Meeting Reminder and QuiltCon Blocks Uploaded

Greetings all!

Meeting Reminder
Just a quick reminder we will be having our general meeting and workshop this Sunday, September 2, at the Pittsburgh Project from 1:00-4:00 PM. We are meeting in the same room as the last two meet-ups at the back of the church caddy cornered from the main building on North Charles. Please leave a comment below if you haven't already let us know you plan on attending. You can also email us to RSVP.

Meeting notes have been uploaded for review on the blog under the Guild Meeting Notes tab. They were uploaded a little late in the month so we should have a couple of copies on hand for you to review.

Lastly, this will be the first meeting where we are accepting membership dues! Lauren will be accepting money at the meeting. You can pay by cash or check. For the time being if paying by check you will need to make it out to Lauren or myself because of how the Guild's bank account is currently set up.

Additional Supply Request for Gina's Triangles Workshop
We are sorry for the late notice but Gina has asked that we all bring pins with our supplies for the workshop. I'm sure a few of us will have extras in case anyone forgets.

Our QuiltCon Blocks
As previously blogged, a couple of PGH MQG members' QuiltCon blocks were featured on the main Modern Quilt Guild website. Now all of the PGH MQG QuiltCon quilt block contributions can be seen thanks to Lori, who uploaded them to the Guild's Flickr page. They can be viewed here: PGH MQG QuiltCon Blocks. Also, if you haven't already join the Guild's group page on Flickr so you can upload photos of your quilts and WIPs.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday. If you are traveling please be safe and we will see you in October. Thanks! Jodi

Featured on the Modern Quilt Guild Blog...

Yesterday Elizabeth Hartman started posting some of the blocks received for the QuiltCon quilt block challenge on the Modern Quilt Guild website. She has divided the blocks into categories and is featuring a different selection each day.

Today she featured scrappy blocks, and I was delighted to see two blocks from PGH MQG's own Lauren J. and one from Gina K. Pittsburgh MQG represent! Click on the link above to see Lauren and Gina's blocks along with the other example scrappy blocks.

It's so exciting to see all of the different blocks created for the QuiltCon challenge. All of the ones I have seen so far are amazing. Deciding which ones to pick for the raffle quilt is going to be quite a challenge.

September General Meeting and Modern Triangle Workshop

One of Jodi's great, great grandmother's quilts

Hi all! I hope everyone is enjoying what remains of summer. I am still in Texas but wanted to touch base about the up-coming September meeting.

The next Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild meeting and workshop will take place Sunday, September 2, at the Pittsburgh Project from 1:00-4:00 PM. Gina, our Guild VP,  will be leading the workshop after a brief general meeting. 

September Workshop: The Modern Triangle
In this workshop we will take the fear out of creating blocks with triangles. We will focus on the traditional "Flying Geese" pattern and explore ways to use this pattern in a modern way!  Using both traditional construction methods and a "flip and stitch method", we will take triangles down the fresh, modern quilt path. With simple adjustments to proportion, placement and color/value/pattern choices, we will explore the endless possibilities of this method. By taking a looser, more improvised approach using triangles, we will set you on a path of creating a variety of dynamic combinations that are truly modern!
 
Supplies
Please bring: fabrics scraps, including some squares of fabrics large enough to cut into squares, rotary cutter & mat, sewing machine and iron! 

RSVP
Please post a comment below or shoot us an email to let us know if you plan to attend.

Meeting Fee or Guild Dues
We ask that all non-members pay a $5 meeting fee. You may do this as a guest of the guild for up to two meetings. If you have already attended two meetings as a non-member and wish to continue to attend guild meetings and workshops we ask that you join the guild as a member. 2012 dues are $25. If you have already attended two meetings your dues for the rest of the year is $15.

QuiltCon Registration
If you are one of the people who expressed interest in attending QuiltCon please send us an email. We have the discount registration code because the Guild is a Golden Needle Sponsor. Registration begins on August 31 at 9:00 AM EST.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday, September 2.

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

August 12 Meeting Reminder

Meeting Reminder
This is a reminder we will be having our August General Meeting and Improv Piecing Workshop on Sunday, August 12, 2012 at the Pittsburgh Project from 1:00-4:00 PM. As with the last meeting there is a $5 meeting fee, which will be deducted from your dues should you decide to become an official member of the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild. 

We will be meeting in the same space as last time, which is located at the back of the church adjacent to the PP main building, and we will put up better directional signage.

We will spend the first 30-45 minutes of the meeting discussing guild business such as approving July's meeting minutes, reviewing the treasurer's report, and discussing dues for the remaining of 2012. After a very short break we will begin our exciting workshop with Lauren. 

Improv Piecing with Lauren Jonkman
In our first PghMQG workshop, participants will have the opportunity to get "out of the box," release their fears of improvisation, and learn and practice 2 methods for improvised block piecing.  First, we will learn how to create improvised "slabs" similar to this (I have to make one and send to you to post).  Bring your scraps, which should be at least 1" square.  Any shape or size of scrap is perfect for creating a slab!  Second, we will learn how to make wonky, improvised log cabins similar to this (again have to make something).  For this, bring strips that are at least 1" wide (but can be any width) by any length you want.   

Supplies: Bring your scraps, sewing machine, cutting board, and rotary cutter and let's have fun!

Please feel free to bring a snack and beverage for yourself.

Quilton Quilt Blocks are due on Sunday!
For those of you who participated in the Quiltcon quilt block challenge please be sure to bring your completed blocks to the meeting on Sunday. Lori has volunteered to mail off all of our blocks on Monday, August 13. They must be postmarked by August 15 and this is our opportunity to submit our handiwork as a guild.

We will have some of the block submission applications on hand at the meeting, but you can also go to here and print off the form for each of your blocks. (It is one form per block submitted.)

Let us know you are coming
Please note: We didn't set up an evite for this meeting. Instead we would appreciate it if you would respond in Comments to let us know if you plan on attending this Sunday. We would like a general idea of how many to expect so we can set up accordingly.

As always please feel free to drop us a line with questions, suggestions, and hellos. We love hearing from all of you, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Sunday, August 12!

Best,
The PGH MQG Leadership Team
(Gina, Jodi, Lauren, Lori, and Michelle)