Boston Modern Quilt Guild: The Blog

Member of the month

2012-02-24T17:56:00.010-08:00

I thought it would be fun to have a member of the month spot highlighting one of our members each month. Here, you can find out a bit more about one of our members and see some samples of their work. Without further a-due, here's BMQG's first ever member of the month:

Alice Webb Greer!

Here's Alice, quilting at a football game. THAT'S dedication (or boredom??? LOL)

How did you get into quilting? :

I took my first quilting class when I was 12. My best friends' mother, probably to get rid of us for a few hours, arranged for us to take lessons from a neighbor. We hand pieced cute little calico pillows and hand quilted them with flowers. Not surprisingly it didn't stick but when I was 23 I decided I was going to learn to quilt again. I took a class and never stopped

# Completed quilts:

78, WOW!

What machine do you use:

Bernina Virtuosa 150 QE.

Favorite online fabric store:

Hawthorne Threads and Fat Quarter Shop. Quiltshops.com is great if you're looking for something specific but their shops don't always have a lot of modern stuff.

Favorite fabric shop:

Quilter's Way in West Concord.

Favorite pattern:

Sawtooth stars, flying geese, hexies, and anything made with HSTs.

Favorite fabric designer:

Jennifer Paganelli, Heather Ross, Tula Pink.

Favorite color:

Pink!

Favorite sewing-related thing to shop for:

Fabric. I once couldn't find my favorite leather thimbles so now I buy them whenever I see them and hoard them.

Solids or prints? :

Prints

Why you love to quilt:

The process of quilting definitely relaxes me and it's fairly practical since I'm always cold and spend my life snuggled under blankets. I'm also very tactile so I love the feeling of running my hands over fabrics and feeling the different textures and designs made by the quilting. Most of all I love the creative process of chopping up bits of fabric and putting them back together as something beautiful: )

Favorite size of quilt you like to make:

Throw/lap. Every time I make a bed size quilt I say never again... until the next time: )

Quilting or sewing skill you'd like to acquire:

This year I'm really trying to improve my FMQ and add some more designs to my repertoire, especially feathers.

Handquilting or machine quilting?:

I LOVE to handquilt and almost always have a handquilting project going but I'd never be able to finish all of my tops by hand so I use the machine or longarm.

Other sewing or crafts:

I dabble in anything that catches my interest (needlework, painted pottery and quilling most recently) and last year I started knitting again but I'm too obsessed with quilting/sewing to do much else on a regular basis.

Blog, website:

alidiza.com

Etsy shop:

Coming soon: )

This is Alice's Nicey Jane WhirlyGiggle quilt. I love the pastel feel to it, perfect for a child or an adult or even as a snuggle quilt.

Alice calls this one Ghastlies Coffin. This is my favorite of the three! I love the colors, I love the Tim Burtonesque lines to it. But most of all, I love the Edward Gorey feel to it. (Great picture, by the cemetary too. Coolness!)

Last but not least, this is Alice's Pips Zig Zag quilt. I love the mix of colors here. Anyone who's ever said red doesn't go with pink, you are WRONG! Nice, crisp, straight lines, great technique. It is beautiful!

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alice. I know I speak for everyone when I say it was fun to learn more about you and see your talent!

Mel

xoxox

February Meeting

2012-02-21T12:00:00.001-08:00

Our February meeting was held in Topsfield. For this meeting, we spent some time shopping at Sew Fresh Fabric's facility either before or after the meeting and we held a show and tell. In addition, a bunch of members gave our beloved president, Laurie, a few homemade gifts in anticipation of the birth of her second child any day now.

Here we are at the beginning of the meeting.

Here are some of the quilts/projects shown during show and tell.

Laurie finished her Bee quilt.

Karen is adding the binding to a quilt for a friend.

A quilt by one of our new members.

Another new member quilt (I wasn't quick enough here with the camera).

This is the back.

And another one...

Alexis finished her Swoon quilt.

Leah is working on this quilt and has four blocks done.

She's also finishing the binding on her zig zag quilt.

Amy brought her fab courthouse steps quilt to show.

I showed my storm at sea quilt.

Jane shared another Verna quilt. She's trying to use up the rest of her Verna fabric.

She's also working on an English paper pieced quilt. Here's one block.

One of our new members is working on her first quilt. Here she shows us two of her blocks.

These are two dowry quilts that Nyshma made prior to her wedding. Her story is in American Patchwork & Quilting. Check it out.

Alice brought her zig zag quilt to show.

Baby Gifts for Laurie
Members of the guild made some great gifts for our president, Laurie as she prepares to welcome baby #2 very soon. Here are some of the gifts she received.

Talk about a great meeting! Next month is our retreat up in Kennebunkport Maine and we're all excited for it!

Show some TLC

2012-02-12T10:48:00.001-08:00

February is now upon us. The month of candy, hearts, roses and love. Why not show our quilts some love? I've researched a few tips and pointers on how to care for your quilts so they last as long as you want them to, whether you hang them on your wall or throw them on a bed.

If you tend to make quilts that are meant to be used on beds (like I do!), then you know they HAVE to be washed at some point during their lifespan. You can handwash them in your tub with scent-free color-free detergent, or use this machine-washing technique. It seems to be very popular!

-set your machine to fill up with warm/lukewarm water

-add detergent (ALWAYS use mild soap, scent-free color-free. Obvioulsy, don't bleach!)

