May Meeting

Big news, folks.  The Michael Miller Challenge has a new due date:  JULY 25th!  If anyone who didn't sign up by the cutoff date is interested in participating, let Jenn know asap as there may be some open spots left.  We're already starting to see hints of what people are coming up with and they are p-r-e-t-t-y!

"Put a Goose On It" Challenge Reveal

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May Meeting Agenda

FWMQG May Meeting Agenda

May 15, 2014

• Welcome!  Please sign in!
• Introduction of guests
• Treasurer's report
• Membership report
• Ice breaker
• Geese reveal
• Committee meetings / break
• Let's make a deal
• April BOM sharing
• May BOM reveal
• Denyse Schmidt - who is she and why should I care?
• Show and Share
• Participation prizes!

Announcements

• Michael Miller Challenge extension and fabric wait list
• No new challenge for this month to allow for time to work on the MM challenge
• Sign up for new t-shirts if interested - $15
• Old t-shirts for sale next month - $5 (see Jenn for size availability)
• Tear away challenge in July
• Quilt Con - volunteers, hotel info, registration info updates
• June program - don't miss it!

If you have an announcement to submit, it must be sent to the board no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting. Other announcements for the newsletter should be sent in by the 5th of the month.

April Meeting

Such beautiful stars!  Absolutely loving how each BOM block is turning out.  Way to be creative and inspirational, everyone!

Demos

Lizzie showed us how to make a pressing board for cheapsies -- this is a must-do!  And Jenn, January, and Maureen presented different ways to sew curved pieces.  Don't fear the drunkard's path!  It's much easier than you may think!!!

Show and Share

I'm always impressed with what people bring for show and share.  They're absolutely gorgeous, ladies!  Keep bringing your projects in as we all love to see what everyone's been working on.

April Meeting Agenda

FWMQG April Meeting Agenda

April 17, 2014

• Welcome!  Please sign in!
• Introduction of guests
• Ice breaker
• Tool time!
• Curves demonstration
• Committee meetings
• March BOM sharing
• April BOM reveal
• Modern quilting workshop
• Show and Share
• Participation prizes!

Announcements

Upcoming Programs and Events

• Pick up Michael Miller Challenge fabrics after meeting
• April 27:  Meet up and show and share with DMQG
• May 15:  Flying Geese challenge due
• May 15:  Let's Make A Deal!
• May 18, 5pm - 9pm:  Sewing Sunday @ Madtosh Crafts
• June 19:  Michael Miller Challenge due

If you have an announcement to submit, it must be sent to the board no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting. Other announcements for the newsletter should be sent in by the 5th of the month.

March Meeting

Our March meeting was so much fun that I'm just now recovering enough to get this recap posted. Ok, maybe not that much fun but we had a blast!  In the spirit of "what inspires you?", we did a little creative exercise with graph paper and colored pencils to come up with some design ideas for our upcoming BOM and challenge.  Check out the BOM and the Challenges pages for the new updates!  There definitely is some fun stuff in store for us!

The fabric for the Michael Miller Fabric Challenge was not received in time for distribution at the meeting, but it's here and ready for you now!  You can pick it up at the April Sewing Sunday and the April guild meeting.

We have our own Pinterest account!  We'll be collecting inspirational pictures for the different challenges and blocks of the month.

Tool Time: Wonder Clips

What are all the uses you can think of for Wonder Clips?  We made it a game to come up with the many ways you can put them to use.  And the winning team members each took home a set of their own!

• Binding
• Grouping fabric cuts
• Stitch marker
• Label rows on a design board
• Hanging patterns
• Marking bobbins
• Paper piecing holder
• Pleat holder
• Hemming
• Holding drawstrings in place

Solids Challenge Reveal

We had a number of absolutely beautiful solids challenge quilts tonight!  Great job everyone!!!

 



 

 

 

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Announcements

• March 23, 5pm - 9pm:  Makeup Sewing Sunday @ Madtosh Crafts
• April 13, 5pm - 9pm: Sewing Sunday @ Madtosh Crafts  [arrive before 5pm if you want to buy fabric]
• April 11 - 12: Carthage Quilt Show - Piney Woods Quilt Festival
• April 27:  Meet up with DMQG and thread catcher swap
• Central Market meet up after each guild meeting

March Meeting Agenda

FWMQG March Meeting Agenda

March 20, 2014

• Welcome!  Please sign in!
• Guests
• Ice breaker
• Business reports
• Michael Miller challenge update
• Solids challenge reveal
• Tool time!
• Committee meetings
• BREAK
• February BOM sharing
• March BOM reveal
• New challenge!
• Creative exercise and inspiration
• Announcements
• Show and Share
• Participation prizes!

Announcements

Upcoming Programs and Events

• March 23, 5pm - 9pm:  Makeup Sewing Sunday @ Madtosh Crafts
• April 11 - 12: Carthage Quilt Show - Piney Woods Quilt Festival
• April 27:  Meet up with DMQG
• >>> Sign up for demos!

If you have an announcement to submit, it must be sent to the board no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting. Other announcements for the newsletter should be sent in by the 5th of the month.

Inspiration: My Solids Challenge

What inspires your designs?  Why do you choose the colors or the patterns that make the cut?  And where do you find them?  Everyday life?  Magazines?  Blogs?  Dreams?  Do you create your own designs or do you stick with traditional blocks?  A little something in between?

A recent Pinterest find inspired the design and colors for my solids challenge.  I love geometric patterns.  You can find them everywhere!  And I love creating my interpretation of something beautiful I see.

For the solids challenge, I found this picture from Anthropologie's Flickr stream:

























The colors are beautiful, the lines are perfect for some half square triangles, and overall it's pleasing to my eye.  So I decided to mock it up in Microsoft Visio.  I started to play around with some of the colors, swapping greens and yellows for the oranges and pinks (someday I'll create something with the fiery hues).  Cropped out some of the bottom and left bits that I didn't want to mess with and here's what I came up with:

I liked it but something just wasn't right.  The orderly side of myself needed some sort of symmetry or pattern for it to work.  The last column (#7) jumped out as something that could stand on it's own.  Yellow, blues, berry, and gray.  Can't go wrong with that!  What else?  Column #5.  Balance.  Opposing directions.  Hmmmmm...  How do I make this work?  Get rid of the random green.  Rotate the yellow HSTs on column #7.  Put them side by side.  I think we're on to something.  Now I need a pattern.  

Shove #5 and #7 together and throw them on the far right side ("Original Set").  Make a second set of these two columns but add one HST square to the top of #7, cut off the bottom square.  Add one HST square to the bottom of #5 and cut off the top square.  Repeat this pattern, incrementing by one, to two more sets and here's what we have:

Move the columns to meet at the top and bottom, in effect shifting each up and down to create a flow in two directions.  Here's what you end up with:

A design that I can live with.  Whatever!  It's a design that I LOVE!!!  It's new.  It's fresh.  It reminds me of '80s ski jackets.  Hmmmm...  But it's totally mine and it's something I want to see on my couch or drug out into the yard for Spring picnics.

Check out more of my quilt inspirations on Pinterest.  Tell us what inspires you?  Or where you pull your designs from!