South Florida Modern Quilt Guild: January Meeting Recap

Happy Valentine's Day! Here is a little recap of the January meeting and some information for the upcoming months.

1. We brought in blocks for a QuiltCon charity quilt, which is currently being pieced and will go to a wonderful charitable organization in Austin, TX.

2. We are continuing with the two Round Robin quilts, and they look great! They will be wonderful finished quilts that will go to Project Linus for children in need. If you are interested in adding a row or side to the quilts, just speak up at the next meeting.

3. We discussed the Virtual Quilting Bee (the last round ended in December). We had members sign up for the next round of the Bee, which has started. We look forward to seeing the beautiful blocks that come out of the Bee for the year!

For February, Bee members were asked to make wonky star blocks using THIS tutorial. It should be a great finished quilt!

4. We had Sue discuss her beautiful quilting work using heavy-weight thread. The pieces were beautiful and the thread added dimension and intricacy to the quilts. StitchCraft sells heavy-weight thread, if you are interested in trying your own quilting project with the thread!

5. As a guild challenge, we handed out free bundles from the Madrona Road fabric collection (kindly donated thanks to the Modern Quilt Guild). Members will make mini quilts using the fabric, up to 96 inches large around the entire perimeter (18 inches square, for example). You can add any other fabrics in the collection or solids to the project. They will be shown for show and tell at the April meeting.

If you want to see some amazing Madrona Road quilt projects from other Modern Quilt Guilds (note: they are not all mini quilts), check out the Flickr page HERE!

6. Quilt News and Events:

--eQuilter is requesting quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims. Click HERE for more information about how to donate quilts.

--The Broward Quilt Expo will be held from March 14th to 16th, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Click HERE for more information!

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. We swapped sets of coasters as our monthly member swap item.

For our "Things to Bring" for the February meeting, members are requested to make a mug rug. It can be in any size, color or pattern that you like! You can find some inspiration photos and tutorials HERE!

Sample of a mug rug, in a gnome pattern! Measures about 4 x 6 inches.

9. As a special February event, we are having a representative from BabyLock discuss free motion quilting techniques with us! It should be an amazing event and a great way to learn more about this popular topic.

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