-while the machine is filling, distribute your quilt evenly in the tank

-push the quilt up and down with your hands, 3-5 minutes.

-DO NOT LET THE MACHINE AGITATE!!! This causes ripping, breaking, clumping.

-Set your machine to spin (draining the water out)

-Let machine fill up with cool water; agitate with your HANDS to rinse.

-Spin, repeat rinsing twice. NEVER LET THE MACHINE AGITATE!!!

Drying options include laying your quilt flat somewhere, away from direct sunlight, or tossing it in the dryer on low heat just until it is damp and then drying it flat. Machine washing in the above manner is easier than tub washing, and you also get the added bonus of a lighter quilt which in turn means less chance of ripping when you lift the thing up while it's wet.

Now for wall hangings. They'll get dusty. It's a fact of life! If you do not want to wash your hung quilt, you should at least consider using a small handheld vacuum to take out the dust and keep your quilt looking nice. Also, for those you us who have never hung a quilt for display before, there are a few ways to do this including using a rod, velcro, or framing. (Click on the links below for instructions!) If you choose to frame your quilt, consider having it done professionally, with UV protective plexi. Remember: fabric, like paper, will lose its color if exposed to direct sunlight. Consider this when choosing a spot to hang your quilt!

If you want to store your quilts, here a re a few pointers. Never put them in a plastic bag. Like a living entity, they need to breathe! Wrap them in a sheet to protect them and store them in a dark, dry, cool area.

Lastly, lets talk about repairing quilts. I haven't made many quilts and unfortunately, some of them were not treated with great kindess. Result: ripping. Here's a tip I never thought of. Store some scraps of fabric you used for you quilt as well as any special thread to do touch ups as needed. If your binding comes apart, it's better to replace the whole thing rather than try to restitch it.

I hope this little blog segment was helpful for you guys. I know I learned a few tips researching this!

Cheerio!!!

Mel

xoxox

http://museum.msu.edu/glqc/quiltcare.html

http://cindybrick.com/-ask-cindy/104-instructions-on-washing-and-caring-for-your-quilt

http://www.mainequilts.org/guidetocaring_forquilt.htm

January's Demo

2012-01-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

For January's meeting (January 21, 1-3 at the LDS Church in Billerica, MA), I am going to demonstrate how to use a specialty ruler, The Twister. It turns this patchwork top:

Into this pinwheel/whirlygiggle top quickly and easily.

I will put specific instructions on the Big Tent site, but I wanted you to be able to visualize what we were going to be working on.

Lets start quilting!

2012-01-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012, quilters! I've been thinking a lot about the theme for January and then I thought "every quilt needs a starting point"! So this month, I thought I would share with all of you some free patterns to get the creative juices flowing (even though most of us have about 50 unfinished projects...). I hope you all enjoy perusing the many FREE patterns. There's so much more out there, if you feel like this isn't enough for you. Also, if you have some favorites you'd like to share, please post them in the comments section. We'd love to see em. Happy quilting!

Mel

xoxox

The Motherloads (these sites have TONS of patterns, from paper piecing to traditional and in between)

Forest Quilting: http://www.forestquilting.com/freepatterns.html

http://67.20.92.103/

http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/free-quilt-patterns-directory.htm

Block Central: http://www.blockcentral.com

Free patterns from designers and stores

Amy Buttler: http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/products/free_patterns.php

Free Spirit Fabric: http://freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/patterns.php

Hoffman Fabrics: http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/content/content-folder.asp?FolderID=7

Pink Chalk Fabrics: http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=8

Riley Blake Designes: http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/quilting_projects/

Red Rooster: http://www.redroosterfabrics.com/quilt/patterns.php

(You need to look up the retired patterns for free patterns)

Others

Fresh Lemons Modern Quilts: http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?page_id=609

Baby Quilts: http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/QuiltCategories/FreeBabyQuiltPatterns.htm

Hidden Wells Pattern: http://www.reddawn.net/quilt/hwells.htm

(Ok, not the best illustrations... but I have seen this quilt shown on another website and it is phenominal!!!!! Just google it, there's tons of pictures out there.)

Goodbye 2011!

2011-12-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. Wether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza, may the Holidays bring you love and happiness and good times with family (and perhaps a bit of time for quilting???). Thank you to everyone who has been following our blog and to all the members of BMQG; we wouldn't be a guild without you. Keep a lookout in the new year for blog themes and project ideas.

See you all in 2012!!!

xoxox

December Show and Tell

2011-12-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

After our kitchen swap, and after we stuffed our faces with all of the food people brought, we did a little show and tell.

Alice made this table runner when she was testing out patterns for the kitchen swap.

Rebecca is working on a Dresden quilt.

Alexis is working on a Swoon quilt for her son who wanted a red quilt.

And here's a table runner that she's finishing the quilting on...

Laurie made this quilt for her son. He's been really into motorcycles lately.

Here's the back!

Jane made this cute Christmas wreath quilt.

Emily tackled this quilt after drooling over it for a while. Turns out it was super easy.

Here's a closeup.

Finally, I showed my first whole cloth mini quilt (It's 10" square).

As always, the talent of the group is always impressive. I can't wait to see what people bring to the next meeting in January.

Kitchen Swap Reveal

2011-12-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we met and revealed our kitchen swap items. As always, the ladies out did themselves and created some fantastic items.

Laurie, the Dresden queen, made a table runner for Alice.

Alice made me this amazing wall hanging.

