2013 Block of the Month: June

Our guild has members of all experience levels. From those who have been quilting for many years, to those who have recently purchased their first machine, and others who have sewn for decades and are just now experiencing the joy of quilting. The tutorial for this month was written by Lynette, who joined our guild last year. We love her giving spirit, and are so proud of her for taking the step of creating a block for our BOM. She's one of our newbie's, and we love her modern technique for creating this block. We hope you enjoy creating your own version of the...

Snowball Block by Lynette McKenzie

click here to download the tutorial

We'll see you back here next month with our newest block!

June 15 Minutes

Business
We have some decisions to make.  The original Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) is going international. Here's how it would affect us to join them:

• We would be able to keep our current guild name, otherwise we'd have to remove the 'modern' from our name.
• We would qualify for 501 (c) (3) status through them.
• They would provide us with a website and we would be linked to all the modern guilds via their website and social media.
• We would have to pay annual dues to them, of approximately $15/member, which would increase your total dues to approximately $40/year.
• We have already adopted official Bylaws and Standing Rules, and have the required EIN. Our bylaws  would need some minor revisions to meet the MQG criteria.

At our July 20 meeting we will discuss further and vote on it.  IMPORTANT!  Please review this document before our July 20th meeting.

Upcoming events
June 21 - volunteer in the sewing room at Thistle Farms, contact Kathy for more information.
July 20 - monthly meeting, Lindsay will be telling us about her book that will be coming out soon!
April 11, 2014 - MQG SewDown here in Nashville!

Block of the Month
Lynette shared her snowball block.  Go here for more information.

Show and Tell

Mary was the queen of show and tell this month.  This is the four-generation quilt that she is finishing up.  The quilt top came from her great grandmother.

The string that she tied the quilt with came from her grandmother.  To back the quilt she used the first sheet that her parents owned.  And, Mary represents the 4th generation, the one who is literally tying all the other generations together.

Mary made her cute summery dress from a fabric panel that a friend brought her from Thailand.

Mary is all caught up on her goal to make a black and white quilt from the Block of the Month series that we are creating.  We still have 6 months to go on that so we're looking forward to seeing what the final product will look like in our January 2014 meeting!

Mary's snowball quilt top was a smashing hit.  We all agreed that the pop of pinkish red was the perfect addition.  Mary is truly modern.

This is Mary's fusion blanket. 

She sewed a back on each square and turned them right side out, then blanket stitched around each square, then crocheted around each square, then crocheted them together.  Wow!

Mary made this from a jelly roll.  She used the Castle Stairs pattern, designed by 'our' own Kelly from Kelby Sews.

Mary is really enjoying using up her stash with improvisational piecing.

Here's another improvised quilt, a giant baby quilt.  Mary just loved the process and kept adding to it until it measured 54" x 74".  On her blog she suggests that it might be perfect for...a baby blue whale!

Lindsay, 'our' soon-to-be published author, whipped up this modern mini.  She's working on submitting the pattern for publication.

Lindsay also shared with us the 1/2 yard lengths of fabric that she ordered from Modern Yardage, 'a new digital textile fabric manufacturer...dedicated to bringing fresh, contemporary, fun fabrics to the modern sewist'.  She's planning on making a baby blanket.

Lindsay's bracket block quilt is done, well almost.  After she finished, she noticed that there had been tension issues on the back of the quilt.  She plans on picking it out and re-quilting it.  She's very brave!

Here's the back of the bracket quilt.  Lindsay showed us some other cute things that we're not allowed to post yet.  Stay tuned.

Stefanie LOVES swaps.  She received this cute pillow cover from her swap partner in the Pillow Talk Swap.

2013 Block of the Month:: May

We are back with another fun block. One of the goals of this BOM program is to offer a few techniques that some of you may have never tried. This block features a Paper Piecing method, which is a great way to infuse your project with an intricate design, that doesn't require a difficult piecing method. We hope you will love this one...

Kathy's Wonky House by Kathy Lasko

click here to download the tutorial

click here to download the paper piecing template

We'll see you back here soon with our next block!

2013 Block of the Month:: April

Thanks for your patience as we put the finishing touches on this great tutorial. Special thanks to one of our founding members, Leah Albertsen, for creating such a fun block. Get ready to learn some new techniques: Log Cabin, English Paper Piecing and Applique!

Hexie House Block by Leah Albertsen

click here to download the tutorial

click here to download the EPP hexagon template

We'll see you back here soon with our next block!

April Meeting Reminder

April 2013 Meeting Reminder

Saturday, April 20

10 a.m. - ?
Barr Conference Room
First Presbyterian Church of Franklin
101 Legends Club Lane
Franklin, Tennessee

Please feel free to bring a sack lunch or snack if you are staying for the sit & sew. Guests are welcome to come learn about the guild. If you would like to attend, please be sure to leave a comment below.

AGENDA:

- Regular Meeting

- March Block of the Month Presentation
- Show & Tell
- Sit & Sew

2013 Block of the Month:: March

Special thanks to one of our founding members, Royce Vaughn, for creating this quick and easy improvisational block. Because this block focuses on improvisational piecing there isn't a pattern to follow, but Royce has prepared a wonderful guide to this form of piecing. So after you've had a chance to admire her block, be sure to download the PDF (link below) to learn more about this technique and how to use the principles she discusses to complete your block.

Improvisational Block by Royce Vaughn

click here to download the tutorial

We'll see you back here next month with another block!

March 16, 2013 - Show and Tell

Although we're a modern quilt guild, our quilters dabble in all types of quilting.  One of our goals is to dedicate more meeting time to 'show and tell'.  This meeting did not disappoint!  Our visitors even brought things to show us.  They'll be a great addition to our guild!

First up, an art quilt by Royce.  Look at it closely to see all the textures and embellishments that she's added to this panel that she fell in love with.

Take your Dramamine before looking at this black and white quilt that Royce made - there's a lot of motion in this modern quilt!  Most of it is cropped out, but the red binding is the perfect final touch!

Check out the quilting on this thing.  Royce wanted to hone her quilting skills.

Say good-bye to microwave messes and burnt fingers!  Stefanie shared these nifty microwave bowl pad thingies.  Brilliant!  Here's a tutorial.

Here's what Stefanie did with her Summer House fabric collection by Moda.

Here's another quilt by Stefanie.  She used the Hometown by Sweetwater fabric collection.  She participated in the Synchronized Square Quilt Along.

This cute custom label was on Stefanie's quilts.  You can contact her here if you want to find out how she made them.  If you're techy, you could design your own and have them printed on fabric at Spoonflower.

Nancy, a visitor, shared this fun baby quilt with us.  We all agreed that the black triangles were a great addition to her composition.

Nancy is also working on this amazing 'freestyle' quilt.  She even 'freestyled' the words.  We're not worthy!

Here's a modern-looking quilt done by Lindsay, another visitor.  You've got to zoom in to take a look at her quilting.  It was her first time and she told us that she turned the quilt every time she stitched in a new direction.  Now that's dedication!

Lindsay created this block pattern, which she calls a bracket block.

Here are some more bracket blocks.  This was a group effort.

Veronica, another visitor, made this cute tear drop bag.  We were all surprised to discover that this is the smaller version of the bag.

Veronica got a lot of mileage out of her Joel Dewberry fabrics when she was able to make some mini bags to compliment her tear drop bag.  She was even wearing a coordinating scarf.

Here's a cute wall hanging shared by Anita, another visitor.

This is a labor of love by Anita.  Look at all that hand stitching.  Magnificent!

Here's Anita showing off a bunny wall hanging that her mom made for her.  Look Anita's mom, your work is on the internet!