On June 4th we met at the Newburyport Library to view Riley Blake Challenge projects, and discuss QuiltCon.
Kate gave a presentation on the QuiltCon Charity Quilt Design. The Charity Quilt Design Committee met in May to come up with some ideas to use this year. In the course of their meeting and conversation they narrowed down from eight different designs to four main themes, and presented us with a completed design. Since the committee had originally proposed having the group vote between a couple of different designs we did have the choice of one out of two similar designs, but the group that was present agreed to go forward with the design favored by the committee. We will begin working on this quilt at the July meeting.
Also, Judy gave us an update on the charity sewing that we had done in January to benefit the
#Donateablock2 which is a campaign by Nicola (@hhhomemade on Instagram) to collect blocks to make into quilts for children at Boston Children's Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Judy had kindly mailed our package of blocks and tops and quilts to England, however after waiting months for the package to be delivered it was returned to her after having been diverted from its path several times! The three finished quilt tops will be quilted and donated to the Boston Children's Hospital, which was their original destination. The other blocks that we made will be saved to be used in future charity quilts.
Retreat '17: Joanne is looking into our options for next year's retreat. She is looking to secure us a location that will be able to provide design walls and pressing stations, and have the possibility of kitchen use to limit the cost of food for attendees. It is a possibility that we will be looking to return to the Franciscan for 2017, and investigate alternate locations for 2018.
For the Retreat Committee, Paula and Diane will be organizing swag, Mary O will be in charge of hospitality, and Colleen will help organize the pot luck and other food for the weekend.
We voted on our favorite Riley Blake Challenge projects, and awarded the prize to Bea! She received the book
Quilt Local by Heather Jones.
Jane started our show and tell with this awesome tote bag that she made using one of the patterns from
Amy's new book, Intentional Piecing. She made lemonade out of lemons by using up some fabric that she was ready to get out of her stash in this awesome tote bag for a friend.
Jane also showed off two more quilts, one for her grandson (above) and one to be donated to victims of the fire in Fort McMurray. Jess kindly quilted this for her.
We also got to see Jane's awesome May Mighty Lucky project. She took Alison Glass's inspiration and made this block based on a photograph.
Bea showed off her awesome Riley Blake Challenge quilt. Didn't she do a great job with the layout?
Suzanne shared one of many memory quilts that she has been making recently using clothing from her late father-in-law.
Colleen showed off two quilt tops that she finished, as well as gave us a peek at this quilt that Mary G had just finished quilting for her.
Jess showed off the espadrille sandals that she made for the Riley Blake Challenge, as well as her new wardrobe staple,
Sonya Philip Dress No 2 made in some scrumptious Library lawn.
Kate shared her Riley Blake Challenge, where she tried new things like wavy line and pebble quilting, and using the different colors in the fabric to make her own design.
Kate also shared this quilt top that she actually started at a SMQG meeting in
February of 2013! The quilt was made using the Twister ruler, and it seems it was fated to be donated to Fort McMurray.
Joanne also made a quilt to be donated. She used more masculine, mature colors in hopes to appeal to a different audience than some of the other bright and cheery quilts. I am sure that it will be a comfort to anyone that receives it!
For Diane's Riley Blake Challenge quilt she used dye to achieve a different effect than the black and white. She also used a combination of hand and machine quilting to give different effects at different places in the quilt.
Paula shared her Riley Blake Challenge pillow as well. Don't you love the bright citrusy colors!
Susan shared her Riley Blake Challenge quilt, that was inspired by wanting to play with a new drunkards path template.
Susan also showed off a mini quilt that she made trying out a Dresden plate (sorry this is so blurry!), and a table runner that utilized some pieced curves.
Bethany, a new member, showed off this HUGE quilt top that she finished after working on it for the past couple of years.
Laura shared her last quilt that she made for
do.good stitches. Her color palette inspiration was 70's colors (inspired by Sesame Street!)
Nancy shared the finished product of the quilt that she was working on at retreat. She used
Elizabeth Hartman's
Allie Owl Quilt.
Judy shared two pot holders that she is making using the drunkards path blocks that Laura instructed us on how to make.
We also talked about
QuiltCon! (Phew!) If you are interested in attending February 2017 in Savannah, it is recommended that you have first, second, and third choice classes picked out soon. For the most success, be ready with any information you will need and your choices and backup choices the moment signups are available.
The class list can be found
here. The sign ups will happen on June 25.
Pricing information can be found
here.
If a workshop isn't quite your jam, the lectures do provide quite a bit of inspiration and information, and tickets can now be paid for either individually, by day, or for the whole conference.
There will be emails from the MQG in the next couple of weeks on the sign up process, exact times, and the website location to sign up.
Amy Garro will be speaking to the NHMQG and we have all been invited to join for $5 a person. The event will be June 12, in Amherst NH. Please find all of the details
here!
Our fall workshop has been finalized! We will be hosting Christa Watson of
ChristaQuilts on October 8, from 10am-5pm at the West Newbury Old Town Hall. The workshop will be $100, which will include lunch. Participants are also required to purchase a copy of her book,
Machine Quilting with Style. The class will be Modern Machine Quilting, and everyone will be using their own domestic sewing machines. The class is limited to 22 participants. Registration will be first come, first serve, and will open to SMQG members on July 15 with a Paypal button on the blog. On August 1st, the remaining spots will be open to non guild members.
Keep your eyes open for another post about local-ish quilty events this summer and fall!
The next meeting will be held Saturday
July 9th at the Haverhill Public Library. This is a new location for us, but we will have plenty of space to sew and it will be air conditioned! Please bring your sewing machines and any accessories that you need to sew, like scissors, seam ripper, thread, pins, etc.
