Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Meeting Recap (August 11, 2018)

Thank you to everyone who came out to Saturday's meeting! It was great to see everyone and have some fun!

  • Gayle, our Treasurer, gave us the updated financial info.
  • Krista, our Secretary, announced our membership numbers and passed out our new MQG membership cards and pins.
  • Marie, our VP, announced several pieces of quilting news and happenings (more about these will be sent via email).
  • Jessica, our President, covered several items:
    • The hand-sew happy hours and location for the entire year have been posted to the blog. This month's meet-up will be on Tuesday, August 21.
    • SewMeSTL is going to be three days of fun this year (October 5-7)! Info on hotel rates and how to reserve a room, as well as registration info, will be sent via email this week. You can find all the details on the retreat in this new post.
    • Updates on our upcoming workshops with Latifah Saafir and visit from Beth Snyder of 1 Canoe 2 were announced. Latifah will now be visiting in September, and Beth has been moved to November. More information has been sent via email. Updated information about Latifah's trunk show and workshops can be found in this post.
    • The Member Swap and Challenge Committee's 2018 Colors of the Year Challenge, celebrating Pantone Ultra Violet and Kona Tiger Lily, is still going on, due in November. You can find all of the details here.
    • Our Nurses for Newborns charity project is still going strong as well. The final collection will be in November. You can find all of the details here.
  • Lilo and Leila announced the plan for our QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge, a fabulous design called Confluence, and distributed the first round of blocks. The remaining blocks will be distributed at future meetings, and all finished blocks are due in November.
  • Jessica announced the next Rainbow Block of the Month (BOM) Challenge color -- red, easy peasy. You can find all of the details here.
  • Marie raffled off the blocks for our third Block Lotto round to two lucky winners. She also announced the details for our final Block Lotto of the year, a fun and easy holiday tree block. You can find all of the details here. These blocks will be due in November, so you've got lots of time.
  • The Member Swap and Challenge Committee announced the final swap of the year, which will take place at SewMeSTL. Those who wish to participate should bring four fat quarters in shades of a color chosen from one spoke of the color wheel (see image). You can use the same shade in multiple FQs, but try to vary your grouping overall. 
    You may choose any combination of modern prints and solids. This will be a blind swap, so bring your FQs in a brown paper bag (we’ll have extras in case you forget). The swap will take place on Saturday of SewMeSTL.
  • We wrapped up the meeting with a great Show and Tell, including these lovelies from Em and Bobbie. Keep an eye on our Instagram page to see lots more pics of the meeting, show and tell, and our members' projects throughout the month.

Remember that Latifah Saafir will be presenting a wonderful trunk show and lecture at next month's meeting, so you won't want to miss out. IMPORTANT REMINDER: The September meeting will take place at The Center of Clayton, 50 Gay Ave., Clayton, MO 63105, Meeting Rooms B and C (First Floor), not at The Heights. The meeting info page has been updated here.

Monday, August 13, 2018

SewMeSTL 2018 Announcement

Sew Me St. Louis logo

Please join your fellow St. Louis MQG members at the fifth annual Sew Me St. Louis weekend, where there will be lots of laughs, sewing, and opportunities to make memories. For the first time, SewMeSTL will take place across three fun-filled days!

Friday, Oct. 5 and Saturday, Oct. 6
8 am-midnight
Sunday, Oct. 7
9 am-5 pm

Drury Inn & Suites Brentwood
8700 Eager Road
Brentwood, MO 63144

:: All Day / All Night Open Sew ::
:: Swaps, Raffles, and More ::

This event is open to current St. Louis MQG members. Members must register, and space is limited to the first 60 registrants. We will also have a waiting list. The registration link will be sent out via email.

The cost is $60 for all three days or $40 for just Saturday and Sunday. This fee helps to cover the rental cost of the ballrooms, swag, and other incidentals. Information on payment options will be sent after registration.

As always, don’t forget to use #SewMeSTL and #STLMQG on social media. Interested to see how much fun we've had in the past? Check out #sewmestl on Instagram.
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Your registration secures a place for you in the All Day/All Night Open Sew Room. It’s a large ballroom fitted with standard-size tables, chairs, access to electricity, and way more fun than you can imagine. This communal room is where everyone will be hanging out, chatting, quilting, hand sewing, knitting, etc. until midnight on Friday and Saturday and then again until 5 pm on Sunday.

Food and drink are allowed in the large ballroom, so members are encouraged to bring something to share with the group -- a batch of brownies, veggies, fruit, chips, etc. For your main meal, consider ordering a pizza or checking out any of the fabulous restaurants in the surrounding area for lunch and/or dinner.

Door Prizes:: The SewMeSTL Committee has secured a number of exciting door prizes, which will be raffled over the course of the weekend. We'll be posting "sneak peeks" on Instagram in the coming weeks.

Scrap Swap:: Love scraps? Then this easy swap is for you. Just bring a quart- or gallon-size plastic bag filled with scraps and take home an equal share from the large pile of everyone's scraps. Just remember … we are a modern guild, so this is not a time to unload your upholstery and/or traditional fabrics.

Fat Quarter Swap:: The Members Swap and Challenge Committee has created a fun blind swap for us this year.  All SewMeSTL attendees can participate. Those who wish to participate should bring four fat quarters in shades of a color chosen from one spoke of the color wheel (see image). You can use the same shade in multiple FQs, but try to vary your grouping overall (for instance, two light green-blues, one medium green-blue, and one dark green-blue).
You may choose any combination of modern prints and solids. This will be a blind swap, so bring your FQs in a brown paper bag (we’ll have extras in case you forget). Be sure to include a piece of paper with your name inside the bag, so its recipient can thank you. The swap will take place on Saturday of SewMeSTL. Participants can drop off their bag when they arrive and choose another bag at their leisure during the course of the day on Saturday. This will be done via the honor system, and we ask that members Do Not Peek and/or swap out the bag they choose for another (unless of course you accidentally grab your own again ... they will all look the same).

We can't wait to see you all there!

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Meeting #85 (August 11, 2018)

Hello modern quilters! Can you believe it's August already? Time to squeeze in one more meeting before the school craziness officially begins. We hope you can join us!

Date: August 11, 2018
Time: 10 am-12:30 pm
Location: The Heights

8001 Dale Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
*Childcare available, please see info here* 
   =================================================================
Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
     :: Membership Information
     :: Financial Information
     :: Quilting News / Around Town

     :: Reminders

- Collect Block Lotto #3 blocks (Marie)
- Explanation of SewMeSTL registration
- Activity: Ruler Demo/Discussion (Programming Committee). Experienced members will be demoing how to use a variety of specialty sewing rulers, from the Quick Curve to the Stripology.

---Break--- 

- Announce QuiltCon Charity Quilt plan/distribute blocks (QuiltCon Charity Quilt Committee)
- Announce SewMeSTL Swap (Member Swap and Challenge Committee)
- Raffle off Block Lotto #3 blocks and announce Block Lotto #4
- Announce next Rainbow BOM color
- Show & Tell
- Mix & Mingle


-------------------------- Reminders ------------------------------

:: Don't forget we're still accepting dues for 2018. Because we're halfway through the year, dues are now half price ($20) and can be paid by cash, check, or credit card. You can pay at the meeting or online through our Paypal link.
:: You must post your July (violet) Rainbow BOM blocks to Instagram with the #stlmqgrainbowbom before the start of the August meeting to get your points for the month (you can email them to stlmqg@gmail.com if you're not on IG). We'd love to see your blocks at Show & Tell as well!
:: You still have lots of time to participate in the Colors of the Year Challenge, as the deadline has been moved to November. See this blog post for all of the details.