November 2018 Meeting Summary

Hello everyone, here's your summary of what happened at the meeting for everyone who wasn’t able to attend (and to jog memories for those who did).

It was a smaller group this time since so many members were away at retreat, but we also had a few new faces, so that was great.

News/discussion/etc. from the meeting:

•  We had a (very) brief overview of the latest newsletter email from the Modern Quilt Guild.
• Some Canadian Quilting Association stuff:
• The TrendTex Challenge 2019 is now open, more info there: https://canadianquilter.com/trendtex-challenge-2019/
• Submissions are now open for the National Juried Show for next year’s Quilt Canada, more info here: https://njs.canadianquilter.com/index.html
• Quilts of Valour Canada is looking for blocks and/or finished quilts towards their goal of presenting 20,000 quilts to injured veterans by 2020. More details and a log cabin pattern to use here: https://canadianquilter.com/quilts-of-valour-canada/
• We had cookies and a fun quilt acronym activity.
• We talked about our donation quilts and the sew-in days (see below).
• We also talked about our upcoming Parksville presentation (see below).
• We had a couple examples of crazy quilting brought in for the challenge from last month. If you weren’t at the meeting or didn’t get one finished in time, no worries, just bring yours when you can.
• And we of course had some show and share: 

View this post on Instagram

Small meeting last night with many of our members away at retreat, but we still had some great show and share, including a bunch of quilts on loan from members for an upcoming presentation we’ll make to the Parksville guild.

A post shared by Nanaimo Modern Quilt Guild (@nanaimomqg) on Nov 8, 2018 at 11:00am PST

Charity quilts: We will have two assembly weekends at Jonanco for this project (November 17/18 and November 24/25). As November 24th was our sew-in day at the library that we already wanted to use for assembling the donation quilts, we will cancel the library day and have the sew-in at Jonanco. Some of the Jonanco quilting group will join us to help out on these assembly days. So far we have enough HSTs to make 13 1/2 quilts, plus we have 5 completed quilts, 2 completed tops, and 3 panels and 4 tops that can be enlarged, so 27 quilts.

Jonanco is located at 2745 White Rapids Rd just south of Nanaimo. https://www.jonanco.org

Donation quilt HSTs general info: As we discussed in previous meetings, we have an ongoing project to make half square triangles for quilts to be donated to kids in foster care. 

If you missed the specs on the HSTs: we’re going for a scrappy sort of look, but big and modern. Half square triangle blocks should be trimmed to 8.5 inches, with one side lighter and the other darker (relative is OK, like pink against white), and we also discussed having one side be a solid (or a subtle print that reads as a solid) and the other a print. The target age is the slightly older kids and teens, say 6-16, as there tends to already be a lot of donations aimed at the really little kids. Final quilt sizes will likely be lap size or twins, but for now, just keep feeding us HSTs and we’ll build the quilts later on. As this is an ongoing project, just make ‘em as you can and bring ‘em – great way to work through your stash.

Parksville guild presentation: We will be giving a presentation on modern quilting to the Parksville guild on Monday November 19th. Similar to the traditional Nanaimo guild, they meet twice that day with an afternoon meeting at 1pm and an evening one at 6:30, so we will present at both. We could use a hand with the presentations and activities we’ll be leading them in, especially for the afternoon session, and we would also like to borrow some modern quilts to show Parksville (same as when we presented to the traditional Nanaimo guild a while back). 

The Parksville guild meets at the Parksville Community Conference Center, 132 Jensen Avenue East in Parksville. 

If you would like to lend us a quilt or two, kindly bring them to one of the Jonanco sew-in days or email us to make other arrangements, and if you can lend a hand with the presentations, email us and let us know. 

Block of the Month/Block lotto: No new block of the month, so you can work on the Christmas swap. 

Mini Challenge for October: Ditto. No mini challenge this month.

Christmas swap: I’m sure you’ve all seen the sparkly red, white, and green stuff sneaking into all the stores already, so you know it’s coming: Christmas! Which means our annual Christmas potluck and swap is coming.

