Meeting Recap (August 13, 2022)

Inhale...exhale...inhale...exhale...Feel better? Equal parts relaxing and invigorating, chair yoga for quilters was a hit! See what else we got up to at this week's meeting.

Guild Business

• Em (Vice President) ran the meeting today and gave us the details of local events:

• City Sewing Room: T-shirt Quilt Class, Thurs. Oct. 13-Nov. 3 5:30-8:00pm

• PerennialSTL: Intro to Needle Punch, Thurs. Aug. 18 6:00-8:30pm/T-shirt Totes + More, Sat. Aug. 20 10:00am-12:00pm

• Jackman’s: Many upcoming quilting and quilting adjacent classes.

• Alison Glass/Giucy Giuce mini series SAL begins September 1.

• Gail (Treasurer) went over the guild's finances and our current membership numbers. We have a roster of 193 members! WOW!! If you're not a member yet, learn how to join HERE.
• Announcements and Reminders:
• Board elections will be held at the November meeting. We have openings for Vice President and Treasurer. Please contact Lilo if you are interested in running.
• A group of members has been formed to head up the guild's QuiltCon charity quilt entry. Watch your email for more details coming soon.
• If you are not familiar with City Sewing Room and their sister site SewHope STL, these are great places to learn new skills and acquire fabric, notions, tools, etc. for bargain bin prices. Check them out HERE and HERE.
• DON'T FORGET!! Registration for QuiltCon starts today!

Activity: Chair Yoga for Quilters

Lisa from Urban Breath Yoga led a room full of our members through some gentle and refreshing exercises, right in our chairs. Her cheerful guidance helped us release built up tension in our necks, shoulders, backs, knees, wrists, and legs; all places quilters need to stretch throughout an intense sewing session. She couldn't believe we'd stay up until midnight to quilt at the SewMe retreat. Good thing she joined us today! You can look up "chair yoga for quilters" on YouTube or Google for instructional videos. Thank you Lisa!

Committee Updates

• Quilt Show
• The Quilt Show committee gave a follow up of our first quilt show event in several years.
• 770 people attended the show.
• Food Bank donation from the raffle quilt = $947.
• Net cost to the guild = $900.
• Thank you to all the show volunteers and members who publicized our show.
• Thank you to the quilt show committee and Marie Hill for your print services.

• SewMe STL
• All current details can be found HERE. We will continue to update as information becomes available.
• Registration opens to members Thursday, August 18 at 8PM via email.
• We are limited to 100 attendees and do expect this event to sell out, however we will have a waiting list.
• Cost is $35/day and you can attend the entire weekend, or just choose one or two days of participation.
• Commemorative t-shirts will be available for $10 and are optional.
• We need volunteers to greet attendees. Sign up will be sent after registration.
• Raffle donations are appreciated and can be given to Jennifer Deck, Susan Muszynski, and Jessica Elliston.
• Watch your email for the registration link!!

• Charity
• Guild members have been invited to attend the Empowering Women Gala put on by our charity partners, The Women's Safe House. More info can be found HERE. Donations are also welcome.
• The committee has begun to collect charity quilts and will continue to do so through our November meeting and the SewMe retreat.
• Please attach "STL MQG Cares" label to each quilt.
• The committee has created a comprehensive document in the member drive full of pattern suggestions for those wanting to go a different route then the kit patterns. Quilt parameters are HERE.
• There is still time to complete a quilt for The Women's Safe House and invite you to help us reach our goal.

• Swap and Challenge
• Fabric Placement blocks are due at the November meeting. 
• There may be some prizes, although this is not a contest.
• Official rules can be found HERE.
• Members can follow this path in the Google Drive to find instructions for the blocks: STLMQG Members > Swap/Challenge > 2022

Other Items Covered

• Home Sew Happy Hour: Jump on Zoom August 16 from 6-9pm and get to know other guild members better. 
• This is a casual event where you can come and go as you please.
• Some members have expressed interest in doing this event in person again and are welcome to do so. Let the board know your plans and we'll publicize on social media.
• Block of the Month Winners: Have you joined in the Block of the Month sampler quilt party yet? It's been so fun seeing everyone's take on Instagram. For all the info look HERE. It's not too late to jump in.
• Linda Kocher is our winner for June's entry.
• Joan Miller is the winner for July's block.
• August BOM: Speaking of the block of the month, the next tutorial is live on the blog and we're taking on improv curves. Em takes you through all the steps HERE. 
• Post to Instagram using #stlmqgbom or email a photo before our next meeting to be entered for a prize. 

