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