June and July Meeting News

This summer has already proven to be a busy time for our BMQG family! Summer vacations and kids at home have not deterred the group from being very productive! 

Our June meeting included the reveal for our Scrap Baggy Swap Challenge. Members were instructed to bring a quart sized baggy stuffed full of usable scraps. The baggies were then put into a large brown paper bag, and members had to reach in and grab a baggy. Members had to take the scraps and make something for the person providing the scraps. The only rule was that 75% of the completed project had to be made up of scraps contained in the baggy. The resulting projects were awesome! Check these out!

We each got baggies like this

 

The decoupaged box and fabric bowl made by Lynn for Lana 

 Wallhanging made by Christy for Laura

 Sewing machine cover made by Nicci for Pam

Tote bag and pouch made by Pam for Christy 

Sewing machine mat, thread catcher, and pin cushion made by Lana for Nicci 

Pillow made for Lynn by Laura

We also had a lot of show 'n tell!

Pam's Stitcher's Garden quilt

Quilted by Lynn Douglass

Christy's quilt

Liz designed blocks for the QuiltCon Challenge

Sandy's jelly roll quilt

Carol's jelly roll quilt

Jane's stars quilt

 

The members made a baby quilt for Liz. Little Aaron was born three days later! 

Label embroidered by Pam Gavin 

A tutorial on the blog of Molly Flanders,was used to make this quilt. We modified it a little

 

Quilted by Lynn Douglass

July Meeting

Our July program included making Picture Perfect Polaroid blocks. Click on the link for a tutorial on how to make these addictive little blocks! There is also a swap in progress on Flickr, and Pam taught our group how to make these fun little blocks! She even brought little project baggies with precut sashing and focal fabrics so that everyone could quickly see how these blocks come together. 

Pam 

Sandy  

Nicci 

This is one way to show off your blocks! 

Jane

Show 'n Tell

Pam's Picture Perfect Polaroid pillow

Nicci's finished Bubble Gum & Daisies Quilt

Quilted by Lynn Douglass

 

Christy's pillow case for her son

 

Jane's adorable wool candle mat

 

Jane's jelly roll quilt

Jane's quilt from a jelly roll and a charm pack

Quilted by Dyna Hall

This was Liz's last meeting with us, as her family is moving from Bakersfield. She brought Aaron by to meet all of us. He's such a handsome little fella! 

We have loved having Liz in our BMQG family, and we are going to miss her something fierce! 

Our sew-in will be at Bolts to Binding this coming Saturday, July 28th, from 10:00 - 4:00. When we get together, it's really hard to say good-bye at the end of the day, and we tend to lollygag a bit. The shop closes at 4:00, so we need to be mindful of getting our projects packed up and be out of the store so that they can close on time. 

Until next we meet,

Lynn

President

Upcoming Meeting

Our next meeting will be this coming Saturday, July 21, 2:00 - 4:00, at Strawberry Patches. We will have a couple of very cool tutorials to share, and we will be announcing a new challenge! Be sure to bring your summer show 'n tell projects, and be ready to enjoy a great group of people! 


If you are up for going to a big quilt show this month, the Long Beach International Quilt Festival is July 27 - 29. This venue is quite large, and it's put on by the same company that puts on the Houston International Quilt Festival every year. The vendors are amazing, and the quilts even more so! Grab a friend or two and hit the road for a day of adventure! 


Our Sew-In this month will be at Bolts to Binding, Saturday, July 28, from 10:00 - 4:00. Bring something to work on (doesn't have to be quilting) and a snack to share. A frig and microwave are available for us to use if you want to bring your lunch. 


See you all soon!


Lynn
President

Need An Easy Dinner Recipe?

With summer upon us, I do a lot more cooking in the crock pot. Here's a fabulous recipe for crock pot chile verde, shared by BMQG member, Jen. I'll also add the recipe to the BMQG Kitchen section of this blog. Check it out!

