April meeting reminder

Our April meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 7 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Mary E Bartlett Library in Brentwood, NH.

We will be sharing our snowflake challenge minis (directions HERE) and working on a charity quilt project. Please refer to the instructions provided by Kelly; you are bringing fussy-cuts cut to 4.5'' raw.

Please plan to bring your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies. We will be asking for volunteers to provide irons and ironing boards.

April Meeting: Charity Sew-In Details!

Hello SMQG members! I know this message is lengthy, but please read the whole thing. We’ll be spending a good majority of our next guild meeting sewing together a quilt top (or two) for charity. In an effort to keep this process streamlined, I’ll be bringing precut fabric kits so we can spend more time sewing and less time cutting.

We’ll be making 9.5” Polaroid blocks with a drop shadow like this:

I’d like to use this color as a background for one quilt and a lovely bright blue as a background for the other.

Each quilt requires 42 blocks if we stick to the plan. I’m not sure how many of you fabulous ladies are planning to stay and sew. Therefore we’ll work to complete enough blocks for 1 quilt before I hand out the other background color for the 2nd quilt. I was able to make 4 of these blocks in 1 hour.

So here’s what I would like you to bring:
- between 4 to 8 fussy cut blocks cut to 4.5” square for the centers of the polaroids (it took me an hour to make four complete 9.5” blocks if that helps you decide how many additional you want to bring).
- sewing machine
- rotary cutter
- cutting mat
- ruler to square up blocks to9.5”
- flower pins if you’re a pinner like me


A note on fabric selection: In order to create a cohesive look please consider centers like these (yes, that butterfly is paper pieced-let’s get creative!):

I’m NOT looking for centers that look cartoonish like these:

This should at least give you some direction and time to prepare. I’ll send out a separate email as the day approaches with a call for irons and extra cutting mats and things. Many thanks for reading this-I can’t wait to get sewing with you! 😊

March 2018 Meeting Recap

Our March meeting took place on Saturday, March 3, 2018 from 10 am to 12 pm at the West Newbury Town Hall Annex. Twenty-one members were in attendance, plus one first-time guest.

Judy opened the meeting with business. Riley Blake challenge fabric was handed out--we have four participants from our guild.

Judy reminded us that the snowflake challenge minis are due at the April 7 meeting. For information and requirements, please CLICK HERE. The word that was chosen is "Snowflake."

Barb gave the treasurer's report, and announced that the second retreat payment was due for those making three payments. Non-members who are guests of Seacoast MQG members are now welcome to attend the retreat. Seats are still open, so don't think you have missed out if you have not yet registered! Please contact Barb if you would like to make arrangements to attend or have one of your friends attend with you. Our final payment is due to the Franciscan the first week of April, so please try to make your reservation arrangements before then.

Two seats remain available in Amy's Improv Paper Piecing workshop. Judy gave a final call to members to register by 3/7/18, and then those seats will be released to the public. Please see information HERE.

If you are interested in one of the Anna Maria Horner workshops, please contact Laura to be placed on the waitlist. There is currently no waitlist for Friday's Mod Corsage class.

The Cambridge Modern Quilt Guild will be holding a public meeting on Sunday, March 25 from 2-4pm at the Cambridge Public Library main branch. This is a community-building event meant to connect modern quilters throughout the greater Boston and New England areas. Please bring show and tell to share.

Kelly collected blocks for the Ventura MQG's effort to support those who were displaced in the Thomas Fires last fall. She and Suzanne finished our group's quilt and were able to show it off at the meeting. Thanks to all who contributed blocks, but special thanks to Kelly and Suzanne for their time, effort, skills, and fabric contribution. It was suggested that we have Spoonflower yardage printed for charity quilt labels.

Laura spoke about her experiences at QuiltCon, which generated some useful discussion about guild goals.

Mary Lee inquired as to the status of the Strawbery Banke quilt show. Paula left with the action item of getting in touch with the Strawbery Banke staff.

Mary noted that the NH MQG has their retreat the same weekend we do, and asked whether we would be interested in trying to plan a game or social event with them. Barb agreed to check with the retreat committee about this matter. Mary also noted two potential meeting locations.

Diane won the lottery block drawing. It was requested that we have lottery blocks more than four times per year. A vote was taken and 12 people out of 21 voted yes.

Stephanie at Crosscut Sewing Company  gave a brief talk about how she got into her current line of work and some of her values and goals as a shop owner. She mentions that her shop offers classes for children as young as 5 years old. She emphasized education and community building as two of her main goals. We had fun shopping for fabric during snack break.

Show and Tell

Diane showed off her 2017 Block of the Month quilt top.

Sue Ann also showed off her 2017 Block of the Month quilt, but hers was basted by a longarmer. Several people were especially interested in her innovative basting technique!

Jane showed off her Elizabeth Hartman fish baby quilt. She used the "wiggle stitch" on her machine to quilt it.

Kelly finished her name tag. Way to go Kelly!

Sasha, a guest, showed off a quilt she is working on based on a data graph a friend made. 

Judy showed her Filtered Sunlight quilt as an example of negative space.

Laura finished her scrap quilt made with Jen Carlton-Bailly's quarter circle templates.

Amy showed her Agave quilt, which hung at QuiltCon and was published in the QuiltCon Magazine.

Jane showed a felt block book made based on Sarah Fielke's instructions.

I missed getting a photo of Lou's show and tell! She was too quick. It was worth seeing; you should ask her about it when you see her next :)

Diane showed a piece she made for a Metamorphosis themed challenge. She used some of her own printed fabric as well as some Allison Glass fabrics.

Paula showed a mini she calls "Ripples and Bubbles." She noted that it has lots of negative space.

Next month's meeting will be held on April 7 from 10a to 1p at the Brentwood, NH library and will be a charity sew-in (no show and tell). Please watch for block instructions and plan to bring your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.