Kicking the Year Off

For our first meeting of the year, the incredible Erin Daley of will be entertaining us with "How to Keep Your Machine OUT of the Shop!"  Erin owns and operates Daley by the Yard a full service quilt shop in Acton.  If you haven't been to Daley's yet it's worth the trip!  They offer a carefully curated collection of fabrics that will definitely appeal to modern quilter.  Erin and her father Tom are Bernina Certified Technicians and offer on- site servicing of all makes and models of sewing machines.  They are also an authorized Bernina Dealership if you're still shopping for that last minute holiday gift;-)

Of course there's also the always inspiring Show and Tell so bring those fabulous finishes and WiPs to share.  Snacks are welcome.

After the meeting will will have additional free sewing time so feel free to bring your machine and latest project.  For those of you who haven't been to this location, they have a wonderful floor for basting so you are welcome to bring along those large quilts and take advantage of the space (and possibly volunteer labor:-).

The meeting will be held from 1-3 (with optional free sewing time until 5) on Saturday, January 25th at the LDS Church in Billerica (70 Concord Road).  

December Meeting Show and Tell

Some of the fabulous quilts from our December meeting show and tell.  Apologies to those that I missed...  our photographer might have been a bit tipsy;-)

1. Trish, 2. Aimee, 3. Alexis, 4. Allison, 5. Elise, 6. Ellen, 7. Hema, 8. Jane, 9. Janis, 10. Jen, 11. Karen, 12. Karen SaltWater, 13. Natalie Improv Double Wedding Ring, 14. Natalie Improv Double Wedding Ring, 15. Natalie Castle Peeps, 16. Natalie Castle Peeps 2, 17. Quilty Swap Gifts, 18. Reva, 19. Sarah, 20. SwapPillow, 21. Swap Precuts

Retreat Registration

It is time to book your spot for the 2014 joint guild retreat, held in Kennebunkport, ME from March 13 or 14 - March 16!  We only have 42 spots this year, so don't delay!  You can reserve your spot with a $50 deposit using Paypal on the retreat tab.  When you follow the link, you will be given the option of signing up for two or three nights and for a single or a double. If you go with the double option, when you enter your name, please write (rooming with _____) beside it in the same field so that Stephanie knows who is rooming together.

Please remember, this retreat is open to only paid members of the BostonMQG and SeacoastMQG.

December Meeting Recap

I hope everyone enjoyed our final meeting of the year as much as I did!!!  We had a lovely gathering at Rebecca's new home catching up with quilty friends, old and new, and snacking on all the yummy treats brought to share.

We combined our Quilty (Yankee) Swap with show and tell.  The SeacoastMQG had to institute a "No hair-pulling" rule be we were much more polite with very few steals...  except from me.  I LOVE that you guys are so comfortable with me;-)

With a mix of handmade gifts, fabulous fabrics, and fun new notions, all of the gifts were so amazing I can't imagine anyone went home disappointed, even me.

A few announcements:

Retreat:
We will begin taking reservations for our annual retreat this Monday, December 9th at 9:00 AM.  This event is only open to paid  members of BostonMQG and SeacoastMQG and is a wonderful time to get to know the other guild members and share our creativity.  You can reserve your spot with a $50 deposit.  Watch your email, the paypal link will be sent out Monday morning. We only have 42 spots this year, so don't delay!

2014 Meetings:
It seems our usual 3rd Saturday of the month meeting day is going to fall on every spring holiday this year so we'll need to juggle some dates.  I will post the full calendar for the year soon but our first meeting of 2014 will be held January 25th in Billerica and will feature a presentation "How to Keep Your Machine OUT of the Shop!"  by the incredible Erin Daley of Daley by the Yard.  Watch the events tab for more details.

Riley Blake Challenge:  
Just a reminder that the deadline for completing your Riley Blake challenge is February 17th.  Photos must be uploaded to the MQG forum by that date.  Please also bring your finished challenge to our February meeting to share.

