Good Bye 2012, Hello 2013!

2012 has been a wildly fun year, and I'm so happy to have served as your President! It made me overcome my fear of speaking in front of people, helped me be more organized, and it helped me grow in my creative pursuits. Thank you for all of your support, encouragement and involvement in our modern quilt guild family! I look forward to serving under Christy as our guild's secretary/media officer, and watching our modern family grow even more!

There's a lot going on, so a few reminders are in order. At the January meeting on Saturday, the 19th, we will be sharing our inspiration/goal boards for 2013. If you aren't sure how to make one, here is the one I made for 2012. 

Use a half sheet of poster board, larger if you want. Make it a size that will make it easy to put up in your sewing room/area that so you can be inspired by it. You can paste on pictures of quilts or projects you want to make, list your sewing and quilting goals, include inspirational quotes, swatches of fabrics, etc. Make it personal. If you made a goal board for 2012, you can use the back of it, or you can simply update it. Share it with the group at the January meeting so that we can encourage each other to achieve some of these goals in the new year! 

How's everyone coming with the Madrona Road challenge? The rules are simple. You may only use fabrics from the Madrona Road collection (any colorway), and you may add any brand of solids you choose. Make any project you desire. Please upload pictures of your projects, in progress or completed, to the challenge Flickr page. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/groups/2105749@N24/
We will be revealing our projects at our February meeting. 

We all love Show 'n Tell time at our meetings! If you bring something to show, it should be a project you are working on, have made, or an item you've received while participating in a modern bee or swap. The Board will be working on a program schedule for the coming year, and we will consider scheduling a specific program for sharing those vintage quilts you've "inherited" from others. 

If you haven't yet made something modern, we encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and give it a try! Start with a mug rug, table runner, or a baby quilt. It's all about challenging yourself. Go for it!

I want to thank our local quilt shops, Bolts to Binding and Strawberry Patches, for being so supportive to our group. The owners and staff are so accommodating, allowing us to hold our meetings and sew-ins at their shops! If there's a particular fabric line we are interested in, solid color that we need, or notions that we'd like to have, they are great about trying to order them. To Suzanne Zingg and Jerri Cooper-Meyer, and everyone who works at their shops, we are sincerely thankful! 

If you don't already know, we have a new Board for 2013. They are:

Christy Hall - President
Laura Haywood - Vice President
Lynn Douglass - Secretary/Media Coordinator
Pam Gavin - Program Chair
Nicci Pannell - Philanthropic Chair
Holley Arbeit - Assistant to Nicci

It is said that the way you spend the first day of the year, is how you will spend the rest of the year. I plan to sew! What are your plans?

Happy New Year!

Lynn
President for a few more hours. ;-)

Holiday Blessings

From the Bakersfield Modern Quilt Guild to you, may you have a very blessed holiday, whatever you celebrate! 

December Meeting and Holiday Feast

Yes, I'm lame. Yes, I forgot my camera for our December meeting. So I can tell you in words (but not pictures!) that the Bakersfield Modern Quilt Guild had a bountiful feast and shared in the joy and fellowship of the season at our monthly meeting on Saturday, Dec. 15. If those who took photos can either send them to me at lauraedits@aol.com or lauraedits@gmail.com or upload them here, I'd be forever grateful.  :-)

President Lynn distributed the Madrona Road fabric packets for the Modern Quilt Guild/Michael Miller quilt challenge. You may add to your packet with any of the coordinates from the line (Strawberry Patches has several of them), and solids from any fabric line may be used. You may make any quilted item with your fabrics, such as a bag, pillow or quilt. If you would like to enter your finished quilted item in the Michael Miller display at QuiltCon, please send a photo of it to Lynn by Jan. 28 so she can submit it. We will reveal our finished items (or a photo, if the item has been submitted) at our February meeting. Madrona Road Challenge Update is in newer blog post dated January 6, 2013.

Announcements:
Lynn reminded us that there will be no sew-in this month, on account of it's the holidays. Our next meeting is Jan. 19, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Strawberry Patches. The next sew-in is Jan. 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bolts to Binding.