For the swap, you can either make a microwave bowl cozy and find a bowl to go with it or make a mug rug and find a mug to go with it. Either way, make your quilted piece, find a mug or bowl, wrap it all up in a gift bag, and at the potluck let the swapping and stealing begin!

Note: if you’re making the microwave bowl cozy, make sure to only use 100% cotton for all parts including batting and thread. No metallics! 

Here’s a pattern suggested for the microwave bowl cozy: http://www.seamshappy.com/2012/08/13/microwave-bowl-pot-holder/

And if you want to make a mug rug, I think last year we decided the maximum size is 9” in any direction.

Next sew-in: Replaced by the Jonanco sew-in days. November 17, 18, 24, 25.

Next meeting: Wednesday, December 5, 6:30pm (a bit early to allow people to get set up for the potluck. Bring a dish to share and your swap stuff.

Upcoming quilt shows:

Nothing on the Island in the next couple months, but for 2019: 

• Westshore Quilters’ Guild: April 12-13, 2019 - more info at https://westshorequiltersguild.ca/2019-quilt-show/
• Island Quilters (the traditional guild here in Nanaimo): June 6-9, more info in the members section of http://www.islandquilters.ca/index.htm

Upcoming retreats:

• Stitch, Sip & Splash: presented by Troll Brothers Quilt Designs - July 12-14, 2019 in Shawnigan Lake. More info: https://trollbrothersquiltdesigns.com/collections/stitch-sip-splash-quilt-retreat-2019


Links for our guild: 

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/258471184565888/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanaimomqg/

Blog: http://nanaimomqg.blogspot.com

October 2018 Meeting Recap

Howdy folks, here's your summary of what happened at the meeting for everyone who wasn’t able to attend (and to jog memories for those who did).

News/discussion/etc. from the meeting:

• We had a brief overview of the latest newsletter email from the Modern Quilt Guild.
• The TrendTex Challenge 2019 is now open, more info there: https://canadianquilter.com/trendtex-challenge-2019/
• We chatted about the latest sew-in a couple weeks ago. Turn out was solid, and one of our members donated an ironing board for us to use at future sew-ins. 
• We discussed details related to our charity quilts project and getting the first batch finished in the next few weeks. 
• Two of our members demonstrated a couple different methods of paper piecing and brought a bunch of examples to show us. 
• Three of our members talked about workshops they’ve done this month, namely Stacey Day’s “Sparkle Pop” workshop with the Victoria MQG, a One Block Wonder workshop at Kaleidoscope Quilt Company taught by Sarah Stokes, and a 4 day retreat with Maria Shell on Denman Island that included large-scale improv pieced blocks as well as piecing solid fabrics to give the illusion of a print.
• And of course we had show and share:

View this post on Instagram

Some of the glorious quilts we got to see at the show and share part of last night’s meeting, including pieces from our summer playing card challenge, Halloween awesomeness, last night’s paper piecing demo by @keizerquilts, and pieces made in a recent workshop a couple members took with @talesofastitcher. #mqg #modernquilt #modernquilting #canadianmqg #showusyourmqg

A post shared by Nanaimo Modern Quilt Guild (@nanaimomqg) on Oct 4, 2018 at 10:58am PDT

Donation quilt HSTs general info: As we discussed in previous meetings, we have an ongoing project to make half square triangles for quilts to be donated to kids in foster care. 

If you missed the specs on the HSTs: we’re going for a scrappy sort of look, but big and modern. Half square triangle blocks should be trimmed to 8.5 inches, with one side lighter and the other darker (relative is OK, like pink against white), and we also discussed having one side be a solid (or a subtle print that reads as a solid) and the other a print. The target age is the slightly older kids and teens, say 6-16, as there tends to already be a lot of donations aimed at the really little kids. Final quilt sizes will likely be lap size or twins, but for now, just keep feeding us HSTs and we’ll build the quilts later on. As this is an ongoing project, just make ‘em as you can and bring ‘em – great way to work through your stash.

