March 2016 Meeting: Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival

They put us at the front entrance!

The March meeting has a few things that you need to know, so if you have ANY questions, don't hesitate to let us know.

WHO:

The Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival graciously offered to hang the Bridge Quilt.  The founder, Barb Grossman, attended our last meeting (and became a PghMQG member!) where she suggested we should have our meeting in the Festival's Creative Open Studio.

WHERE:

The Festival is on the 3rd floor of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown. Here are the details for directions and parking.  Don't forget parking might be a fee, too, depending on how you arrive.  We will be meeting in room 315.  There will be skein winding, coat check and concession services plus a marketplace! 

WHEN:

Because of the Festival's program, our meeting time is going to shift just a bit.  We are starting at 11:15am (in room 315).  The doors open at 8:30am and the close at 3:30pm. You are encouraged to go check out the other cool stuff.  The Festival runs from Friday, March 4, 2016 through Sunday, March 6, 2016.

WHAT:

• We will have a QuiltCon recap provided by those that attended.  It will also give us a chance to see the Bridge Quilt hung "in the wild" (in public) and see the reactions from the other attendees.  
• Amanda will have the FQC bundles to hand out.  The Show & Tell and business portions of the meeting will be condensed to a quick couple of minutes.  
• Barb said that the Creative Open Studio is full of machines provided as test models, so don't feel obligated to bring your own if you don't want to.  

• At that point, we have been invited to take part in their block challenge.  "Creativebug is sponsoring a Creative Block Challenge, featured in the new Creative Open Studio. You are invited to create a 12 x 12 inch block with a variety of materials (yarns, fabrics, fibers, scraps, silks, notions, ribbons). All of the machines are graciously provided by Babylock,Brother, Innova Quilting Systems and Janome, as well as FeltLOOM®. These machines as well as a variety of cutting tools will be available for your use the entire weekend. All materials will be provided for you and 3 winners will be selected by Creativebug with a special prize awarded to each winner. Test your skills, challenge your creativity and have fun in this year’s new Creative Open Studio. This is free with your admission and is open for everyone creative, regardless of your skill sets."

• The blocks can be donated after the festival for charity quilts for the East End Cooperative Ministry or returned to you.

WHY:

The opportunity to take part in more "maker" concentrated activities was too good to pass up.  The positive attention that the Bridge Quilt has brought to the guild has been a blessing as far as building bridges (ha!) to other communities who create.  We can support our knitting and crocheting brethren and help grow the modern quilting presence in Pittsburgh.  The logistics might be a little complicated, but the payoff is seeing firsthand the faces of the people who Ohh and Ahh over our work.  (As I write this, I am flooded by Instagram images of people who are taking their photos with our quilt in Pasadena.  That is SO cool!)

HOW:

The admission to the Festival can be found here.  There are multiple options depending on how many days you want to attend.  If you are only coming to the festival for the meeting, the cost is $10.  Amanda sent out an email on February 2nd titled "Some Random Tidbits" with instructions on how to get $5 off your Sunday admission or a combo discount on a class and admission for Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.  If you need that email again, post here and I will forward it to you.  Here is the full schedule for you to check out.