We held our December meeting on Saturday morning at the Kingston Library.
We displayed our quilts and decorated tree at the Festival of Trees in Portsmouth in November. We received lots of compliments on our quilts. The ornaments that members did not want to take home will be donated to the Chase House in Portsmouth.
Paula passed the 'high five hand" to Nancy for all of her hard with this year, especially in helping to arrange our participation in the Festival of Trees.
Paula presented JoAnne with the fat quarters and other goodies that were collected for her to bring down to Florida to help replace anything damaged by Hurricane Irma.
In November Paula dropped off one of our quilts to a couple who were affected by the fire in Newmarket and we received a card thanking us for the quilt and our kindness.
We also donated 4 quilts, including the house quilt below by Michelle, to a group of people who lost their homes in a fire in Merrimac. Amy delivered these for us after the meeting this past weekend.
December was the last month for blocks for the block of the month. If you are participating, keep an eye on your email to see when the goal will be to have a quilt top done... spring?
If you need some inspiration, here is Sue's finished quilt top!! What a cool setting!
You can see the 2018 Retreat flier here and here!
Keep an eye on your email for more information on the 2018 Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. This year the club will focus on making one quilt using parameters from 6 different designers, including our own Amy Friend! You can find more information here!
We had the end of year swap at the meeting. Look at everyone opening and examining their pouches below!
Diane shared this quilt based on the color work of Josef Albers. The quilt includes some pleated quilt blocks which simulate seams, and also those tiny blocks are actually embroidered!
JoAnne shared this tree skirt that she made for her daughter.
Allison shared the blocks that she made at Glamp Stitch A Lot with Giuseppe Ribaudo, Lizzy House, Annemarie Cheney and Anna Maria Horner.
Allison also shared this quilt that she made for the her friend's mother who is going through breast cancer treatment.
Laura shared this quilt inspired by one of the 2017 block lottery blocks, as well her finished Irish Chain quilt.
Amy shared her High Tension quilt, and two new winter themed paper pieced patterns.
Suzanne won the lottery blocks in November, and already has made them into a quilt!
Colleen shared this quilt that was completed as a part of a quiltalong.
Barb shared her Crayon Box Challenge quilt as she was unable to attend our October meeting.
Jane shared this half square triangle quilt with fussy cut roses!
Jane also shared this quilt made for her friend Oula, which includes her name in bias on the back.
Robin shared this quilt which is a wedding gift for her daughter.
Lou shared her first quilt from 1996. She made this one summer with her granddaughter, and each of the blocks represents something specific about that summer. What a great memory!
Paula shared her entry for the MQG Michael Miller Challenge which she titled "Goodbye to Barnum & Bailey".
Paula also finished this quilt for her cousin for a Christmas gift. She has one more denim quilt to bind for the holidays!
Our January meeting will be held on January 6th. Stay tuned for more details!
The December meeting will be held at the Kingston Library from 10am-12pm on December 2nd. This will be our year end meeting, and we invite anyone who is able to bring a "brunch-y" food item. Typically these items range from sweet to savory, and we usually eat well and still have lots of leftovers!
We will be playing one round of Left, Right, Center. If you would like to participate, please bring three fat quarters, one a light solid, one a dark solid, and one a unique or unusual fabric. The winner of the round will go home with all of the fat quarters played!
We will also have our swap. This year we are making the boxy bag from the Kelby Sews tutorial (which can be found here), and filling this with $10 worth of goodies for our partners.
If you are unable to attend the meeting but signed up for a partner, please feel free to send your boxy bag along with a friend to be given to your partner. If you will be unable to make the swap bag please let Kali know at zirklek@gmail.com as soon as possible!
Dues for 2018 will be collected, as well as payments for the Improv Paper Piecing workshop with Amy Friend.
On Saturday November 4th we met at the Mary E Bartlett Library in Brentwood, NH.
As this is our annual business meeting we voted for the members of the 2018 Executive Board.
The Festival of Trees is happening November 17th, 18th, and 19th at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth. We will have quilts on display in the main room, and a tree that we have decorated with ornaments as well. Please speak with Nancy or Paula if you have any ornaments or quilts to display that you have not yet given to them. More info on this event can be found at the Portsmouth Garden Club website.
Registration is now open for our spring workshop with Amy Friend of During Quiet Time! The workshop will be on improv paper piecing, and will be help from 10am-5pm on March 17th. The workshop is open to 20 participants, and will cost $42 and includes lunch. Should there be inclement weather that forces us to postpone the workshop, the rain date will be March 24th. Please find more info here.