Last Meeting of the Year

Gratuitous quilty eye candy courtesy of A Quilting Jewel.  Get this fabulous pattern for yourself in this month's Fat Quarterly:-)

Just a reminder that our December meeting will be this Saturday, December 7th from 1-3 at Rebecca's new home in West Newton.  This festive event will feature an appetizer/dessert bar and Quilty Swap.  Please bring a treat to share and a wrapped (or bagged) gift.  Gifts should be quilting themed (handmade/fabric/notions) with a value of $10-$20.  Guests are welcome.  RSVP for this event and email for directions to alice@alidiza.com.

Thankfully

This time of giving thanks seems like a good time for a Quilts for Boston update.  Many of the people receiving quilts have asked to remain anonymous but I'd like to share pictures of some of the quilts that have been distributed.

We will continue collecting and distributing quilts until this year's Boston Marathon when all remaining quilts will be hung in the medical tents at this year's marathon and raffled off to the volunteers.

Special thanks to the fabulous members of the Jacksonville MQG who sent 8 more beautifully finished quilts to us this month and to the awesome members of the Seacoast MQG who also "gifted" me with a stack of finished quilts.

We are so thankful to everyone who has contributed to this amazing project.  You have truly made us Boston Strong!

We Love Lizzy!!!

It was a full house for this month's meeting with the lovely Lizzy House!  Opening with the lyrics to the Talking Head's Once in a Lifetime, Lizzy answered the question, "How did I get here?" as she laughed and cried her way through her journey from 6 year-old aspiring fabric designer to landing a contract with Andover fabrics.

  Lizzy's fabulous prints are a favorite of modern quilters.  Lizzy described her process for creating her hand-drawn designs and shared many of the "jokes" hidden in her fabrics.  Each collection continues to build her rainbow of colors and includes images of the things that are dear to her.

Lizzy wrapped up her talk with an inspirational message about how we can all make each other better by being positive and supporting one another.  Her call to action: Make things better and more beautiful!!!

Pearl Bracelet cookies

A huge thank you to Soak for the wonderful door prizes and to Sew Fresh Fabrics for the grand prize Lizzy House fabric pack.  Sew Fresh still has some Constellations in stock and also Pearl Bracelets in assorted colors.  They're going fast so don't blame me if you miss out;-)  Also thanks to Gather Here for sharing Lizzy with us and to the awesome Noah for bringing the fabric shopping to us.

November Meeting Reminder

Just a quick reminder that it's almost time for our November meeting featuring a lecture by the lovely Lizzy House.  The meeting will be from 10-12 this Saturday, November 23 at the 1910 Building, Town Annex at 381 Main Street, West Newbury, MA.  There is addition parking at the rear of the building.  Guests are welcome, $10 paid at the door.

 As a bonus, Soak has provided door prizes including items from Lizzy's designer collection, Yuzu and her Pearl Bracelet nail polish Soakbox.  Don't forget to pick up your door prize ticket as you enter.

If that wasn't enough, the fabulous Virginia of gather here will be vending at the lecture.  She will have Lizzy House's fabrics and coordinating Kona solids as well as Soak products.

Unfortunately with all the action we've got going at this meeting we will not be able to do show and tell.  Please hold all those fabulous finishes and WiPs for our next meeting.

October Meeting Show and Tell

I love our monthly show and tell!!!  It is always so inspirational to see what our members have been creating...  and this month some of them have been very busy:-)  

Natalie dazzled us with a mini , 3 large quilts, and the fabulous Sewing Circle tote she brought them in.

And Laurie pulled out 3 huge quilts, her hand-pieced hexagon mini that appeared at the Quilter's Gathering, and an advent calendar quilt she is finishing up.

I can't decide which is cuter, these 2 quilts Allison shared or her new baby.

Charlotte had lots of fun designs to share.

Roberta showed us two of her gorgeous quilts, her patchwork tote, and these adorable blocks she's making with fabric printed with illustrations done by a friend's daughter.

Patrice shared these sublime finishes.   

