Howdy folks, here's your summary of what happened at the meeting for everyone who wasn’t able to attend (and to jog memories for those who did).
News/discussion/etc. from the meeting:
- We had a brief overview of the latest newsletter email from the Modern Quilt Guild.
- The TrendTex Challenge 2019 is now open, more info there: https://canadianquilter.com/
trendtex-challenge-2019/ - We chatted about the latest sew-in a couple weeks ago. Turn out was solid, and one of our members donated an ironing board for us to use at future sew-ins.
- We discussed details related to our charity quilts project and getting the first batch finished in the next few weeks.
- Two of our members demonstrated a couple different methods of paper piecing and brought a bunch of examples to show us.
- Three of our members talked about workshops they’ve done this month, namely Stacey Day’s “Sparkle Pop” workshop with the Victoria MQG, a One Block Wonder workshop at Kaleidoscope Quilt Company taught by Sarah Stokes, and a 4 day retreat with Maria Shell on Denman Island that included large-scale improv pieced blocks as well as piecing solid fabrics to give the illusion of a print.
- And of course we had show and share:
Donation quilt HSTs general info: As we discussed in previous meetings, we have an ongoing project to make half square triangles for quilts to be donated to kids in foster care.
If you missed the specs on the HSTs: we’re going for a scrappy sort of look, but big and modern. Half square triangle blocks should be trimmed to 8.5 inches, with one side lighter and the other darker (relative is OK, like pink against white), and we also discussed having one side be a solid (or a subtle print that reads as a solid) and the other a print. The target age is the slightly older kids and teens, say 6-16, as there tends to already be a lot of donations aimed at the really little kids. Final quilt sizes will likely be lap size or twins, but for now, just keep feeding us HSTs and we’ll build the quilts later on. As this is an ongoing project, just make ‘em as you can and bring ‘em – great way to work through your stash.
Parksville guild presentation: We will be giving a presentation on modern quilting to the Parksville guild on Monday November 19th. Similar to the traditional Nanaimo guild, they meet twice that day with an afternoon meeting at 1pm and an evening one at 6:30, so we will present at both. We would like to borrow some modern quilts from our members to show Parksville (same as when we presented to the traditional Nanaimo guild a while back). If you would like to lend us a quilt or two, please bring them to our November 7th meeting. We’ll talk more about this at our next meeting as well.
Mini Challenge for October: Your challenge this month, should you choose to accept it, is to take crazy quilting and do a modern take on it.
Crazy quilting became popular in the Victorian age and tended to use all manner of fabric scraps seemingly randomly pieced. They often involve a mix of luxury fabrics in all sorts of colours, but it’s not uncommon to see them with a definite theme. Crazy quilts normally involve a lot of embellishment such as adding various trims, buttons/appliques/rhinestones, lace overlays, embroidery, you name it.
As an example of crazy quilting I whipped up this little drawstring bag, though I wouldn’t really call it modern, other than it has a lot of solid black and geometrics, lol:
More info on crazy quilting:
It’s up to you what you make, could be as small as a mug rug or coin purse or as big as a throw if you have the time, but the challenge is due at the November meeting so no need to go too huge… unless you get bitten by the crazy quilting bug and really want to.
Christmas swap: I’m sure you’ve all seen the sparkly red, white, and green stuff sneaking into all the stores already, so you know it’s coming: Christmas! Which means our annual Christmas potluck and swap is coming at the December meeting.
We tossed around a couple ideas on what to make for the swap, with some people leaning towards a quilted microwave bowl cozy + bowl and some people wanting to do a mug rug + mug again, so in the end we decided to have both as options. So, if you’re going to participate in the swap, you can either make a microwave bowl cozy and find a bowl to go with it or make a mug rug and find a mug to go with it. Either way, make your quilted piece, find a mug or bowl, wrap it all up in a gift bag, and at the potluck let the swapping and stealing begin!
Note: if you’re making the microwave bowl cozy, make sure to only use 100% cotton for all parts including batting and thread. No metallics!
I found this list of microwave bowl patterns, but I think one of our members said she has a great pattern for them she can share, ask her at the November meeting: https://www.thesprucecrafts.
And if you want to make a mug rug, I think last year we decided the maximum size is 9” in any direction.
We’ll talk more about the potluck at the next meeting.
Next sew-in: November 24 at the Nanaimo North library on Hammond Bay Road, deadline to sign up is Thursday November 22nd, because if there aren’t at least 4 people signed up by then we will have to cancel the sew-in.
Next meeting: Wednesday, November 7, 7pm as usual.
Upcoming quilt shows:
Nothing on the Island in the next couple months, but:
- Vancouver Quilters’ Guild: October 13-14 - more info at http://vancouverquiltersguild.
com/
- Westshore Quilters’ Guild: April 12-13, 2019 - more info at https://
westshorequiltersguild.ca/ 2019-quilt-show/ - Island Quilters (the traditional guild here in Nanaimo): June 6-9, more info in the members section of http://www.islandquilters.ca/
index.htm
Links for our guild:
- Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/
groups/258471184565888/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
nanaimomqg
PS: friendly reminder that membership is now due. If you haven’t renewed already, please do so at the next meeting or get in touch with us to make other arrangements.
Whew… that was a long one, but I think that's about it - happy quilting and see you all in November!
