Congratulations are in Order...

"Degranulaton" by Dia Sue-Wah-Sing

The American Quilter's Society (AQS) Quilt Week is October 2-5, 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa, and we are happy to announce two PGH MQG members will have quilts featured in the Modern Quilt Challenge. Please join me in congratulating Melissa and Dia Sue-Wah-Sing, both of whom found out yesterday their quilts were accepted for the challenge.

Many of us have had the privilege of seeing Dia's quilt, Degranulation, in person at one of our guild meetings. (This quilt was marveled over at the first Show & Tell Dia attended!) The quilt was created during a workshop with Dwayne Wanner at Greenwood Quiltery, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The workshop was entitled the "Abstract Expressionist Quilt Project." Dia had this to say about the quilt, There was little time to think during the creation of this quilt. It was just sew, sew and sew; under an enthusiastic quilting Drill Sergeant. My ruler was discarded in favour of just "go with your gut" and "we will fix that later". It evolved out of many wonderful consultations and critiques by my classmates (other awesome quilters), which included my mom, There were comments that the work reflected Pablo Picasso's “le guitarist”. I was not familiar with Picasso's piece until after the quilt was completed. 

"City of Bridges" by Melissa

Back in March of this year, Melissa's Madrona Road challenge quilt, City of Bridges was featured on the guild's blog.  We would later announce in this post that City of Bridges won second place in the small wall hanging category at the 2013 Three Rivers Quilt Festival. It should be no surprise to learn the beautiful quilt will also be making its way to Des Moines. 

"City of Bridges", free motion detail

Melissa was very excited at the success of this quilt, as it was one of her first adventures in using multiple quilting patterns within a quilt instead of a single, all-over design. The quilt is also her original design and improvised!

Again, congratulations to both of you. This is very exciting news and we appreciate you sharing with all of us.  

And, guild members, please let us know if anyone else had work selected for AQS Quilt Week. We would love to spotlight your selected work and celebrate with you!

Cheers,
Jodi

Blog Roll Call

Are you a blogger?  Are you a member of the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild?  If you answered "yes" to both of these questions, please let me know if you'd like your blog to be listed on our Blog Roll Call (see the right-hand side of this page). 

So far we've got four member blogs listed and we'd love to keep that list growing!  Just leave a comment with a link to your blog and we will link it up to this site. 

Don't forget to let us know by Monday, August 26th, 2013, if you'd like to participate in the Riley Blake Basics Challenge by e-mailing us at pittsburghmqg@gmail.com.  

The Basics Challenge - Call for Participants

Have you heard about the latest MQG challenge, The Basics Challenge with Riley Blake Designs?  Each participant will receive six fat eights of Riley Blake's basics and they can be combined with any solids or Riley Blake prints.  The challenge runs from September 2013 through December 2013 and participants can make anything they want, as long as it is quilted!  Details are posted on the MQG Blog. 

Please let the PghMQG leadership know if you'd like to participate by Friday, August 23rd, 2013 by sending us an e-mail or leaving a comment on this blog post!

Quilt Labeling Tips

Gina and Jodi recently attended the Not Fade Away Conference presented by the Quilt Alliance.  They heard a great talk on the importance of quilt labels and brought back some resources for us.  As we're all feverishly finishing up our quilts for the upcoming show, we need to remember the importance of labeling our quilts.

Your quilt labels should contain the following information:

• Name of designer (and quilter)
• Year made
• City 
• Contact information
• Any special information you wish to include (who it was for, what event it was for, etc)

Quilt Label Resources:

• Story patches - link audio, video, or photos to your quilt.  http://stkr.it
• http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/page/quilt-labels
• http://www.quilterscache.com/Q/QuiltLabels.html
• http://quiltlables.com
• http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/PrintableQuiltLabels/freeprintablequiltlabels.htm
• http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/finishing/making-quilt-labels
• Pinterest is also a good reasource for inspiration!

Don't forget to get your (labeled) quilts for the show to Gina or Jodi by the 17th! 

Members' Quilt Show Reception Details (We Need Your Help!)

Thanks to all of our members for contributing their fabulous work for our first group exhibit!! We can't wait to see all the pieces hung for viewing!  Don't forget to drop your entries off to Jodi or Gina by the 17th - the deadline is coming up quick!

As you have heard, our next meeting will be the reception at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Oakland Branch, Gallery @ Main, on Sunday, September 8th, from 1:00pm -4:00pm.  

We would love your help in making the opening reception a great one!  Please comment on this post letting us know what goodie item you can bring to the reception.  Your help is very much appreciated!

Paper Goods: plates, napkins, cups (hot/cold)

Food: chips, dip, hummus, crackers, cookies, muffins, breads, other (be creative... we're sure it will be yummy!)

Beverages: coffee (pre-made in serving box), cold beverages, water

Fabric Scraps: for the interactive improvisation exhibit - you probably won't get them back, so don't bring anything you aren't willing to part with :)

Items can be brought to the exhibit space shortly before the reception.  Please e-mail us with any questions.

August Meeting Summary

The Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild took a road trip for its August meeting.  Members ventured to Sewickley to meet at “STITCH”, a brand new quilt shop!  And what a lovely shop it is!  Hip, hip, hooray!  Many thanks to Erin Kortering, the owner of STITCH, for hosting the Guild at her shop.

Before getting down to business, Erin kindly gave the Guild an overview of her new shop.  Erin described her vision for her new business and her philosophy on owning a quilt shop.  Erin offers the latest modern fabric lines, classes and access to studio time.  Visit the STITCH website for more details about the shop and what it offers.  Thanks Erin!

Lauren's Modern Mini

The Guild is now an official member of the Modern Quilt Guild.  Current PghMQG members should have received an email from the MQG asking them to join the members-only online community.  Let us know if you have not already been added to the Pittsburgh group in the members-only area.

Later during the business portion of the meeting, Guild members voted unanimously in favor of accepting the bylaws as presented at the July meeting with one small typographical change. With approved bylaws, we will obtain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as part of the MQG organization.

Akemi shows off her cute baby quilt

The group also discussed our upcoming show at the Carnegie Museum.  Applications for the show were due at the meeting.  There is enough space to exhibit every quilt that was submitted!  At the show reception on September 8, we will host two interactive exhibits: Quilts & Math and an Ipmrov Design Board.  We need scraps for that, so please bring any fabric scraps you are willing to part with!  We also need paper products, snacks, and beverages for the reception - please help out by bringing an item if you can!

Stephanie's entry for the upcoming show

The show and tell this month was amazing!  Baby quilts, show quilts, mini-quilts, English paper-piecing, Zentangle, modern mood quilts, modern hand quilting . . .   AND how about fabric choices – chevrons, Heather Ross (Briar Rose), Michael Miller (Backyard Baby Ant Maze), Vanessa Christenson (Simply Color) . . .  such talent and so motivating!!!

Jodi's Mod Mood quilt top

Pam invited fellow PghMQG members to a trunk show that she will be hosting at the Quilt Company East Quilt Guild on October 21, 2013.  Pam will be lecturing and exhibiting Marcia Derse (http://www.marciaderse.com) fabric and fabric constructions.  This is a very exciting opportunity to see first-hand the work of a contemporary, modern textile artist. 

The next PghMQG meeting will take place on September 8, 2013, at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.  

Featured on the MQG Blog

The Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild is in the Spotlight at the Modern Quilt Guild Blog today!  Hope to see you at our meeting at Stitch Studio on Sunday!

-Melissa