Saturday, July 9, 2011

July Program: Fabric Folding & Storage Solutions

Hello everyone, and welcome to what I like to call being a fly on the wall.

I’d like to thank Nancy, Cindy, Gina and Candy for allowing us a peek inside their sewing rooms and for sharing with all of us the solutions they have found for that pesky problem ... storage.

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First up is Nancy, whose room is so bright and cheery.
Her hubby rigged up an ironing board surface along the wall on the right.
They added some wire drawers underneath so as to not lose any precious space.
That sewing machine extension table is to die for and look…more table space, a whole 6 feet of it.

What you may or may not have noticed is the way in which Nancy organizes her thread, on the wall and out of her way.  The same is done with her scissors.  One Christmas her husband received a magnetic strip for the wall that is usually for screwdrivers; but Nancy now uses it for her scissors.

Did you see the batting? I didn’t either right away; but it’s in the last photo up top in that clear tub. She has a wire shelving system spanning the perimeter of the room and keeps stuff she doesn’t use on a regular basis up and out of the way.

It looks great Nancy, Thanks for sharing!!

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Cindy is up next. She has a large ironing station too, are you seeing a trend here?
This is definitely something that you can make yourself if that standard ironing board you are using isn’t enough space. Cindy says that she just bought a regular wire shelving unit, then purchased a 20x60 piece of MDF board and covered it in batting and fabric. The shelving unit not only supports the MDF board (which isn’t attached by the way); but also offers a lot of storage, and as you can see she even uses S-Hooks for hanging other ironing necessities. Now let’s all look closely at Cindy’s fabric…see how it’s folded, you might have remembered her demonstrating this during the meeting today.  The process was learned from Jeni's blog: In Color Order.  She has some great videos on how to fold fabric of varying sizes as well as how to organize and build a fabric stash.

Thanks, Cindy, for sharing a great Do-It-Yourself solution.

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Gina has a lot of ideas to share with all of you readers, so sit back and enjoy.
This is Gina’s room. The wall unit and cutting station are from St. Louis Closet Company.
Now let’s zoom in and check out these great little baskets which hold all of her in progress projects.
Here is how Gina organizes her fabric, by color and in a drawer that is easily accessible. She uses a method from Turning*Turning for folding her fabric, which she too shared with us during the meeting.
Lastly, here is how she wrangled those pesky but useful scraps. She even organized them by color.

Gina has all of her scrapbooking, gift-wrapping, etc. supplies organized too in the same room. So if you want to steal borrow some of her ideas, you should ask her about it.

Thanks Gina, it looks great.

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Candy rounds out the bunch and it’s funny because she said that she was “embarrassed” as her fabric was organized not only by color; but also fabric type, etc. Well, Candy…you are in good company here with us.
Here is her wall of wire drawers, and yes everything is organized so nicely. These drawers are great, because, as she says, if she wants to look through all of it, she can pull the whole drawer out and take it to her cutting table.

Candy, thanks for sharing.

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Before I close this post, I wanted to share a few quick photos of my studio and how I wrangle my fabric.
That center drafting table is where I do everything, sew, cut fabric, and when it’s time to iron, I break out the "dorm-room sized" tabletop ironing board and press away.
This is where all of my fabric is stored, in an old filing cabinet. FQs are in that clear drawer system sitting to the right.
This is what is hiding inside the drawers…surprise!

While I’d love to be able to have my fabric on a shelf so I could see all of it at once, due to a drastically slopped ceiling that wasn’t in the cards, the filing cabinet was my solution. I too use Jeni's method to fold my fabric, although I get lazy about it sometimes and I end up having to refold it all anyway.

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Again, a big thanks to all of the participants.
and Candy

No matter if you have a dedicated sewing room, corner of the living room, share the basement, or even a garage; it’s finding the solution that is best for you. I hope this gave you a few ideas.

If any of this spurred further questions or you have a comment to share, ask away or hop on over to Flickr to continue the conversation.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Meeting #11 - July 9th, 2011

Hello Modern Quilters,

I hope everyone's 4th of July Holiday was grand, that's actually why this agenda is coming to you a little later then normal; but I'm sure you won't mind, considering the special occasion it celebrates.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Saturday!!