Parksville guild presentation: We will be giving a presentation on modern quilting to the Parksville guild on Monday November 19th. Similar to the traditional Nanaimo guild, they meet twice that day with an afternoon meeting at 1pm and an evening one at 6:30, so we will present at both. We would like to borrow some modern quilts from our members to show Parksville (same as when we presented to the traditional Nanaimo guild a while back). If you would like to lend us a quilt or two, please bring them to our November 7th meeting. We’ll talk more about this at our next meeting as well. 

Mini Challenge for October: Your challenge this month, should you choose to accept it, is to take crazy quilting and do a modern take on it. 

Crazy quilting became popular in the Victorian age and tended to use all manner of fabric scraps seemingly randomly pieced. They often involve a mix of luxury fabrics in all sorts of colours, but it’s not uncommon to see them with a definite theme. Crazy quilts normally involve a lot of embellishment such as adding various trims, buttons/appliques/rhinestones, lace overlays, embroidery, you name it. 

As an example of crazy quilting I whipped up this little drawstring bag, though I wouldn’t really call it modern, other than it has a lot of solid black and geometrics, lol:

More info on crazy quilting: 

http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/crazy.htm

http://crazyquiltjournalproject2018.blogspot.com


It’s up to you what you make, could be as small as a mug rug or coin purse or as big as a throw if you have the time, but the challenge is due at the November meeting so no need to go too huge… unless you get bitten by the crazy quilting bug and really want to. 

Christmas swap: I’m sure you’ve all seen the sparkly red, white, and green stuff sneaking into all the stores already, so you know it’s coming: Christmas! Which means our annual Christmas potluck and swap is coming at the December meeting.

We tossed around a couple ideas on what to make for the swap, with some people leaning towards a quilted microwave bowl cozy + bowl and some people wanting to do a mug rug + mug again, so in the end we decided to have both as options. So, if you’re going to participate in the swap, you can either make a microwave bowl cozy and find a bowl to go with it or make a mug rug and find a mug to go with it. Either way, make your quilted piece, find a mug or bowl, wrap it all up in a gift bag, and at the potluck let the swapping and stealing begin!

Note: if you’re making the microwave bowl cozy, make sure to only use 100% cotton for all parts including batting and thread. No metallics! 

I found this list of microwave bowl patterns, but I think one of our members said she has a great pattern for them she can share, ask her at the November meeting: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/make-microwave-bowl-potholders-2978118

And if you want to make a mug rug, I think last year we decided the maximum size is 9” in any direction.

We’ll talk more about the potluck at the next meeting.

Next sew-in: November 24 at the Nanaimo North library on Hammond Bay Road, deadline to sign up is Thursday November 22nd, because if there aren’t at least 4 people signed up by then we will have to cancel the sew-in. 

Next meeting: Wednesday, November 7, 7pm as usual.

Upcoming quilt shows:

Nothing on the Island in the next couple months, but:

• Vancouver Quilters’ Guild: October 13-14 - more info at http://vancouverquiltersguild.com/

And for 2019:

• Westshore Quilters’ Guild: April 12-13, 2019 - more info at https://westshorequiltersguild.ca/2019-quilt-show/

• Island Quilters (the traditional guild here in Nanaimo): June 6-9, more info in the members section of http://www.islandquilters.ca/index.htm


Links for our guild: 

• Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/258471184565888/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanaimomqg

PS: friendly reminder that membership is now due. If you haven’t renewed already, please do so at the next meeting or get in touch with us to make other arrangements.

Whew… that was a long one, but I think that's about it - happy quilting and see you all in November!

September 2018 Show and Share

Oopsie - forgot to go back and add the show and share pics to the meeting recap... oh well, let's give them their own post, shall we?