Easy Chile Verde in the Crockpot

Start with 1 pound of tomatillos (I always grab about 12; if you have a large crockpot and want to go big, add more!), 1 small onion, and some cloves of garlic (I like garlic, so I used 6 large ones today).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel everything, rinse and halve the tomatillos, and chop the onion into big chunks. Grab a casserole dish (I use a glass one) and cover the entire bottom with a thin layer of olive oil. Place all ingredients into the dish and roast for 30 minutes.



When that is ready, pour the roasted ingredients into your blender and blend away. Next, add a rinsed bunch of cilantro (I cut off just the very end of the stalks) and a 4 oz. can of diced chiles (I use mild; we have baby tongues here) and blend with the rest of the sauce.



Take some pork chops, amount dependent upon how many mouths you have to feed (I usually buy about 1 or 1.5 pounds for my family of 4), and place in greased crockpot. Add salt & pepper to them according to your liking. Take blender and pour sauce into the crockpot, covering the pork chops. Cover and cook about 8 hours on low. And that's it!



Be sure to discard the fat when you shred your finished meat. We like ours served in tortillas with some cheese and sour cream, burrito style. Yum!!

A Lot Going On In The Quilting World!

QuiltCon


Exciting news on the QuiltCon website! You can now see a list and description of the classes and lectures being offered! Registration doesn't open until August 30th, so you have a bit of time to look through the online catalog and get an idea of what you might be interested in. 


Have you considered submitting a quilt for the show? Entries for the juried show will open on August 1st, with a deadline of November 30th.


If you are working on blocks for the QuiltCon block challenge, the deadline to get them in is August 15th. There are currently four of us working on them, that I'm aware of. Wouldn't it be great if the majority of our group got involved? Grab some quilt books and look at the block designs for inspiration! Get those creative juices going! Rules and details can be found on the QuiltCon website. 


ROAD TO CALIFORNIA


Registration for classes opened on Sunday. This is a show that is about 2.5 hours from here, and it's well worth taking the road trip to see it! Vendors come from all over the country to participate in this show! The variety and quality of the classes available are fabulous, and the quilts on display are outstanding! They accept all types and styles of quilts, so give some thought to entering something you've made! The deadline for entry is October 1st. 


Kern County Fair


I think it would be great if the BMQG had a strong showing in our local fair this year! Let's show Kern County what we do! The number of categories is too long to list here, but you can find them in the online catalog. We fall under Needle Arts and Sewing, starting on page 39 of the catalog. There are lots of great prizes to be won, so let's go get 'em! The deadline for entry is August 17th.


The Board will be meeting this week to work on upcoming programs. We have some fun things in the works, so keep an eye on the blog for all of the latest updates and announcements!


Until next we meet,


Lynn
President

Saturday Sew-In Reminder

The BMQG monthly sew-in is tomorrow at Strawberry Patches from 10 - 4. Bring a project to work on (doesn't have to be quilting related), and a snack to share. We don't have access to a frig or microwave, but there are several places nearby to get something to eat or drink. 


See you there!
Lynn
President

Upcoming Meeting

It seems like it's been such a long time since we last met! C'mon, Saturday! I hope everyone is ready for the big reveal of the projects sewn from the Scrap Bag Swap Challenge! It's going to be fun to see what everyone came up with!


In addition to revealing our challenge projects, Pam is going to have a paper piecing pattern to share with everyone. Have you seen all of the gorgeous Bee Weave It Or Not blocks that she's been making? That is the pattern that she's going to share! Woohoo! I will be demonstrating the Twister tool and showing you how to get those cool blocks that tessellate to make a fun quilt top! Don't forget to check out our library crate. Liz brought in several books to add to our growing library collection. Thanks, Liz! Also bring your projects for Show 'n Tell. I think we all need a little inspiration to help us get over the summertime blues! 


Looking forward to seeing all of you,


Lynn

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