I made pot holders and hand towels for Rebecca.

Rebecca made napkins for Alexis.

Alexis made a basket, mini quilt and coasters for Jane.

And Jane made some awesome goodies for Laurie!

Thank you to everyone that participated in the swap. I think I speak for everyone when I say THANK YOU. Everyone did an amazing job.

November 19 Meeting Show and Tell

2011-11-21T10:18:00.001-08:00

Saturday's Meeting was a lot of fun. We worked on a charity quilt and had a fabric swap. Show and Tell did not disappoint:

Rebecca was asked by a good friend and neighbor to make this t-shirt quilt: Check out the funny concert t-shirts she put on the back:

Rebecca has also been working on this gorgeous fan quilt for a little while now and was happy to share its' completion. She came up with her own design:

I brought in my recent completion of Sarah Fielke's Dotty for Dresden pattern:

Alexis is impressing all of us by continuing to work on guild meeting lessons/instruction at home. Here, she showed us the cathedral window pillow she completed after Amy's lesson from October:

Alexis also put her new knowledge of paper piecing to work (taught at our September meeting by Jen) on this impeccable anniversary quilt:

Lea, another fan of Sarah Fielke's work, has begun the "Wing and a Prayer" pattern from Sarah's newest book - Quilting from Little Things. I can't wait to see the progress on this beauty!

Finally, Alice shared an adorable i-pod case she made out of a 2.5" charm pack she received at Market. Her tutorial can be found here:

It was a great meeting and wonderful to see everyone. I hope more people can join us for our holiday party and Kitchen Swap exchange - December 10 in Arlington starting at 1 pm.

Laurie

Twilight Saga Charity Quilt

2011-11-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Hello dear Boston Modern Quilters! Just a little tangent to promote my group's charity quilt.

For the third year, Twilight Quilters Coven is proud to present Give to Win, a contest where you could win our original Twilight-themed quilt. For each 5$ you donate to our selected charity through our website, you get 1 chance of winning. This year, we are donating the money to Alex's Lemonade stand (for children with cancer) and Childhelp (for abused children). Last year, we raised just over 1800$! 100% of all the money we get is donated. We do not use any of it to pay for our materials or website hosting and such. IT ALL GOES TO CHARITY!

The blocks and layout are based on the Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) book. This quilt has been designed, assembled and quilted by us. Most of the blocks are also original designs. But it gets even better. 8 of our blocks are actual autographs from actors from the saga!

To check out our quilt and donate for a chance to win it:

www.twilightquilters.org

To visit our blog:

http://www.twilightquilterscoven.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for helping us raise money for children who are in need. Good to everyone who participates!

Mel

xoxox

Charity Sew-in Part 1

2011-11-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we held a sew-in at my home to make quilts using donated fabric I picked up leftover from a yard sale. Most of the fabric was from the late 70s and early 80s.

We decided to pick out the striped and plaid fabrics, and create a quilt inspired by the "Of Stripes and Bunting" quilt by Rita (of Red Pepper Quilts).

We got to work ironing and cutting....

And then got to sewing....

On the design board....

And here is our partially finished quilt top

Our next step is to make half square triangles to use in a border, and hopefully we can finish this one up at our next meeting.

FolkStreams » Quilts in Women's Lives

2011-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Not much has changed since 1981...these women are pretty great.

FolkStreams » Quilts in Women's Lives

October Guild Meeting

2011-10-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Our October guild meeting took place in one of our usual meeting spots, the Arlington Public Library. Amy provided a wonderful class on creating cathedral window blocks.

Show and Tell was, as usual, wonderful. New member Linda latest obsession is using t-shirts, shown in this quilt:

and these place mats:

These place mats were made from vintage blocks purchased on eBay:

Jane's wall hanging:

Jen's layer cake quilt top:

A beautiful baby quilt:

And another use of t-shirts:

Amy's sampler quilt, made for her husband:

And Laurie's baby quilt, a gift for a friend:

Retreat 2012: Committee Recruiting

2011-09-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

As announced at the last meeting, we are looking for volunteers to help organize the next BMQG retreat. The tasks involved include booking a venue, organizing attendees, working with the treasurer to facilitate deposits, and planning any programming. We would love to see anyone who is interested to get involved. Please contact me if you would like to join the committee.

Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge

2011-09-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild participated in the Free Spirit Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge. We were all given fabric back in July and were asked to create something using the fabric provided. It could be whatever we wanted with no size restrictions, the only caveat- we could only add solid fabrics.. The ~~world~~ fabric was our oyster. On Saturday we go together to unveil what everyone had created. Boy, were there some great quilts and other items.

This was my quilt. You can read more about it here.

Alice goes ghetto!

Laurie made this cool stuffed animal.

Rachel's interpretation of the paint splatter fabric.

Rebecca's awesome bag (which rotated sideways on me and won't rotate back... just tilt your head)

And the winning quilt!

September 17 Meeting

2011-09-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

We would love to see lots of people at this Saturday's meeting. It's from 12:30-2:30 at the LDS Church in Billerica - 70 Concord Rd. Please see our BigTent site for details on what to bring for the paper piecing class. We will also be unveiling our creations for the Free Spirit Designer Challenge. Feel free to bring any Show and Tell that you have as well.

