Blocks of the Month for August, September and October!

It was great seeing everyone at the July meeting!  The guild members have decided to choose the "block of the month" a few months in advance, to give everyone plenty of opportunity to sew their blocks!

As a reminder, the block of the month is optional but a great way to try new ideas, challenge yourself and have a chance to win ALL of the blocks for that month!  If you make more than one block in a month, you have an extra opportunity to win all of the blocks!

August:

1. Please make a 12.5 inch square block in any pattern that you like, as long as you incorporate "text" fabric into it.  
• The "text" fabric can be used in the background, foreground, etc.  It can be any color or style that you like.
• Click HERE for great inspiration photos from Pinterest.
2. Please also work on creating a nametag for our meetings!  It can be any size or style you like.
• Click HERE for great inspiration photos from Pinterest.  
3. Please bring in fabric in your stash that you think might be "modern."  If you are not sure whether the fabric is modern, that is even better!  We will discuss modern fabrics at this meeting (we will not be swapping these fabrics).

Photo of "text" fabrics thanks to THIS site.

September:

1. Please make a 12.5 inch square block in the "Roman Stripe" pattern, as shown below.  You can use any colors you like. 

October:

1. Please make a 12.5 inch square block that has a house on it.  It can be any style (applique, paper pieced, wonky, etc) you like, in any colors you like!  Please use white for the background, to keep things uniform.  
• You can see great inspiration photos and links to free tutorials HERE.

Photo and tutorial available HERE.

A Quilting Evolution

I went to the Cornell Museum today to see the exhibit A Quilting Evolution. Nearly 100 quilts skillfully and artfully made by members of the Gold Coast Quilting Guild.

Here are photos of some of the modern quilts to inspire you.

Photos don't do them justice. Go see the quilts while they are on exhibit. Details about the museum and exhibit are on our Quilt Exhibits page.

August 17, 2013 Meeting

We will be talking about modern quilting fabric and how to tell if a fabric will be good to use in a modern quilt.

Bring some fabric that you're not sure about.

Make a 12 1/2" block that has some text in it. Use any pattern, or no pattern, but challenge yourself to make it modern. We have a new page with links to modern quilt tutorials. Try one!

All blocks will be entered into a drawing and one winner will get them all.

The meeting is at Stitchcraft in Boca Raton

August 17, 2014 10 AM

Inspiration Pages - New!

Check out the new pages on the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild Blog: Modern Quilt and Fabric Designers - with links to their blogs so you can be inspired! Modern Quilt Tutorials - instructions for modern blocks and quilts. Try something new and modern, and bring it to the next South Florida Modern Quilt Guild meeting. Quilt Exhibits. Quilt Retreats and Travel. Quilt Entries - contests or exhibits that you can enter your quilt into. Resources - this is our page that points to links, videos, and more. Watch the great videos from Quiltcon. We reformatted the blog with the "Mosaic" template... it seems modern... What do you think?

News from the Mailbag - July

Here is some more news from the mailbag that we recently received!  You can find other recent news from the mailbag HERE and HERE.

1.  Call for Entries:  Florida in Fabric!
 The Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts (in Melbourne, Florida) recently announced a call for entries into its second "Florida in Fabric" statewide juried quilt exhibition!  

"We invite Florida artists to submit their quilted visions of the Florida experience—a “postcard” from the Sunshine State. Florida evokes diverse images of tropical beaches, exotic wildlife and historic exploration. From the Fountain of Youth to the Space Shuttle, sunken treasure or Suwannee River, Florida inspires dreams of renewal and refuge. Explore the state of mind that is Florida and send us your inspiration."

Entry Deadline: Notification of Acceptance: Exhibit Dates:

January 31, 2014 at 5 p.m.    March 14, 2014 May 24 – August 23, 2014

For detailed prospectus, entry form and more information, please visit the website: http://textiles.fit.edu or call (321) 674-8313.

