Meeting Recap (June 14th, 2014)

Thank you for another fun-filled Saturday. Here is a recap in case you missed any of what happened. 

• Our Member's Swap/Challenge Committee announced their Challenge for this year; which is a "Celebration of St. Louis".  Need some inspiration, consider visiting the MO History Museum as they are hosting lots of great events centered around the St. Louis celebration.  Your challenge quilt/item is due at the September meeting, so you'll have lots of time to be inspired.

• Thank you to everyone who participated in the Quilting Book activity, it was lovely to see such a wide range of books featured, and we hope that it inspired you to check your local library or even purchase one or two of them.

• We collected lots of valuable data on the topics you would want to learn about at our October Workshop/Lecture/Sew-In event.  More information will be made available soon.

• Your Michael Miller Challenge is due at the July meeting.  We cannot wait to see what you have been creating.

• For those who signed up in May to participate in the Bay Area MQG "Orphan Block" Swap, your item is due at the July meeting.   

• Finally, July is our guild's 4th anniversary...YAY!!!  We would like to continue the tradition of recognizing our member's achievements over the past year. We know that we have lots of amazing talent in the guild, some have won awards, some have finished their first quilt, some have had their work shown at Quilt Market, some are writing books or had their work published.  With a guild of 90 members, it is hard to keep track of all of your achievements, so drop us an email, or send us a Facebook message and let us know what you have been up to. 

A continued thank you to everyone who is playing along with our WOW (War on WIP), it has been interesting to see all of your older WIP, and with each finish it brings you closer to a clean slate.

We will see you next month, July 12th.  Until then, let's keep the 

conversation going over on Facebook and Instagram.

Meeting #46 - June 14th, 2014

Hello Modern Quilters,

It feels like it has been ages since we last met.  So, pull up a chair and let's have some fun, shall we. 

Date: June 14th 2014
Time: 10am - 12:30pm 
Location: The Heights

   =================================================================
Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership Information
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Charity Committee Update
-Membership Challenge/Swap Committee Activity (Challenge Announcement)
-Quilting Books : Discussion, Inspiration, Etc.
-WOW (War on WIP) Show & Tell 
-Show & Tell
-Mix & Mingle

-------------------------- This Month's Activity ------------------------------

We will be discussing Quilting Books, and answering questions like... 

• What do you look for when buying them? 
• Do you actually make the projects inside, or are they just inspiration? 
• What are your prized books?  
• Etc.

As we want to hear from our members, please bring a quilting book from your personal collection that has inspired you, is a constant resource for technique, has excellent photography, etc.  While there is bound to be some duplication, we likely have different reasons for buying a particular book.  Additionally, we will have a collection of several books at our meeting that you can peruse, because we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words.

---------------------- OnGoing Activities ------------------------

:: Michael Miller Fabric Challenge - Due at July meeting

:: Bay Area MQG "Orphan Block" Swap - Due at July meeting

See You Saturday!!

Meeting Recap (May 10th, 2014)

Thank you for spending your Saturday with us; we hope that you left inspired by what you saw during Show & Tell, and excited by the announcements we made. Here is a recap in case you missed any of it. 

• Do you have a quilt that you are extremely proud of that captures the modern aesthetic...then please consider entering it into The MQG Showcase at International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX.  The entry opens on May 30th and closes on June 27th.  Here is some background information.  Please note that this is for for exhibit only, you are not entered to win any prizes.

• The Michael Miller Challenge due date has been extended with entries now due in July. We love seeing the sneak-peeks and stacks of additional fabric that everyone has been posting on social media, on their blogs, etc. 

• Thank you to Mary Claire and Juli Ann for the recap of SewDown: Nashville.  We wish we could have been there.

• Thank you to those members who recapped their trip to Paducah, it was interesting to hear everyone's experiences.

• Everyone sure looks like they had fun choosing fabric based off of their secret swap partner's inspiration photo.  Thanks to the Member's Swap/Challenge committee for pulling off another great activity.  If you have fabric for your partner; but were not at the meeting, and did not advise one of the Officers, please do so immediately, as we want to ensure that everyone who signed up to participate will get their fabric.

• Interested in attending QuiltCon next February in Austin, TX?  The schedule and class descriptions are to be released to due-paying members on June 1st.  Registration opens to all MQG members on June 24th 10am EST.  Don't know what QuiltCon is?  Head on over to their site right away and see what all the buzz is about.  

• We made 2 big announcements this month, both of which were recapped in an email sent out to due-paying members on Saturday evening.  If you are a due-paying member and did not receive an email, please let us know.  