Finally, we will be commencing our next swap: Kitchen Goods. Break out those food/appliance themed fabrics or find a few pieces that match your kitchen decor/colors - put it in a ziploc bag with your name/email/blog address as well as a note about what you might like to be made for you (e.g. potholder, apron, etc.). Those who want to participate will all go home with someone's fabrics to make them a goody for their kitchen. There was a question about how much fabric to bring and I would just urge you to bring as much or as little as you want - knowing that your swap partner might have to add some of their own fabrics to the item(s). Contact Rachel if you have any more questions. August was a crazy month when we didn't get to see much of each other, so I am really looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

P.S. Mark your calendars for September 22 - our next sew-in at Erika's house.

Monet's quilt, part 2

2011-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

The day before Monet left for Michigan, Laurie, Alice and I met her at the World Quilt Festival in Manchester. At the end of the day, we presented her with her quilt.

She was touched.

A few detail shots. I finished the binding really late the night before, so I didn't have time to take any photographs. Here's what Laurie and Alice were able to capture!

Here's the back, which include signature blocks made by each person who contributed to the quilt.

The completed quilt measures 65" x 90". I especially love the border. In the end, I think the scrappy randomness really works, especially in the context of a quilt made by the different people and personalities in our guild. I think it's a really nice token for Monet to have to remind her of us! Thank you to all who contributed to this effort!

Monet's Quilt, part 1

2011-08-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the president and founder of our guild, the lovely and talented Monet, is moving away from Boston. She has put in many hours of time and effort into building the guild up from scratch, and I really wanted to honor that by putting together a quilt made by the guild members. The guild and its members are very important to me and I wanted her to have a small piece of us to take with her to her new home.

So I asked everyone who had the time to create a scrappy 9 patch block, and also a block with their signature to be included on the back. I chose the scrappy 9 patch pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts because we only had a few weeks to put something together, and I thought that everyone's scraps would end up looking like a cohesive quilt. I photographed each package that arrived. Sorry, I only have links to a few of your blogs!

This one was sent by Pippa:

This is from Emily:

From Mauritza:

Joan's blocks (posing inexplicably with my daughter's stuffed animals):

Laurie's contribution:

Alice used up some of her many repros:

Meaghan's blocks:

Monica's:

Shelley's blocks:

Dede's contribution:

And Rebecca's blocks:

I will post pictures of the completed quilt soon! Thanks to everyone who contributed blocks. Your hard work was very much appreciated!

Free Spirit Designer Challenge

2011-06-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Guess what came in the mail last week? Our BMQG Habitat fabrics for our participation in the Free Spirit Designer Challenge arrived! We received a little less than 1 yard each of eight prints for our 10 participants. Those enrolled in the challenge, who attended last Saturday's meeting, have received their packets and the others were mailed today. (Current, 2011 paid members were given the opportunity to sign up for this awesome opportunity.)

We have not received a lot of direction from Free Spirit on how our guild should run the challenge and therefore have decided to have a very loose/unstructured contest among our participants. Simply make what you would like with your fabrics - it does not have to be a quilt - but please make sure to not add other printed fabrics (solids are okay). Just do your best to utilize/showcase the fabrics you have received. We will vote on the best completed project at our September meeting and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to SewFreshFabrics! If you cannot attend the September meeting, please make sure to add a picture of your project in the flickr group.

I can't wait to see what people come up with!!!! Please let me know if you have any questions.

latest meeting

2011-06-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

Someone out there has some high-stakes photos from our last meeting, when many of us shared our first quilts! I don't remember who was responsible for photographing the other day, but I don't think we'll be sharing those photos online. :)

We spent some time talking about officer changeover, as the Magnificent Monet (and yes, that is her official name) will be leaving for law school soon -- hurrah for her! Boo hoo for us. She's done a wonderful job of founding our Boston guild, and carrying us through the first year and a half of becoming the group we are today. Thank you, Monet! We will miss you, but know we'll see you when you return for breaks (??) and online. The Great and Prolific Laurie will be taking charge as President, which is great news for the guild. I'll be the humble Vice-President (ready to serve!), Rebecca stays on as Mighty Talented Treasurer, and we will soon be announcing our new Stellar Secretary.

Laurie taught a great tutorial on Super Circles, which you can also find on her blog, if you'd like some notes on what she ran through on Saturday: http://dodgebutterfly.blogspot.com She also taught us how to make flowers of hexagons, a skill I've been wanting to learn for those train rides/meetings/etc. for which it would be nice to have some hand-sewing.

We hope to gather for some shows this summer -- check the BigTent calendar for those dates and carpooling chats! We'll be sewing-in at Alice's in July, and at Caro's in August.

Oh, and we were all given some lovely member folders, with new member cards that we can flash at fabric shops and shows. :)

(Laurie, can we talk about the other item of business at the meeting, or is that Top Secret until a later date?)

MEMBERS -- PLEASE POST YOUR PHOTOS AND COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS!!

Grace Snyder quilt video

2011-06-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

87,000 pieces in one quilt!? Can you imagine? Maybe you can...but I usually top mine out at, um, 30....

Thought you might enjoy and find other good videos on the site.

http://www.netnebraska.org/television/stream/flash/vod.html?moviename=nes_106_stitches&width_high=640&height_high=480&width_low=420&height_low=236

June 25 Meeting

2011-06-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday our group will be meeting at the Arlington library from 12:30-2:30. We have a very full program including English paper-pieced hexagons, "super circles," and show and tell. You are more than welcome to bring whatever you wish for show and tell. We are also encouraging everyone to bring one of the first quilts they have made - a fun exercise that will show how far we have come/how our sewing has evolved.

