September meeting reminder

Our September meeting will be held on Saturday, September 5, from 10 am to 12 pm, at the West Newbury Town Hall Annex, 381 Main Street, West Newbury, MA. The executive committee made the decision to leave the meeting on Labor Day weekend for this year as previously scheduled, mostly because we had already booked the meeting space. If you can't make it, we will miss you but no worries! We'll see you again this fall.

To this meeting, please bring:
--lottery blocks: Mary has set our lottery block for September as any 6.5'' (6'' finished) block in blues. She had done some lovely examples from the Tula Pink City Sampler book; I think Nancy has also done some lovely blocks so far. I need to sift through my stash for blues and make a couple!
--your quilted work for show and tell
--any quilt you plan to submit to The Gathering show that needs to be photographed. Our hero, Sue Ann, is bringing in her quilt rack set up again, and Mary has graciously volunteered to bring her camera. Here's another easy chance to get photos taken for your quilt submissions.

Laura will be teaching a six-minute circle workshop. A six-minute circle is a (relatively) quick, (relatively) easy way to produce a perfect circle quilt block using freezer paper as a stabilizer and reverse applique.
If you'd like to sew along, here is a supplies list:
sewing machine and basic sewing tools (regular needle, thread snips, etc)

thread that matches your background fabric (important!)

sharp fabric scissors

craft (paper) scissors

glue stick, if you have one handy

pencil

circle/center fabric: cut 5'' squares

background fabric: bring a couple of 8'' or 10'' squares to play around with

Laura will buy/bring freezer paper and a couple of extra glue sticks. Laura will also provide circle templates.

A quick reminder that Gathering quilt show submissions are due September 15, which is right around the corner. Submissions are easy! Here's the process in a nutshell:
1) Email Laura two photographs of your quilt: one showing the full quilt, and one showing a detail of the quilt. Also, email her a brief maker's statement telling the story behind your quilt.
2) Fill out the Google Form here  
and then your submission is complete! You'll find out by the October meeting which quilts have been invited to be in our show. Please, go through your quilt pile (I know we all have one) and choose some work you're proud of to submit to the show.

Watch your inboxes in the coming week for signups for volunteering at the Gathering show. If you're thinking about taking a class at the Gathering, now is a great time to register and get your schedule set before you start thinking about what day(s) you'd like to volunteer.

Hope to see many of you on September 5!

August Meeting Recap

We had our first meeting at a new location -  the Newmarket Public Library. We started with business per usual.

- The raffle quilt is being quilted by Mary who will coordinate handoff to Nancy and Sue for binding and sleeve.

- The deposit was sent to the Franciscan for our April 14-17 retreat. Signups will begin later in the fall. 

- Jess presented the Treasurer's Report that included the above mentioned deposit and pizza from last month's sewing meeting.

- The executive committee to meet met on Tuesday evening to plan programming and locations for the remainder of the year. The information on that will follow.

- Lottery Blocks: Nancy was the lucky winner of the Little Vines blocks. Next month will be any style 6" finished block in blue. Mary had two examples she made from the Tula Pink "100 Modern Quilt Block Book." (sorry but I missed photographing these)

- The MQG 2016 Charity quilt progress was unveiled. Mary, Jess and Kali worked with the pieces created last month and cooked up a gorgeous (appropriately sized) quilt top!

Show and tell was a mix of quilts being submitted to the Gathering show and other projects.

Diane showed her Riley Blake Quilt Challenge "Double Aster" that will be submitted to the Gathering show.

Paula's "Fractured Nickel" is also doing double duty as Riley Blake Challenge and Gathering submission.

Bea Matheson, one of our newest members, took on the Little Vines block in appliqué sans fusible.

Suzanne Whitehead, our other new member had this lovely top created from an assemblage of panels. (Sorry we don't get to see you in this picture Suzanne. There were a lot of "floor" displays this month.)

Nancy was feeling Christmas in August with this star table topper. Note the cute batik bag at her side, also a new finish.

Marylee wowed with her Backgammon quilt top (above) as well as a delicious quilt in Indigo (below) with the softest Minkee-like backing we've seen in a while.

Robin showed her Riley Blake entry (above) as well as her Gathering submission, "Homage to Ellsworth Kelly" (below). 

Kali rocked another Simplicity 2444.

Jess continued a generational quilt started by her grandmother many years ago (above). She also debuted a lap sized top with purple circles on a low-volume background. (below)

Mary continues the tiny English Paper Piecing project.

Allison completed the epic "quilt as you go" (attempt at, *cough*) "scrap busting" picnic quilt (above) along with a Single Girl quilt top. (below)

Allison will be submitting this colorful pixel quilt inspired by an old video game, Dig Dug.

Laura pattern tested a block for Amy's Garden Stroll quilt for this beautiful pillow. She also brought some sample fabrics to show the palette she'd like for her presidential blocks - pink ranging from soft to hot, corals with some soft yellows. The blocks are inspired by this tutorial but do not need to adhere to a strict size, any size is good. These colors on a low-volume background but not nested as in the main project. The blocks we are making are stars in a traditional 9-patch formation, described in the section titled "Making the Quilt Back" towards the bottom. 

The photography crew set up the hanging and lighting to get some photographs taken for Gathering submissions. If your quilts were photographed at the meeting, they are now on the Flickr Group.

A recap of the submission process goes like this:

The submission deadline is September 15. The quilt deadline is the October meeting.

1.) Click this link to enter your basic quilt information (title, size, pattern, etc.)

2.) Email two photos (full flat view and detail) to Laura

3.) Email "your story" to Laura (no word limit). Diane has created a wonderful sample description and ideas to help you create your own. She's more than willing to help or share this if you're needing a little help.

Please remember:

This is OUR show and we have many facets of Modern quilting to share. Quilt submissions will be "reviewed" NOT "juried" by the Modern Quilt Guild. Don't be nervous about showing your work. Quilters are nice!

Something to think about ... there will be several openings on the Executive Committee for 2016. Nominations for officers will be made at the October meeting and voting on the November meeting. Please consider volunteering for these important (and fun!) jobs.