The Road to California quilt show is scheduled for Jan. 24-27 (classes begin Jan. 21) in Ontario. This is a very large quilt show with oodles of vendors selling all things quilty.

Our guild has an ongoing need for door prizes - patterns, fabric such as charm packs and fat quarters, and other supplies. You may bring donations to any meeting.

January Program:
We will share our inspiration boards for 2013 at the January meeting. Many of us made these boards for 2012; please bring those if you have them. It will be fun to see what got accomplished and how our priorities changed during the year. Inspiration boards can include photos, quotes, lists, ideas, decorations, and whatever else depicts your sewing/quilting goals for the upcoming year.

And in Other News:
For our gift exchange, members brought modern charm packs in brown paper bags. Exclamations of joy were heard as the contents were revealed. The proposed new board was announced by Lynn and approved by those in attendance.

President:  Christy Hall
Vice President:  Laura Haywood
Secretary/Media Coordinator:  Lynn Douglass
Programs:  Pamela Gavin
Philanthropy:  Nicci Pannell and Holley Arbeit

Several members showed completed projects or works in progress in our show-and-tell session.

Outgoing President Lynn thanked everyone for their support over the past year. It's been a challenging but fun and rewarding year for our guild!

Submitted by:

Laura Haywood
BMQG Secretary

Question of the Week

This week's question comes from Pam, and it's about personal style and preference. What's more important to you? Is it color preference or designer preference? Do you tend to gravitate towards a fabric because of a designer's name, or are you more drawn to a fabric of a particular color?

Christmas Party

Next Saturday, the 15th, we'll be having our December meeting and Christmas party at Strawberry Patches, from 2:00 - 4:00. Bring a manufacturer's pre-cut charm pack in a small, unmarked, brown paper bag, for our Christmas exchange. Also, bring an appetizer to share with the group. The guild will be providing plates, utensils, napkins, cups, and drinks. We will have a time for show 'n tell, so bring some fun projects to share! This will be the only time we'll meet this month, so I hope everyone can make it! 

Madrona Road Fabric Challenge

We have received the shipment of the Madrona Road  Challenge fabric! Here are the details about what is expected:

The guidelines of the challenge: Create the challenge you'd like with just one rule: Please only add more Madrona Road or solids to the projects. There's no requirement to make quilts, but since we're a quilt guild, something quilted is encouraged. You can use other colorways of the line, you can use other fabrics of the line.

In terms of an end date, don't worry about that. We realize that the timing with the fabric shipping didn't allow for it, so just get the challenge done in the time frame you're able. For consideration of projects to be showcased at QuiltCon in the Michael Miller booth, please complete them by January 31.

We got the blue/gray/yellow colorway. Strawberry Patches has some of the line, too. You may use any brand of solids you choose, just no prints outside of the Madrona Road line. 

I'll have bundles to pass out at our Christmas party meeting on the 15th. If you want to participate in the challenge, please post your name under this post. If I don't get your name here or on Facebook by the 11th, there will not be a bundle for you. 

Our Christmas meeting will be held on the 15th at Strawberry Patches from 2:00 - 4:00. Everyone is to bring finger foods to share, and bring show 'n tell, too! The guild will be providing plates, napkins, utensils, and drinks. Each member is to also bring one  pre-cut and factory packaged charm pack in a small, unmarked, paper bag. 

I'm really looking forward to sharing the Christmas spirit with my quilty friends!

Until next we meet,

Lynn

Saturday Sew-In

This Saturday's sew-in will be at Bolts to Binding from 10:00 - 4:00. Bring a project to work on, a snack to share, and an attitude that is ready for fun! 

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Lynn

Question of the Week

Today's question of the week is all about personal style and your own mark. I have a thing for black and white prints and trims. When I use black and white in something, my friend Nicci says, "That's a Lynn thing." As a longarm quilter, I'm known for my dragonflies. I often hide one somewhere in the quilting. It made me wonder if the rest of you have a signature or mark that identifies something as made by you? Or do you sign your name to pieces, other than on the label? Chime in and share with us. What's your mark?

