Wednesday, April 30, 2014

April Meeting Recap

A huge thank you to Janice and the rest of the Fabric Place Basement gang for hosting our April Meeting.  It's always handy to get to do some fabric shopping after so much quilty inspiration:-)

This month we offered a demo/review of several of the popular rulers out there.  Jen kicked things off with a fabulous demonstration of the Add-A-Quarter ruler.  Jen finds this one invaluable for doing paper piecing and credits it for her perfect points.
Next up Karen showed us the Bloc Loc rulers.  This acrylic rulers make it easy to accurately square up half-square triangle and flying geese blocks.  The rulers have a raised edge which nests in the seam line to make perfect shapes.  The verdict: worth the price tag!

Alice shared the Hex N More ruler that is used to create all the blocks in this Toes in the Sand BOM.  The ruler can be used to make triangles, hexagons, and jewel shapes in multiple sizes.  Alice finds it a bit fiddly with all the flipping and twisting you need to do but it does making these complex blocks easy.

To go along with the Hex N More, Gretchen showed off the Sidekick.  This ruler makes multiple sized diamonds, triangles, and half-triangles.  It is designed as a complement to the Hex N More and expands your options.  It's used for the Park Bench BOM and eliminates all those pesky Y-seams:-)

Announcements:

May Meeting:  Our May Meeting will be from 1-5 on Saturday the 17th at Gather Here in Cambridge.  We will start the meeting with our Sewing Room Swap and then devote the rest of the time to wrapping up Quilts for Boston.  We have a number of blocks left.  Some of these are "challenge" blocks that don't quite match our specifications but many are simply leftover blocks that didn't get used when people were assembling tops.  I feel we have a responsibility to use (almost) all of the blocks that were donated to us.  These quilters deserve to be part of our effort.  We will try to have everything as organized and ready to go as possible.  Sewing machines and supplies will be provided.  Come ready to sew, our goal is to finish it all!!!

Sewing Room Swap:  We will be exchanging our Sewing Room Swap items at the May meeting.  If you signed up but can not attend please make arrangements to get your item to the meeting for your partner.

MQG Michael Miller Challenge:  Fabric was distributed to those who signed up for this challenge.  If you have not received yours please contact Jen at JenSorenson05@gmail.com.

Quilts and Color at the MFA:  We are working on organizing a group field trip (and possibly guided tour) to the MFA to see the Quilts and Color exhibit.  Please email alice@alidiza.com if this is something you are interested in attending and if you would prefer a weeknight or weekend.  We are trying to get rough numbers to give the MFA.  The exhibit runs from April 7-July 27th so we will most likely try to visit in May/June.  The To Boston with Love flags have also been rehung for the month of April with free admission on April 19th.

Charmed:  A new exhibit of charm quilts is on display at the New England Quilt Museum until July 7th.

Stay tuned for show and tell.  Coming soon, I promise:-)




Friday, April 25, 2014

May Meeting: Quilts for Boston Sew-in at Gather Here

Join us Saturday, May17th from 1-5 for our final Quilts for Boston event.  The awesome folks at gather here will be hosting one last sew-in to turn the last of the blocks we received from around the world in to quilts.  We will start the meeting with our Sewing Room Swap and then devote the rest of the time to wrapping up Quilts for Boston.  We have a number of blocks left.  Some of these are "challenge" blocks that don't quite match our specifications but many are simply leftover blocks that didn't get used when people were assembling tops.  I feel we have a responsibility to use all of the blocks that were donated to us.  These quilters deserve to be part of our effort.  We will try to have everything as organized and ready to go as possible.  Sewing machines and supplies will be provided.  Come ready to sew, our goal is to finish it all!!!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Quilts for Boston at Gather Here

The fabulous folks at Gather Here invited us to share some of our Quilts for Boston in their front window and shop to celebrate this year's running of the Boston Marathon.

It's definitely worth a trip to Cambridge to check these out (but don't blame me if you can't resist a little shopping while you're there;-)

We are Boston Strong!!!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Quilts for Boston at the Boston Marathon


It's hard to believe almost a year has passed since we started the Quilts for Boston project!  This week we delivered 30 quilts to the Boston Athletic Association to be displayed at the Boston Marathon.

These quilts will be hung in the medical tents and become part of the Legacy of the Marathon.  They will continue to be hung annually and we hope provide love and hope to all those who run and visit for years to come.  Please share any photos you get of them hanging in our Flickr group.

1. BAA1, 2. BAA3, 3. BAA8, 4. BAA25, 5. BAA27, 6. BAA16, 7. BAA29, 8. BAA14, 9. BAA7, 10. BAA30, 11. BAA15, 12. BAA24, 13. BAA28, 14. BAA2, 15. BAA19, 16. BAA23, 17. BAA10, 18. BAA17, 19. BAA9, 20. BAA12, 21. BAA6, 22. BAA11, 23. BAA20, 24. BAA4, 25. BAA22, 26. BAA5, 27. BAA13, 28. BAA21, 29. BAA18, 30. BAA26

Best of luck to all the runners and thank you to all those who turn out to cheer them along.  We are Boston Strong!


Monday, April 14, 2014

MQG Michael Miller Challenge

Heck, yeah!  It's the next MQG Fabric Challege:-)  We distributed bundles from Michael Miller Fabrics Petal Pinwheels collection to those who signed up at our April meeting.  If you haven't received yours contact Jen at JenSorenson05@gmail.com.  

Now for some exciting news!  This year Michael Miller will pick 3 winners.  Each one will receive a posting on our blog and “A year of Free Fabric”.  Every month for a year we will send you a “Goody Box”  filled with fabric from our newest collections.


Here are the latest guidelines from the MQG:

  • Deadline: June 23, 2014  July 25, 2014
  • Winners Announced: July 8, 2014  August 1, 2014
  • Members may make anything they want as long as it is quilted!
  • Add in any solid or Michael Miller printed fabric
  • You do not need to use all the fabrics given to you.
  • Upload and share your photos to the Fabric Challenge Forum on the Community site.
  • Don’t forget to use the #mqgfabricchallenge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
Have fun and create something awesome!!!