I will be teaching the program on Saturday - which motivated me to finish up a mini quilt many months in the making: You can learn more about this quilt on my blog. I hope everyone can make it on Saturday - you don't want to miss this FABULOUS door prize!!!

Please take a minute to RSVP on our BigTent page so that I can know how many materials to prepare for the meeting.

All the best,

Laurie Matthews

Donation Quilts

2011-06-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

I recently donated a quilt to a woman with a terminal illness who was a patient at Mass General. I didn't realize the impact it would have, and how meaningful it would be to her and her husband. I made a little label for it, wishing her comfort, and sent it along with my aunt, who's a long-term volunteer at the hospital.

So, my goal is to donate another quilt around the holidays, and I wondered if other members would be interested in donating a quilt this year. There are no specific parameters or guidelines; you can do whatever you want, in any material, any size. It could be made by a single person or as a collaborative effort.

I'm hoping that we could donate a quilt a season as a guild (so, four by next summer). I can send them along through my aunt, who will find the people who need them most. If you want to, you can hand-deliver it to the patient, too.

What do you all think?? Any suggestions or other ideas are more than welcome!

the sew-in was SEW fun!

2011-06-11T07:06:00.001-07:00

(That pun goes out to you, Monet.)

On a stormy Thursday evening, we met at Gather Here http://www.gatherhereonline.com and had a rolicking good time. About ten of us gathered 'round the big table and worked on hand and machine projects. Sewn cards by Heidi, mega-hearts-quilt-binding by Laurie, Alice's beautiful ocean quilt and WWRD binding, Maritza's summer hexagons, Mel's pretty blue queen-sized work-in-progress, and Taz's paper piecing were just SOME of the lovely works underway. There may have also been some fabric-buying...and lots of snacking and laughter.

(I wish I had some pictures to show but was too busy sewing and talking to snap any photos...)

June's meeting holds a couple of surprises...we can't wait to see everyone there!

Who's Ready to Sew-in??

2011-06-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to meet at Gather Here this Thursday for our Sew-in! It's such a cute shop, with tons of great fabric...and comfy chairs...and scones... Who can say no to a scone?

Check it out here:

http://www.gatherhereonline.com

Hope to see you all soon!

May Meeting

2011-05-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Our May meeting took place at the Arlington Public Library. It was mainly a sew-in, but, as always, the show & tell portion was amazing.

Caro's latest:

And the back:

A beautiful pieced bunting quilt:

A supernova quilt from the online quilt along:

and the back:

Emily's latest, a graduation gift for her nephew:

and the back:

Alice's Love quilt:

A fun afternoon! See you all in June!

March Meeting - Show and Tell

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

After our binding lesson, we took some time to do show and tell. We always like to do show and tell at the end of each meeting. It's a great chance to see the talent that's in the guild and share some tips and tricks.

Isn't this fun? Can you guess what it is?

Here's Pippa's fun and colorful quilt. Don't you just love the black and white binding? I do!

Monet showed us a quilt top that she made for her brother. She's putting us all to shame by getting a jump on her Christmas projects and it's only March. See the similarities to Pippa's? I love the dramatic, large black border.

Laurie then showed us two quilts that she made and quilted on a long arm that she rented time on. This one, above, she used a pantograph and the one below she did some freemotion stippling.

I love the colors that Laurie used in this quilt. Laurie always does a great job with selecting fabric colors.

Here we are examining Alice's quilt. Although it's not exactly modern, I think we all appreciated the beauty of the quilt. Alice always does a nice job with her quilts as well.

Finally, I showed my Carol Doak Scenic Block of the Month top. I brought this to show how tiny some of my pieces are in some of the blocks after talking about it a couple of times. I don't have a photo of myself and the quilt, but here's a photo of the quilt itself that I took.

To get a sense of scale, the sashing finishes at 1/2" each strip and each block is 6 1/2" square.

As always, it's so great to see all of the work that everyone does. Show and tell is always one of my favorite parts of our meetings.

March Meeting - Binding Lesson

2011-03-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our March meeting at the Coolidge Corner library. Once again, we had great attendance. It's so great to see so many people participating in the guild activities.

This meeting Alice taught us her "funky folding technique" to make double folded bias binding.

And here we are learning her invisible joining technique. I think it's safe to say that we all learned something during this lesson, regardless of how long we've all been quilting.

After Alice's lesson, we all jumped in and tried it ourselves using some mug rugs that we brought.

Thanks Alice for being such a great teacher. We all had a blast, as usual.

Up next - the great show and tell from this meeting...

Longarming at Laurena's!

2011-03-08T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, yall! A bunch of us went to Laurena's Longarm Quilting in Burlington this weekend, and I posted about it on my blog today. It was awesome...read the post here and contact Laurena if you're interested in doing the intro class too. There were more people interested than spots available, but she hosts two intro sessions each month, so she can probably accommodate you soon!

M

February Meeting

2011-02-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was probably one of our most relaxed, un-programmed meetings. We had a sew-in at a church in Billerica and we actually sewed! Usually most NEMQG meetings include presentations/classes of some sort - but this time we just brought some food and our current projects and got to work. We were very proud of ourselves that we actually sewed (most sew-in's are filled with chatter, eating, and giggling to be honest). A bunch of us took advantage of the large open space to baste or layout quilts:

We were thrilled to see Jill's gorgeous completed quilt top from our NEMQG bee:

I wish I had taken a picture of all of the food - thanks ladies for a yummy meal and a fun afternoon!