November meeting

No one's asked for our autographs yet, but the November Bakersfield Modern Quilt Guild meeting kicked off with the announcement by President Lynn that we were spotlighted in the premiere issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine. The feature article, written by Lynn, included several photos of our projects and members. The magazine hasn't been stocked in any of the local bookstores or fabric shops, but Lynn is placing an order with the publisher for several copies.

Our next sew-in will be Nov. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bolts to Binding. That is the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, but we hope to have a good showing from those who stayed home to eat turkey!

Entries for the QuiltCon quilt show (part of the festival in February) are due Nov. 30. At least a couple of our members are working on quilts to enter. The fee is $30 per entry.

Our December meeting will be Saturday, Dec. 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Strawberry Patches. It will be our Christmas/holiday party. Please bring an appetizer to share. We'll also have a charm pack swap - please bring a new, manufacturer's charm pack in a plain, unmarked paper bag.

We will not have a December sew-in because of the holidays.

The Modern Quilt Guild has announced a new challenge that starts approximately Dec. 1 and will end Jan. 31 using the Madrona road fabric line from Michael Miller. We will receive fat eighth bundles and can make anything we want from them. We will need to let them know how many members will participate so they know how much fabric to send.

New officers for our local guild will be elected at the December meeting. Positions are still open, and the descriptions of each are available here on the blog. Remember, if we want to keep the guild going, we need officers!

As usual, we had an awesome show-and-tell session of items made by several of our members. See photos below.

Nicci taught us how to make and attach prairie points to our projects with a tutorial using tea towels. We folded and stitched, and several members finished or nearly finished their project. They will make great Christmas gifts. Thanks for showing us the way to perfect points, Nicci!

Liz, thank you for the surprise visit. It was wonderful to see you!

Submitted by Laura
BMQG Secretary

SEW-IN REMINDER

Just a reminder that this month's sew-in is on Saturday, November 24th, at Bolts to Binding from 10:00 - 4:00. 

Personally, I'll be looking forward to some down time with my friends after hosting Thanksgiving at my house! 

See you there,
Lynn

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

We had a great tutorial at our Saturday meeting! We learned how to use prairie points to add a little pizzazz to tea towels. I'm going to be making some for Christmas and hostess gifts! What quick gifts are you making for Christmas this year?

Curve It Up Quilt Along

Nicci shared her curved churn dash block at our meeting today. Some of you asked me to post the information about the Curve It Up Quilt Along with the Quick Curve Ruler. The instructions for the block can be found on the blog, Sew Kind of Wonderful. Every two weeks, Jenny will post a new block made with her Quick Curve Ruler. If you want to get in on the quilt along, you can order the ruler on the Sew Kind of Wonderful website. You'll receive the ruler in just a few days! You can also check out the Flickr group for the Curve It Up Quilt Along. It's great to see how different the blocks look, depending on the fabrics used! 

Saturday Meeting Program

Put a Point on It!

We hope you all remembered to change the date for the November meeting. It will be held this coming Saturday, November 10th, 2:00 - 4:00, at Strawberry Patches.

Nicci will be showing us how to use prairie points to add charm and pizzazz to our projects! You'll need to bring a cotton, flour sack style tea towel (available from Strawberry Patches, Joann's, and Beverly's), ten  4.5" squares of fabrics, 1/2" wide ribbon in a length that is 1" longer than the width of your towel. You will also need to bring your sewing machine and other general sewing supplies. A walking foot might be helpful. 

The small project we'll be working on, would make a great hostess gift, stocking stuffer, gift basket liner, etc. 

Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Lynn
President

Question of the Week

What color combinations do you now use, that you originally thought were awful?

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

This is big, really big! The Modern Quilt Guild just announced the 2012 Winter Fabric Challenge! Information can be found on the Modern Quilt Guild website. More details will be posted on our blog as they become available. I think we should all jump in and have some fun with this new challenge!

Question of the Week

When our quilt guild got started almost two years ago, the most readily available line of solid cottons was Kona by Robert Kaufman. Since then, many more companies have released their own solid lines. Chime in and tell us what solid line you like to use! Please include "textured" solids like cross weaves, linen, etc. 

