March meeting details

The March meeting will take place at 1:00pm on Sunday, March 1st at the Pittsburgh Project. We will continue working through the lessons detailed in the book Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making. Next up on our journey through this book is working with solids and effectively incorporating prints. Kathy will be leading our discussion for this session. She has chosen a fun little block to explore solids and prints: Hexing Around Block. The supply list for this block are as follows:

4” square - large/fun print material to fussy cut 2.75” hexagon (hexagon template will be provided)

12 - 1.5” strips - solids and/or prints

(Can be 4 colors/3 strips of each in prints; 12 strips in solid colors; take a look at the link above and decide what you would prefer)

2 - 5x7” rectangles and 2 - 1.5” strips - either solid or print

Ruler with 60 degree angle mark

 

Please bring supplies and your machine so we can all work together!

 

Other highlights of the upcoming meeting will be details about the upcoming sewing retreat scheduled for May 2nd from 9:00am-9:00pm, Melissa will share some details from QuiltCon, 2015 membership cards will be availalbe (and pins!), and last, but by no means least, the first installment of the Fat Quarter Club goodies will be disbursed.

 

Fingers crossed that Mother Nature is feeling favorable next weekend!

Pittsburgh MQG

Februrary meeting recap

A big thanks to everybody who braved the weather to attend the February meeting! The meeting began with a Show & Tell session.

 Lauren showed off a number of lovely items. First she had the mini-quilts that she designed and made for a course which she taught this Fall at The Society for Contemporary Craft. Lauren is also working on a lovely Christmas tree skirt and a colorful wonky star project. Another talented member!  

Lauren showing off her mini-quilts

Lauren's Christmas Tree skirt WIP

I spy some wonky stars!

Sally presented her recently completed quilt project. The colors are so vibrant and cheerful!

Sally's lovely quilt front

And the back!

Amanda showed off her “Tetris” block that she designed for her modern sampler project!

 

Amanda's Tetris block. These colors are so fun!

Cheralee, our newest member, displayed her “Imagine Dragons” quilt top that she designed and constructed. We can’t wait to see how it is quilted!

Cheralee's Imagine Dragons quilt top. Wow!

Payments were collected for the first offering from the “Fat Quarter Club”.  Melissa and Lauren will try to nab some exciting fabric at QuiltCon later this month.  Please have a look at the Fat Quarter Club page on this site for more details about this and future installments. There is still time to participate in the first installment. Please shoot an email to the guild if you have not made arrangements yet.

Sharing ideas, resources and fabric offerings will be part of our meetings. Melissa shared some excellent fabric buys that she has acquired through Massdrop.  Check it out.

The topic for this meeting was Color and how to build a palette.  Melissa started the discussion using some lovely cards that her artist grandmother has painted to show complementary colors, complementary split colors, and analogous colors with different values.  These were great examples. Several different color wheels that are available on the market were discussed. These are useful little tools for finding color complements and hue combinations.

Melissa also shared her color chart tool that she constructed by cutting up a Robert Kaufman Kona cotton color card into swatches and Velcroing them to stock card. Since the swatches are now removable she is able to audition different color combinations.  The Kona card is available for purchase for around $30 from several online sources, including the Robert Kaufman website. The color card has swatches of all 303 colors of the Kona solid line and is very useful when trying to match colors or when determining a color scheme for your projects. Warning: cutting out and adding Velcro is very timing consuming! 

Lauren finds the website Design Seeds to be a great resource for constructing clever and inspiring color palettes. Another good resource to look into for assembling a color palette is Palette Builder, by playcrafts. This is a website that will allow you to upload a photo, and it will translate the predominate colors in the photo to Kona cotton colors.

Attendees shared their color selections and their palette choice process, before moving on to make the Hack Slash block.  

Some Hack Slash blocks constructed by our members. This was a great block to play with color combinations!

Our next meeting will be March 1st, from 1:00–4:00 PM at the Pittsburgh Project. We will continue to work through the book “Lucky Spool’s Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making.” The next topic will be Prints/Solids.  Watch for more details about the block that we will be making.  The first set of fat quarters will also be distributed at this meeting, and Melissa will relate some details about QuiltCon!

Please pencil 5/9 and 5/16 on your calendars as possible dates for our May sew retreat.  Kathy is ironing out the details and the date will be finalized soon!

Super Bowl Sale at Piecing It Together

FYI, everybody! Piecing It Together is having it's annual Super Bowl Sale this coming Sunday from Noon to 4:00 pm. They are located at 3458 Babcock Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 if you are interested in checking it out.

February Meeting: Exploring Color

Our February meeting will be held at the Pittsburgh Project (2801 North Charles Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15214) from 1-4pm on Sunday, February 1.  After introductions, we will have show-and-tell, and then discuss business.  We will be presenting our proposed calendar for the year.  Following the business discussion, we will move on to this month's skill building workshop.

The February workshop topic is color.  We will discuss the principals of color and how to chose a color palette for a quilt.  We will use our new knowledge of color to work on a quilt block.  This will be a round-table, hands-on discussion, so be prepared to join in and share your techniques for choosing colors with us!

The February quilt block is the Hack Slash star block from Amy at badskirt.  Her website includes information on making a 9" block.  Lauren was kind enough to work out the math for a 6" or 12" block.

