Sew-In Saturday

So what did you do this past Saturday?

25 of our STLMQG members spent nearly an entire day sewing up a storm, chatting, laughing and snacking.  I'd call that a productive Saturday.

Here's some highlights...

The Room...isn't is perfect?

The Entry "Fee" Fat Quarters

Some of the various snack stashes found around the room

What I didn't take a picture of was Cindy's super-yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies...

We are going to need the recipe for those, so Cindy if you read this, email me and I'll forward it to everyone.

Some of the Charity Quilts finished...aren't they wonderful.

Special thanks to Jamie, Cindy and Mary Claire for finishing these up.

Also, while not pictured...Juli Ann was working on some of these quilts too.

If I missed giving anyone a shout out, let us know.

Some of the our lovely STLMQG members, keep in mind this is only 1/2 the room.

We didn't want to share photos of specific projects that were being worked on because there were a handful of Habitat Challenge quilts being made and we wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.  There were also some baby quilts, a wedding quilt or two, various other gift quilts, etc.

Our final Sew-In Saturday for 2011, will take place on September 24th; which actually isn't too far off.  If you'd like to join in on the fun, make sure you check your email and this blog as sign-ups will open soon. 

Thanks to everyone who attended!!!

Flickr Feature Friday #2

Welcome Modern Quilters to the 2nd edition of our new feature called Flickr Feature Friday.

Each week a new STLMQG member will share with you some inspirational photos from Flickr;

which they've put together in a handy mosaic.

We hope that this "eye candy" will put a smile on your face.

#2

Here's the code:

1. Paprika, 2. thoroughly modern country, 3. DQS11 Angel Quilt #2, 4. Birds of a Feather ~ Quilt, 5. J Rogers Quilt, 6. Babyquilt Summer Song, 7. Ruby's Crystal Rainbows, 8. Wedding quilt - finished!, 9. Ingrid Press Festival Of Quilts 2009, NEC Birmingham
 

 

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This week's Flickr Feature Friday is brought to you by Nancy Lee {...with thread in hand...}

 
 
 

Randomness #5

Hi Everyone,

Here's some things going on that you might want to know about.

• If you visited the STLMQG Flickr page this morning, Mary Claire mentioned the 100 Quilts for Kids campaign.  There will be giveaway opportunities and best of all, it's all for a great cause.  If you would like to learn more about this campaign, please click on the button below.

• Have you heard about the Modern BOM (Block of the Month) going on over at Sew, Mama, Sew!  Alissa from Handmade by Alissa, will be presenting a new block tutorial each month.  It's a great way to learn some new techniques and create some interesting blocks.  Head on over and check it out.  There is also a Modern BOM Flickr Group if you'd like to share photos of your finished blocks.



• The new DS Quilts Collection, titled "Sugar Creek" has started showing up at several Jo-Ann's locations around town.  You can see a preview here.

• You might remember us talking about The Sewing Summit; which is a Sewing and Blogging conference in Salt Lake City, taking place on October 7th-9th.  To learn more about this event and it's organizers (Erin from Two More Seconds and Amy from Amy's Creative Side) click here.  Recently in cooperation with The Sewing Summit (Megan from Canoe Ridge Creations and Jeni from In Color Order) have created a fun series called Travel Handmade.  This series is about bags of all varieties and is filled with tutorials, pattern reviews and additional information to satisfy the sewist in all of us. 

• Our 2nd Sew-In Saturday is this weekend (August 27th) and it's sure to be a blast.  We have 27 attendees expected; which I believe is more then double our 1st Sew-In back in May.  If you missed the opportunity to sign up, or could not make it because of a prior engagement...we have good news.  We will have 1 more Sew-In this year.  Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 24th from 9am-6pm.  Sign-Ups will open in a few weeks and again will be "First Come - First Reserved".

Flickr Feature Friday #1

Welcome to a new feature here on our STLMQG blog, called Flickr Feature Friday. 

