March Meeting Recap

Announcements:

New Post office address:

                                         Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild

                                          c/o Jennifer Laverty

                                          P.O. Box 105

                                          Wexford PA 15090

March 19th is National Quilt Day

Quilt Shows:

Original Sew and Quilt Expo - April 7,8,9

                                                Akron OH / www.sewingexpo.com

Lancaster Quilt Show - March 23-26

                                               Doubletree Willow Valley Resort, Lancaster

                                               www.thelancasterquiltshow.com

Three Rivers Quilt Show - April 7,8,9

                                               Hollywood Casino at the Meadows

North Pittsburgh Quilters Guild - April 22-24

                                               Ross Township Community Center

Quilt Classes Online

                                   Introduction to Electric Quilt 8

                                   Sunday, March 20 / 10 am- 1 pm

                                   Fern Hollow Designs / click on virtual classes with Linda

QuiltCon 2023 will be held at the Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia. Featured speaker is Chawne Kimber. You can find her on Instagram @cauchycomplete.

Retreat information

where:                      Crestfield Conference Center

                                  Slippery Rock, PA

when:                        Friday, May 13 - Sunday, May 15 

check your email for details.

First quarterly challenge quilts due by April 3rd meeting. Q1 challenge is MQG inspired design. Download a free pattern from the MQG journal to give it a try.

Our next Zoom sewcial is on Sunday, March 20th 1pm-3pm. 

Our next in-person meeting is on April 3rd 1pm-4pm. This meeting will focus on Modern Traditionalism. We hope to see you there!

November Meeting Recap

We had a really great meeting in November! We covered the following in the business meeting:

QuiltCon 2020: Member pricing for workshops ends on November 30!

• Stripes Challenge for QuiltCon - entries are due December 2
• Indah Batiks Me + You Challenge for QuiltCon - entries due December 2
• General quilt show entries due December 2
• Blocks for our guild QuiltCon 2020 charity quilt have all been taken! If you didn't turn in your blocks at the meeting, please mail them to B or bring them early in the day to the sew day on December 7th.

Registration for the next MQG Sessions opens on December 1st. The topic is handwork, and the location is Denver, CO.

MQG is celebrating their 10th anniversary!

They are having a virtual sew day on Saturday, November 9th. Use #mqgsewday to tag your social media posts.

MQG is also having a "Spend 10 days with MQG" event on Instagram and Facebook from November 4-13. Check out their social media for daily prompts to play along.

Our 2020 retreat is booked!

May 15-17, 2020

Martina Spiritual Retreat Center

Eventbrite sign up will open in spring 2020.

We are now taking nominations for 2020 leadership. You can nominate yourself or someone else at the December meeting or by emailing Pam: yopamm@yahoo.com. We are especially in need of a nomination for social media! If you're interested in that position or any other, reach out to a member of leadership and we can give you more details.

The programs survey for 2020 has been sent out. We've had a great response so far! Please respond if you haven't already done so.

A copy of the by laws with proposed changes will be sent to all members later in November. We will vote to accept the changes at the January 2020 meeting.

Amanda gave a cost breakdown for the Making Faces workshop. Our actual costs were $70 less than our projected costs, the workshop was a huge success!

Our current quarterly challenge is hand work! Use the hashtag #pghmqghandwork when posting your quilts. These quilts are due at the December 7th sew day. We will also be drawing the 2019 quarterly challenges raffle winner that day and announcing the first challenge for 2020!

Our next meeting is an all day sew day from 9am-9pm on Saturday, December 7th. We will be assembling the QuiltCon charity quilt top, if you're interested in helping with that please bring a neutral grey thread and your sewing machine. We will have a brief business meeting at 1pm.

Bring your own projects to work on and a snack to share! Guild will provide meatball and veggie meatball subs for dinner. An evite will go out to all members soon, please RSVP and let us know if you're planning to stay for dinner!

NOTE: There is a location change for the sew day! We are meeting in the Holy Spirit Lyceum. It is across the street from Holy Spirit church. You can use the address: 110 North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA in your GPS to find the building. It's a small brick building with red doors.

Don't forget to bring your mug rug to swap with your partner! Use the hashtag #pghmqgMugRug when posting online!

