The first month of 2021 is behind us - is it just us or does January always feel like the longest month of the year? We had a great time with our first skill builder session learning about chain / web piecing and this past Saturday we had our first speaker of 2021. Suzy Williams joined our STLMQ zoom meeting to chat and we loved hearing some fabric picking tips!
Suzy Williams
As a local Missouri girl, Suzy chatted with us about becoming more confident when you are picking fabrics to go in your quilts. Some highlights of her presentation included thinking about where your quilts will live, who they will play with, will they be on a bed, living room, will they be in a basket with other quilts or be used on your couch to snuggle under?
Suzy talked to us about going on a Color Quest - how to take all the information we constantly are absorbing from the world around us and putting that into a bank to pull from. From there she talked to us about picking one fabric you LOVE and building from there.
Picking fabrics for quilts can feel stressful, and maybe you feel like you need to include EVERY fabric you love to make it the best possible but Suzy suggests editing yourself - picking solids and textures that compliment that one fabric and try to use as many solids (or blenders - fabrics that read as solids) as you use prints. Use your color palette inspiration as a diving board. When you are feeling overwhelmed, Keep it Simple. Monochromatic does not mean boring. Find something that inspires you and go with it.
Suzy also covered some tips about choosing backing. Backing is half the quilt - keep in mind how it will be used, and think about maybe mixing up fabric choices. If this quilt is going to be keeping someone cozy maybe flannel on the back would bring that extra cozy touch. Maybe it's going to be used outside? Try canvas!
We all make bad quilting decisions but it's still important to trust your gut - you have innate creativity and it is good! Listen to it and have fun, remember you are going to make lots of quilts in your life so you'll have an opportunity to try lots of things.
Notes and colorways are in your email if you want to learn more!
As a guild member Suzy generously given all active members the choice of one of her newest patterns, Thrive & Gather. And as a compliment to Suzy's presentation we have secured some discounts from online retailers so you can put your new confident fabric picking skills to use. Links with details will be in your email.
Guild Items Covered:
- March Meeting - We all have them. Some of us store them in a giant bin, some of them are nicely sorted by colors. Some of us might even admit that we are hoarding them. What are they? What are these things? SCRAPS! The programming committe is going to help us decide just what to do with these little bits.
- 4x5 Quarterly Bees - Emails for the Quarterly Block Bees have been sent out if you have any questions for your bee mates don't hesitate to reach out. Bees are a great way to get to know your fellow guild members so don't hesitate to connect with each other.
- Monthly Skill Builder - We had such a blast connecting with you guys in January and sharing how chain/web pieicing works and seeing everyone post your pictures on Instagram. We announced that this month's new skill will be English Paper Piecing. We will be learning from the fabulous Leila Gardunia on Feb. 24th from 7-8pm. You can always read more on the Monthly Skill Builder blog. Zoom gives us a great way to break down some of those more elusive skills and give everyone a chance to ask questions while we all try these skills in real time. If you would be willing to teach a skill please let us know! We have a list of skills or if you have something special to share we would love to hear from you. We will also be recording the monthly sessions and sending them out within 48 hours.
- Tara Faughnan - With our meetings being on Zoom and changing up our workshops with Tara we reached out to see if she would be up for moving the traditional 'trunk show' to a virtual session and she's going to be our guest speaker in April! She will be presenting on From Cardboard to Instagram.
Tara's Workshop Signups Coming March 18th at 8pm
Lone Star - Sat. May 1st
Big Stich Hand Stitch - Sun. May 2nd
$50/class, cancelation policy applies read more about the workshops here.
- The Color of Connections Quilt Ladies will be speaking at our July Meeting - "Where there is colorful connection, there is beauty, in our quilts and in our communities." These ladies are working to create a nonprofit that connects the modern quilting community, across all colors, ages, genders, and backgrounds. Through this non-profit they will be hosting quilting workshops with vulnerable youth of all colors to sew, foster relationships abd meaningful connection, and also teach self-efficacy and creativity. Learn more on their mission on their site.
- Hand Sew *Home* Happy Hour February 16th 6-9PM come and go as you please - join us to sew or just to chat!
- Charity Quilt Jessica Schunke reminded everyone of the April 30th deadline for quilts for the new veterans community project. Quilts need to be Twin XLs in size and you can learn more on the blog post if you're interested in participating.
Guild Reminders:
- International Quilt Museum - as a member of the STLMQG we have access to the International Quilt Museum based in Lincoln, Nebraska, which as the single largest public collection of quilts in the world. A special "portal" has been created to provide additional internet resources like special downloads and virtual programs. Instructions and login information will be provided in your email
- Zoom Use Please remember the STMQG Zoom account is available for any guild member wishing to use for quilty-gatherings. Just email stlmqg@gmail.com to get things set up.
If you want to get beautiful fabric delivered to your door and support a local STLMQG member and fabric shop check out Cotton Cuts and sign up today!