Val has been busy making these super shop samples.

Terry came to her first meeting and brought this lovely hourglass quilt and these sampler blocks she's working on.

Zuska showed us her daughter's first quilt and the adorable baby quilt she made.  We're going to need to form a junior members branch of the Modern Quilt Guild for all these talented kids!!!

A huge thank you to Elaine for finishing 3 more Quilts for Boston.  We are still collecting and distributing these quilts.  Everyone who has received one of these amazing quilts has been so touched by this effort.

In her spare time Elaine also made this beauty;-)

Donna shared her homage to Henri, another quilt that was on exhibit at the Quilter's Gathering

Jane has been busting WiPs and finally finished this charming Charisma quilt

 Janelle made this cute gathered quilt for her niece.  I love the giraffes!

 Julie quilted up this awesome vintage table cloth she found at Brimfield.

Rachel shared this terrific bear quilt.

Rachel M. has been sewing secrets into this fun piece.

 Reva brought this outstanding T-shirt quilt she made for a friend.

 Sara shared this incredible mobile she is making.

 Sarah showed this marvelous quilt.

Stephanie has been busy making these stunning broken herringbone blocks

Taz shared this cool Candy Coated quilt she finished just in time for Halloween.

Aimee and Alice shared their finished Perfect Quilted Totes from Oh, Fransson!'s class at the Philly SewDown.

And Alice also shared her Ghastly Games quilt.

Inspired yet?  Our November meeting will feature the always entertaining Lizzy House.  Guests are welcome, $10 at the door.

October Meeting Recap

Our October meeting featured an outstanding presentation on adding hand embroidery to your quilts by the adorable Kate Herron.  For labeling quilts with embroidered text Kate suggests a split stitch using 3 strands of embroidery floss.

She also shared her ingenious "frugal lightbox".  She recommends using a lightbox and Sulky Iron-on transfer pens to transfer your pattern to fabric.  

One thing Kate is especially passionate about from working to archive textiles is that quilts with embroidery should not be machine dried.  She shares this great Craftsy article with more tips.  Bottom line: the less you wash your quilt, the longer it will last!

Caught the embroidery bug?  Kate has this fantastic "Vintage Bowls" pattern featured in the current issue of Kindred Stitches.

A huge thank you to the fabulous folks at Quilter's Way for hosting us!!!  Our November meeting featuring the lovely Lizzy House will be held 10-12 on Saturday, November 23 at the Annex - 381 Main Street, West Newbury, MA.  The meeting is free to members of the BostonMQG and SeacoastMQG.  Guests are welcome, $10 paid at the door.

Playtime with Victoria Findlay Wolfe

This month we were lucky enough to have the fabulous Victoria Findlay Wolfe stop by to visit with the Boston and Seacoast MQGs.  A New York City based quilter, fabric designer, and author, Victoria was in town for the Curator's Reception of the Roots of Modern Quilting show at the NEQM which features some of her quilts.

Victoria gave a lively talk about her creative process and how she ended up making quilts after swearing never to do any of the activities she endured growing up on a farm in Minnesota.  She also let us fondle several of her quilts including this beauty from the cover of her book, 15 Minutes of Play.

Victoria is continually challenging herself to try something new and stretch her creativity.  Make the quilt you said you'd never make...  in her case, a cow quilt.  Challenge:  Try a technique you thought you'd never do.

In many of her quilts Victoria uses what she calls "made fabric" where she randomly pieces together slabs of fabric then cuts them into the shapes she needs.  Challenge: Grab your scrap bin and jump in.  Chop up those ugly fabrics and the ones outside your comfort zone to create your own "made fabric".

Victoria also likes to reinterpret traditional quilting designs like this King sized grandmother's flower garden quilt.  Her Double Edged Love, a modern twist on the traditional double wedding ring won Best of Show at QuiltCon.  Challenge: Mix up your old orphan blocks to make something new. 

Consider yourself challenged...  step away from the computer and go play:-)