May 4, 2019 - Choosing Fabrics for your Quilt

As quilters, don't we love fabric? We buy it, hoard it, pet it, and ooh and aah over it - but sometimes, when it comes to cutting it up for a quilt, we live in fear of making a mistake. This month, Cindy Lammon and Faye Jones will try to allay some of that fear. After discussing some ideas to consider when choosing fabrics for a quilt, we'll break up into small groups and practice combining prints that play nicely with each other.

To facilitate the exercise, we ask that you bring a bag of about 20 scraps of modern prints from your scrap bin, cut up into 5" squares. We'll be sharing these in our groups, so no worry if you don't have any scraps to spare - there will be plenty to work with.

Meeting Reminders:

• Please return any library books that you have checked out so that others may borrow them.
• Valorie will have the "Crayon Bag" for our 2019 Guild Challenge if you would like to participate and didn't get your crayons last month.
• This month's Block of the Month is Parking Lot.
• Bring any sewing related items that you no longer need for our Free To A Good Home Sharing Table.
• We look forward to seeing your projects for Show and Share!
• This is the last month to sign up for workshops with Kitty Wilkin.

Kitty Wilkin Workshop Supply Lists

We now have the Supply Lists for the workshops with Kitty Wilkin on May 31-June 1. They can be found by clicking the workshop links below:

• Tiny Piecing
• English Paper Piecing
• Photography

Many of our members have expressed an interest in adding a Fall retreat to our guild's activities. We have researched several options and will be sharing all the details and a proposal for our membership to consider at this month's meeting. Hope you can join us on May 4, from 1-3 pm, at St. Giles Church, 1021 Hudson Rd., Greenville, SC. 

Highlights from the April 2019 Meeting

Art work by Lewis Carl

Lewis Carl awed, inspired and had our heads spinning with color as he presented a program on "Color Theory" this month. We learned that color is "tricky", "deceitful", and "personal". The good news is that there are no wrong colors! Lewis shared many examples of quilts that illustrated his concepts and also included some resources for creating color schemes or palettes.

Membership

• We welcomed 45 members, 2 new members and 3 guests to our meeting this month for a total of 50 in attendance.
• Membership cards and pins are now available!
• Be sure to pick up your 2019 Membership Directory.

Sew-In Day

• Sew-In day is May 10th, from 10 - 4 at Bernina, We're In Stitches. We ask that you purchase a half yard of fabric to be raffled off to one lucky participant.
• Bring anything you'd like to work on. We will also be piecing curved blocks for charity quilts, if you choose.

2019 MQG Charity Quilt

• Our Charity Quilt is back from Quiltcon and we are ready to donate it to a children's charity. If you have a suggestion, please email Cindy Lammon (cindy at hyacinthquiltdesigns dot com) and Elise Dunbar (elisedunbar at gmail dot com) with information about the charity you're recommending. We will accept suggestions until Saturday, April 13.
• The Executive Board will review the suggestions and make a final decision.

Spring Retreat

• The Spring retreat is this month! There is currently one spot available for a female to join us. Please email Sandy (shelsel65 at gmail dot com) if you're interested in going.

Spring Workshops

• There are a few spots left in the Photography and English Paper Piecing workshops with Kitty Wilkin. Contact Cheryl Brickey (cheryljbrickey at gmail dot com) if you would like to sign up.

Block of the Month

• Next month's block is Parking Lot.

• Look at all the great City Block blocks shown this month!

• Did you know our BOM designer, Travis, has quilt ideas for using each block of the month? Find them on his website home page here.

May Program

• The topic for our program in May is "Choosing Fabric for your Quilt". Do you have any "fabric choosing" dilemmas? Email Cindy (cindy at hyacinthquiltdesigns dot com) or Faye (birdie1345 at aol dot com) with your questions and we will try to incorporate them into the lecture.
• Please bring a bag containing 20-25, 5" squares of modern fabric from your scrap bin. We'll use these as part of a group activity during the program.

Philanthropy

• We collected 10 charity quilts for our "Quilts for Kids" program.
• Blocks for the NC Hurricane quilt drive have been started. Please contact Faye (birdie1345 at aol dot com) if you would like to participate.

MQG Riley Blake Challenge

• The rules for this year's MQG Challenge have been announced and can be found here.
• If you were unable to get the fabric from the MQG, you may purchase it from your local shop or online retailer.
• The deadline is May 31, 2019.

Upcoming Classes and Workshops: Visit our Events and Shows Page for details of the following upcoming local events!

• Mitzi Schafer will be teaching "Quilt Yoga", a free motion quilting workshop, at Busy Bees in Fountain Inn on May 7th.
• The Shady Ladies Quilt Show and the Western NC Quilters Guild Show are both in May.
• Did you know that you have access to Creative Bug classes through the Greenville Public Library? Here's how: 
• Sign in to your library account.
• Put "Creativebug" into the search box and search "site".
• Nicole McClelland is the District 1 Representative for the Quilters of South Carolina. She shared all the fun activities offered by the organization, including a Sew-In, Quilt Show and Retreat. Be sure to visit the Quilters of SC website for all the information.
• The Professional Arts Quilters Alliance has posted pictures of all the quilts in the show on their website here. Our own, Lynne Harrill has a quilt in the show. Show details are listed on our Events Page.

2019 GMQG Challenge

• This year's challenge was announced at the April meeting!
• Find all the rules and details here. 
• Challenge quilts are due at the August meeting. We can't wait to see your creations!

Show and Share

Paige Alexander showing Tula Pink Persimmon fabric, a match for the 2019 Pantone Color of the Year Challenge

Lynne Harrill

Didi Salvatierra

Bonnie Cunningham, Quilt of Valor

Cheryl Brickey

Cindy Lange

Leigh Ann Lukens

Nancy deJong

Nancy deJong

Nancy deJong

Ruth

Michele Blake

Faye Jones

Chris Foster

Susan Sinclair

Nancy Schlepphorst

Denise Frick, Carrie Barcroft, and Elise Dunbar - Class with Sherri Lynn Wood

Elise Dunbar - Class with Chawne Kimber

Elise Dunbar - Our January BOM, Intersection

Valorie Kasten

Travis Seward

It was fun to see so many Show and Shares this month!

Our next meeting will be Saturday, May 4th from 1 - 3 pm at St. Giles Church, 1021 Hudson Rd., Greenville, SC.

2019 GMQG Quilt Challenge

Color Your Negative Space Challenge

We are excited to announce our 2019 mini quilt challenge!

This year we are doing the crayon challenge. Participants will blindly choose 3 crayons from our crayon bag and make a modern mini quilt incorporating all 3 colors and using negative space as a design element.

Here are the rules:

• You may add as many additional colors as you like, as long as your chosen crayon colors are featured predominately, including the binding.
• The size of the quilt should not exceed 36" on any side. (With this guideline, your quilt will be eligible to be entered into the small quilt category at QuiltCon).
• All 3 crayon colors must be used and should be the predominant colors of your mini quilt.
• Negative space must be a featured design element. In addition you must include at least 2 of the following modern quilt design elements:
• Bright/graphic color palette
• Minimalism
• No border
• Improvisational Piecing
• Alternate Grid Work
• Asymmetry
• Exaggerated Scale
• We encourage original design, but you may use a pattern (please give credit to the pattern designer).

Your challenge quilt is due at the August 3rd meeting. Prizes will be awarded!

We will have the crayons for you to choose from at the May, June and July meetings. You may also email Valorie at spydeeland at aol dot com to request 3 crayon colors. Please include "GMQG Crayon Request" in the subject line.