Sew-In day is January 27th any time from 10-4 at the Bernina Sewing Center. Bring whatever you'd like to work on and have some fun social time while you sew! Admission is one half yard purchased in the shop. One participant will go home with the bundle!

Retreat plans are still in the works for April. More info to come once we have a confirmation from the retreat center.

We have plans to bring Michelle Wilke (Factotum of Arts), a modern designer and quilter, to Greenville for a lecture and workshop in May. Details are being finalized. Watch for more information on when you can sign up coming soon!

We are grateful for Nancy DeJong, who has volunteered to be our Membership Chairperson. Watch for proposed changes to the Bylaws, which will be voted on at the next meeting.

GMQG now has an Instagram account! We are @greenvillemqg. Be sure to follow us if you're an Instagrammer!

Johnny McKenzie has volunteered to organize a mentoring program to connect experienced quilters with members new to quilting who need advice and guidance. For more information or to participate in the program contact Johnnie by email at johnniemckenzie@att.net

Johnny McKenzie is also offering free beginner classes in her home for our members. Two classes "Ready, Set, Quilt" and "Quilt Making/Sewing basics" will start in January. For more information or to participate contact Johnnie by email at johnniemckenzie@att.net. Thank you Johnnie!

Show and Share

So many beautiful quilts were shared at our meeting this month. Eleven of these will be going to charity, several being donated to families who have lost so much in the fires in Gatlinburg, TN.

Michelle Blake donation

Pam Loburk

Nancy DeJong

Nancy DeJong donation

Carol Kreson donation

Cheryl Brickey donation

Johnny McKenzie

Mary Ann

Valorie Kasten center and right donation

Faye Jones center and right donation
Cindy Lammon (top quilt donation)
Next Month
Next month, the focus is on improving our machine quilting skills. We'll have demos of three different machine quilting techniques in a Round Robin format. Hope to see you in February!

Saturday, January 7, 2017

What is Modern Quilting? Good Question for this Saturday, January 14th

What is Modern Quilting?


Cindy Lammon- 2017 GMQG President
Isn't this a great topic to begin 2017 with!

I am excited to share and explore with you about the characteristics of modern quilt design this upcoming Saturday, January 14th.

A unique twist I would like to add to this presentation is asking you to participate. Will you bring one or two of your modern quilts, so that we can have examples to visually identify and see your interpretations. Your quilts will enrich this learning session.



Reminders:
  • Quilts for Gatlinburg Relief - Please remember to bring your quilts. Faye Jones will be accepting quilts for this worthy cause that our Knoxville MQG is coordinating. To learn more about this special collection see our GMQG blog on December 31st entry.
  • Reminder of Membership renewal - January is our last month for existing members to renew before your name is removed from the official membership list. Our membership renewal fee is $35.00. Please see Nancy DeJong at our upcoming meeting or contact one of our board members if you want to renew.  
  • Show & Share - as always we look forward to seeing what you have been working on. 

In addition, I will be sharing with you GMQG's 2017 Calendar of Events. You do not want to miss....I look forward to seeing each of you from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at:

2310 East North Street, Suite A
Greenville, SC 29607

864-235-5031

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

We are excited about 2017!

It's 2017........Happy New Years
from

 GMQG Board

Left to Right:  Nancy DeJong (Membership Chair), Paige Alexander (Treasurer), Cindy Lammon (President), Faye Jones (Vice President) and Marcie Snyder (Secretary)

We are like kids in a candy store. Do you want to know why? You probably guessed. We are excited to reveal 2017 GMQG Calendar of Events.  

The Board and Advisory Board (Marilyn Hagopin, Darleen Sanford and Cheryl Brickey) thank each of you for your input and suggestions on topics of interest. It was our jumping off point in planning. We think you will find plenty to enjoy, learn and share this year. 

Save the Date - Saturday, January 14th will be our first gathering of the year from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Bernina Sewing Center. More information coming soon......