View this post on Instagram

Show and share from last night’s meeting. #modernquilt #mqg #quilting #modernquilting

A post shared by Nanaimo Modern Quilt Guild (@nanaimomqg) on Sep 6, 2018 at 11:29am PDT

Looking forward to next month's show and share, see you then!

September 2018 Meeting Recap

Hello folks, here's your summary of what happened at the meeting for everyone who wasn’t able to attend (and to jog memories for those who did).

News/discussion/etc. from the meeting:

• It’s that time of year: membership renewals are now due for 2018/2019
• We had a brief overview of the latest newsletter from the Modern Quilt Guild 
• We talked about the next sew-in on September 22 (must sign up by Thursday September 20th; if we don't have 4 people signed up by then we will cancel)
• We talked about future demos and had a few volunteers on the following topics: improv ideas, foundation paper piecing, possibly letter appliqués, quilting with rulers, and low-immersion dye techniques. (And we’re always happy for more volunteers or requests, just let us know at the next meeting.)
• We discussed doing some sort of a spring cleaning fabric swap or garage/car trunk sale, and there was a lot of enthusiasm about the idea. Probably we’ll do that in May when the weather is nicer.
• We had some updates about the big moving sale for the Nanaimo Fabricland, though the new location probably won’t be known for another week or two. Lots of great bargains to be had, but the pickings were already getting slim even last week.
• We had some info about the traditional Nanaimo guild’s upcoming quilt show in June: if you want to participate in the show you must be a member as of this month’s meeting, which is on September 19 in either the afternoon or evening. Check their website for location and time: http://www.islandquilters.ca/index.htm
• We talked about a couple upcoming workshops that a couple of our members will be attending, so we’ll hear all about them next month. 
• As always, we had show and share.

Challenges: 

None this month, but I’ll have a small one next month to be due in November.

We had the reveal of the first few playing card challenges tonight, and I posted the pics here:

View this post on Instagram

We saw the first bunch of finished quilts from our summer “playing card challenge”, inspired by Sue Pierce’s book “Art Quilts: Playing With a Full Deck” at tonight’s meeting. #quilting #modern quilting #artquilts #mqg

A post shared by Nanaimo Modern Quilt Guild (@nanaimomqg) on Sep 5, 2018 at 10:40pm PDT

If you’re still working on yours, no worries, just bring it when you can.

  

Next sew-in: September 22 at the Nanaimo North library on Hammond Bay Road, please sign up with Carly prior to the afternoon of Thursday September 20th, because if there aren’t at least 4 people signed up by then we will have to cancel the sew-in.

Donation quilt HSTs: As we discussed in previous meetings, we have an ongoing project to make half square triangles for quilts to be donated to kids in foster care. 

If you missed the specs on the HSTs: we’re going for a scrappy sort of look, but big and modern. Half square triangle blocks should be trimmed to 8.5 inches, with one side lighter and the other darker (relative is OK, like pink against white), and we also discussed having one side be a solid (or a subtle print that reads as a solid) and the other a print. The target age is the slightly older kids and teens, say 6-16, as there tends to already be a lot of donations aimed at the really little kids. Final quilt sizes will likely be lap size or twins, but for now, just keep feeding us HSTs and we’ll build the quilts later on. As this is an ongoing project, just make ‘em as you can and bring ‘em – great way to work through your stash.


Next meeting: Wednesday, October 3, 7pm as usual.

Upcoming workshops that may be of interest: 

• Art Retreat with Maria Shell, September 16-19 on Denman Island: this one may have a spot or two left, contact Barb ASAP if you want to join in, info here: http://artleap.ca/workshops/maria-shell-art-retreat/
• Sparkle Pop with Stacy Day, September 21 in Victoria hosted by the Victoria MQG, more info here: http://www.mqgvictoria.com/p/stacey-day-workshop.html

Upcoming quilt shows:

Nothing on the Island in the next couple months, but:

• Textile Society of America: September 19-23 - 2018 Biennial Symposium in Vancouver, more info at https://textilesocietyofamerica.org/tsa_symposium/symposium-2018/
• Vancouver Quilters’ Guild: October 13-14 - more info at http://vancouverquiltersguild.com/

And for 2019: 

• Westshore Quilters’ Guild: April 12-13, 2019 - more info at https://westshorequiltersguild.ca/2019-quilt-show/
• Island Quilters (the traditional guild here in Nanaimo): June 6-9, more info in the members section of http://www.islandquilters.ca/index.htm




I think that's about it - happy quilting and see you all in October!