Show and Tell:

Gerry brought some faces quilts that she created:

 Amanda showed us her completed face from the Making Faces with Melissa Averinos workshop:

 And Amanda finished her hand applique Carolyn Friedlander quilt:

 Courtney showed us her newest pattern, which she was inspired to create from our Drunkard's Path challenge earlier this year:

 Our newest member, Ricki, showed a Pittsburgh quilt that she designed herself!

 Missy had two quilts to show, one is a Christmas quilt and the other has machine appliqued leaves:

After show and tell we had a presentation from Nikki about quilt shows. She talked about why one may want to enter shows, what quilts to consider entering, how to enter a show, how to prepare a quilt once it has been accepted into a show, and what judging is like. We ended with Nikki sharing her judging sheets from several different shows and then we saw the quilts and talked a little bit about the judges' comments. One of our former members and good friends, Stacy Koehler, gave us this great handout for what judges are looking for in a quilt.

We hope to see you at the December sew day! A few things to remember:

-Slight location change, we are meeting in the Holy Spirit Lyceum

-Bring neutral grey thread if you'd like to help piece the QuiltCon charity quilt

-Bring your completed Handwork challenge quilt

-Bring your mug rug to swap with your partner

-Bring a snack to share and RSVP to the coming evite with whether you'll be staying for dinner!

December 2019 Sew Day and Meeting Recap

December Meeting Recap

We held our annual December sew day / meeting on Saturday December 7th. Many members showed up with prepared projects to complete by the end of the day. Our most important project was our QuiltCon 2020 Charity Quilt. Guild members pieced the blocks and then we pieced the top together at the sew day. Thank you to all who contributed to the 2020 Charity Quilt. Huge thank you to B for designing and organizing!

We had a quick business meeting with a few important announcements:

-Leadership nominations are in:

• Peresient:        Nikki
• Programs:       Jeanne
• Treasurer:        B
• Social Media:  Courtney
• Membership:   Missy

We will vote on leadership positions at the January meeting.

Bylaws final draft will be emailed out by Dec 15th. This is the draft we must vote on at the January meeting.

Please complete the 2020 programs survey. We will further discuss the results in January.

The next MQG sessions is open for MQG members. You can only register through the email sent by the MQG. Topics : handwork. May 7-9, Denver CO.

The Three Rivers Quilt Show is now accepting entries! 

Theme: Mariner's Compass

For entry information go on their website : www. threeriversquilter.org

2020 Q1 challenge announcement: quilts inspired by a board game!

Requirements: no smaller then 30"x30"

When you post on social media make sure you use the : #pghmqggamechallenge hashtag

Show and Tell

Handwork challenge

Our January meeting will be held on Sunday, January 5th 1pm-4pm at the Holy Spirit cafeteria. We hop to see you there!

 January 2022 Meeting Recap

On January 6th we had our annual business meeting.

Our Agenda was:

- Membership roster distribution to members in February

       update your contact information if needed, email will be sent to members with instructions

- 2021 Budget

        Review of budget documents emailed to members

- Leadership elections

- 2021 Challenge winner drawing.  Every member who complete a quarterly quilt challenge gets an entry to win a spot our Annual Retreat. Congratulations to Tracey Z! She will receive a free overnight stay at our 2022 Retreat.

- 2021 Workshop Review

        Hand dying : 10 slots - 7 registered

        Freestyling spirals : 20 slots - 19 registered

       Circular explorations : 20 slots - 18 registered

- 2021 Retreat was a success!

 LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS

Every January our members vote on the leadership positions. Leaders voted on for 1 year term with maximum of two tears in a position.

Big thank you for Barbara Cain for her work as Treasurer for the past 2 years.

Welcome to our leaders for 2022

President - Karen Womack

Treasurer - Jennifer Laverty

Programs - Mary Gregg

Membership - Gail Gausman

Social Media - Zsofia Molgaard

- Zoom Sewcials are held on the 3th Sunday every month 1pm - 3 pm. Members will receive an email with the link.

2022 Theme: Exploring Modern . Our quarterly challenges are 

          Q1 : MQG inspired design

          Q2 : Modern Negative Space

          Q3 : Modern Traditionalism

          Q4 : Free choice : I explored modern

Upcoming Zoom Workshop

   Walk the Talk and Quilt It with Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill

   Saturday, March 12 10 am- 5 pm

Our next in-person  meeting is on Sunday February 6th 1pm - 4pm. We hope to see you there!

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. 