Saturday Sew-In Reminder

Our monthly sew-in is this coming Saturday, October 27, from 10:00 - 4:00 at Strawberry Patches. Bring a project to work on and a snack to share, and join us for a great day of fun! 

October meeting

Lots of laughs and learning were shared at the BMQG October meeting. President Lynn announced the November meeting has been changed to Saturday, Nov. 10, to accommodate a special event at Strawberry Patches. Meeting time will still be 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Next Saturday's (Oct. 27) sew-in is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Strawberry Patches. If you don't feel like lugging your heavy sewing machine to the sew-in, feel free to bring hand sewing/embroidery, or even knitting or crocheting.

QuiltCon, the first convention and show of the Modern Quilt Guild, is coming up in late February. Several of our members are planning to attend. Lynn encouraged everyone to consider entering the quilt show. Entry fee is $30 per quilt, with one quilt allowed per person per category. The Modern Quilt guild also is collecting the logos of each of the member guilds and will be printing fabric containing all the logos. Lynn has contributed the Bakersfield MQG logo, so we will be represented.

Upcoming programs: In November, Nicci will teach us how to make prairie points for our projects. December's meeting will be our Christmas party. Those attending should bring an appetizer and a charm pack (new, packaged by a fabric manufacturer) to exchange. Members who made goal boards for 2012 should bring those to share and talk about the progress made (or not!). We will be revising and/or creating new goal boards for our meeting in January.

New board members will be elected in December, and the following positions are open: president, vice president, secretary, program chairperson, and philanthropic coordinator. Please see Lynn, Christy, or Laura if you are interested in any of these positions. We need active participation and leadership for the guild to thrive and grow!

Lynn checked with the group to ensure that everyone is familiar with the Bakersfield Modern Quilt Guild blog and Facebook page, as these are the best places to get the latest information on guild events. She and other members also post tutorials, tips, and even recipes on the blog a few times a week.

This month's program was provided by Jane, who demonstrated how to sandwich and baste a quilt for domestic machine quilting. We all learned a couple of nifty ways to close safety pins and not injure our fingers. Lynn brought lots of samples of various battings and discussed which ones work best for which types of quilts, wall hangings, etc. Thanks to the Strawberry Patches team for sharing samples of the battings they stock as well.

The awesome creativity of our membership was revealed in the show and tell session (see photos below).

And, in an unbelievable turn of events, your BMQG secretary is posting this meeting summary on the SAME DAY that the meeting occurred.  :-)

Don't forget next weekend's sew-in ... hope to see you there!

Laura
BMQG Secretary

Upcoming Meeting Details

The next meeting of the BMQG is this coming Saturday, October 20th, 2:00 - 4:00, at Strawberry Patches. Jane will be showing us the details on how to properly prepare a quilt for domestic machine quilting. We will also be discussing a variety of battings and how/when to use them. 

Our next sew-in will be held at Strawberry Patches, 10:00 - 4:00, on Saturday, October 27th. Bring a snack to share and a project to work on. It doesn't have to be a quilting project. Bring your crochet, knitting, needlework, or anything else you want to work on while enjoying a fun day with some wonderful people!

The November meeting date needed to be moved, because Strawberry Patches will be hosting Barri Sue, of Bareroots, on our regular meeting day. We have moved the date to the 10th of November. The time will remain the same. Make sure you mark your calendars so that you don't miss it! 

The end of the year is quickly approaching, which means that it'll be time to elect new officers. If you enjoy this group and want to see it continue, then you need to consider stepping up and serving. We have a great foundation in place, and there will be plenty of support for new officers. Here are the positions and the descriptions:

BMQG President

-Primary function is to see to the smooth running of the BMQG. Organization is necessary and follow through is a must.

-Arrange, schedule and facilitate monthly meetings of the BMQG, as well as for officers of the BMQG.

-Assist in maintaining blog and Flickr, and other duties as necessary.

- Take suggestions from all members under advisement. Works with individuals as needed.

-Prior to officer and BMQG meetings, the President, with input from other BMQG officers, is to prepare an agenda. This is to be emailed to all officers before the monthly meeting. In addition, a brief general description of upcoming activities/meetings is to be posted on the blog.