This is an example block that Barbara made after taking this class with Amy as a member of her other guild. Thanks to Nancy for bringing this in to show us!
In October we talked about using the money collected this year from the Block Lottery to donate to the Red Cross in an effort to help out after so many tragedies and disasters that occurred late this summer into the fall. We voted at the meeting to instead donate the money to Rosie's Place, which helps poor and homeless women in Boston and our dollars will have a much greater effect, as they are able to put $.85 from every dollar directly to work helping those in need.
At the October meeting we also talked about the fate of our charity quilts, and the possibility of donating these to people in need in our area. In the past month Paula has arranged for us to donate two quilts, one to the daughter of a woman killed in the Las Vegas shooting, and another to a family in Newmarket who lost their home in a fire. At the end of the meeting we reviewed the charity quilts in our stash and decided which quilts to use for this purpose. We noted that many of the quilts we have are smaller in size, and would be more suited to young children or small lap quilt size for elderly in wheelchairs.
For 2018 we voted to make roughly 150 pillowcases for the Tewksbury State Hospital Mental Health Ward. This ward sees mostly young adults in their twenties who do not see their families often. We decided that pillowcases would be much quicker to make than quilts, and as we could collect more we could have a greater impact on the residents of this ward.
Members participating in the Block of the Month showed their most recent blocks. There is only one more block to complete, and then they must begin to assemble their quilt tops!
For the Block Lottery in November we collected tree blocks made with a tutorial from Diary of a Quilter. Suzanne is the lucky winner of these blocks - I can't wait to see how she puts them together!
Diane passed the highfive on to Paula.
Our retreat will be held on May 3, 4, 5, and 6 at the Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunkport. Retreat payment dates have been updated from the listing provided by JoAnne last month. Please check your email for the most up to date version of the payment schedule. Retreat payments will be due on Feb 1, and April 1 if you are paying in two installments, and Feb 1, March 1, and April 1 if you would like to pay in three installments. You may also pay the full balance on Feb 1 if you wish.
Diane was inspired by the Block Lottery and made this quilt. The pink fabric she designed on Spoonflower and it can be found here.
Mary shared a few projects that she has been working on lately.
Nancy and her helpers shared her completed blocks from the Jen Carlton Bailly workshop.
Robin shared her Kite Tails quilt. The paper piecing foundation for these blocks was printed at 200% by Staples. This was quilted by Carrie Zizza.
Hildy shared this quilt top/back combo that she made for the Cambridge MQG Triangle Challenge. She made the flying geese with the Wing Clipper Ruler that Sue demonstrated for us earlier this year.
And then we sewed! We finished the necessary pillowcases for the Chase House in Portsmouth, and the surplus pillowcases will be donated to DCF. Thanks to all who were able to participate!
The December meeting will be held at the Kingston Library from 10am-12pm. This will be our year end meeting, and we invite anyone who is able to bring a "brunch-y" food item. Typically these items range from sweet to savory, and we usually eat well and still have lots of leftovers!
We will also have our swap. This year we are making the boxy bag from the Kelby Sews tutorial (which can be found here), and filling this with $10 worth of goodies for our partners. If you have not yet signed up but would like to participate please let Kali know by Monday, 11/13.
If you signed up for a partner but realize that you are unable to attend the meeting, please send along your swap bag with a friend if possible. If you will be unable to make the swap bag please let Kali know at zirklek@gmail.com as soon as possible!
Dues for 2018 will be collected at the December meeting as well.
Thank you to all who completed the instructor interest survey at the October meeting, or who emailed me separately to provide feedback. I am pleased to announce that our guild showed overwhelming support for hiring our own Amy Friend to teach her Improv Paper Piecing workshop.
This workshop will be held on March 17, 2018, at the West Newbury Town Hall Annex (381 Main St., West Newbury, MA 01985) from 10 am to 5 pm (with an hour break for lunch).
The cost per seat will be $42.
You may register for the workshop with Laura in person at the November and December meetings, or via mail. Cash or check payments will be accepted. (Please mail your check to the guild PO Box: P.O. Box 774, West Newbury, MA 01985.) Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis; class space is limited, so don't delay. Registration is open to guild members only until further notice.
What will we be doing at the workshop? You can take a look at Amy's Instagram feed to see some work she has posted by students at her previous workshops. Her most recent book, Improv Paper Piecing, is packed full of projects she has made using this method. The quilts pictured below are Amy's work, and she made them using the method she'll teach us! Take a peek and get inspired.
Please note: it is very helpful to have had some experience paper piecing before this workshop. You don't need to be an expert, but it is good to have at least done it before. If you haven't paper pieced and would like guidance, please reach out to Laura at lacollins AT gmail DOT com and she can point you in the right direction.
