Guild Meeting Notes and Questionnaire Results are Now Online

Hello Yinz!

Notes from our first meeting and the questionnaire results are now available here:
New Meeting Notes Page

You may have noticed this is a new page to the PGH MQG blog. This will be the location of meeting notes until further notice.

We intend to announce the next meeting date in the next week. Due to the major holidays coming up it looks like our next meeting will be in early July. Gina and I have been contacting potential locations, and I am touring one tomorrow morning.

Until then if anyone is interested in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival- voting opened today!

Denyse Schmidt Speaking at Philly MQG in June

I was doing some guild research yesterday when I discovered Denyse Schmidt, modern quilting goddess, will be speaking in Philadelphia on Friday, June 22, 2012. This is an event hosted by the Philly Modern Quilt Guild.

Ms. Schmidt will be speaking about quilting, showing off some quilts, and signing copies of her new book, Modern Quilts: Traditional Inspiration. It's a great book, and I cannot recommend it enough! Denyse is also the keynote speaker for the QuiltCon in February 2013 in Austin, TX.

Go here for more information about the event. Tickets are $25/person.

I am planning on making the trip Friday afternoon to hear her speak. If anyone is interested in carpooling please send me an email. Maybe this could be the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild's first field trip.
-Jodi

We Had Our First Meeting!!!

Lauren showing one of the seven quilts she has created since January.

Gina and I would like to once again thank everyone who made it to the first meeting of the Pittsburgh Modern Guild. Thirty-three people were in attendance with a lot of great questions, ideas, and opinions. There is a genuine interest in modern quilting, especially learning more about it as a movement. Here is the link to the Modern Quilt Guild's description of modern quilting, which I mentioned a few times during the course of the meeting.

Gerry discussing one of her embellished works.

For those unable to make the meeting we discussed the history of the modern quilt guild and the ins and outs of starting a branch guild in Pittsburgh. Membership, leadership, a sewing-friendly meeting space, and sewing activities were the main points of discussion. The was a general consensus the group needed to define its structure. We hope to discuss the foundational issues at a meeting next month combined with a sewing activity.

I believe these gorgeous quilts were made by Anabeth, but please correct me if I am wrong.

The room was filled with talented individuals, who shared some of the quilts they had recently completed. It was a nice way to wrap up after discussing forming the guild.

Sally showing off here recently completed modern Christmas quilt.

 A big thank you goes out to Lori, who is pictured above to Sally's left. She was responsible for bringing and setting up a majority of the refreshments. She came early, stayed late, and even offered to help some more. We also received several offers with helping set up the guild as we move forward. Thank you for the offers, and we will definitely be in touch before our meeting next month.

Tamara showing her silk work.

We apologize to those who battled traffic and were unable to make the meeting. We hope this won't discourage you from getting involved. Please complete this quick questionnaire so that we can include your feedback as we set up the guild and prepare for our next meeting.

Next steps:

• Gina and I are going to review all of the questionnaires and meeting notes.
• Report back with the questionnaire results.
• Begin drafting mission, vision, leadership definitions, etc. for group to review and approve.
• Find a larger location for the next meeting in June.
• Prepare a meeting that is part business and part quilting.

If you are interested in helping us set up the bones of the guild please email and let us know. 

All of the photos taken at the meeting can be found here. (This is my new, personal Flickr account, and I will be happy to move these to a PGH MQG-dedicated location once we determine where that shall be.)

Please note: If any of the above photo are labeled incorrectly please kindly let me know. I am trying to remember all of the amazing people I met yesterday.

Lastly, thank you to Jenny and Loom for letting us set up shop for the day and use the space. There were a lot of inspiring fabrics to look at while we met.

Thank you, again, for everyone who attended the meeting and for your enthusiasm and interest in modern quilting. - Jodi

Meeting Day and Start-up Survey

Good morning Pittsburgh Modern Quilters! 

The official launch meeting is only a few hours away. We have had so many RSVPs in the last month for today's meeting, and Gina and I are very excited to meet all of you that will be able to attend. It's nice to know there is a passion for modern quilting alive and well in our great city, and we hope this is a start to a beautiful, creative community. 

For those of you unable to attend today or have concerns about venturing out in city traffic because of this morning's marathon we have prepared an online survey to gather your interests and wants out of the Guild. 

You can find it here: SURVEY!

Completion of the survey will take as much time as you are willing to dedicate. Please feel free to be as brief or descriptive to your liking. We will also be completing the same survey at today's meeting. Once we have all of the information compiled we will share the results with the group.

Today's meeting is set to start at 2 PM at Loom in the Strip. There will be snacks and beverages. Please bring your ideas along with your enthusiasm!