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BMQG Vice President

-The vice president will perform the duties of the president if needed, including running the monthly meeting.

-Assist in maintaining all online media (blog, Flickr, etc)

-Attend monthly guild meeting. Arrive 1/2 hour before BMQG meetings to assist with meeting set up and stay for clean up.

-Attend monthly board meetings. Actively participate in guild leadership and making decisions regarding activities and growth of the BMQG.

-Collect and maintain door prizes. 

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BMQG Secretary

-The primary duty of the BMQG secretary is to take notes at all monthly BMQG meetings and officers’ meetings. In a timely manner, a summary of these meetings will be sent to all Board members. The secretary will also assist in posting pertinent guild information to the blog/web page, including announcements, guild business, presentations, show and tell, shop hops, sewing nights, charity work, etc. Picture taking at monthly meeting is also helpful, and this responsibility will be shared by everyone on the board.

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BMQG Program Coordinator

-Supports the planning, implementation, maintenance, and documentation of BMQG’s public programs and educational activities.

-Actively recruits a guest speaker and/or arranges group activity for each BMQG meeting. Works with the speaker on presentation, offering help, encouragement and support.

-Actively works on future month’s meeting: content, lectures, social events, sewing projects, etc.

-Coordinates give-aways, challenges, swaps, and guild activities.

-Encourages members to be involved in presentations.

-Have on-hand filler material or a ten minute tutorial on hand in case a meeting runs short, and/or program changes.

All positions require the require the following:

-Officers are expected to represent the guild in a honorable manner, in all communications and interactions related to the BMQG.

-Ability to speak in front of a group

-Can actively seek new information from people and groups, via internet, phone, etc.

-Organizational ability and attention to detail

The time commitment for each position is about 10 hours per month, which includes monthly BMQG meetings and monthly officers’ meetings.

We would also like to get involved in a local philanthropic project. The Board has some ideas on what we could do, but we need a philanthropic coordinator for the group. That person would coordinate the gathering and delivering of donated quilts to the specified group. In addition, the coordinator would be responsible for communication between the Board and the designated charity contact person. If you think you'd like to fill this position, please let one of the Board members know. 

We are running low on door prizes. All of the items that we've given away have been donated by our members. If you have extra fat quarters, patterns or notions that you'd like to donate, please bring them to the meeting and give them to Christy. Your generosity is much appreciated!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Lynn, Christy, and Laura

A Bit of Inspiration

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm loving this cooler weather! This is the time of year that my creative juices start to get going. I want to bake, knit, sew, quilt, paint...I want to do it all! If only we had more hours in a day! 

Pam sent me a link to the free pattern to make the Belle Wave Quilt. The pattern is by Faith Jones of Fresh Lemon Quilts, using Art Gallery Fabrics. This quilt looks like it would come together in a snap, and it would be a great stash buster! 

I found a fun tutorial on making candy corn blocks. I think the block(s) would be great for making a fall themed mug rug, table runner, or table topper! You can find the tutorial on the blog of Canton Village Quiltworks. 

I'm going to pour myself another cup of coffee and go do something creative! 

Cheers,

Lynn

Cheers For Our Members!

The last couple of months have been busy for the BMQG! As the president of this group, I get a lot of joy from watching our group grow and expand their quilting horizons. I would like to acknowledge a few of our members, and let you know what they have been up to:

Liz, Pam, and Nicci, all participated in making blocks for the MQG QuiltCon Challenge. As each of their blocks was displayed on the Modern Quilt Guild homepage, our BMQG family rejoiced for them! It was quite exciting, I tell ya! 

Pam continues to be our Swap Queen, participating in a variety of swaps and bees this year. It has been fun to see what she makes and also receives in these swaps! Pam posts her projects, and the things she receives from fellow swappers, on our guild's Flickr page. If you don't yet know about Flickr, you can join by creating a Yahoo account. It's free, it's easy, and Flickr will open up a whole new world of inspiration for you! Go to flickr.com to get started. If you have trouble maneuvering through getting an account set up, e-mail me at LongarmLynn@aol.com. I'm happy to help walk you through it!