2.   November Quilt Retreat:  Babes on the Beach!

Sew Central in Merritt Island, Florida recently announced its second annual "Babes on the Beach" retreat in Cocoa Beach, FL on November 8, 9, and 10, 2013.  The sisters from Me and My Sister Designs will be the instructors for the weekend.  

The weekend includes a private lunch at the Sew Central store, a trunk show of patterns, sewing from the new designs, lunches and much more!  The retreat will be held at the International Palms Resort, and the cost for the weekend is $395, plus reasonable rates on the hotel.  Please contact www.sewcentral.net as soon as possible if you are interested!


3.  Quilt Bee at Sea:  March 2014 Cruise!

A member of the Southern Stars Quilt Guild in Broward recently forwarded this exciting cruise opportunity to us!  It is a "Quilt Bee at Sea."

--Leaving March 2, 2014
--7-Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise onboard the Celebrity Silhouette.  
--Ft.  Lauderdale, Florida round-trip.
--Ports include: San Juan,  Puerto Rico  • Basseterre, St. Kitts • Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
--Enjoy a week of fun with other  quilters. Experience new tips, techniques, demos, games and prizes.
--Prices  start   at   $779  pp or  $1004 pp for balcony.
--For more information or  reservations, please contact:  Karla lrby at Regency  Travel (954 525-5117).

June Meeting Recap!

The summer is flying by!   I hope everyone is staying dry and cool in this rain and heat.  Here is a review of the June meeting and some information for the upcoming months.

1.  Here is one more view of the completed charity quilt for Project Linus, using QuiltCon colors.  Thanks to everyone who created this beautiful quilt for a good cause!  We also discussed the amazing Charity Sewing Day we held in May for Project Linus, and 20 quilts were made for children in need!

 

2.  We are continuing with the two Round Robin quilts, and they are almost ready to be completed and donated as small quilts for Project Linus!  If you have any nice unfinished blocks that you would like to use as the "center squares" of our next Round Robin quilts, please bring them into the meeting!  

3.  For June, Johanna requested a "put a bird on it" theme!  She made a Pinterest inspiration board for her block, which you can see HERE.  All of the blocks turned out great, and they were in a wonderful range of styles (pieced, applique, wonky, etc.).  

 

 For those who don't understand the "put a bird on it" reference, it comes from a satirical sketch show called Portlandia.  You can see the original clip HERE.




4.  We had our "Fifty Shades of Grey" block raffle, and one lucky member won all of these beautiful blocks!  Thanks to everyone who participated...maybe you'll be the lucky winner next time!

 

5.  We continued to discuss the Modern Quilt Guild's decision to formalize its membership for the various guilds across the globe.  We have a few months to decide whether we would like to continue being part of the overall Modern Quilt Guild organization or become an independent guild.  Formalizing membership would provide a number of benefits, but it would also require us to charge dues (about $30 a year), plus form a board and become a tax-exempt organization.  

 

6.  Jessica gave a presentation about her role as a fashion/design/textiles teacher in the Broward school district.  She had some amazing show and tell pieces, and it was great learning about all of her wonderful and talented students!

 

 

7.  Quilt News and Events:

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

--The American Quilter's Society is hosting a Modern Quilt Challenge, with $6,000 in prizes!  Quilt entries are due in August.  Click HERE for more information about how to enter quilts into the competition.

--Check out the news from the mailbag HERE and HERE.   

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 our July meeting, we are bringing two items:

a)  a Fat Quarter of fabric (18" by 22") of a "fall-themed" fabric, for a swap.

b)  a block using THIS tutorial, in the 12 inch size, with scrappy colors and a white background.  One lucky member will win all of the blocks!  Here is a sample of the blocks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.  We had some fun door prizes, including a mini quilt kit and books!  Please feel free to bring in any items you want to de-stash...we are always in need of fun door prizes!

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

 

 

Reminder:  our next meeting is Saturday, July 20th, from 10am to 12pm at StitchCraft.  See you soon!