Wednesday, December 5, 2012

November Meeting Recap!

Happy December!  It's hard to believe that the holidays and the end of the year are quickly approaching.  We had a busy November meeting and planned for the months ahead.  Here is a quick recap of the November meeting:


1.  We viewed the completed group quilt, which turned out beautifully!  It has been entered into the QuiltCon show, and we may also enter it into the upcoming Broward show.



2.  We have two Round Robin quilts starting up, with great center panels as an inspiration.  If you are interested in adding a row or side to the quilts, just speak up at the next meeting.
 
3.   We discussed the donation quilt to QuiltCon (not our citrus-colored one).  In a subsequent email, I asked for additional blocks or yardage to complete the quilt top.  Please bring the blocks or yardage to the December meeting.

4.  We discussed the Bee blocks for November.  Bee members were asked to make "improv chevron" blocks using THIS tutorial.  It was challenging but fun! 
 
 
October's Bee Blocks
 
We also noted that the Bee was ending after the December meeting.  If you are interested in joining Round 2 of the Bee (it is a yearlong commitment), please sign up at the December meeting or email me!

5.  We had Sarah, a wonderfully talented quilter, discuss her beautiful quilt labels and ideas about how to label quilts.  It is a great way to add history and value to your quilts!




6.  Quilt News and Events:
--The Boca Raton Museum of Art is still hosting a show called "Politics Not as Usual:  Quilts with Something to Say."  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit, don't miss out on this wonderful event! 
--The New York Metro Mod Quilters, eQuilter and Bumble Beans are requesting quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims.  Click HERE for more information about how to donate quilts.
--Quiltcon (the Modern Quilt Guild's first convention) will be hosting a quilt show in February.  
 
7.  We discussed the ongoing Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/
 
8.  For our "Things to Bring" for the December meeting, members are requested to make "holiday crackers!"  
Steps:  (a) find an empty roll of toilet paper; (b) stuff the inside of the roll with a few small quilt notions, such as a spool of thread, a needlebook, a small pincushion, etc.; (c) wrap a piece of fabric (about a fat quarter size) around the toilet paper roll and tie a bow at either end to make it look like a wrapped piece of taffy; (d) swap the crackers at the next meeting and get your surprise treats!

9.  As another December event, we are having Johanna from StitchCraft discuss the latest collections and finds from Quilt Market!  Come for an interesting discussion!
 
10.  As a final December event, feel free to bring in (non-messy) holiday snacks for a potluck celebration!
  
11.  Just in case you missed the last post, the newest quilter, Sabrina Judith, was born on November 26th, 2012 at 10:41am.  Everyone is happy and healthy! 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great November show and tell photos!
 
 
 

 
 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

From the Mailbag

Here are some assorted items that we recently received in our mailbag/inbox!

















1.  Hurricane Sandy Relief!  We have TWO great contact organizations for those interested in donating quilts to Hurricane Sandy victims!

a.  eQuilter is collecting 5,000 quilts, and you can find their guidelines here:  http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/quiltrelief.html

b.  Bumble Beans Basics in New York City is collecting quilts for immediate donation to relief victims.  They have already donated quilts to over 100 families and are planning to do more donation days.  Bumble Beans is run by the president of the New York chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild!  You can find their guidelines here:  http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

2.  The Flying Needles Quilt Guild is located in Niceville, Florida (between Pensacola and Panama City in the panhandle of Florida).  They are hosting their annual quilt retreat this year on February 28th to March 2nd, 2013, in Destin, FL!  They are hosting the event at a resort and have three national teachers coming for the event.

If you're interested in attending the retreat or for more information, check out their website at:  http://www.beachretreatandshow.com/

3.  A new quilt shop, Happy Apple Quilts, recently opened in Palm Harbor, Florida (near Clearwater, Florida).  They offer quality fabrics, patterns, kits, notions, books, threads and gift items, with friendly customer service!  If you're in the area and want to visit the store, you can find their location and store hours at their website:  www.happyapplequilts.com

4.  The Hibiscus Quilt Guild still has a few spots available for a three-dimensional flower quilting class taught by Kathy Lonergan, taking place on November 17th from 9am to 4pm in Lake Worth, Florida.  Please email me for contact information and a supply list!

Friday, November 9, 2012

October Meeting Recap!


Happy November!  We had a fun-filled October meeting and planned for the months ahead.  Here is a quick recap of the October meeting:


1.  We officially donated the beautiful finished paper-pieced chicken block quilt and hedgehog Round Robin quilt to Project Linus!

