Friday, February 21, 2014

January's Meeting Minutes

Present:
Dana, Joanna, Cristin, Jaclyn, Alli, Vicky, Melissa, Cathy, Barb, Stacey, Nancy, Kathy, June, Nicole, Ann, Janna, Annemarie

Introductions- name and favorite block


Guild Bee by Nicole
            Nicole worked on updating the list.  We will not be starting in January.  There are still 2 open spots.  Nicole will send out the instructions for her block in February, will make the block for that month, bring the single block for that month (so February for that month) to that meeting.  If a person wants a specific fabric, they need to provide that fabric for people to use.  Ie if Nicole wants Kona Gray, she needs to provide that to people.  She could instead state, please use a gray in the block.
                  
NQA join-up
               $20 was collected previously.  We need around $49 total and we need 5 individual members to be able to join as a guild. 
We collected money – we have enough money to join.
2 people were present who are individual members.   

Vicky provided a handout 10 reasons to affiliate with NQA.  She spoke about the reasons she joined and volunteer
The quilt must be submitted by April 1, 2014 for this year’s show.  $30 to enter if you are not a member.  Binding Tip- make sure the binding in the bottom right corner is perfect b/c that is where they look.
Feb. 2 is the sign up date for classes.

Block Raffle
Next month we will have another raffle. 
Make the designated block, bring it to the Feb. meeting.  Everyone who brings one block  will be entered into the raffle, to a maximum of 2 entries
Block: The Converging Corners Block- 12 inch blocks
 Ann will put a link to the tutorial on the guild facebook page.  Filminthefridge.com
Monocrhomatic, any color.  Can be solids or prints that read as a solid.    The background (white in the picture) will be a neutral ie tan, white

James Stitching Sisters Quilting Day Saturday April 5

Demo on Half Square Triangles by AnneMarie

Talked about EQ7 and the woman who does training.  Gail charges $250 for sessions.  March 8-22 at 10AM.  The demo would begin at 9AM and costs 2 canned goods.  A total of 10 people can join. 

The agenda for the year was developed.  Goal is to have a demo at every meeting. 
Feb. Raffle blocks, demo, challenge to be announced for UFO
March Demo, Sew Ins announced, Fabric Swap
April Swap
May Block Raffle, UFO challenge due
June Sew In – will do a sew in for charity – James Stitching Sisters
July Sew In
August Demo, Block Raffle, Swap
September Return Swap, Demo
October- Birthday Party and plan for secret santa
November- Demo, sign up for holiday party
December- Party

If anyone wants to do a demo, please tell Jacqlyn or talk about a topic, please let Ann know.

Snow Weather policy- if the library closes, we will cancel.  Please check the library to determine if they are open or closed in inclement weather.

Show and tell

March Bee Block

Jana's March Bee Block:

So, I am going to do this slightly differently than Nicole.  One thing I found through the guild is that it challenges me to try new and different things.  So, for March, I want you to try a block that you have wanted to try and haven’t or your favorite block. Please  make the block size be 12x12.

For colors, I want the background/negative space to be white, black, or gray (patterns are fine, I just want the overall look to be one of those colors).  I would like the rest of the block to be one color (again patterns, shades, scrappiness, etc are fine).  Please do not select brown as the color.   

Monday, February 17, 2014

EQ7 Workshop Coming Up in Columbus!

Interested in Learning How to Use EQ7?
Members of Columbus Modern Quilt Guild are scheduling two classes with Electric Quilt teacher, Gail Wadley. The first 3-hour session will be on March 8 at 10:00 in Worthington. The second will be on March 22 at the same time.
If you don't have EQ and would like to give it a try, Gail has a temporary version that you can load on your laptop.

