Improvised Success!

Leslie's first-ever quilt block!!!

Greetings, PGH modern quilters! 
(Jodi blogging her while Michelle is away enjoying a dye class.)

Yesterday we held the August general meeting and hosted our first-ever workshop, led by Treasurer, Lauren Jonkman. In total 20 people attended the meeting and there were a few new faces. We were happy to welcome Beth, Ella, Shannon, Leslie, and Ann Marie to the meeting and we hope to see them all again.

General Meeting
At the general meeting a few items were discussed and details will be made available when Lori finishes up her notes and we post them to the meeting section of the blog. First, July's meeting minutes were approved. Secondly, Lauren provided our first treasurer's report. We then discussed dues and becoming a sponsor for Quilt Con. We then brought a community outreach opportunity to the group's attention (For details go here.) It was a whiz-bang meeting finishing up in about 20 minutes so we could get on to Lauren's workshop.

Guild Dues
Guild due for the remainder of 2012 were unanimously approved and as follows:
Guild membership: $25.00
Student guild membership: $15.00
Founding guild membership: $50.00 (This is a special membership for those interested in helping build up the Guild's fund as we get started.)

As previously discussed the $5 meeting fee you have previously paid is deducted from your membership fee when you join. For example, if you have attended the first two meetings and paid a total of $10 you would only owe $15.00 for the remainder of your guild dues.

You can pay your guild dues starting at the September meeting, which is being held Sunday, September 2nd from 1:00-4:00 PM at the Pittsburgh Project.

Ella's first improvised slab

Lauren's Improvised Piecing Workshop
I cannot tell you how much fun I had participating in this workshop and being with each and everyone one of you that attended. In addition to it being our first-ever workshop, Leslie and Ella made their first-ever quilt blocks. They did a great job, and I certainly hope they continue to quilt- especially with the modern quilt guild.

Lauren, who again, has only been quilting since January of this year is both a natural modern quilter and teacher. She easily led the entire group through two improvised exercises. We first made slabs and then turned our attention to wonky log cabin blocks.

I tried to get at least one photo of a block for everyone who attended. These photos can be viewed here: Photos from Improvised Workshop. I encourage everyone to keep working on your blocks and 1. add them to the PGH MQG group on Flickr and 2. bring them to the September meeting to show off your finished products.

A special thanks to Lauren for being the bravest one of all and taking the plunge as leader of our first group workshop. She did an amazing job, and I encourage her to do more teaching in the future.

Next up- September Workshop
Gina has graciously volunteered to led the next workshop, which will really get a conversation started about "What is modern quilting?". For this workshop we will take a traditional quilt block and turn it on its head. It's a fun exercise in making the old seem new-whether it be with fresh, modern fabrics, playing with scale or negative space, or whatever happens to speak to you. Please stay tuned for details... until then as previously mentioned the next meeting is Sunday, September 2, 2012 at the Pittsburgh Project.

Please contact us with any questions or comments in the comments section below or by email. Until next time, ya'll, and happy quilting! - Jodi