March Meeting

A lively group filled the classroom at Strawberry Patches for our monthly meeting. President Christy announced the dates for several events and quilt shows:

• Best of the Valley quilt show, April 12-14 in Lindsay: http://www.botvquilts.com/
• Home Machine Quilting Show, May 8-13 (deadline for entries April 13), and there is a new modern quilting category: http://www.hmqs.org/
• Hoffman Challenge (projects made with specific Hoffman fabrics), deadline July 19: http://www.hoffmanchallenge.com/
• Long Beach International Quilt Festival, August 2-4, Long Beach Convention Center: http://www.quilts.com/home/shows/viewer.php?page=SummerFestival
• International Quilt Market and Festival, October 31-November 3 (deadline for entries April 26, and a modern quilting category is included). Details at http://callforentriesmodernquilts.com/
• Bolts to Bindings All-Day Sew, Saturday, April 20, 2 p.m.-midnight; potluck; limited to 20 participants; call the shop for sign-ups, 873-4691.
• Heart of the Valley Shop Hop, May 3-5; 11 shops are participating from Bakersfield to Turlock: http://heartofthevalleyshophop.com/

Don't forget our sew-in on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bolts to Binding. Come for a little while or for the whole time! Bring whatever sewing project you'd like to work on, and a snack to share if you'd like.

Also next Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., BMQG Program Chair Pam Gavin is teaching the Science Fair quilt, from the pattern by Julie Herman (Jaybird Quilts) at Strawberry Patches. Call or visit the shop to sign up; 835-1738.

Laura led a game called, "What's in the Bag?" Twelve sewing-related items were placed in a tote bag, and players had to guess what they were by feeling the shapes inside the bag. Many creative techniques were demonstrated in trying to determine the answers.  :-)

We had an awesome show-and-tell session (see lovely projects and their lovely makers below).

Pouch-a-Palooza: Nicci demonstrated the making of a zippered pouch, offering lots of helpful hints and tricks to guide us to success. We'll have a pouch swap at the April meeting, along with a recap of QuiltCon, the inaugural conference of the Modern Quilt Guild, from our members who attended.

Wrap-Up:
Check out the free zone - sewing/quilting items that are no longer needed/wanted by their original owners may be claimed by whoever would like to adopt them. Unclaimed items should be taken home by the person who brought them.
We're accepting donations for our prize basket - sewing tools, fat quarters, etc.
Bring your finished zippered pouch in a brown paper bag to the April meeting for the swap.

Submitted by:
Laura Haywood
BMQG Vice President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question of the Week

 

On Saturday, I watched an episode of "Why Quilts Matter". It was Episode 5: Gee's Bend: "The Most Famous Quilts in America". It was interesting to learn about the history of Gee's Bend, the quilts, and the women who made/make them. It was also interesting to learn how the Gee's Bend Quilt exhibits came to be. You know, the whole art vs. craft debate. Anyway, all this got me thinking......

Why do quilts matter to you?

And where do you stand on the art vs. craft discussion?

Are quilt art? Are they craft?

Maybe a little of both.

(Yes, I know that is more than one question, but I'm curious to hear what others think about this.)

Question of the Week

 

This week's question is about getting what you want.

If you were given a $100 gift card to spend on anything sewing/quilting related, what would you buy?

March Reminders

 

March Meeting - Saturday, March 16th from 2 to 4 pm at Strawberry Patches

Nicci will be showing us how to make a zippered pouch.

We'll be sharing details about our zippered pouch swap.

(Finished pouches to be exchanged at April meeting.)

March Sew In -  Saturday, March 23rd from 10 am to 4 pm at Bolts to Bindings

Bring a project to work on and a snack to share.

This is a great time to hang out with your quilting friends!

February Meeting Recap

We had a fabulous meeting! Pam did a great job of taking all of us through the internet! We saw several examples of traditional quilts and their modern counterparts. It was a great way to begin to train the eye to see quilting in a more modern way. We were also taught about setting up a Facebook account and how to access the BMQG Facebook page, the benefits of keeping up with our blog, and how to use Flickr for inspiration and ideas. It was an hour packed full of awesome information!

We also revealed our Madrona Road Challenge projects. What wonderful talent we have in our group! 

 Pam used the pattern Science Project by Jaybird Quilts

The back of Pam's quilt. 

 Christy used her favorite block, log cabin, and made it look modern.

The back of Christy's quilt.

 Laura did a nice job of making her quilt asymmetrical. She has great ideas to add a border design!

 We loved Nicci's modern Dresden Plate block!

 Lynn used the Cartwheels quilt pattern by Freshly Pieced

 Cindy's Mod Angles pillow. Pattern is by A Quilter's Table

We had a few other members who had some beautiful works to share.

Sharon showed us her gorgeous Ricky Timms inspired quilt. 

 

 Kara is working on a block to represent California in a quilt that will go to the White House.

Sandy's lovely 9 Patch on point quilt

The next sew-in will be this Saturday, February 23rd, from 10:00 - 4:00 at Strawberry Patches. Several of us are traveling to Quiltcon this week, so it will be up to the rest of you to represent our fun group at the sew-in. Have fun!

Question of the Week

If you had a full day to spend on quilt related activities, without other obligations, how would you spend your time? Piecing? Quilting? Browsing quilt books? Shopping for fabric? Or something else? 

Question of the Week

To coincide with the President's Sate of the Union speech, we thought we'd ask: 

If you were asked to give a "State of the  Studio/Workroom/Sewing Room" speech, what would be some of the highlights of your speech?