 Happy start of a new quilting season!  Our first meeting is on Wednesday September 5th at 7pm at our normal location.  (Christ community church 2221 Bowen Road, Nanaimo) Here is a quick run down of some of the items we will be covering:

• Membership dues
• Demo planning for the year – does anyone have anything they would like to learn?  Anyone from our group want to do a demo? Do you have any names & contacts of people that may want to come and do a demo?
• Block of the month, we decided at the organizational meeting we would switch it up a bit this year; due to the intimate group we have we don’t want to overwhelm people with projects.  So we are going to switch between block of the month and challenges.  Christine is going to be in charge of block of the month and Pyra in charge of challenges.  If anyone has any suggestions for block of the month please feel free to email Christine directly. 
• Block of the month will be September November February and April.  This month is going to be wedges as topography.  A couple other groups are doing them across Canada this month and I thought it would be fun to join in the fun.  There is a hashtag etc. so I will take care of that next month.  I will have a handout and some demo for everyone to see at the meeting
• Sew ins here are the dates for them.  Carly will be the contact for the sew in days and will go over quickly what we agreed on for cancelations etc. so they run smoothly this year.

September 22

November 24

January 26

March 23

May 25

 

• Victoria MQG is holding a workshop on September 21 it is called Sparkle – Stacey Day is the teacher.  If you are interested go to their web site mqgvictoria.com and check out the picture you can register on line there and pay.  Looks like a fun one to participate in.

Hope to see you all there!

The last meeting before summer is next Wednesday, June 6

Summer is upon us and our last meeting of this year is next Wednesday, June 6

It will be a fast paced and fun meeting with the "reveal" of our 5 month round robin.  Come out and see the imagination of our members.

Also:

 -monthly update of the MQG mothership

- update on MQG guild membership dues

- procedures for sew-in's, with the dates for next year

- feather block of the month lotto 

- observations of modern quilting at CQA show in Vancouver

- we will plan the details of our summer picnic which will be held on July 4 at Maffeo-Sutton park

- a thread demo by Dona-Mae (and who doesn't need thread information?)

- members can sign up for playing card block challenge (which will be due at the September meeting)

- show and share

Everyone welcome!   See you there!!

April meeting is this coming Wednesday, April 4th.

Hello all,

Wishing everyone a very happy Easter.

The meeting is this coming Wednesday, April 4.  Please remember to bring you round robin, the block challenge and show and shares.

Looking forward to seeing what has been created by our awesome members.

New members of all skill levels are always welcome.  Come to our meeting and see how we share and laugh.

March is blowing in like a lion and our meeting is Wednesday, March 7

Another month has flown by and we are gearing up for spring(????)

 

Agenda for Mar. 7 meeting

• Sign up for Mar 24 sew in

• A member's experience at QuiltCon 2018

• Round robin exchange. 

• Bring your favourite and/or least favourite quilting tool

• Mother ship update

• A new block challenge

• Show & share

It will be fun to see which tools get the "yay" and which get the "nay".

Next Meeting on Wednesday, February 7 at 7:00pm

We will show our "fractured heart" block challenge, which is just in time for Valentine's day.

...and we will begin our round robin challenge.  Everyone that has done a middle "medallion" block will swap with others that are participating, for exchange #1.  This is an ongoing challenge that will end with our meeting in June. Pictures will be posted!

Sign up for the Mar. 24 sew-in is open and we will have show and share (always great to see what others have been doing).

Laugh and share ideas!  Quilter's of all levels are welcome, see you at the meeting.