Thursday, July 24, 2014

July Meeting Recap

What can I say, July was another fabulous meeting:-)  This month we asked everyone to share their favorite must have, can't quilt without it tool.  Boy did my Christmas list just get longer!

Gretchen kicked things off with the Hang It Dang It Quilt hanger.  This telescoping rod allows you to hang a queen size quilt on 1 nail!!!

Zuzka recently discovered the hera marker which allows you to mark your quilt without all the fuss of worrying how to remove the lines.  Alexis agreed but also suggested using painters tape in various widths.  Her tip is not to sew along the edge of the tape but to align your presser foot with the edge of the tape.

Judy recommends the Clover bias tape maker for fast and easy bindings which are machine binding friendly.

Angie and several others are addicted to Clover Clips.  They're not just for binding...  they can be used to hold your rows together when piecing, stacks of pieces, and even your bangs in a pinch!  Courtney can't live without her seam ripper (who can?)
Emily shared her special grade school ruler which she had carefully labeled with her name and then her friend helpfully added to the inscription so it now reads "This is NOT Emily's ruler!".  It reminds her to have fun while quilting:-)

Natalie brought this adorable little organizer filled with her handwork supplies that she can grab and go when traveling.

Aimee has 101 uses for her loop turner and Alice demonstrated how quick it is to bury your threads using Clover Cheater (self-threading) needles.

Announcements:

Entries for the MQG Michael Miller Fabric Challenge must be added to the Fabric Challenge Forum on the MQG Community site by July 25th.  Winners will be announced August 1st.

Longarmer extroidinaire, quilter, fabric designer, author, illustrator, and all-around amazing artist Melissa Averinos will be speaking at our August meeting.  The meeting will be held Saturday, August 18th from 1-3 at the Franklin Mill Store.  

I am thrilled to announce that we now have a permanent home.  Starting in September all meetings will be held at the fabulous Fabric Place Basement in Natick.  

Quilts for Boston Update:
  • All of the blocks received have been incorporated in to quilt tops.
  • We have 4 quilts that need to be bound.  If you are interested in binding quilts please contact alice@alidiza.com.
  • Laurena's Longarm will host a quilt-in to finish our remaining quilt tops at 1:00 on Sunday, August 10th. If you have a completed top that you don't plan to quilt yourself please contact alice@alidiza.com to make arrangements to return it by Thursday, August 7th.
  • We are scheduling our final delivery of quilts in September.  If you still have a quilt please make arrangements to have it completed and delivered by September 21st.   

Monday, July 14, 2014

Field Trip to the MFA

We finally made it to the MFA last week to see the Quilts and Color exhibit.

It was a lovely night of air-conditioned coolness and quilt gawking with friends.

The display of 60 quilts from the collection of Paul Pilgrim and Gerry Roy are grouped to illustrate principals of color theory.  I still can't get over the timeless beauty of these quilts that were made between 1890 and 1940.
 
 And the impact of seeing quilts hung in a gallery as the stunning works of art they truly are!!!

Quilts and Color runs until July 27th so there's still time to catch this not to be missed exhibit!!!

Don't forget our July meeting is this Saturday from 1-3 at the fabulous Fabric Place Basement.  Bring your favorite "can't quilt without it" notion to share with the group along with show and tell and Michael Miller challenge quilts.