A Reminder: Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild's First Meeting is Sunday, May 6

Just a quick reminder the first Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild meeting will be Sunday, May 6 at 2:00PM at Loom in the Strip.

Here is a blurb from the email reminder I sent out to those who have expressed interest in the group:

At the meeting there will be time for introductions and an opportunity to discuss the option of membership fees, guild leadership, establishing a meeting schedule, what we as a collective want out of the MQG, and ways to keep in touch. As well, we will wrap the meeting up with a show and tell of any current projects you wish to share, which may lead to additional ideas for the guild.

Please bring your ideas!!! Each branch modern quilt guild is unique in its mission and has a variety of ways in which the guild interacts. Some ideas are: Monthly sew-ins, monthly SWAPs, block and quilt challenges, tutorials, project and technique-based classes, community outreach, education outreach, annual show and sales, and involvement in local craft fairs and events. This meeting is an opportunity to express your ideas and help us write the first chapter of the Pittsburgh MQG.

Some of you have indicated you would like to contribute snacks or refreshments for the meeting. If you plan on bringing something please let me know so we can make sure we have enough snacks and space for food.

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments area or drop an email  at the PGH MQG email. Thanks all! We are looking forward to meeting everyone.

Threadbias

I recently received an e-mail from Amanda, who is a member of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. Amanda is one of the founders of Threadbias, which is a burgeoning online community for sewist, quilters, and lovers of all things fabric-related. I wanted to pass the email along to everyone who has expressed interest in the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild in case any of you are interested.

Here is the email:
To the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild:
Hi,  I’m a mom who likes to make things and I'm a member of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. I hope this isn’t unwelcome (and apologies if it is!), but I’ve been working on a project I thought you and the members of your guild might be interested in.

An idea hatched among a pair of quilter-sewists, Amanda and Rebecca, and a web developer, Alex; we created Threadbias.com to be a gathering site for people having fun with fabric.  We’re looking forward to fostering the conversation and providing a place to share ideas and be inspired.

After a more than a year in the works, Threadbias.com is live. We are ready to help build and support the online sewing community. We’d love for you to visit, let us know what you think, and, if you like it, please share the site with your members.

The site is robust with a variety of free features for posting photos of projects, sharing ideas, and finding inspiration. As you look around you’ll see lots of places where we could feature projects and patterns, highlight contributors, and host sew alongs, swaps, and bees, so if you’re interested in that, let me know!

We'll be kicking off our "official" launch with a week of giveaways (starting April 9), and we'll be doing more fun contest-y things and giveaways on the site. There are some exciting additional features we’re working on (including tools to help you plan and design your sewing projects!) but I wanted to start getting the word out and would love to hear what you think.

This week we are also doing a giveaway of fat eighths in Michael Miller Cotton Couture Solids in the QuiltCon colors. These are great for anyone wanting to get started on the QuiltCon Block Challenge.
Thanks so much,
Amanda

The fat eighths giveaway has already ended, but there will be more giveaways as the site develops. Intrigued by the success of Ravelry and the growing online community of quilters I went ahead and signed up. It's one more way to stay connected, meet new people, get ideas, and continue to explore our creative community.

Hello! Hello! Hello!

I am very excited that I have been receiving emails from people interested in getting involved with this guild. Thank you for the emails!

As well, thank you to Gina at Loom for spreading the news of the first guild meeting through Loom's newsletter and word-of-mouth at this past weekend's Three Rivers Quilt Show. Did anyone else go to the quilt show?

For those few of you currently following the blog I would appreciate some feedback. Aside from the blog are any of you interested in a Facebook page where we can begin communicating and posting some of our current quilt projects? A few people who have contacted me can't make the first meeting. As well, one person interested in joining the guild lives 2-3 hours outside of Pittsburgh and won't always be able to meet up with the group. I would think a Facebook page would be a great way for everyone to stay involved. 

Please reply in the comments section and let me know your thoughts. I am certainly open to other suggestions, like Flickr and whatever other multi-media, social-networking tools that get keep the communication open.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. - Jodi