Date: Saturday, July 9th
Time: 9:30am-Noon
Location:
Bindings, Borders & Squares Quilt Shop
325 Droste Road
St. Charles, MO 63301

**Please consider carpooling. When parking, please do not park in the 3-5 spots directly in front of the shop, those are for customers***

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Agenda:

   -Welcome & Guild Business
   -Special Announcements / Quilting News
   -Cross Blocks Gathering (Blocks Due)
   -Program: Storage Solutions & Fabric Folding
   -Free Spirit Habitat Challenge (starts in July, ends in October)
   -STLMQG 1st Anniversary Celebration
   -STLMQG Reality Check
   -Next Meeting Date (August 13th)
   -Questions / Comments
   -Closing Remarks
   -Mix & Mingle

**Please note that we will NOT be holding Show & Tell this month due to the very busy schedule.

**Remember to bring your Cross Blocks, as they are ALL due this month.  Don't forget every block gives you a chance at the $20 SewMamaSew! Gift Certificate drawing...and let's not forget the purpose for this block gathering: Quilts for Project Linus and Joplin, MO.

**How are we coming on the Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge?  Remember your item is due next month (August 13th).

**If you missed the Big Announcement, make sure you scroll down to the previous post.

**If you are participating in the Program this month (Fabric Folding & Storage Solutions), expect an email from me tomorrow (Wednesday) night confirming your participation.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Big Announcement -- Revealed

About 20 days ago, I posted this image with nothing but the words Coming Soon....





Well, it is July 1st and you probably want to know what all the Hoopla is about, am I right?

It's actually a two-part surprise...

Part 1...for those of you who routinely log-on and check Flickr, you'll note that I mentioned our guild's 1st year anniversary is July 30th, 2011.  It has been an amazing first year and we wanted to celebrate it with all of you, so we will be having a party, and not just any party...one with giveaways.  Mary Claire and I have been in contact with several people and are pleased to announce that we have secured some donations from The Quilted GardenThe Quilted Fox, Moda/United Notions, as well as a special surprise from both Mary Claire and myself. 

We look forward to seeing all of you Saturday, July 9th at Bindings, Borders and Squares Quilt Shop...make sure you have your party pants on...hehehe

Part 2...in honor of the outpouring of support that you all have already shown and will ultimately show during July's meeting when all of our Spring/Summer Charity Blocks have been collected (remember they are all due next meeting), I've been able to secure something that all of our due-paying members will want to know about. Ready...


Yep, that's right folks.  I've scored us another Sew-In Saturday.  Our first one back in May was a blast and while our next one on September 24th is still on schedule, I've now added a Surprise! Sew-In Saturday.  So all due-paying members, mark those calendars. 
Location: Brown Shoe Company - Clayton, MO
Times: 9am - 6pm
Date: Saturday, August 27th
Registration Required, Sign-ups begin in early August


That's it, there is the Big Announcement...or in this case Announcements (stressing the s).  I hope it lived up to the anticipation.

Monday, June 27, 2011

RK Solids Only Challenge

June's meeting was color overload in the best way possible, as the Robert Kaufman Solids-Only Challenge quilts were revealed.  If you missed out on this meeting, there is no way to recreate the excitement; but I will share with you a sampling of the quilts that were revealed that day.










Jamie  *Photo provided by Nancy


Jean  *Photo provided by Cindy

Jessica   (Won 1st place)


Juli Ann (Won 3rd place)








Marianne










Rene  *Photo provided by Cindy






Wanetha (Won 2nd Place)



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We even tried to stand on chairs to capture the loveliness in 1 frame; but it too was impossible.



Thanks to Robert Kaufman for providing the Kona Charm Packs and sponsoring this challenge.

Also thanks to Cindy and Nancy for uploading some photos for those members who are not on Flickr.  If you want to see what the other MQG across the country are making, check out this Flickr group.

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Update:  We are featured on Robert Kaufman's blog The Swatch and Stitch, check it out here.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Meeting Recap (June 11th, 2011)

Thank You ! Thank You ! Thank You ! to everyone who came to today's meeting.  We had a packed house with 43 people in attendance...our biggest showing yet, YAY!

You could feel the excitement in the air as people began filing into the room, before I knew it there were beautiful charity blocks being hung up on the walls, people were buzzing about the Solids Only Challenge and a certain surprise that was teased for those who follow us on Flickr.  We even had a special guest drop by {{Hi, Shannon}}. 

