Thursday, March 14, 2013

Woops!

My first day on the job, and I've already botched it up!  Just a few quick things I forgot to mention...

As if seeing all our friendly faces and awesome show and tell wasn't enough reason to come to next meeting...Aleeda will be doing a special demonstration for us on bias binding!  I know the very thought of bias edges makes some of us shudder, but Aleeda assured us that this will put our fears to rest, so don't miss it!!

Also, at last meeting there was a new challenge.  A name tag challenge. In this challenge, one member of the guild makes a name tag for another member. Nothing too big, nothing too small...about 3"x5" at the max. Any design, shape, or technique is acceptable! Several people signed up already, but if anyone else is interested, we could try and do another match up at the next meeting.  Name tags will be due in April.

Also, I was asked for some clarification on the Hexi swap.  Nothing is set in stone yet, so it is difficult to give exact details, but I'll try my best to explain.  Basically, anyone who wants to participate will make "x" amount of English Paper Pieced Hexagons for each other member of the group.  Everyone then swaps.  You end up with the same number of hexagons you made, hopefully in all new and different patterns!  I had an introductory email that I sent out to those who were interested at last meeting.  So as not to bore everyone with the details, just let me know if you are interested and I can send you the email.

Ok, I think that's it...I'll get better, I promise!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

February Wrap-Up

Hello all, Jessica here with our post meeting wrap up.  Sorry about the delay!

If you missed last months meeting, don't fret...I've got everything you need to know, right here! (Aleeda  has all the pics, hopefully they are soon to follow!)

Margaret and Beth gave us an awesome QuiltCon recap.  I know I wasn't the only one in the room dying of jealousy.  Margaret also had some really awesome pictures of the amazing quilts that were on display.  Inquiring minds wanted to know about the future of QuiltCon.  There was good news and bad news.  Rumor has it QuiltCon will not be a yearly event, but that there will be weekend retreats (for lack of a better word) in major cities across the country.  Philadelphia will probably be the closest to us...start saving those pennies, ladies!

We had some lovely ladies from the Warwick Valley Quilter's Guild join us for this meeting. It was a pleasure to meet these super experienced ladies!

Our members had some gorgeous show and tell items. (Nothing new there!)  I'm so sorry I don't have pictures for you, I will bring my own camera to the next meeting for sure...

Michelle showed us her Madrona Road challenge quilt that she made using the "Quilt as You Go" method.  Beautiful work, for sure!

Ashley showed us her very first quilt top.  I don't know about the rest of the group, but I could hardly believe it was her first!  It was a gorgeous herringbone pattern made with a Cuzco by Kate Spain jelly roll.  Bright and beautiful! Kudos to Ashley! Can't wait to see quilt top number 2!

Rachel also had a Madrona Road challenge mini quilt to show off.  A wall hanging I certainly wouldn't mind having in my own home!

Dawn blew us away with her Cutting Garden quilt.  This baby was hand quilted out of cottons and silks and was simply gorgeous.  We surely weren't the only ones to admire it considering it was entered in the International Quilt Festival last year, and I found a pic online! Yay!

Melanie showed us her new Greenscape quilt using Simply Color ombre fabric.  Melanie tried out a new circular free motion quilting design, and it looked amazing.  Pinkscape, it's predecessor, is on display at RPS.

Cortney showed us her super adorable Madrona Road challenge chevron pillow.  She used a no-piecing technique to get the chevron and then appliquéd them to the pillow.  Be sure to ask her about it at the next meeting.

Margy showed us two more amazing quilts.  The Exotic Quilt and a red, white, black and aqua quilt that had varied quilting in each square.  The result was astounding.

Betsy showed off Shirley's quilt. An adorable flower basket quilt..the flowers were in the quilting! It was super pretty and sweet.

A newcomer, Josephine showed us two great quilts as well.  She was unsure if they were "modern", but we all reassured her that they absolutely were.  Her snail trail quilt was stunning and her gorgeous circles quilt was hand quilted! Josephine also issued a warning for us about using the white clover marking pen on hand dyed batiks...apparently it doesn't come out!  Always be sure to test your markers, ladies!

I showed off my cursed quilt.  This is the first quilt I made for myself...lesson learned.  Everything from bad cutting, to rust, to machine oil, to poor tension in the quilting...this baby had it all.  Never again...from now on I only make quilts for others!

Phew! There was a lot of showing and telling at last meeting...be sure to bring something of your own to show off at our next meeting Thursday, March 28th at 7pm.  Hope to see you there!

One last thing before I go.  At the last meeting, I spoke about starting a Hexi swap.  A few ladies signed up, but there is certainly room for more!  If you might be interested in that and would like more details, just shoot me an email at sewdarncrazy@gmail.com.

Now, go! Get sewing so you can show something off on the 28th!