Announcing Winter Up-cycle challenge

Winter Upcycle Challenge:    Make a quilted item using upcycled material

You will not be using your own "stuff" for this challenge, as we will be having a materials swap at the January meeting.

Bring a gently used item to the January meeting that can be upcycled. It can be any colour, fibre, size, texture etc.

Think along the lines of old clothing, linens, thrift store finds, fabric swatches, vinyl, leather, pleather, nylon.  Feel free to get weird!

The item should be clean and suitable for upcycling. You must be able to sew "fabric" on a domestic sewing machine.
Must not have started life as quilting cotton.

Prepare your fabric in a bundle by rolling it up in such as manner as to disguise its identity. Use a brown bag if necessary.

The challenge is to make a quilt, bag, pincushion, mug rug, or something quilted using some of the item you picked up at the January Meeting. No sewing required until after the January Meeting where we are swapping our upcycle materials.

Deadline: Finished items will be shared at the March Meeting.

Questions: ask Philippa

Hashtag #calmqgupcyclechallenge


Be sure to Checkout what happened when Vancouver MQG did this same challenge. Thanks Vancouver for the inspiration! #vmqgupcyclechallenge

December Meeting and Social

Our December meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday December 14th 2017.  Note, this is the SECOND Thursday of the month due to the third Thursday falling so close to Christmas.  There will be no Sew Day in December.

This month we're getting sociable with our fellow guild members. If your last name starts with K-Z please bring some food to share (basically everyone who didn't bring food to the July party).

We are also still continuing to run the Charity Table.  This has been hugely successful and has massively offset the costs required to fund both the charity quilts for Sonshine and the QuiltCon Charity Quilt. Bring in anything you have that you won't use that you think someone else might love to take home.  In the past this has included patterns, magazines, notions, fabric (whole, scraps, selvage).

The meeting agenda is:

• Guild business
• Mug + Mugrug swap
• show and tell
• potluck!

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• Mug + Mugrug to swap
• Charity Table donations
• 2018 dues - cash or electronic (fees apply)
• Food to share if your last name is K-Z

The dues cycle is January-December and they are $60 per person in 2018. Members who join after June will pay $35. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

December Swap - Mug Rug and Mug

It appears to have become a tradition within the Guild to have a  Swap at our December meeting. In the past, we have made 1-hour baskets, and drawstring bags. This year I had a couple of ideas on my mind, but it often happens that I get ideas sent to me. This years idea came to me more than once!  So the jury has spoken!

This year we are making Mug Rugs, and we are pairing them up with a mug.

But are you wondering what exactly is a Mug Rug?

I decided to confer with the experts, (Google) and they all agree that a Mug Rug is somewhere between a coaster and a placemat. It's big enough to place your drink with enough room at the side for a snack. No judging on what your chosen drink or snack may be!

I also found this neat description from blogger Erin of Two More Seconds

What is a Mug Rug?  A small, fun to create, mini quilt that is mostly there to look pretty on your desk and soak up your drink of choice’s drips and condensation, as well as giving you full-on permission to eat some cookies, since, well, that extra space off to the side of your drink is just THERE for you to use.How big is a Mug Rug?  As big as you want it to be, usually falling somewhere in between the usual size of a coaster and a placemat. 4″x6″-ish to 6″x10″-ish.How do I make a Mug Rug?  Just like you were making a mini quilt!

Swap Guidelines:

The mug rug must meet the following size requirements:

Minimum size – 4″ x 6″

Maximum size – 6″ x 10″

If you do a shape other than a rectangle, the biggest side of the shape cannot exceed 10″.

The mug rug must be quilted – this means there’s 3 layers: a back, a front and a layer of wadding of some sort (can be flannel, batting, fusible batting, insulated batting, etc.)

You must use good quality modern quilting weight cottons. (We want this mug rug to last through multiple washes and spills.) 

Non-Christmas themes would allow for year-round use.

Co-ordination or you Mug Rug and mug would be awesome!

Bring your Mug Rug and mug to the December Meeting for Swapping.

Wondering what hashtags to use? #calgarymqg #calgarymqgmugrugswap

November Meeting and Sew Day

Our November meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday November 16th 2017.

This month we have Linda Schmidt talking about how to get your quilt accepted into a show (spoiler, you need a good photo!).

We are also still continuing to run the Charity Table.  This has been hugely successful and has massively offset the costs required to fund both the charity quilts for Sonshine and the QuiltCon Charity Quilt. Bring in anything you have that you won't use that you think someone else might love to take home.  In the past this has included patterns, magazines, notions, fabric (whole, scraps, selvage).  Don't forget to bring the already-completed pieces of the Charity Quilt.


The meeting agenda is:

• Guild business
• Presentation: Getting your quilt accepted into a show - Linda Schmidt
• Collect and award block lotto
• December Swap announcement
• show and tell

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• Block lotto entries
• Charity Table donations
• Completed Dresden Plates and Rail Fences for the Charity Quilt
• 2018 dues - cash or electronic (fees apply)

Our November Sew Day  is also at Wonderfil and we're working on Charity Quilts! Bring everything you need to sew Charity Quilts Saturday November 18th 10am - 3pm. NOW RESCHEDULED to December 2!

