The March meeting of The Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild was highly anticipated by all members! In addition to many wonderful regularly seen faces, we had a few new guests and added to our membership!
Guild members were able to experience QuiltCon 2013 courtesy of Jodi McLaughlin, President of the Guild. Jodi attended and volunteered at QuiltCon (the historic inaugural quilt show presented by The Modern Quilt Guild) in February. Jodi came prepared with a slide show highlighting some of the award-winning quilts, as well as pictures of quilts made by PMQG members and the Guild’s shelter quilt. Jodi attended lectures and workshops presented by Yoshiko Jinzenji, Rachel Hobson, and Anna Maria Horner, and she shared what she learned with Guild members. Jodi encouraged Guild members to visit Craftsy.com to view the free series of lectures from QuiltCon. At the conclusion of her presentation, Jodi informed Guild members that The Modern Quilt Guild plans to host “quilting retreats” at various locations throughout the US in 2013 and 2014. She also shared that MQG is considering implementing annual dues for member guilds. The PMQG leadership will update Guild members as more information becomes available. Many thanks to Jodi for sharing highlights of her trip with the PMQG!
Next up - Melissa and TaMara jointly presented information to Guild members about Flickr and quilt blogs. TaMara used the Flickr website to walk Guild members step-by-step through the process of becoming a member and uploading photos. TaMara highly encouraged Guild members to join Flickr and share their quilts on the PMQG website.
Melissa led a discussion about quilt blogs; specifically focusing on PMQG members who currently host a blog (links can be found on the PMQG website - let us know if you would like yours added to the list!) and answering questions from those members who might be interested in constructing a blog of their own. Thank you to Melissa and TaMara for sharing their wealth of knowledge!
Gina, Guild Vice President, introduced the guild’s first quilt along. Last year, guild member Stephanie suggested the guild participate in the Modern Mood Quilt Along, originally created and executed by quilter, Sherri Lynn Wood. Guild members interested in participating are encouraged to read about the process on Sherri’s blog. Participants were asked to spend the month of March collecting fabric based on their various moods. At the April meet-up, which is a “Show and Sew”, participating guild members should bring their selected fabrics and sewing machines to begin piecing the quilts together. (Please note: These quilts can be any size.) Gina and Jodi will briefly discuss Sherri’s improvised piecing technique and everyone will begin putting their mood quilts together. At the May meet-up we will work on putting together the curved pieces created in March using machine and hand techniques. There are some really great examples of quilts made during the original quilt along on the Modern Mood Flickr page.
The March meeting concluded with a “show-and-tell” session. Such talent! One of our new guests, Akemi, who also happens to be new to quilting, showed off the first item she ever quilted, a sewing machine cover.
The next meeting of the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild will be held on Sunday, April 7, 2013 from 1-4pm at the Pittsburgh Project. As noted above we will begin working on our individual Modern Mood Quilts. The April meet-up is a “Show and Sew”. If you are not interested in participating in the quilt along we encourage you to bring another work in progress and join us for some fun, creative time!
P.S. Someone asked about creating photo mosaics on Flickr. Big Huge Labs is one of the free online mosaic makers. Check it out!
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