April Meeting Recap

First, a little business. We had another fun meeting. PGHMQG now has 55 members! 

We will be participating in the PA National Quilt Extravaganza, which is a Mancuso Show, September 14-17 2017. Guild members are encouraged to enter quilts into our exhibit at the show. Members also have the opportunity to make a mini quilt using all solids in the colors of our logo. You should have received info about both of these things through e-mail (check your junk mail folder if you didn't get it!).

April 29th will be a sew day at the Hill District Library from 12-5pm. 

Our next meeting will be Saturday May 6th. This will also be a sew day with a break for our meeting in the afternoon. 

Watch for e-vites for both sewing days!

Mark your calendars for March 23-25 2018 and plan to join us for another sewing retreat. It was such a great weekend!

Now, some quilts! Our members are going strong with their monthly inspiration challenge blocks.

Gerry

Amanda's Daffodil Block

Ailish's block inspired by walks in the park as spring begins

Sandy

Karen's February and March blocks

 Show and Tell:

Gerry with her first improv piece inspired by our Sherri Lynn Wood class

B with a quilt she made from her 100dayproject designs

Amanda with her Christmas tree skirt

Ailish finished this quilt top on our retreat

Zsofia with her awesome swap mini

Melissa

Julie

Karen received this mini from the MQG swap

Stacy led our program for the month on the topic of judging quilt shows. Quilt judges are trained to look at all aspects of the quilt from the design and color to the construction. Something that stuck out to me as an important was to consider the longevity of your quilt. Your quilt will be around for a long time, maybe longer than you think! So make a quilt that is well constructed. Make sure that your quilting is close enough together to prevent batting shifting around in the wash and make sure your binding is made to last. If it's going to be in a show these are things that a judge will be looking for, but even more important, preserve your beautiful work.

Thank you to Stacy for leading this month's program!

Madrona Road Fabric Challenge - Lauren

Is everybody ready to see the Pittsburgh Modern Quilt Guild's Madrona Road Fabric Challenge projects?  First up is Lauren's lovely quilt!

Lauren's Madrona Road Challenge Quilt

I was really thrilled to get the opportunity to participate in the MQG Madrona Road Challenge.  I'm new to quilting but was really inspired (and jealous) of the last challenge using Jay McCarroll's Habitat line last year. Originally, I had planned to make an elaborate zigzag quilt inspired by this rug  in my Crate and Barrel catalog.  So I started cutting, having no real idea on how to make it work, and made a couple zigzag elements.  Unfortunately, my plan pretty much failed miserably and I had to start again from scratch.
 
In my original plan, I wanted to use a lot of coordinating solids and solid-like fabrics for additional texture.  So for plan B, I decided to just start cutting all of my fabrics into random width strips.  I pieced all these strips into slabs roughly 13"x 22."  I pulled out my trusty 12.5" square ruler and cut wonky squares from each of the slabs (realizing at this moment that I just wasted a ton of fabric). For the front, I started laying my squares out alternating directions (you can see my initial plan on our Flickr page).  When I looked at it all laid out I thought it read somewhat flat and boring.  I pulled out my stash of solids and started seeing what each solid would do.  I posted this photo to flickr as well for advice.

In-Progress

After several days and great feedback from my flickr peeps, I decided to change up my setting using some diagonals and alternative sashing techniques.  I also added in one plain block to give the eye a little bit of a break.  I think the final project looks interesting and dynamic and I'm super happy with it.
For the back, my goal was to use up some of my wasted scraps from the front.  I started with the big pieces left over from the fabric I received in the challenge and then overlaid with some of my left over pieces from the front.  I tried to add some additional interest and contrast by using different values and some additional pops of color.  Piecing this puppy was a little bit of a challenge, but I decided to tackle it in sections adding white and trimming the entire time.  In the end, it turned out just as I had hoped.

A lovely improvised quilt back

I always have a tough time deciding on quilting.  I generally like all-over designs that add a lot of texture.  In the end I decided on this design from Oh, Fransson!  From the beginning I planned to use the memoir text print for my border but didn't have quite enough - I used some of the bright colors to bring the length up to size.  Finished size is 36" square and I love it to bits!

The lovely quilting on Lauren's Madrona Road quilt

Thanks for sharing your quilt with us, Lauren!  Check back again soon to see the rest of the challenge quilts - there are four more coming up!