March Meeting - Things to Bring!

For the March meeting, here are your "Things to Bring!"

1.  UGLY FAT QUARTERS
--We will be holding an "ugly fat quarter" swap.  One person's trash is another treasure, so give that ugly FQ a good home!
--You are welcome to bring more than one ugly fat quarter for swapping!

Sample of my ugly fat quarters.

2.  STRIPS FOR OUR GROUP QUILT
We are continuing to bring in strips for group quilts, which we are sewing together for Project Linus' wonderful cause.  This is an ongoing project and benefits a wonderful cause!

a)  Size:  Please bring in at least one "strip" of fabric that is 44/45 inches wide (the width of quilting fabric from selvage edge to selvage edge).  It can be any height, but should probably be at least 2.5 inches tall.
b)  Pattern:  You can piece the strip with interesting patterns.  Alternatively, you can just bring plain strips (or excess Jelly Roll strips).
c)  Color:  If you piece your strips, please include at least a bit of white in the strip.  If you bring in plain fabric strips, any color is fine.

3.  MISCELLANEOUS
Of course, don't forget your standard "Things to Bring" for each meeting (you can see the standards items HERE).  Feel free to email if you have any questions.  See you on Saturday, March 17th at StitchCraft!

"Things to Bring" for February Meeting

For the February meeting, here are your "Things to Bring!"

1.  SCRAP BAG
a)  As part of our "Scraptacular, Scraptacular" meeting in February, we are having a scrap swap!  Please bring a small ziploc baggie (quart size) of your scraps!  If you have a lot of scraps, feel free to bring two baggies for an extra swap!  Please include usable scraps of cotton fabric, approximately 1 inch on each side or larger.  

Scrap-a-licious!

b)  If you have any projects that you've made with scraps, please bring them for Show and Tell!
c)  Check out this amazing website for great scrap quilt ideas (look on the right-hand side of the page for FREE patterns):  http://www.quiltville.com/


2.  STRIPS FOR OUR GROUP QUILT
We are continuing to bring in strips for group quilts, which we are sewing together for Project Linus' wonderful cause.  This is an ongoing project and benefits a wonderful cause! 

a)  Size:  Please bring in at least one "strip" of fabric that is 44/45 inches wide (the width of quilting fabric from selvage edge to selvage edge).  It can be any height, but should probably be at least 2.5 inches tall.
b)  Pattern:  You can piece the strip with interesting patterns.  Alternatively, you can just bring plain strips (or excess Jelly Roll strips).
c)  Color:  If you piece your strips, please include at least a bit of white in the strip.  If you bring in plain fabric strips, any color is fine.  


3.  FABRIC, PILLOWCASES AND/OR SEWING MACHINE (OPTIONAL)
StitchCraft is holding a sewing day to make pillowcases for children in need of a smile!  ConKerr Cancer provides cheerful pillowcases to pediatric cancer patients as a way to brighten hospital rooms.

On Friday, February 17th (10am-4pm) and Saturday, February 18th (1-4pm, after our meeting!), you can "sew a smile."  StitchCraft has kits for sale and a limited number of free kits from customer-donated fabric.  A few options, if you want to help:  (i) come with your sewing machine to sew some pillowcases; (ii) drop off completed pillowcases (instructions and fabric requirements are HERE); or (iii) donate juvenile-suitable fabric for a great cause.


4.  MISCELLANEOUS
Of course, don't forget your standard "Things to Bring" for each meeting (you can see the standards items HERE).  Feel free to email if you have any questions.  See you on Saturday, February 18th at StitchCraft!

"Things to Bring" for January Meeting

For the January meeting, here are your "Things to Bring!"

1.  MUG RUG
As a follow-up to our great mug rug tutorial from the December meeting, we are having a mug rug swap!  Please bring in one (or more) completed mug rugs that you would like to swap with other members.  Mug rugs can be any size, but 6 inches by 9 inches is usually a good standard.

For those who are asking "What the heck is a mug rug?," check out this link:  http://www.twomoreseconds.com/2011/03/mug-rug-madness-what-of-mug-rugs.html

For those who need mug rug inspiration, check out these great links:
http://www.twomoreseconds.com/p/mug-rug-madness.html
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mugrugmadness/


2.  STRIPS FOR OUR GROUP QUILT

Size:  Please bring in at least one "strip" of fabric that is 44/45 inches wide (the width of typical quilting fabric from selvage edge to selvage edge).  It can be any height, but should probably be at least 2.5 inches tall.