• For a 12" block, you'll need:

Background fabric -

3.5 x 3.5 #4

7.25 x 7.25 #1

Color 1 fabric-

3.875 x 3.875 #4

6.5 x 1.5 #2

4.5 x 1.5 #2

4.5 x 4.5 #1

Color 2 fabric-

3.875 x 3.875 #1

• For a 6" block, you'll need:

Background fabric -

2 x 2 #4

4.25 x 4.25 #1

Color 1 fabric-

2.375 x 2.375 #4

3.5 x 1 #2

2.5 x 1 #2

2.5 x 2.5 #1

Color 2 fabric-

2.375 x 2.375 #1

What to bring:

• Color tools (color wheels, swatches, paint chips, etc)
• A selection of fabrics for testing out color palettes and fabric for the block
• Sewing machine
• Extension cord
• Other sewing supplies as needed (we need at least a few irons/ironing surfaces)
• Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making book

Don't forget - if you want to participate in the Fat Quarter Club, bring your $12 payment for the March bundle!

January Meeting Summary

It’s a new year for the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild!  Our January meeting began by voting in new leadership:

President - Melissa
Vice President - Kathy
Treasurer - Sarah
Secretary - Sally
Social Media Coordinator - Amanda

The new leadership was welcomed with a unanimous vote! Thanks to all for volunteering to lead the Guild - it’s going to be another exciting year.

A sincere thank-you to Gina and Lauren for serving the Guild as President, Vice President and Treasurer over the past two years.  They are two of the founding members of the Guild, and we are so appreciative of all of the time and effort they have put into the Guild!

The Guild’s 2015 agenda was discussed and it was decided that this year the Pittsburgh MQG will be focusing on modern quilting - learning new skills and becoming inspired quilters. At the February meeting we will be exploring the use of color - how to choose a color palette, hue and value - and how it impacts the visual appeal of our projects. All members are welcome to share their knowledge and experience on this topic. The guild will be constructing a TBD block together to apply what we learn about color choices, so please bring your machine, supplies, and assorted fabrics!

In the coming year we will be using  “Lucky Spool’s Essential Guide to Modern Quilt Making” to learn new techniques and hone our modern quilting skills.  Members are encouraged to buy or borrow this book from the library and bring it to the meetings with them. There will be several copies of the book available at the meetings if you are not interested in buying it.  The book is available from Lucky Spool, Amazon, and other online sites.

The Pittsburgh MQG is introducing a new, exciting project that we are calling “Fat Quarter Club”! Every four months, starting with the March meeting, subscribers will receive four fat quarters that have been picked by one of the Guild members. In this way you will be able to build your stash with modern fabrics that you may not have chosen yourself. This should be a fun way to get your creative juices flowing and think outside the box! If you want to participate, please bring $12 with you to the February meeting. Participation is completely optional!

After the business meeting was concluded, Karen presented a workshop on binding, which focused on three methods that are a little bit more “modern”.  For mini-quilts, wall hangings or more decorative quilts, these methods are fast and provide a beautiful finish to your quilt.  Karen discussed (1) machine binding using a blanket stitch, (2) using fusible tape to secure your binding and (3) two-color machine binding.  Karen provided examples of quilts using all three binding methods, and they were beautiful.  Thanks so much Karen!

During Show and Tell, PMQG members shared some finished quilts and some WIP’s.

Akemi’s beautiful quilt - we LOVED her colors!

 

 Amanda is working on a modern sampler quilt and shared some completed blocks.

Michelle shared the mini-quilts that she pieced over the holidays.

 Mona sent out the modern vibe with her colorful mini-quilt.

 Karen is looking toward Valentine’s Day with her heart quilt.

 Melissa had two finished quilts - one for QuiltCon (way to go!) and the other, her completed hexagon quilt - a LOT of work!

Sally is participating in a quilt-along and she shared the blocks she has made so far - so pretty!

The Guild Facebook page has been updated and blog updates will be posted on it regularly. If you are on Facebook, please head over to the Guild page and “like” us if you would like to receive updates.

Don’t forget to post photos of your fabulous creations on the Guild Flickr page. If you would like to have your photos put on the page but do not want to create an account, please feel free to email them to the guild at pittsburghmqg@gmail.com and we will upload them for you!

Our next meeting will be Sunday, February 1st from 1:00-4:00pm at The Pittsburgh Project, more information to follow soon. 

January Meeting - Binding Demo

Our January meeting is coming up on Sunday, January 11, from 1-4pm at the Pittsburgh Project.  We will be voting on the 2015 leadership team and Karen will present a demo on her favorite methods for binding a quilt.  The rest of the meeting will be free sewing time, so bring any of your ongoing projects to work on.  Don't forget to bring something for show-and-tell!

Fast Methods for Binding a Quilt

Sewing down a binding by hand can be a tedious process.  Learn ways to complete your binding in an afternoon.  Karen Womack will demonstrate her favorite, fast ways to bind a quilt with professional results.

Materials list:  none.  Handouts will be provided.
Optional, for those who want to practice after the demo: 
·         sewing machine with foot pedal and a long extension cord
·         a small quilt project ready to bind (your machine quilting practice pieces, a table runner, placemat, small wall hanging),
·         rotary mat, cutter and ruler
·         2 to 4 fabric strips 2 ½ inches wide, in a solid color of your choice
·         2 to 4 fabric strips in a contrasting print 2 ½ inches wide for a total of 4 to 8 strips that are the width of fabric (WOF) if possible.

January Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on Sunday, January 11 at the Pittsburgh Project at 1 pm. We will be holding elections for our 2015 leadership team. 

See you there!