Madrona Road Challenge Update

We hope you are all working on creating something fun with your bundle of Madrona Road fabrics! The challenge is to use the fat 1/8th bundles, combined with solid fabrics of your choosing, to create anything you'd like. You may also use any colorway or combination of the Madrona Road line. The Modern Quilt Guild has requested that you post pictures of your progress and your finished projects to the flickr group set up for the challenge. Michael Miller will be checking the flickr group pictures, and they may select some of the projects for display in their booth at Quiltcon. 

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

Upcoming Meeting and Other Fun Stuff

Our next meeting is Saturday, September 15th, 2:00 - 4:00, at Strawberry Patches. Christy has been making an adorable Halloween quilt using Spider Web blocks. She will be showing the rest of us how to make this fun, easy block! During our show 'n tell, you'll have a chance to share the project you've made with the Perfect Polaroid Blocks we swapped at the last meeting. Pam has made another pillow, using Halloween themed Polaroid blocks. It's a fun, whimsical piece, and she'll be teaching the class at Strawberry Patches on the 17th @ 10:00. We are so blessed to have such talented and creative members in our group!

Our sew-in for this month will be held on the 22nd at Bolts to Binding, from 10:00 - 4:00. If you want to bring your lunch, we have use of the frig and microwave in the kitchen area. There are plenty of places nearby to go and pick up something. Bring a snack to share and a project to work on, and enjoy the fellowship and fun that this group has to offer! If you've never attended one of our meetings or sew-ins, a sew-in is a great way to check us out!

If you are making a quilt for the Bolts to Binding color challenge, the quilt has to be turned in by October 1st. The color for this challenge is a particular orange solid that the shop carries. The quilts will be displayed, and customers can vote on their favorite quilt. The winner will receive a gift certificate to spend at the shop. If you need more information, you can call Bolts to Binding at 661-873-4691.

QuiltCon opened for registration last week, and several of our members will be attending. What a great opportunity to be in the thick of things at the first convention of the Modern Quilt Guild! If you want to find out more about QuiltCon, visit their website at http://www.quiltcon.com.

I'll be on vacation for the next couple of weeks, so I'll miss the meeting and the sew-in. As much as I'll miss everyone, I'll be enjoying the company of my son. I haven't seen him since March, and I'm needing some face time! Enjoy the meeting, sew-in, time with fellow quilters, and be good to one another.

Until next we meet,

Lynn
President

Swap Reminder

We have just about a week and a half to finish up our Scrap Bag Swap projects. Put those finishing touches on your project(s), and be ready for the big reveal! Our meeting is on Saturday, June 16th, at Strawberry Patches, from 2:00 - 4:00. Don't forget to bring your show 'n tell projects and the blocks you are working on for the QuiltCon Block Challenge! See you soon!


Lynn
President