• Fabric Raffle: Thanks to Cotton Cuts we gave away two FQ bundles of Sublime Summer from Free Spirit fabrics to Robyn Passig and Carol Schmidt. Hooray!
• Show and Share: We wrapped up the meeting with another great Show and Tell. Pics are being posted to our Instagram and Facebook pages. Join us there to see pictures of quilts that were shared, and to stay up to date on what's to come this year!

2022 Block of the Month Sampler - August

 Welcome to Month Eight of the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild 2022 Block of the Month Sampler! Only 3 months to go (including this one) until we have all the blocks to finish our quilts!

Remember to post your block to Instagram with the hashtag #stlmqgbom before the September meeting to be entered to win this month's prize. If you don't use Instagram, you may email a photo to the guild email.

This month, we will be making TWO 12.5-inch (unfinished) improv CURVE blocks!

CUTTING DIRECTIONS: 

Cut 2 squares of fabric, about 15 inches each. Why so much bigger than our unfinished block size of 12.5 inches? The thing to remember when you're sewing in an improvisational or unstructured way is that seam allowances are not included! Thus, we need to add in extra room in our blocks to accommodate the fabric that will be in the seam allowance. 

Note: I originally cut my blocks at 14 inches. Reach on to find out why this didn't work out and how I solved the problem! 

Stack your squares on top of one another and use a rotary cutter to make one more gentle curves through both layers of fabric. 

Gentle curves will be easier to sew than sharper/steeper curves. 

Single direction curves will be easier to sew than multi-directional curves. What do I mean by that? Take a look at my middle cut in the image above. From the bottom, the cut begins curving to the right, but then I cut so it turns slightly back to the left. 

SEWING DIRECTIONS

Begin by marking the approximate mid-point of each of your curves on both sides of your cut. Mark both pieces of fabric in the SAME PLACE! (See how I've flipped back the top fabric to mark the fabric underneath in the same place?) If your cut is more or less straight before it begins to curve, you will mark the mid point of the curved part of the cut only. 

Rearrange your fabric pieces so that your two colors/prints are mixed up. 

Flip one piece of fabric so that it is right sides together with the adjacent piece of the same curve. Pin at the place you marked. 

I only use one pin to sew these curves. If you like, you can ease the seam together and use 57 pins to keep it together. It's your quilt; do what works for you!

If you're just using one pin, use your hands to ease the two edges even around the curve on one side of the pin until you get to the point where you will start sewing. You match your edges so that you can determine where you will start sewing because the fabric will not be even after it is sewn. There is fabric along the curve that will disappear into the seam allowance. 

Carefully sew along the curve, matching your edges as you go. 

I will post a video of this on https://www.instagram.com/stlmqg/

Press to one side. I like to press on the back, then flip and press on the front. I like to place the thumb and first finger of my free hand on each side of the seam as a press to make sure the seam along the curve is open all the way as I press. 

Repeat with your remaining curves. 

Trim to 12.5 inches. If you started with a large enough piece of fabric, you're done! Yay! Way to go!

My finished block was not large enough to trim to 12.5 inches. Oh no! I thought that starting with fabric 1.5 inches larger would leave plenty of room for seam allowance. This would have worked if I would have had fewer curves, or if my curves were less curvy. It's okay, though, because this is improv. So let's fix it. 

I'm going to add on one more curve, with this green to bring my block up to size. 

Layer the fabric for the next curve under your other piece, leaving enough room to account for the seam allowance. The ruler marks the edge of the fabric underneath because the full curve must be cut through both pieces of fabric. 

Using a rotary cutter, cut a gentle curve through both pieces of fabric. 

As before, mark the approximate mid-point of the curve on both sides of the cut. Flip the two pieces right sides together, pinning at the mark. Ease around the edge to find the point where you will begin sewing, then carefully sew around the curve. 

Hooray! My block is now large enough to trim to 12.5 inches! 

