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