For more information or if you have any questions, just email Barb at blacksquirrelthreads@gmail.com. Thanks!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

February Block Raffle

Hi everyone, Ann here. As discussed at the last meeting, in February we will be having another block raffle. For those of you who didn't participate last time, this is how it works: anyone who wishes to participate should make at least one block following the prescribed pattern/theme for the raffle. Everyone brings their blocks to the meeting and for each block you bring (max of 2 entries) you get an entry into the raffle.  We'll draw names and the winner gets all the blocks. If we have enough blocks we'll spit the blocks and draw 2 names.

This month's raffle blocks will be monochromatic "converging corner" blocks. These are a variation on log cabin blocks and go together to make a really fun overall pattern. This Tutorial by Ashley of Film in the Fridge gives great instructions for making these fun easy blocks.   Please make the colored portions of your block monochromatic. They can be any color (you can use prints, solids, or a combo) but within the block they should read the same color. Please also make the negative space a light colored neutral (white, cream, light gray, etc.). I can't wait to see everyone's creations.

Monday, February 3, 2014

CMQG Bee: February Block Instructions


Hi everyone, it’s Nicole again!  I’m the very first queen bee for our very first guild bee.  How exciting! Are you all ready to start?  Hopefully, what I’ve planned for this month will be a good way for everyone to get their feet wet.

But first, a little about me:

Queen Bee Name:          Nicole
Flickr username:               adventuresinfabricland
Instagram username:     @babydoxie
Blog url:                               
www.babydoxie.com (All set up, just waiting on some content…
                                                maybe someday I’ll work on that)

Favorite Fabric Designer:
If any of you follow me on Instagram (@babydoxie) you already know the answer to this question!  What’s not to love about the amazing mother/daughter design duo of Bonnie & Camille who make the sweetest fabrics for Moda. You can check out Camille’s blog or Bonnie’s shop for tons of amazing inspiration!
Favorite Fabric Line:
While I love all things Bonnie & Camille, I have an especially large place in my heart for their
Marmaladecollection.  The sweet colors and gorgeous florals leave me wanting to cover every inch of my house in that fabric!  I don’t think my husband would approve…it might be a little too “girly” for a whole house remodel ;)





Favorite Quilt Block/Quilt Design:
Well, you may have guessed it…Bonnie & Camille strikes again!  This time in the form of Camille’s pattern company—Thimbleblossoms.  You may be familiar with the Swoon quilt.  I just love it!  In fact, I’m working on a second version now!  The Swoon block finishes at 24” so just a few blocks and you’ve got a whole quilt.  Ever fabric combination I’ve seen in this quilt pattern is just lovely! The Swoon quilt pictured below is from the header of
Camille’s online pattern shop, where you can get your very own copy of the pattern.

Ok, so now that I have professed my undying love for all things Bonnie and Camille…we can get on with the block information for our guild bee!
February Block Details
Back in the fall there was a very popular Instagram hash tag #fallingformodernmaples and every single quilt that popped up was just gorgeous. 
Check out the original tutorial here on the Modern Handcraft blog.  Hopefully this is a simple enough block that everyone feels comfortable completing.  Also pretty timely too, since AnneMarie just did a demo on several ways to make half square triangles!
Lots of gorgeous inspiration can be found in the Falling for Modern Maples group on Flickr too, but one quilt really stood out to me.  Erin, who writes the blog Two More Seconds, made this beautiful mini quilt version that is my inspiration for the bee block this month:


Here’s what I like about the block, and what I’d like for you to incorporate into the blocks you make this month:
·         Color palette: rich, saturated tones of yellow, orange, brown, and dark fuchsia/purple

·         Fabric selection: the prints she chose are what I would call “blenders” or fabric that is predominately one color, yet still has a pattern and is not a solid.

·         Scrappiness: Notice how almost every square is different.  I love how it looks here. But it’s important that each leaf is composed of a single overall color. 