The online swap groups are a huge part of the modern quilting movement, and I encourage you to get involved in one. Meg, who has also participated in several swaps and bees, wrote a great blog post about how to get involved in online swaps. Dip your toe into that water, and see how you like it!

The Kern County Fair was last week, and Nicci won a 3rd place ribbon on a quilt of her own design! She used a variety of Tula Pink Fabrics in the quilt, so she named it Tula Zig. Inspired by the style of Angela Walters, I had the pleasure of quilting it. We both enjoyed seeing it hang at the fair with a ribbon on it! Congratulations, Nicci! You did a beautiful job! (We'll all get to see it next month!)

Christy has completed several projects this past year, and I am always encouraged by her generous spirit when making quilts for charity. I missed our last meeting, because I was on vacation, so I didn't get to see her Polaroid quilt. I did, however, see pictures of it. It's adorable! She is donating the quilt for a fundraiser. Thank you for leading by example, and encouraging others to give, Christy! 

More exciting news for our group, is that we will be the featured guild in the premier issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited! I was thrilled beyond words when Vicki Anderson called me to say that she wanted to feature our guild! I got to write the article, and I sent Vicki no less than a dozen pictures to choose from. I have no idea which ones she chose, so it'll be a surprise for everyone! I also talked with Vicki, at length, about her vision for the magazine and what to expect. I was so danged excited after that conversation, I was bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day! I know of her other magazine, Machine Quilting Unlimited, so I know the quality of magazine that her company puts out. This one is going to be fabulous! If you haven't yet subscribed, I suggest you get on with it! The premier issue will be out next month! FYI, Machine Quilting Unlimited is geared for longarm and domestic machine quilters, so there's something for everyone in that magazine, too! If you want to check it out, Barnes and Noble carries it. 

Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, is October 11 - 14. This is a fabulous show! It features quilts of all styles, and you'll be inspired more than you can imagine! The vendors are fabulous, and the classes always get rave reviews! If you have the chance to attend, go for it! 

A reminder that Quilt Con is next February, and they are calling for quilt entries. I know of a couple of members who are considering entering quilts. There's still time to get your entry in, so give it a go! You'll find all the details on the Quilt Con website. 

I want to give a shout out and a big thank you to our local quilt shops for all of their support! Strawberry Patches and Bolts to Binding have been instrumental in our growth! They provide space for our meetings and sew-ins, and they are both great about ordering the things we need for our various projects. You'll find a variety of modern fabrics in these shops, as well as traditional fabrics, books and patterns, for those of you who prefer that style. Suzanne and Jeri, we couldn't do this without you! 

To all of our members, visitors, and fellow board members, you all inspire me to do more, make more, give more, and laugh more. I appreciate your involvement and your encouragement, not only to me, but to each other. This is a great group, and I'm proud to be a part of it! 

Until next we meet,

Lynn

September meeting

My apologies for the late post on our BMQG September meeting. Life at the Haywood home has been fast-paced!

Vice president Christy kicked off September's meeting with a test of our members' coordination, as we played a game of "pick up the buttons in the glass jar with chopsticks." We played in teams, and had a great time chasing those slippery buttons and occasionally catching one!

Announcements: Nicci (and possibly others) have quilts on display at the Kern County Fair (Nicci got third place for one of her quilts!). The Pacific International Quilt Festival is coming up Oct. 11-14, and the Modern Quilt Guild's QuiltCon is Feb. 21-24. Our sew-in this month is at Bolts to Bindings. Please support our local quilt shops that allow us to use their classrooms for our sew-ins. (We had good attendance and a great time at Bolts to Binding this month - gave me a great reason to bring Smith's cookies!)

And in some very exciting news, a new magazine, Modern Quilts Unlimited, will feature the Bakersfield Modern Quilt Guild in its premiere issue! Check out their website at mqumag.com.

Elections for new officers will be held at the January meeting. Our president, Lynn, will post the duties for each office soon on the blog.

Our October meeting will feature a tutorial by Nicci on prairie points and how to feature them in your quilting projects.