January Meeting Recap

2011-02-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday was our January meeting. We had Sew Fresh Fabrics come and give us a trunk show and talk about working in the quilting industry.

It was fun learning about the ins and outs of the industry that we all love. I think everyone else enjoyed hearing about it as well. We had our largest crowd yet! It was fantastic seeing so many new faces.

Once we were done hearing all about the quilting industry we began raiding the table of fabulous fabric! We were like vultures.

All of their pretty little piles were no more after we go through with them. (These pics are after the crowd had died down.)

After we all had fun buying some goodies we did a show and tell. Here are some pictures of some of the great items people brought.

At this point my camera's battery decided to die. Amy managed to grab some photos of the rest and she'll share them with you soon.

I did manage to get a photo of Laurie's Bee Blocks! Aren't the absolutely fantastic!

January Meeting Part 2

2011-02-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

After hearing about their experience selling fabric online via etsy, we indulged in every quilters' favorite activity - shopping! A trunk show courtesy of Sew Fresh Fabrics.

Show and Tell, as usual, did not disappoint. A gorgeous quilt by Emily:

A doll quilt, hand pieced by Audrey. She used reproduction fabrics to make this for her '30's American Girl Doll, Kit.

And a reversible bag she made in a sewing class featuring a star shaped pocket.

A quilt just off the long arm, made and quilted by Alice:

And the equally lovely back:

A great use of the scrap fabric Pippa provided at the December meeting. Dede challenged herself to combine warm and cool colored blocks into the same quilt.

And another quilt of Dede's that is growing by adding additional borders:

And a quilt made by one of our newest members, for her son who's going through a "goth" phase!

And a gorgeous art quilt.

What a great meeting! See everyone in February!

Our Next Meeting - January 29, 2011

2011-01-26T05:11:00.000-08:00

We will be meeting on Saturday, January 29th at the Arlington Public Library for our monthly meeting. I know multiple people have commented on the blog that they would like to know more information about the meeting and how to join.

On Saturday, Sew Fresh Fabrics will be coming to give us a trunk show. We'll also hear what it's like to work in the fabric industry. Come prepared with those nagging questions you've always wanted to learn more about but didn't know where to ask (okay, we probably won't be able to answer those philosophical questions no one really knows the answer to, but you knew that).

In addition, many of the members will be heading over to The Fabric Corner nearby where they are having a great sale.

If you'd like to learn more about the guild before the meeting, head on over to our online community on BigTent. https://www.bigtent.com/groups/nemqg Log in and join in on the discussions, or start your own.

We hope to see you there.

December Meeting - Holiday Mini Quilt Challenge

2010-12-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

In addition to our pincushion swap, we also had a holiday mini quilt challenge at our December meeting. The guidelines were simple, make a quilt no larger than 30" square and no smaller than 12" square. The quilt was to have a winter or holiday theme, all religions welcome. The winner of the challenge would walk away with a $50 gift certificate to Hawthorn Threads!

We had four members participate in the challenge, all with some fantastic quilts!!! I mean it. See for yourself.

See, they're all awesome!

Everyone at the meeting was given a piece of paper and told to vote for one of the quilts. After the tally, we had two ties. Quilts 1 and 2 tied for first and quilts 3 and 4 tied. Truly a testament to the awesomeness of the quilts. Since there was a tie, everyone had to re-vote between quilts 1 and 2 in order to break the tie.

How do you pick between those two awesome quilts?

After the tally again, quilts 1 and 2 tied again until we realized we were missing one vote. That one vote broke the tie and determined the winner, which was quilt 2!

It was made by Jen from A Quilting Jewel and was made using the needle turn applique technique we learned in the November meeting.

Here are some close-ups of some of the other fantastic quilts.

Join us for our next meeting on January 29th at the Arlington (MA) Public Library where we will have Sew Fresh Fabrics give us a trunk show and talk about what it's like to work in the quilting industry.

To join the NEMQG, visit our group on BigTent or come to a meeting.

December Meeting - Pincushion Swap

2010-12-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

We had a a fun-filled December meeting filled with a pincushion swap, a holiday mini quilt challenge, a great show and tell, and got a chance to get some great fabrics as one member was de-stashing. Because it was so fun-filled, I'll share all of the activities into a couple of posts.

Our pincushion swap was a great way to conclude the year. It was a "bring a pincushion, get a pincushion" event. Quite a few members participated. We all put our pincushions on a table without a label and they were redistributed to those that brought a pincushion.

Here we are opening up our gifts. We had a large gathering this month with four new ladies joining us for their first meeting.

Here they all are. Don't you just love the variety? There are round ones, square ones, owl ones, and more!

I wanted to take them all home with me. Can you blame me?

November Meeting

2010-11-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our November meeting which featured Joanna teaching everyone how to do needle turn applique using her tree and leaf tutorial. It was fun to see everyone's interpretation of their tree block. Some were bigger than others and some more funky than others.

Here we all are, face down, carefully needle turning our leaves to our trees while Joanna helps a few out.

Here's a cute quilt that Joanna made of all kinds of trees and leaves. How fun is this!

Joanna the showed us some of the other quilts that she has made using needle turn applique. It was clear after seeing her amazing quilts that she is just awesome when it comes to needle turn (as if it wasn't clear before). ;)

After we all made our trees we moved onto show and tell.

