February Meeting Reminder - Free Motion Quilting Workshop Part II

Our February meeting will be held on Sunday, February 2, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  The meeting will be held at the Pittsburgh Project - 2801 North Charles Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15214.

If you attended the first workshop, please bring your folder and handouts you received.  There will be extra folders and handouts for anyone who did not attend first session.  At this session  we will be exploring the design aspect of free motion quilting and looking at some of the  ways to fill the space of our quilts.  At the first session there was a request for more easy-to-learn patterns, so Ginger will have more handouts of some of her favorite quick fillers.  If you want to try stitching the designs, bring your machine and a few quilt sandwiches.

Ginger will have handouts of pictures of quilt tops to use for an exercise on how to audition designs - if you have a quilt top or picture to share, please bring it.

There will be  a lot of drawing and doodling at this session so if you have  scrap paper you want to use up, please bring it.  We will also have plenty to share.

Bring your favorite drawing/doodling tool - some like pencil others like markers or even crayons.  Ginger will be providing the dry erase markers for designing on the acetate on your folder.

As usual, we will have show and tell...and if you made anything with your scraps from our Scrap Swap last month, bring it to share!

If you have any questions, please contact us at pittsburghmqg@gmail.com.  See you on Sunday!

January Meeting Recap

The Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild began the first meeting of the New Year by welcoming Gina as the new President of the Guild.  Gina welcomed all Guild members and guest, Michelle, and introduced a draft calendar of events for 2014.  The Guild reviewed the calendar month-by-month and members were encouraged to share their thoughts or ask any questions about proposed programs/workshops:

• The Guild will be exploring venues for a fall quilt show – more information will be coming in the next few months.  Jodi will be coordinating the Outreach Quilt project – more details to come and opportunities for members to volunteer to help.
• Gina was asked to elaborate on her “quilt journal” workshop.  In addition to providing instruction on how to journal, Gina may also include a monthly blog post encouraging exploration outside of Guild meetings and giving direction on such topics as design, pattern, texture, contrast and composition.
• The Guild has a Flickr page and members were encouraged to visit the page and share photos of WIP’s and completed works on a more regular basis and in conjunction with lecture and workshop projects.  Lauren provided a short tutorial on how to join the Guild’s Flickr page at the meeting.
• Guild members were interested in exploring modern quilting ideas and possibly having a workshop devoted to a discussion on modernism in quilting.
• Members are always asking each other about quilting basics, which led to a great idea – introducing short, 15 minute demos at each meeting on quilting basics, such as binding, labeling, hiding stitches, d-sleeves, y-seams, insets, and more.
• The Guild continues to agree on holding meetings that are short on business and primarily focused on time spent creating, sewing, collaborating and learning!
• The Guild would like the option of adding an extra hour onto meetings based upon the program/workshop for a particular month.  Leadership will look into this option.

As the calendar discussion ended, the scrap swap began!  A huge pile of fabric scraps was set out and one by one members sorted through the lovely fabric to select pieces that caught their eye or were perfect for a WIP or future project.  Now the challenge is to create something incorporating those scraps and bring that creation to the February meeting.  Have fun!

At the conclusion of the meeting, members brought out their items for Show-n-Tell.  Members showed beautiful swoon quilts, scrap quilts, mini twister quilt, Riley Blake challenge quilts, modern wall hangings and one-block-wonder quilts.  Can’t wait to see more next time!  Photos from this month have been uploaded to the Guild's Flickr page.

Next meeting:
 February 2, 2014 from 1-4pm, Free Motion Quilting Part II, Show-n-Tell Scrap Swap Projects

Keep an eye out for a post and e-mail with details on how to join our Flickr group and post your photos!  We will also be letting you know about some upcoming local quilt shows you can enter.