Our November meeting will be held on November 4th, from 10am-1pm at the Mary E Bartlett Library located at 22 Dalton Road, Brentwood NH. During this meeting we will be holding yearly elections, the November block lottery will be due, we will collect ornaments for the Festival of Trees, and we will be sewing pillowcases for charity.
We accepted nominations for 2018 SMQG Executive Board at the October meeting, so that we can vote at the November meeting.
If you cannot be at the November meeting, please check your email for an electronic ballot. Per our bylaws we give members 1 week to vote, and I will keep online voting open through Monday, November 6th. I will publish the results of the election on Tuesday, November 7th.
There is space on the ballot to write in an additional candidate if you choose to do so.
If you have not been getting the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild Google Groups emails, please let me know at zirklek@gmail.com.
Paula Krolikoski - Paula is our current president. If you have attended our meetings this year Paula has lead the meeting!
Judy Durant - Judy was VP in 2015 and has been our Activities person this year, leading the BOM, block lotteries, and the Crayon Box Challenge!
Colleen Haggarty - Colleen has been our Hospitality Chair for the past two years.
Barb Brian - Barb is our current treasurer and has been assisting JoAnne as the co-chair of the retreat committee this year as well.
Laura Collins - Laura was secretary in 2013 and 2014, and in 2015 was president. She has been assisting as the 2018 Events Chairwoman as well.
We will be collecting ornaments at the meeting for the Festival of Trees. We are asking members to create 4 fabric ornaments that are 6 inches or less in size.
If you are participating in the Block of the Month please bring the October block, Open Sesame #6, to the November Meeting. The December block will be #22, Sugar Plum. Please refer to Judy's emails for more updated information!
The instructions for the November Block Lottery were handed out at the August Meeting, and can be found here, while the tutorial for the Modern Christmas Tree Blocks can be found on the Diary of a Quilter blog here! Judy has requested that we create these blocks with two fabrics that have a high level of contrast. Please use all shades of greens and low volume fabrics, with a few blocks being off-shades of red (not a true Christmas/fire engine red).
In November and December we will be accepting dues for 2018. Dues for 2018 are $50 and may be paid via cash or check at the meeting, or via PayPal at the Join Us link on our website.
The pillowcases are going to go to the Chase Home in Portsmouth and to the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families. We are requesting that members plan to make two pillowcases. The boy/girl ratio will be fairly evenly split at these locations, and we are making for both older and younger children. Please keep this in mind when picking your fabrics.
If possible, please bring to the meeting precut fabrics that fit the dimensions below. If you have another tutorial that you prefer for making a pillowcase please feel free to follow that instead.
You will also need to bring your sewing machine and any necessary notions, and we will need a few volunteers to bring irons and ironing boards.
If you would like to participate in the End of Year swap, please speak to Kali! There is still a little time to join in.
On Saturday October 14th we met at the Kingston Community Library in Kingston, NH.
In September we had the Jen Carlton Bailly workshops. It's been awesome seeing the work that has come out of these!
On the first Saturday in October we displayed quilts at the Strawbery Banke Museum fall festival. Thanks to all who helped make this happen! Diane was awarded the "high-five hand" this month for her hard work on this event.
We have been invited to participate in this event again next year.
Festival of Trees - We will be decorating a tree with handmade quilty ornaments at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, NH. Our tree will be located indoors inside the Learning Center. We are asking members to create 4 ornaments that are 6 inches or less in size. Please bring these to the November meeting.
Sue Ann's origami star ornament caused quite a stir at the meeting, because it was so striking! If you want to make your own, the directions can be found at http://www.u-createcrafts.com/origami-star-ornament-tutorial/.
We will also need volunteers for the time of the Festival of Trees. Please keep your eyes open for a volunteer signup coming soon!
We decided at the meeting to hold our December Year End Meeting at the Kingston Library. This will be held on the 2nd of December from 10-12.
The December meeting is usually a year end potluck, and we do a swap within the guild. This year we are making the boxy bag from the Kelby Sews tutorial (which can be found here), and filling this with $10 worth of goodies for our partners.
If you are interested in participating but were not be able to attend, please email Kali at zirklek@gmail.com with the following information and I will email you a partner's name!
Who is your favorite fabric designer or pattern designer?
What is one notion or quilting item that you would love to add to your stash?
If you received a swap partner at the meeting but find that you are unable to make the swap bag, please let me know! We do not want for anyone to not receive a bag if they chose to participate. If possible you may always send your bag with a friend to the meeting if you are unable to attend.