Isn't this a cute advent quilt?

Finally, I received my bee blocks from some of the great ladies in the guild. One of them is missing in this picture. Aren't the great though? I love them all. Now to think of how I want to piece them together. Thank you again everyone! -Jen

Our December meeting will include a pincushion swap and a mini quilt challenge.

October Meeting

2010-10-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

I wish I had taken more pictures at the October meeting. Lisa kindly taught us all about hand quilting and we all practiced as we talked. I was thrilled that everyone in attendance brought show-and-tell. I am so glad everyone seems to be comfortable sharing their work with each other. I am also impressed with how diverse our sewing is - members shared everything from art/landscape quilting to some impressive Sashiko adorned linen napkins. Here are a few pictures from the afternoon:

Pippa shared her quilt made of Kona Cotton solids: Lisa shared the quilt she made for her daughter as she transferred into her "big girl" bed:

Monet showed her gorgeous improvisational baby quilt:

Aimee shared her zig-zag quilt to be featured in her other guild's quilt show next weekend:

Rachel shared a series of artistic quilts she has been working on:

It was a great meeting - thanks ladies!

Laurie

Retreat planning

2010-10-04T16:32:00.001-07:00

The photo above is from a workshop with Denyse Schmidt.

We are in the process of securing a date for our NEMQG retreat! We'll be spending two and a half days of modern quilty goodness at the Franciscan Guest House in the quaint village of Kennebunk, ME. The Guest House is a modest facility that hosts many quilting groups. It is situated on some beautiful grounds a short walk to the ocean and town.

In order to achieve maximal participation, please let me know what dates work best for you.......we will arrive Friday afternoon and leave Sunday afternoon. The price for two nights plus three breakfasts is.......single $160.50 or double occupancy $107.00

Depending on needs, we may be able to split up the weekend.

In order to ensure maximal participation, please let me know what dates work best for you.

April 8-10

April 15-17

April 22-24

April 29-May 1

Broderie Perse at the New England Quilt Museum

2010-09-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

On September 11, several of us met at Lowell's New England Quilt Museum and toured their "Broderie Perse" exhibit. According to womenfolk.com, broderie perse means "Persian embroidery" in French but it also has come to refer to applique of printed chintz flowers and other motifs onto solid fabric. This art has been around since the 1700's.

Here is one of the quilts we admired in person: Image courtesy of www.nequiltmuseum.org

A quick google image search unveiled a more contemporary usage of the technique:

Image courtesy of theappliquesociety.org

The quilts on display were impressive in their precision, use of color, and design. We were also privileged to admire some other type of quilts representative of some of the museum's permanent collection.

We hope more can join us in October as we meet at the Arlington Public Library to learn more about handwork in quilting.

World Quilt Show - New England

2010-09-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Several NEMQG members were able to attend the World Quilt Show in Manchester, NH on August 20. The show did not disappoint. Quilts on display came from Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdon, and the United States.

The quilts on display were simply stunning, in this post I will let the images speak for themselves with a few notes here and there.

The small blocks here were actually miniature pieced log cabins.

The same artist as above also completed this stunning orange masterpiece.

I was intrigued by this quilt made with genuine South African textiles (ironically purchased in a MA shop).

The artist explained that the "birth of stars" was her inspiration for this quilt.

The use of neutrals here was very clever.

This was one of my favorites, made by a woman in England out of "polyester silk" (oxymoron?).

An American woman did improvisational piecing here:

This quilt is a draw-dropping masterpiece when you take a closer look.......

All of those pieces are tiny little squares pieced together!

This quilt, "Fire and Ice," received 1st place in the competition.

There are over 55,000 Swarvoski crystals heat bonded to the entire quilt.

This quilt was the grand champion, made by a woman in Kentucky.

Attending this show was very worthwhile. I encourage to make plans to attend next year.

You never know what you might see.....

(Just in case you need help deciphering this - it's actually a cat doing yoga surrounded by donuts).

-Laurie

Lowell Quilt Show

2010-08-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 14, a group of us met up at the 2010 Lowell Quilt Festival. We saw some absolutely amazing quilts, and there were also some fantastic vendors.

Although many of the quilts were not what we would call modern, it was impossible not to appreciate the work that went into them. This quilt was about 110" square and was entirely hand-quilted using a variety of techniques, including trapunto. Trapunto produces puffed-up areas like these:

Here's an interesting tidbit for you: the oldest known quilt, the Tristan & Isolde quilt, which is housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, was made entirely using trapunto. Here is a photo of one of its fourteen panels, courtesy of the V&A:

You can find a beautiful selection of images here and the quilt's museum page here.

But I digress.

There were quilts of every variety: art quilts, whitework, applique, antique, hexagon, embroidered/ embellished, and even a Ted Kennedy memorial quilt. This one featured a plain black top and backing, embellished with complex quilting in a rainbow of colors:

One featured enthusiastic owls:

Some used modern art as subject or inspiration:

The quilt that we universally declared the winner was not actually entered into the show at all; it was a part of a display of antique quilts. The tag did not list much information about its maker or provenance, but whoever she was, she knew how to mix fabric:

I think it is difficult to appreciate this quilt from a photograph, but it was incredible. There were seven different fabrics featured, but each blended so easily into the next for a very subtle and striking effect.