My second block was also just a little too small. I used the piece I cut off the first block when I added the green to make my second block a little bit larger. 

Two finished improv curve blocks!!

SewMe STL 2022 - Full Details

 

Sew Me St Louis Registration Opens on August 18th at 8pm!

Come and enjoy a weekend with Quilty friends sewing, sharing, learning, and having fun!  Over the course of the three-day weekend, in addition to getting some quality time with your sewing machine, you can participate in various demonstrations, participate in networking and fun activities with other members, and have an opportunity to win some great raffle prizes.

Registration

Optional: Retreat t-shirt $10

Price: $35/day

Dates: October 7-9, 2022

Times: Friday, 8AM - Midnight

            Saturday, 8AM - Midnight

            Sunday, 8AM - 5PM

Where: Marriott St. Louis West

             660 Maryville Centre Drive

             St. Louis, MO  63141

You may register for one, two, or all three days.  Admission helps to cover the rental cost of the ballrooms, swag, and other incidentals.

Hotel Rooms are also available - details below.  A link to register for the hotel will be provided with the confirmation details.

Look for the email on August 18^th at 8pm for the registration link!

Activities

Friday, October 7^th

• Web Chain Piecing with Tess McMahon
• Paper Piecing with Marie Hill
• Labeling your quilts with Linda Kocher

Saturday, October 8^th

• Improv Curves with Heather Dye
• Faux Piped Binding/Facing with Cynthia Cook
• Big Stitch Binding with Jessica Schunke

Sunday, October 9^th

• Scrap Rope Tutorial with Cynthia Cook - Note: This is Different than a Rope Bowl Tutorial.  You make Scrap Twine/Rope which you can then use to make things with.
• Bias Binding with Nancy Dlugosz

In addition to the demonstrations that come with your admission, we will have networking and games on both Friday and Saturday evening.  Dottie Vaughn is bringing her batting display and will have time set aside for Q&A. Will McDonald from Just Sew will be there on Saturday to sharpen scissors for $10.

Hotel Reservations

• $131/night
• 50% off breakfast vouchers for up to four people per room
• Book your room by Wednesday, September 7th
• Reservation link will be in the meeting recap email.
• Two rooms will be raffled at September meeting
• 1 night/room or 2 nights for the same room if one person wins.

Donations

Raffle item donations can be directed to:

Jessica Ellison

Susan Muszynski

Jennifer Deck

Meeting #122 (August 13, 2022)

We hope you got a chance to see the quilt show in July and left feeling inspired by the modern aesthetic. Here's what's happening at our August meeting.

Date: August 13, 2022
Time: 10 am-12:30 pm
Location: Shrewsbury Center - 5200 Shrewsbury Ave, St. Louis, MO 63119

Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business

• Zoom etiquette
• Financial Information
• Membership Information
• Quilting News/Around Town
• Reminders
• BOM updates
• Committee updates
• Sew Me: Updates on the retreat.
• Charity: Special invitation and reminders
• Swap/Challenge: reminders
• Quilt Con Charity Quilt: we need a member of the guild to lead this if we want to submit in time.
• Election announcement: Positions for Treasurer and Vice President will be open for 2023. Election is held in November. This is a great opportunity to help keep the guild running smoothly.

---Break---

• Let us know if you'll lead the charity quilt
• Ask questions about board positions
• Drop off your charity quilts
• Pickup a kit for a charity quilt
• Sign in
• Visit free table

-August Activity - Stretch Your Body, Stretch Your Sewing Time

Good posture and regular stretching breaks are essential for quilters of any health. Our guest this month will guide through stretches to keep you sewing more comfortably for longer. This demonstration will give you some good tips just in time for the Sew Me retreat in October. Don't miss it!

-Meeting Wrap-up

• Fabric raffle winner announcement - Thank you Cotton Cuts!
• June and July Block of the Month winner announcement
• Attendance Prizes
• Show & Tell (time permitting)

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

• Drop off your completed charity quilts.
• Post your BOM entries by 11:59 PM this Friday. #stlmqgbom
• Swap/Challenge blocks can be posted with #stlmqgswap22.
• Buy raffle tickets online HERE.
• Wear your name tags.
• Free table items.
• Bring your Show and Share goodies!