3.  We are starting up another Round Robin quilt...stay tuned for the next iteration of the quilt project!  

4.  We admired the great quilt blocks that folks made for our group quilt.  We have a lot of great blocks, and some of our brave members have been busy turning the blocks into a quilt, which should be ready by next meeting.  We hope to enter the group quilt into QuiltCon and/or the Broward quilt show.  
Just some of the blocks...wow!
Lots o' blocks!
5.  We enjoyed checking out the Bee blocks for October.  Bee members were asked to make "X and + Blocks" in blues and greens.  They look incredible together, and we can't wait to see the finished quilt!  You can find the tutorial HERE.



6.  We had Helia, a wonderfully talented longarm quilter, discuss her work and the longarm quilting process.  It was incredibly informative and fun, and Helia was a great speaker!






7.  Quilt News and Events:
--The Boca Raton Museum of Art is still hosting a show called "Politics Not as Usual:  Quilts with Something to Say."  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit, don't miss out on this wonderful event! 
--The New York Metro Mod Quilters, eQuilter and Bumble Beans are requesting quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims.  Click HERE for more information about how to donate quilts.
--Quiltcon (the Modern Quilt Guild's first convention) will be hosting a quilt show in February.  

--The Mancuso World Quilt Show will be held in West Palm Beach from November 8th through 10th.  It is a great event, with lots of beautiful quilts and vendors.  The Gold Coast Quilters Guild is also having a special "red and white" mini-show at the event!

8.  We discussed the ongoing Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/

9.  For our "Things to Bring" for the November meeting, members are requested to make something appropriate for the Thanksgiving table, which we are swapping with other members.  This can be a trivet, table runner, bread basket, napkin ring set, coasters, etc.  Let your imagination guide you!  For our "Things to Bring" for the December meeting, we will be making sets of four coasters (in any pattern you like) for swapping.

10.  As another November event, we are having a talented quilter speak to us regarding the ins and outs of quilt labels!  Come for an interesting discussion and think of questions you might have regarding labels!
Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great October show and tell photos!


Quilted ottoman!






























Friendly Reminder:  our next meeting is Saturday, November 17th, from 10:00am to 12:00pm, at StitchCraft in Boca Raton.  See you soon!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

September Meeting Recap!

Happy autumn!  We had a short but sweet September meeting, followed by a great trip to the Boca Raton Museum of Art to view the quilt exhibit!  Here is a quick recap of the meeting:

1.  We admired the beautiful entries from StitchCraft's summer sewing challenge!  There were a lot of amazing entries, and it was fun to see the creative ways that everyone used the focus fabric.  We also found out that the grand prize for next year's challenge will be a BabyLock sewing machine!








2.  We admired the beautiful finished chicken block quilt, made with the paper pieced blocks from the August meeting.  It looks so fun and will be donated to a child in need, thanks to Project Linus!

Thank you to Jeanne for the incredible quilting!

3.  We also admired the completed Round Robin quilt!  This will also go to a child in need through Project Linus.

Another big thanks to Jeanne for quilting this piece!

4.  We viewed the great quilt blocks that folks made for our group quilt.  We hope to enter the group quilt into QuiltCon and/or the Broward quilt show.  

As a reminder, blocks are due at the OCTOBER meeting!  Click HERE for instructions.  

Some of the completed group quilt blocks.

More completed group quilt blocks.  Beautiful!

Fabric for the Group Quilt.
5.  We enjoyed checking out the Bee blocks for September.  Bee members were asked to make colorful wonky log cabins.  Love the wild colors and modern shapes!




6.  Quilt News and Events:
--The Boca Raton Museum of Art is still hosting a show called "Politics Not as Usual:  Quilts with Something to Say."  If you haven't had a chance to see the exhibit, don't miss out on this wonderful event! 
--The Gold Coast Guild is hosting a contemporary quilt show at the Highland Beach library from August 1st to October 26th!
--Quiltcon (the Modern Quilt Guild's first convention) will be hosting a quilt show in February.  
--Quilters are donating quilts to aid and comfort forest fire victims in the Western US.  General guidelines are: adults 72x80 inches, children 60x70 inches, and babies 45 inches square.  The quilts are being mailed out by the end of October.  If you're interested, email me for more information.

--The Mancuso World Quilt Show will be held in West Palm Beach from November 8th through 10th.  It is a great event, with lots of beautiful quilts and vendors.  The Gold Coast Quilters Guild is also having a special "red and white" mini-show at the event!
6.  We discussed the new Pinterest board for the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild, which you can find here:  http://pinterest.com/patchworkduck/south-florida-modern-quilt-guild-projects-and-insp/

7.  In lieu of "Things to Bring" for October, we are just finishing our QuiltCon group quilt blocks.  Feel free to also bring in lots of show and tell!

Show-and-tell:  As a final wrap-up, here are some great September show and tell photos!















October Meeting Reminder:  Save the date for Saturday, October 20th, from 10am to 12pm!  
As a special treat, we will have a very talented long-arm quilter guest speak about the ins-and-outs of longarm quilting.  Also, please feel free to bring in your show and tell, especially if you have Halloween-themed show and tell items!