Each Friday a STLMQG member will create a mosaic of things that they found that week on Flickr, or a collection of favorites they want to share with you.  We hope that you enjoy the goodies and take a minute to checkout the photos in more detail by clicking on the below links.  Who knows what you might discover.

#1 

Here's the code:

1. happy camping front, 2. PLPS - Round 2 complete!, 3. Pink Windows, 4. Loulouthi Crosses Drape, 5. a block for penny., 6. shooting stars!, 7. Hexagon Quilt Back, 8. seaglass quilt top, 9. DQS11 complete

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This week's Flickr Feature Friday is brought to you by Cara {Me? A Mom?}

Rip Up Wrap Up

Can we just say the reveal of our Rip Rip Ripping Challenge at August's Meeting was fab-u-lous!  

The St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild sure knows how to rock a challenge!  

Bravo and thanks to everyone who participated!!

We're going to feature a handful of crowd favorites here on the blog, but if you are a member of our Flickr Group you can see all the project's here!

First up is this tessellating pinwheel quilt by Jan O.  Aren't you loving her mix of fabrics and colors?

Well done!!

Elizabeth created this beautiful shadowed patchwork quilt!  Everyone loved the back as much as the front; make you sure you go check it out in our Flickr Group!

 

Gina's birds were a big hit.  Love those pinks and oranges! 

Cara wowed us with her half square triangle quilt.  The colors and fabrics really make this traditional design modern!  Inspiring work Cara!

Our clever members pulled out all the stops with this challenge!  

Look at some of the goodies that were made!!  

Who made these items and pattern info (if available) is located with each picture on our Flickr Site!

Thanks for making our guild great!

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.

Meeting #12 - August 13th, 2011

Hello Modern Quilters,

This meeting is new in a few ways.  First, it's the official start of year #2 for the STLMQG.  Second, it's the first time we are meeting at our new home, the Kirkwood YMCA.  Finally, we have some changes coming (All Good, nobody freak out) that we are looking to implement to make the meetings, STLMQG Blog, Flickr even more interactive.

We have a Challenge Reveal, a swap you're going to love and new things to talk about.  So, mark your calendars, take note of the new meeting time, print off your map (if you need one) for our new location and join us.
Looking forward to seeing everyone !!

Date: Saturday, August 13th
Time: 10:30am-1pm
Location:
Kirkwood Family YMCA
325 N. Taylor
St. Louis, MO 63122
Map

Parking:  Kirkwood is filled with free parking and street parking...all of which are clearly marked. As some of our members mentioned, there is a huge church parking lot across the street from the YMCA, there is also a free parking lot on E Jefferson; which is right next to the church lot (you can walk through the church lot if you park on E Jefferson).
 
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Agenda:
   - Welcome & Guild Business
   - Special Announcements/Quilting News
   - Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge **Big Reveal**
   - Free Spirit HABITAT Challenge (Questions, Comments, etc)
            *I did receive the back-ordered print, so if you haven't cut into 1 of your Fat Eighths and want to switch one out for this new print, bring it with you. Also if you want to play, you can pick up your fabric.
   - Blog Renovation
   - All About Bees (not the Honey-kind)
   - Swap Secret...it's an easy one
   - Leadership & Committees
   - Next Meeting Date (September 10th)
   - Questions/Comments
   - Closing Remarks
   - Door Prizes
   - Mix & Mingle
 
**Please note that we will NOT be holding Show & Tell this month due to the very busy schedule and Challenge Reveal.  Show & Tell will return in September.
 
**If you are participating in the Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge...remember your item is due this month. 
 
**Please make sure that you wear your Modern-Style Handmade nametag, as we will have some door prizes to give away.
 
**If you missed the email that was sent Sunday night, the Surprise Sew-In (August 27th) Sign Ups have started.  Look along the right hand side for the Sew-In button, press it and you'll be taken to the registration form.  Remember, STLMQG due-paying members only.  We have a capacity of 40 people, so if you are thinking of coming, don't wait to register.  If you want to know who is already signed-up, if you have questions, etc...check out the Flickr discussion thread, or send us an email.