For the background fabric, anything in the cream or tan family is fine.  It can be a solid or it can have a slight design to it. Low volume prints work great for this block.  Erin also made a full-size version of the quilt and you can see in her picture how lots of different background fabrics were used.
There you have it.  I’ve ordered up one modern maple block using the tutorial linked above.  If you’re just loving this block, feel free to make me more than one!  I will accept them all!  I can’t wait to see your completed blocks at the February meeting.
A special thanks to Erin, who kindly gave me permission via Instagram to use her photos in this blog post!

-Nicole

CMQG 2014 Guild Bee: THE DETAILS

Here it is…the long-awaited, much anticipated-- boy Nicole has really procrastinated-- details for our first ever CMQG Bee.

Who’s in?

Here’s the list of each bee member along with the month they have been assigned as the “Queen Bee”

February:             Nicole
March:                  Janna
April:                     Cynthia
May:                     Andrea
June:                     Ann
July:                      Cristin
August:                Joanna M.
September:         Karen C.
October:              Stacey
November:          Dana
December:          AnneMarie
January 2015:     Aimee

You’ll notice I listed myself twice.  We were one person short of having a full bee, so in order for everyone to receive 11 blocks each month, I took two spots in the “lineup.”  I’ll be making two blocks for each of you and in return, you’ll each make me a block at two different times in the year.  If someone else would like to have double the blocks received and double the blocks to make, let me know and I’ll happily relinquish my spot.  Or if anyone missed the meeting this month and still wants a spot, you can have my extra one!

What’s required?

Each month, we will have a different “Queen Bee” and everyone else will be the “worker bees.”  Responsiblities for each role are listed below:

Queen Bee:

·         First Monday of the month, post block directions on the CMQG blog (I can help you with the posting, you just have to do the writing) for the block that you would like everyone to make.

·         If you are requesting specific fabrics to be used (e.g. only Kona Snow as the background, or only fabrics from a specific designer) you must supply the materials to the bee members.  Materials should be distributed at the meeting prior to your month as queen bee. So, for example, if your month is March and you want everyone to make blocks using Kona Snow as the background fabric, you should bring your fabric to the February meeting.  Make sense?

·         If you have your own blog and want to write and host your post there and provide me with a link, that’s cool too.  We’re all friends here!

Worker Bees:


·         Each month you will make 1 block for the queen bee based on the specified instructions.

·         Bring that block to the guild meeting that month.  For example, if you are making blocks for the February queen bee, those blocks should come with you to the February meeting.

·         Unless fabric is provided by the queen bee, you’ll be using fabric from your stash to make the blocks. (See fabric requirements below)

If you are unable to attend a meeting, please let me know and we can make some alternate arrangements!

Extenuating circumstances do happen…we totally understand.  People move across the country, have a baby or two, get a promotion at work that suddenly has you working around the clock, etc.  If you cannot meet the deadline please let the queen bee know and I’m sure you can work something out.

Fabric Requirements:

In the various swaps and bees that I have participated in, I’ve learned that I’m happiest with the results when I am very specific about my likes and dislikes.  I’ll be posting all of this on the blog with my February block instructions, so feel free to use that same format when it’s your turn to be the queen bee.

Fabrics should be “Quilt Shop” quality, modern fabrics.  What does that mean? For the most part, fabrics from our favorite big box bargain store shouldn’t be included.  You know the ones…itchy, kinda transparent, etc.  Please don’t include batiks, reproduction prints, etc. unless the queen bee specifically requests it.

Ok, that was really a lot of words to say just a little.  Most importantly, have fun with the process!  Hopefully we can challenge each other to learn new skills, play with new color schemes, and just get to know each other a little better over the course of the year.

For those of you that are big fans of social media, I’ve created a group on Flickr where you can post your photos for the bee (this is a great place to ask questions, check on a color palette, etc.):


New to Flickr? Check out this how-to video for more information: http://youtu.be/SyXmR2PA6cM
And if you’re so inclined to play along on Instagram, I’ve started a hashtag: #CbusMQBee

I'll be back soon with the directions for our February block!