Pattern:  You can piece the strip with interesting patterns (such as flying geese, stripes, log cabins, etc).  Alternatively, you can just bring plain strips (or bring in excess Jelly Roll strips).

Color:  If you piece your strips, please include at least a bit of white in the strip.  If you bring in plain fabric strips, any color is fine.  

Here are example photos from the New York Metro Mod Guild, who created their own strip quilt a year or two ago:

Strips that each member brought.  Some were plain, some were pieced.  All were beautiful!

The finished quilt!

Detail of the finished quilt.

Of course, don't forget your standard "Things to Bring" for each meeting (you can see the standards items HERE).  Feel free to email if you have any questions.  See you on Saturday, January 21st at Stitchcraft!

November Meeting Recap

This past Saturday, the South Florida Modern Quilt Guild held its inaugural meeting!  Frankly, I wasn't sure how many folks would show up, but the numbers greatly exceeded all expectations.  We had a standing room only crowd of over 25 lovely men and women!

 The Stitchcraft store (the location of our meeting)

For those who didn't have a chance to attend, here is a quick recap:

1. We welcomed everyone and explained the history of the Modern Quilt Guild.
2. We briefly discussed what constitutes "modern quilting" and whether a single definition of the modern quilting movement actually exists.
3. We discussed the goals of South Florida Mod:  the education of quilters in modern quilting techniques, the creation of community through swaps, group challenges, members teaching members, sewing days, charity activities and possible group quilt shows.
4. We discussed what we needed to do to reach our goals for South Florida Mod:  the expansion of the website for outreach and member involvement, advertising the guild to other quilters, delegating the organization of guild activities to interested members, keeping dues to a minimum and keeping the guild as informal as possible.
5. We discussed quilt news in the area.
6. We had a brief break while we explored the shop, ate some snacks and chatted.  :)
7. We held a door prize raffle, where some lucky members won bundles of fat quarters!
8. We had a great show and tell session, where members displayed their beautiful quilts and works in progress!
9. We decided on next month's swap block pattern.
10. We wrapped up the meeting by holding a Yankee swap (also called a White Elephant exchange) of fat quarters!

Here are some photos that I took, which showed some of the beautiful show and tell examples.  Feel free to email me with your photos!

"Things to bring" for the December meeting:

1.  FOLDING CHAIRS!  We are trying to keep the meetings at Stitchcraft, but we need more chairs!  The meetings will now be "BYOC" (Bring Your Own Chair) to make sure we have enough seats for members.
2.  A "festive" holiday-themed nine-patch block, in any size (minimum 6.5 inch square, unfinished), for a block swap.  It it certainly does not have to be Christmas or Chanukah-themed!  Think outside the box:  New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, Winter, Arbor Day, etc.  HERE is a simple tutorial on making a basic nine-patch block, and HERE are more complex nine-patch patterns.

Things to Do:

1.  If you have not signed the list at the meeting, please email us at southfloridamod [at] gmail [dot] com with your information.
2.  If you are interested in posting to the blog, please email us for an invitation!
2.  If you are interested in getting involved with certain areas of the guild (such as finding local charities in need of quilts, teaching members with ten-minute tutorials, organizing a sewing day, organizing a quilting bee with other members, etc.), please email us!  No experience necessary.  :)

It was so much fun meeting everyone, and I can't wait to see everyone on Saturday, December 17th for the next meeting!

November Meeting - Things to Bring

Our inaugural meeting in November is coming up in less than a month!  Each meeting, it would be great to have the attendees make and bring something to the meeting.  Accordingly, here are November's "things to bring":

1.  Make a nametag for yourself! 

You can make the nametag as simple or complicated as you like.  Try some embroidery, piecing, or just use a marker on some colorful fabric.  This is a perfect opportunity to try creating a nametag using Tonya's new book, Word Play Quilts.  

HERE, HERE and HERE are other great photos of some nametag ideas.

2.  Bring a fat quarter (or two) of fun fabric!

Modern and/or whimsical fabrics are preferred.  We will be doing a Yankee Swap, so get ready to share and swipe your favorites.  If you bring two fat quarters, you will have two chances to participate.  Check out this Youtube video of a Yankee Swap marriage proposal.  Too cute!



Of course, please bring the standard items for each meeting as well.  You can find the general list HERE.  See you soon!