Announcement #1

• STLMQG RoadTrip to Sarah's Fabric in Lawrence, KS  (June 21st-22nd) -- If you are a due-paying member of the STLMQG and would like to join us, please let us know asap.  We need a headcount so we can coordinate lodging, drivers and passengers.  This is not a guild-funded trip, we are only coordinating the opportunity, members will be responsible for all costs.

Announcement #2

• STLMQG Speaker/Workshop Event (October TBD) -- We are looking at offering 3-6 workshops and or lectures taught by members, an all night Sew-In, a social event and lots more.  Interested in teaching?  There will be an application sent out late May/early June.  Have an idea for a class, for a venue, want to volunteer?  Please let us know.  We want to make this a weekend to remember.

Finally, we just wanted to thank everyone who is playing along with our WOW (War on WIP), it has been a lot of fun seeing what everyone has been hiding in their closets, and we are just as excited as you that the item is now done.  I mean, who doesn't love making room for more.

We will see you next month, June 14th.  Until then, let's keep the 

conversation going over on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Meeting #45 - May 10th, 2014

Hello Modern Quilters,

We have some pretty exciting announcements to make this month. Let's just say, you might want to clear your schedule the weekend of June 21st and 22nd...more will be announced soon.

Date: May 10th 2014
Time: 10am - 12:30pm 
Location: The Heights

   =================================================================
Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership Information
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Fabric Raffle
-Michael Miller Fabric Challenge Updates/Fabric/Etc.
-Charity Committee Update
-SewDown: Nashville Recap 
-Activity Announcements 
-Membership Challenge/Swap Committee Activity (Inspiration Photos Fabric Due)
-WOW (War on WIP) Show & Tell 
-Show & Tell
-Mix & Mingle

***As we continue with our WOW (War on WIP), we host 2 separate Show & Tells...the first being for those WOW (War on WIP) items you may have already finished, have a question about, etc.  The second Show & Tell being our usual show us what you are working on, have recently bought, etc. Please be respectful of everyone's time and limit what you bring.

***Please remember that if you brought an Inspiration Photo to April's meeting, you must bring the fabric that you have selected for your Secret Partner to this month's meeting.  Let's not leave your Partner hanging; if you know that you will not be able to make Saturday's meeting, please let one of the Officer's know.

***We still have Michael Miller challenge fabric available, so if you would like to participate in The MQG Michael Miller Fabric Challenge, it is not too late to participate.  And remember, the due date was extended to July.

See You Saturday!!

Meeting Recap (April 12th, 2014)

Thank you to everyone who came to our meeting, played our goofy little games, snacked on some treats and were inspired by the amazing talent in the room. Hopefully you had lots of fun along the way.

• While the social activities might have seemed a little silly on the surface, we hope that you made some new contacts and connections within our guild, and learned a thing or two about those sitting at the table with you.  A big Thank You to our "moderators" without whom, our event would not have been the same.

• How about a Sew-In?  Mark your calendars --- Janie Lou is hosting a small one on Friday, April 25th, contact them or drop by for more information.  Our next big quarterly Sew-In Saturday is May 3rd from 9am-9pm.  An email with more information and instructions on how to sign-up will be going out the last week of April.

• The STLMQG was asked to host a Quilting Education session for the community on Saturday May 17th at the Webster Groves library.  We are looking for volunteers who would like to participate by showing their quilt-making talents (piecing, machine quilting, etc) or bringing a few quilts (Traditional, Contemporary, Modern) to the event as part of the program.  If you are interested in learning more, please drop us a line at stlmqg@gmail.com

• We received our Michael Miller Challenge fabric and it was distributed to those who are looking to participate in the MQG Michael Miller Fabric Challenge.  Information regarding this challenge can be found on the MQG Community site.  For the rules, please visit the Challenge tab at the top of this blog.

• Also Tracy from Tempest In A Tulip, a local online shop carrying Organic fabrics introduced her business and offered members in attendance a coupon. 

• Casey and Jessica kicked off the Member's Swap/Challenge Committee activity by collecting everyone's inspiration images. For those who are participating, please remember that the fabric is due next meeting.

• Our WOW (War on WIP) is really gaining momentum as you all are finding your Works in Progress and finishing them.  We are really enjoying some of the stories behind them too.

• Finally thanks to everyone who continues to bring their modern Show & Tell items, as this segment of our meeting is always the most inspirational and is definitely the highlight to our Saturday's together.

We will hopefully see you at the Sew-In on May 3rd; but for sure at our next meeting.

Until then, keep the conversations going on Facebook and Instagram.

Meeting #44 - April 12th, 2014

Hello Modern Quilters,

Are you ready for some fun team-building activities?  How about some inspirational Show & Tell? We hope to see you all there.

