Meeting Recap (August 13th 2011)

New place, new faces, new ideas...I'd call that a good day.  Today's meeting was the start of our 2nd year.  We saw some amazing things during the Ripping Challenge reveal and had some laughs along the way.

Here's some things you might remember or missed:

• Our Sew-In is Saturday, August 27th and sign-ups close on Monday, August 15th.  We currently have 26 members attending and only 14 spots left...so if you are thinking of joining in on the fun, make sure you RSVP.  The button to do so is along the right-hand side of the blog.  You must be a due-paying member to attend and remember, the "fee" is only 1 modern-style Fat Quarter.
• Let's not forget the 100 Days of Modern Quilting, that will be highlighting some of the great works that our fellow quilters have made.  If you'd like to learn more about this online event, visit the Modern Quilt Guild's blog.  It would be great if we got some STLMQG members to participate.  The deadline to submit a quilt is August 30th.

• We will be starting a new meeting event called "You Oughta Know..." which is an opportunity for 2 people to talk about a great notion, book, fabric line, etc.  for a few minutes during each meeting.  Our group includes all levels of expertise, so there isn't much that you couldn't share...someone is bound to have learned something.  If you are interested in getting on the list, please email us.
• Some more members signed up to participate in the HABITAT Challenge, and some others swapped out one of their fabrics for the back-ordered one that finally arrived. 

• We discussed some new renovations being made to the blog over the next few weeks.  We are going to create a Member Directory allowing you to more easily connect with your fellow quilters; but also put a name/face/part of town to our growing membership.  Also, we are going to highlight the great presentations and information from meetings past that will provide a sort of RoadMap to Flickr tutorials, Fabric Designers, etc. 
• Flickr Feature Fridays is the name of our new feature here on the STLMQG blog.  There are so many wonderful photos posted on Flickr each and every minute that we want to capture a little bit of that and share it with you here.  With the help of BigHugeLabs, you can get in on the fun too and post a mosaic of things that caught your eye.  Look for more information in your email coming soon.
• We all adore the logo that Mary Claire has created and we proudly stand behind it.  Yet, we wonder if we need something more graphic vs. photographic...so we've decided to host another logo contest.  All entries must include STLMQG and/or St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild; must be no larger then 4"x4" and of course resizeable and readable at all levels.  Finally, make sure that it is something which represents Modern Quilting (of course); but is also something that we can proudly share with the whole world.  All designs need to be emailed no later then September 3rd.  We are working behind the scenes to figure out the best method for voting.  **And of course continuing with our current logo is also an option too**

• There was some discussion about the Golden Ticket Bus Tour happening Sept. 23-25th.  Shannon (owner of Fabric Nosherie) has confirmed that the bus is over half full already and while there are still some seats available to purchase, she and Kathy (who is in charge of the Bus Tour) are very impressed with the turnout.  I just wanted to make sure that everyone had the information directly from Shannon herself.  If you would like to be a part of the "Rockin" Party Bus that is going to tour 5 states, click on the link above for more information.
• Some of you might remember a few months back the Rip, Rip, Ripping Event where for some reason we struggled to rip a piece of fabric and pass it to our neighbor.  Today was the big reveal of the items that were made with those random pieces of fabric.  We saw quilts, pillows, some bags, fun table toppers and every other variety of goodie one could imagine.  If you haven't already uploaded a photo to our Flickr photostream, don't forget to do so.  Mary Claire has uploaded some photos that she took as well
• Have you heard of a Quilting Bee?  This once popular gathering of quilters is resurging once again, both online and in guilds across the country.  If you'd like to learn more, I would highly suggest checking out Quilting Bee Blocks here and here; which by the way includes over 15,000 photos.  I would also recommend the book Block Party (as pictured below) as it gives you further insight and ideas.  We shared with you some quilt blocks that were made as part of the "Meet Me In St. Louis Bee".  It is our hope that you'll be inspired to get together with some of your fellow STLMQG members and start your own bee.  If you have any questions about how to do this, please don't hesitate to ask.



• Mary Claire shared with you our next swap which will be due in September.  It's a no headache, Scrap Swap.  To participate, fill a Qt. size Ziploc bag with 8oz. of modern-style fabric scraps, ranging in size from 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches and up.  Let's not forget what Mary Claire said "Scrap onto others, as you'd have scrapped onto you."
• If you are interested in running for Office or being a Committee Chair, keep a lookout on this blog for a list of the opportunities available to you, as we'll be posting some brief descriptions soon.  Elections are in November; but you must inform our Election Officiate (Jamie Mueller) no later then October 1st, so we can get your name on the ballot.  And remember, nominations are good too.
• Finally, if you are donating your time to put together any of the Quilts we are donating to Project Linus and for the residents of Joplin, MO...please make sure that you bring them to either the August Sew-In (if you are attending) or finished to the September meeting.  We would like to wrap this up and get the quilts into the hands of their new owners.  Thank you to everyone who had a hand in this.

Finally, Thanks to everyone who turned out today for our 1st meeting at the Kirkwood YMCA.  I know that there were some temporarily-lost members, seating-flubs, etc...it's all "Growing Pains"; but in the end I hope that it was worthwhile.  We had an enormous crowd of over 50 people; which is our largest to date.  Don't forget to check out our blog as we'll be posting lots of interesting things in the coming weeks.