So, let's get right to it.  Here's the recap:
  • We have an amazing 62 "official" members as of today's meeting...how awesome is that, considering that our anniversary is next month.  1 year and 62 members, such a wonderful thing and I thank each and every one of you for following along on this journey with me.
  • Shannon Robinson, owner of Fabric Nosherie, the Modern Quilt Shop opening in late Aug/early Sept stopped by to talk about her shop as well as the Golden Ticket Bus Tour.  It's a 5-state tour of what can only be considered the "Best of the Best" Quilt Shops.  The event is Sept 23rd-25th and registration opens today.  The cost is $239 ($199 if you pay in full by Aug. 24th) and includes Deluxe Hotel accommodations including all meals, cocktails, and of course a ticket on the First Class Executive Black Bus.  You know you want to party like a Rock Star!!  Here is the link to Shannon's blog which describes more about it.  If you want to register, please contact Shannon so she can get you on the list.  It's sure to fill up fast.  If you missed any of Shannon's short presentation about Fabric Nosherie, here is a link to the information.
  • As I mentioned earlier, those charitable cross blocks have begun showing up in large numbers.  Due to recent events, half of the quilts that are made will be donated to Project Linus (as originally planned) but now the other half will be given to a group collecting quilts for Joplin, Missouri.  The due date is the July 9th meeting.  Challenge your friends, to see who can make the most...or challenge yourself.  Can you make 2, 5, 10??  You can learn more here.  Don't forget, for every block you donate you are entered into the drawing for a $20 Gift certificate to Sew,Mama,Sew!
  • Solids Only Challenge as sponsored by Robert Kauffman.  We had an amazing number of participants for our 1st challenge and I was completely blown away at the amount of creativity and talent seen today.  I need everyone's help to upload/email me the photos you have taken of your quilt, as I'll be writing a special blog post in a few weeks, you won't want to miss it. 
  • Our July meeting will include a program titled Fabric Folding & Storage Solutions.  If you have a nifty trick or way of organizing your fabric, we'd love to have you participate in our program.  Alternatively, if your sewing room is fantastic for reasons x, y and z and you want others to know about it, please drop me a line as we'll be writing a blog post about our member's "Storage Solutions".
  • I introduced a new sponsored challenge that due-paying members can participate in starting next month.  FreeSpirit is offering up some of Jay McCarroll's HABITAT line.  Fabric, rules and fun to start in July.
  • I have a challenge for you...how hard is it to get 30 Quilters to sit in a circle and pass fabric to their left.  The answer might surprise you-hahaha.  We started our Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge today with a game that hit several roadblocks along the way; but in the end should make for some interesting creativity.  I have updated our Challenge tab above to include the official rules.  It all started today and is due in August.
  • Finally, I wanted to touch upon a topic that I've been researching and working on the last few months.  I've been on the hunt for a new location for our meetings.  The BBS Quilt Shop in St. Charles has been a wonderful location; but we have quickly outgrown it's walls and trying to reserve rooms at local libraries has been a challenge to say the least.  The good news is that we have found a location and for those in attendance today, I hope the open forum gave you a chance to express your thoughts and feelings on this matter.  Now that I have the group's "blessing" I can confirm the details and get things finalized.  It is our hope to make this change in August; so keep checking your email and make sure that you visit our blog for the latest news.  I'll be posting ALL details as soon as I can. 
I hope you all had fun today, thanks for your enthusiasm.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Meeting #10 -- June 11th, 2011

Hello Modern Quilters,

Ever since the Solids Only Challenge was revealed in January of this year, I've been loving all the sneak peeks and dying to see the finished quilts.  Well, June is finally here and the quilts will all be revealed...aren't you excited?

If seeing 40-something unique quilts made by our members isn't enough, let me tell you...this month's meeting is jam-packed with awesome-ness.  See you all there!

Date: Saturday, June 11th
Time: 9:30am-Noon
Location: St. Louis County Library -Oakbend Branch
842 South Holmes Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63122
Map

**Updated:  Please note that there is ALOT of construction going on this weekend.  I think the Poplar Street Bridge has lane restrictions, Hwy 270 @ I-44 has construction, etc.  Please make sure that you plan your trip accordingly.**

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Agenda:
-Welcome & Guild Business
-Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Solids Only Challenge **Big Reveal**
-Show & Tell
-Secret Surprise for due-paying members
-Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge (starts in June, is due in August)
-Next Meeting Date (July 9th), Location (Bindings, Borders & Squares Quilt Shop)
-Questions/Comments
-Closing Remarks
-Door Prizes
-Mix & Mingle

**Remember if you want to participate in the Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge you need to bring 1 yard of a modern fabric to this meeting.  Rules here.  Please note that they have changed slightly to allow for more creativity.

**For those of you who participated in the Solids Only Challenge, please don't forget to bring your quilt.

**Don't forget your handmade nametag, otherwise you won't be entered into our door prize drawing.

**While our Spring/Summer Charity Block Gather isn't due until July...if you need further information on how you can get involved, please scroll down to the previous post, or click here.