We had a wonderful time at the show, and I hope you all have a chance to attend next year!

Doll Quilt Swap

2010-08-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and sewing as much as possible. We recently finished the doll quilt swap, and it was fantastic. I wanted to post some of our photos for people who weren't at the July meeting to see the results of everyone's hard work. So without further ado:

Made by Meaghan

Made by Rebecca (everyone went crazy over this one!)

Made by Rhea

Made by Katie H.

Made by Laurie

Everyone's quilts were beautiful, and I hope this will not be our last swap.

Have a great weekend!

Finished Big-Kid Quilts

2010-06-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who sweetly ooh-ed and ahh-ed when I brought my in-progress quilts to the last meeting for Show & Tell! I thought you might like to see them in their finished state.

I wrote a little about them as a pair (along with a random biology lesson on fraternal vs. identical twins), and then each individually: once for my son, and once for my daughter. Plenty of details on fabric, quilting, design, etc.

What I wish I could bring for Show & Tell

2010-06-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have the problem of always making quilts for other people and never keeping any for yourself? That's me. The vast majority of quilts that I make are out the door almost as soon as I pull them out of the dryer. It's a good thing I am nuts about taking pictures before they leave my clutches!

So, here's the two that I wish I could bring for Show & Tell on Saturday. First, a baby quilt for my cousin's new daughter, Mia.

I called it "In Full Bloom," and you can read more about it (and see more pictures) over here. I love how bright it is, and how it's definitely a girl's quilt without being completely over-the-top and frilly.

Second, my sister-in-law asked me to make a quilt as a wedding gift for a friend of hers (yes, she paid me for it!).

I called it "Cobblestones," and I literally sent it on its way within two hours of taking its picture (which I did at about 6:30 in the morning). See more of it here.

You'll have to forgive me if my Show & Tell pieces are still in progress! That's the only way to bring them to show people, apparently.

---

Liz J blogs about crafty things at teeny tiny quilts, and about life as a stay-at-home-mom at Goddess in Progress. She's really hoping her husband will take the kids to swim class on Saturday so she can come to the meeting.

Thoughts

2010-05-22T16:50:00.001-07:00

The charity quilt is locked and loaded and will be ready to send to Lisa for the binding in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

There are many things to think about when preparing to machine quilt.......I'm specifically speaking here to longarm quilting but I'll bet much of this carries over to quilting on a domestic machine.

This quilt has a pieced back which had to be taken into consideration when loading. After studying the fabric, I also noticed that there was some directionality to it......in other words I arranged the front so that there was a top and a bottom according to the direction of the majority of seahorse and mermaid blocks (there are still some upside down seahorses).

The next consideration was thread......weight and color. I typically use cotton or polyester wrapped cotton thread. There are different schools of thought on this. One school says if using cotton fabric, use cotton thread and the second says polyester wrapped cotton will hold up better. I'm using a cotton thread, 30 TEX meaning it is slightly heavier. Color of thread is also important. Rule of thumb-thread color should match the sashing. I also use the same thread in the bobbin as I do on the top.

Unlike a domestic machine, a longarm machine requires frequent tension adjustments. In the first photo you can see my blue tension playground. Before beginning every quilt I test the tension in the waste area......I had a particularly challenging tension today....some days are like that I guess.

I chose a simple meandering design for a couple of different reasons.......the main reason is that it is my hope that this quilt receives lots of use and love and the meander is my "go to" design for that purpose.
I applaud everyone's efforts for a lovely finish!

Wrapped in Hope

2010-05-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I have been working on a quilt for Wrapped in Hope (distinct from the one we are making as a group). By "working on," I mean spending most of my time gathering fabric because I kept running out. I bought some at Peggy Anne's at our meeting...then ran out...bought some solids...then ran out...and finally bought enough to complete it at Portsmouth Fabric Company! The photo above is of the finished quilt, and this one is the top:

Read more on my blog! I hope you're all finding time to work on your doll quilts...

2010 Quilting Retreat!!

2010-04-21T08:57:00.001-07:00

I'm very excited to tell you all we are moving ahead with our quilt retreat! It will be held at the Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunk, ME......a short stroll to shopping the quaint boutiques of Kennebunkport and the ocean.

Please visit the Ning site to learn more and take a short survey to help us determine dates that allow for maximal participation.

Charity Quilt blocks and a sweet find

2010-04-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm Liz. *wave* Thought I'd say hello and make my first post over here.

Loved meeting everyone at Peggy Anne's on Saturday, though I really didn't get any good photos. I did, however, leave my camera at the shop, and didn't realize it until I got all the way home. Drove back up today and scored more fabric, though.

Yes, for those who missed it, here's some of the things we found hiding at Peggy Anne's Shop!

Aww yeah, she had some out-of-print Heather Ross tucked into the fat quarter shelves and a few quilt kits, not to mention a bolt of one of the stripes, and several bolts left of Mendocino. Wrote up my finds on my quilting blog.

I also grabbed a few bags from Lisa for the first charity quilt, and will be sending my blocks off to Joanna tomorrow. Love all the Heather Ross in the air this week!

Meeting at Peggy Anne's

2010-04-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time up at Peggy Anne's Quilt Shop up in Concord NH today, and thought I'd just share the photos I took. I only managed to snap a few, but you can at least see where we were!

Welcome, NEMQG members!

2010-03-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Please send your e-mail address to newenglandmqg at gmail dot com if you want to be included as an author!