Date: April 12th 2014
Time: 10am - 12:30pm 
Location: The Heights

   =================================================================
Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership Information
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Social Activity   :: Pls bring some light appetizers, treats to share with your fellow members
-Fabric Raffle
-Michael Miller Fabric Challenge 
-Charity Committee Update
-Membership Challenge/Swap Committee Activity (Inspiration Photos due)
-WOW (War on WIP) Show & Tell 
-Show & Tell
-Mix & Mingle

***We will once again be holding 2 separate Show & Tells...the first being for those WOW (War on WIP) items you may have already finished and the second being our usual Show & Tell. Please be respectful of everyone's time and limit what you bring.

***As you may have seen on Facebook, the Michael Miller fabric has arrived.  Want to know more about this challenge, visit the Challenge tab at the top of the page.

***Don't forget to bring your Inspirational Photo if you want to participate in the Member's Challenge/Swap Committee activity.  Details can be found in last month's recap post or on our Facebook page.

See You Saturday !!! 

Meeting Recap (March 8th, 2014)

Thank you to everyone who came to our meeting yesterday.  We had a lot to do and hopefully you had some fun along the way.

• Kelly, our Secretary, provided members with official "membership pins and cards"

• Rene, our Treasurer, gave everyone a breakdown of our finances and what guild funds are used for.

• If you haven't already filled out The MQG Annual Survey; which was emailed to all MQG members, please be sure to take the 15-20 min. to complete it.  It is your opportunity to have a voice in what the national MQG organization does as it relates to activities, charity, education and governance.

• Have you heard...QuiltCon 2015 is a Go!  It will return to Austin, TX next year on February 19th-22nd.  Hotels rooms are filling up fast, so if you are looking to attend, we would suggest that you book a room now.  You can learn all about this exciting event, by visiting the QuiltCon webpage.

• The Bits & Pieces "Fanfare of Quilts" Quilt Show is March 15th-16th at Queeny Park.  There will be over 350 quilts; as well as vendors, demonstrations, raffle quilts, door prizes, etc.  

• STLMQG's 1st Sew-In Saturday of 2014 is happening next Saturday, March 15th, details were sent via email already.  It is open to the first 25 due-paying members, and the "entry fee" is one quilt-shop quality, modern Fat Quarter.  Our new Sew-In location is 

SouthSide Church of God

12145 Tesson Ferry

Sappington, MO  63128

*Google Map*

(Located near the intersection of 270 & Tesson Ferry)

• Krista, Chair of our Education Committee, is looking for help to create education activities this year. If interested, you can reach her via her blog Sew What's Cooking? or use your member roster.

• Lynne, our VP, and several of our members talked about their experiences as part of the charitable Pillow-Bomb project that was carried out on Valentine's Day, February 14th.  A BIG Thank You goes out to everyone who cut fabric to make kits, bought pillow-forms, made pillow-covers, made a monetary donation or helped deliver the pillows.  There will be one more delivery made, details to follow.

• The next MQG Fabric Challenge has been announced, it features Michael Miller "Petal Pinwheels". Our guild has already been signed up to participate and Kristy will let everyone know when the fabric arrives. Each participating member will receive six Fat Eighths as shown below.  Want to get started right away, we learned that O,Sewpersonal in O'Fallon Missouri has some of the collection in stock. The challenge rules can be found here.

• Thank you to Em, Tonie, Krista, and Laura for their presentation on Quilting Bees and for sharing their blocks, quilt tops and finished quilts.  If you are already part of a Quilting Bee, we hope that you were inspired and learned something new; and if you are interested in being a part of one, there are lots of opportunities to do so.  Em mentioned the 4x5modernbee, and Kelly mentioned do.Good.Stitches. If you are looking for block ideas, Rachel from StitchedInColor wrote a great blog post about "Designing Collaborate Quilts".

• Casey, Chair of the Member's Swap/Challenge Committee, announced the first swap for this year; which starts in April and ends in May.  All those who want to participate should bring in a magazine tear, or inspirational photo that you admire (please note that you will not get it back). You will then fill out an index card providing your name, what you admire about the photo (color, print, etc), and the "cut" of fabric *up to 1 yard* that you would like to receive based upon that photo.  Names/Inspirations will be swapped in April and you will purchase up to 1 yard of fabric for your secret partner using the photo as inspiration.

• We had our first WOW Show & Tell with 7 people finishing WIP from their WOW card...YAY!  We also had a handful of people show a current WIP that they had a question about, to those members...hopefully you received some answers which will help you turn that WIP into a finish.

Until next time, be sure to stay connected with us on Facebook and with one another on Instagram, etc.