The dues cycle is January-December and they are $60 per person in 2018. Members who join after June will pay $35. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

October Block Lotto - Wonky Christmas Trees

I really wanted to do coffins for October, but this is going to be the last block lotto of the year (sad, I know!) so let's get right into Christmas!

This month we are making Wonky Christmas Trees.  There is a great tutorial by Amy Smart here: Diary of a Quilter - wonky Christmas Trees.

Source: Amy Smart - Diary of a Quilter

These blocks should come out at least 7.5"x9.5" unfinished. Do not trim them down if they're bigger, let the winner trim them down to size. The trees themselves will come out to all different sizes and shapes, which is the fun part! I like the ones that lean a little.

This tutorial nicely assembles the entire top portion first and then attaches the bottom portion (do that!).  Leah Day's tutorial assembles it the other way around (don't do that!) but has tips on making the tree itself with wonky stripes!  Feel free to decorate your tree however you like (I'm looking at you, popcorn strings), and here is your palette.

Source: Inspire Sweetness

This is a great, playful palette with one foot in Vintage and one foot in Modern. Both solids and prints are cool, or even a mix of both. The method outlined in Amy's tutorial makes trees two at a time, so the background for one tree will be the focal fabric for another.  Add any browns you like for tree trunks.

General Rules:

1. Make one quilt block (or more) following the pattern and color scheme outlined in the monthly post.  For every block you make and bring to that month’s meeting, you will get one entry in the lotto.  If you are unable to attend the meeting, but really want to participate in the lotto, comment on this post or contact Philippa and we’ll try to work it out. Remember, you must be a member of CALMQG to participate.

2. The winner gets ALL THE BLOCKS to make a quilted project from them (guild reserves the right to vote on splitting up the blocks between more than one winner if there are enough entries).  If you win, the blocks become yours and you can use them in any way you choose. 

3. We would like to see your finished project, either in person or pictures, within a year of winning the blocks.  You may continue to participate in and win subsequent block lottos during that time (at least for now…we may elect that you can not win again until you've shown your finished project).  After the year is up, you cannot participate or win again until the original project is finished.

4. Use modern fabrics that you like, or love! If you are unsure about your fabric selection as it relates to 'Modern', just ask.

5. Have fun!  Keep in mind that (most likely) someone else will be taking home your block to incorporate into a larger piece and things must fit together (literally…so keeping your block true to size is probably the most important thing), but you should also make it yours and enjoy the process!

Share with the tags @calgarymqg #calmqgblocklotto #calgarymqg on IG or on the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild Facebook Group. If you would like help with either of those, contact your guild's Social Media Coordinator: Tamara Kerelchuk @ninjadesigns or @calgarymqg

Have fun! I can't wait to see all the happy little trees!

October Meeting and Sew Day

Our October meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday October 19th 2017.

This month we have an Art Documentation expert coming in to talk about how to photograph your quilts. This will segue into November when Linda talks about how to get your quilt accepted into a show (spoiler, you need a good photo!).

We are also still continuing to run the Charity Table.  This has been hugely successful and has massively offset the costs required to fund both the charity quilts for Sonshine and the QuiltCon Charity Quilt. Bring in anything you have that you won't use that you think someone else might love to take home.  In the past this has included patterns, magazines, notions, fabric (whole, scraps, selvage).  Don't forget to bring the already-completed pieces of the Charity Quilt from the kits you took last month.

The meeting agenda is:

• Guild business
• Presentation: Art Documentation - photographing your quilts
• Collect and award block lotto
• New block lotto announcements
• show and tell

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• Block lotto entries
• Charity Table donations
• Completed Dresden Plates and Rail Fences for the Charity Quilt

 

Our October Sew Day  is also at Wonderfil and we're working on Charity Quilts! Bring everything you need to sew Charity QuiltsSaturday October 21st 10am - 3pm.

The dues cycle is January-December and they are $50 per person. Members who join after June will pay $30. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

Quiltcon 2018 Charity Quilt

Thanks to everyone who volunteered to sew Dresden Plates and Rail Fence squares for our QuiltCon 2018 Charity Quilt! Following what was discussed at the meeting, below are some further instructions:

Rail Fence Low Volume Blocks: Please sew 11” square blocks with the fabric provided and do not trim - we will do that when constructing the quilt. If you want to add more fabric please ensure it is low volume.

Dresden Plates: Please feel free to make any variation of a Dresden Plate. There are many tutorials and patterns online including:

http://www.quiltmaker.com/Dresden.html

http://www.quiltmaker.com/content_downloads/DresdenTemplates.pdf

http://thecraftyquilter.com/2017/02/chunky-dresden-plate-tutorial/

http://www.cottonconfections.com/blog/2014/3/21/tutorial-dresden-plates-without-a-specialty-ruler

Please make approximately the size of Dresden Plate indicated on your bag of fabric, without stressing too much (9.5” rather than 10” is fine, etc.).  Please remember if your final Dresden Plate is 10” each wedge will be 5” (because there are wedges on both sides of the circle, completing the 10”).