Show and tell featured the awesome work of several of our members (see photos below). It's always amazing to get an up-close look at the talent and skills of our members.

Christy demonstrated the spiderweb block with Halloween-themed fabrics and gave us a detailed handout so we don't forget any of the steps. Great job, Christy!

Our next meeting will be October 20, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Strawberry Patches. See you there!

Laura
BMQG Secretary

Spider Web Block Tutorial

 At our September meeting, I did a demonstration of the Spider Web Quilt Block. It is a simple string quilt block with several variations. I chose Halloween fabrics and a black background to make a Halloween table quilt. (Not sure if it'll be done for Halloween this year or not though!)

For the demo, I made a tutorial handout showing some of the steps involved in making this block. There have been a few people who couldn't make it to the meeting that wanted to see how the block is made, so I thought I'd share the tutorial here. At the bottom of this post, I've listed a few other online tutorials for the Spider Web Block.

If you make something using this tutorial, I'd love to see it!

~Christy

Spider Web Block Tutorial

1.   Cut a variety of strips from the fabrics chosen to make the spider webs. Varying widths from 1 ¼” to 2” work best. (You can use yardage or scraps for these strings.)

2.   To create a “kite” template, cut a paper square 8.5” by 8.5” and then cut it diagonally into two triangles. 

 

3. Using one triangle to create your kite, draw a line ¼” above the long side of the triangle. Find the center of this line and then make a hash mark ¼” away on each side. From the tip of the triangle, measure 2.5” on each side and make a mark. Make a diagonal line from the mark on the triangle sides to the appropriate mark along the bottom line. Cut along the diagonal lines to make your kite template. (I traced this paper template onto a piece of plastic from a food container to have a more durable template.)

4.   Trace kite template onto your background fabric and cut out kites.

5.   Cut your paper foundation into an 8.5” by 8.5” square, and then cut it diagonally into two triangles. Cut an appropriate number of foundation squares for whatever size finished quilt you would like. (These blocks finish at 8”x8”.)

6.   Using a small amount of washable glue stick, attach a fabric kite to each paper triangle.

7. Lay your first strip, facedown, on top of your fabric kite, lining up the raw edges. Make sure that this strip extends far enough beyond the paper foundation to cover it once it is flipped.

8. Stitch using ¼” seam allowance.

9.   Flip the strip right side up and press.

10. Add your second strip facedown, on top of the first strip. Align raw edges and stitch with 1/4” seam allowance.

11. Continue the stitch and flip method until you have covered both sides of the triangle.

12. Flip your finished triangle over on your cutting mat. Line up your ruler with the edges of your paper foundation and use your rotary cutter to trim off the excess strips.

13.       Remove the paper foundation. (This can be messy, so have a trash can handy! I found it easiest to complete several triangles and then remove all the paper.)

 14.       To create a quilt with the spider webs in an off set pattern, you will join two triangles together along the long side. Line up the kite points and anywhere else along the seam that you wish. Stitch with a ¼” seam allowance.

15. Press seam open to reduce bulk. (There are a lot of seams to deal with while pressing. I recommend starting in the center and pressing out towards the corners.)

16. Square up your blocks. Join your blocks in rows and then join the rows to complete your quilt top.

Tips and advice:

• Use a walking foot when using a paper foundation for your blocks.

• Using a shorter stitch length and a larger needle size will make the paper foundation easier to remove. 
• Try to use a larger strip as your last one on the triangle. The skinnier strips are harder to deal with at the ends when you put the triangles together. 
• When removing the paper, try not to stretch or distort your block.   
•  Use your thumbnail to hold the first few stitches in place when removing the paper foundation. 
• Make sure to PRESS, not IRON, to avoid distorting your block. 
• Cut LOTS of strips. You’ll need more than you think.

 Other online tutorials

http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/2010/06/spider-web-quilt-block-tutorial.html

http://quilt-it.blogspot.com/2009/01/tutorial-spiderweb.html

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2010/04/spiderweb-block-sew-along/

http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/2010/04/spiderweb-tutorial-for-selvages.html

http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/07/spiderweb-potholders-tutorial.html