The registration for the 2018 Anna Maria Horner workshops is now open! If you haven't already gotten a chance, please sign up on the Cambridge MQG website here. Registration opened to the public today, so if there is a workshop you are eyeing, please act fast! You can email the CMQG at cambridgemodernquiltguild@gmail.com to be added to the waitlist if necessary.
On Friday, April 13, Anna Maria will teach her Mod Corsage workshop.
On Saturday, April 14, Anna Maria will teach Inspiration by Hand.
On Sunday, April 15, Anna Maria will teach Color Fluency with Patchwork.
Healing Hearts Quilt Pattern from Fat Quarter Shop - All proceeds go to Hurricane Harvey relief through Oct 31, 2017.
Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild #quiltsforvegas Quilt Drive - The Las Vegas MQG is collecting completed quilts, quilt tops, blocks, binding, backing, batting and monetary donations. They have set a deadline of November 15th, and have more information on their website.
Sew Yeah Quilting: Vegas Strong Quilt Drive for Unseen Heroes - Sew Yeah Quilting is donating quilts to the first responders and other unseen heroes of the Vegas shooting. They are accepting quilts until November 4th. See more information on their website.
We also discussed the fate of our charity quilt stash. We discussed donating these quilts to some of the recent national disasters and I believe that the final decision among the group was to donate these to local folks in need. We have a few leads (a recent fire in Newmarket, as well as a local woman who is a survivor of the Las Vegas shooting). Please let us know if you hear of any other causes locally that could use a quilt!
We have decided that the 2017 QuiltCon Charity Quilt will be donated to the Chase House in Portsmouth, NH. The Chase House offers a residential program for at risk youth. We are also going to be donating pillowcases to the Chase House that we are going to be making at our November meeting. See the end of this post for details on what to bring to the November meeting for this!
JoAnne gave an update on the 2018 retreat. This will be held May 3-6 at the Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunk Maine. This event includes lots of sewing time with plenty of space to spread out and plenty of food, and drink!
Please let JoAnne know if you are interested in assisting with the retreat committee.
The 2018 retreat rates sheet can be seen here.
We accepted nominations for 2018 SMQG Executive Board. We will be voting for these at the November meeting. If you cannot be at the November meeting, please check your email starting Oct 31st! Per our bylaws we give members 1 week to vote, and I will be opening the voting online starting on Tuesday Oct 31.
If you have not been getting the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild Google Groups emails, please let me know at zirklek@gmail.com!
In June Judy announced our Crayon Box Challenge. Members who chose to participate were given two crayons and the parameters to make a modern mini quilt using only those two colors (no other shades) and one neutral. We all had the chore of voting during our break time for the quilt that fit these parameters the best, and what a decision we had in front of us!
Laura won first prize for her pink and orange mini quilt, even though she was not able to attend the meeting. She was assisted by her daughter, Lucy! Sue won 2nd place, and Nancy came in 3rd.
Mini quilts below by Judy, Suzanne, Diane, and Jane B.
Mini quilts below by Marylee, Lou, Paula, and Robin.
Marylee shared this quilt - she said that this is the most quilting she will ever do on a quilt as it took so long to finish, but doesn't it look great?!
Suzanne shared this quilt made for a new grandson! She used Hobbs wool blend batting in it.
Suzanne also shared this quilt that was made with flying geese blocks made by her sister. Isn't this breathtaking! The back features one large goose.
Bea shared this mini quilt that hung at Strawbery Banke Museum.
Diane shared this quilt that experiments with indigo dying and embroidery.
Jane F shared this quilt. The pattern is the Local Quilt Pattern by Carolyn Friedlander.
Kathy shared this quilt that was started at one of our charity sew-ins.
JoAnne shared a holiday quilt.
Nancy shared her finished blocks from the Jen Carlton Bailly class. With the large size of these blocks she is well on her way to having a quilt!
She also shared this quilt top that was made with blocks that a friend did not want. Doesn't it look great!
Sue shared this quilt which was a block of the week from her store.
She also shared this paper pieced Elephant Abstractions quilt, designed by Violet Craft.
The pillowcases that we will be sewing are going to go to the Chase Home in Portsmouth that provides services for teens, and to the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families. We are requesting that members plan to make two pillowcases. The boy/girl ratio will be fairly evenly split at these locations, and we are making for both older and younger children. Please keep this in mind when picking your fabrics.
If you are participating in the Block of the Month please bring the October block, Open Sesame #6, to the November Meeting. The December block will be #22, Sugar Plum.