If you want to add a bit of fabric from your stash, please stay within this palette provided from MQG.  Thanks for your help everyone!  We can’t wait to see all of the finished blocks and Dresden Plates at the October 19th meeting!

Color Palette

Robert Kaufman Kona Solids

• White
• PFD Bleach White
• Grellow
• Red
• School Bus
• Valentine
• Regal

Moda Bella Solids

• Off White
• Eggshell
• Geranium
• Amelia Orange
• Berrylicious
• Amelia Purple
• Sunflower

Gayle Gilliss

September Block Lotto - Birds of a feather...

Well the weather has certainly cooled down, so its time to dig into some of those yummy rich fall colours. I think this shelf of yarn tells it all!.

As you can see there are lots of warm greens,  mustards and even brown Gasp!  If all these warm tones are out of your comfort zone, the pinks, plums and teal will provide the the right zing!

source

We are making Bird Blocks with all these colours  on white or low volume backgrounds.

I am giving you a couple of options on how you make these birds.  

Here is the link to a paper piecing pattern. 

Here is a link with "half-assed" (their words) instructions for going the improv route. I will add approx cut sizes below

But...please base the overall block size off the paper pieced bird, and especially the leg thickness of 1/4 inch. Finished block is 5x6, so trim to 5.5 x 6.5 

Feel free to change up the bird shape a bit, just watch the overall block size.

Birds can face either way.

Here are some numbers to help with the improv route.

Part 1 - wing body, start with a 4.5" square cut on the diagonal.  Use square approx 1.5" on the wing piece to shape the wing. Sew a background triangle of the same size (4.5) tothe wing triangle.

Bird body/front - same height as the body, and 1.5-2" wide. Background square 1.5-2"

Background and beak. - Same height, but a bit wider than the body. Beak approx 1.5 square, but play with dimensions.

Bird legs...tips here. Legs are 1/4 inch wide.finished.

Wondering which hashtags to use? #calmqgblocklotto #calgarymqg 

Have fun!

September Meeting and Sew Day

Our September meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday September 21st, 2017.

This month we have some members talking about how they use Technology in all parts of quilting.

The meeting agenda is:

• Guild business
• Technology in Quilting presentation
• Collect and award block lotto
• New block lotto announcements
• Show and Tell Summer Quilt Challenge

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• block lotto entries
• Summer Challenge Quilt
• Charity Table donations

Our September Sew Day  is also at Wonderfil and the theme is English Paper Piecing. You can bring your EPP project and get instruction and help from members experienced in EPP, or you can bring your own projects to work on Saturday September 23rd 10am - 3pm.

The dues cycle is January-December and they are $50 per person. Members who join after June will pay $30. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

August Block Lotto - It takes a village...

I'm pretty sure many of you will be making a last minute dash to the finish line with your red and white mini's, as we make our way through the last bit of summer.  With that in mind, I'm keeping the lotto simple again. No worries, I will turn things up again next month.

The Villiage Life quilt was designed by Elizabeth Olwen for Cloud9 Fabrics.  I came across a variation of this in a charity group I'm involved with where Nicolette from the blog Dutch Comfort changed up the size a little and wrote a tutorial for single blocks. It is Nicolette's tutorial we are going to use.

We are going to use a similar colour palette to Nicolette's tutorial.
Bright with a lean to the girly side.
Background -white solid (white on white ok, as long as it reads as white)
House- bright colour print
Roof - bright colour solid

Blocks are due at our September meeting.
Have fun!

August Meeting and Sew Day

Our August meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday August 17th, 2017. The dues cycle is January-December and they are $50 per person. Members who join after June will pay $30. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming). 

This month we welcome Kathleen Riggens from Kathleen Quilts for a trunk show. We're also bringing back the Charity Table, so bring your unloved bits of fabric, notions, patterns, magazines, and anything else you think someone would be thrilled to take home by donation and love.

Don't forget in September we'll be seeing: your red and white challenge mini's and a delivery of pincushions that have been swapped with OKCMQG!

The meeting agenda is:

• Trunk Show
• Guild business
• Collect and award block lotto
• New block lotto announcements
• Show and Tell

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• block lotto entries
• payment in full for Libs Elliott workshops in September
• donations for the Charity Table
• cash to purchase goodies from the Charity Table

Our August Sew Day  is also at Wonderfil and the theme is English Paper Piecing. You can bring your EPP project and get instruction and help from members experienced in EPP, or you can bring your own projects to work on Saturday August 19th 10am - 3pm.

July Block Lotto - Modern Starlings

Being that we are in the midst of summer, I'm all about keeping our lotto blocks quick and easy. Hopefully, you can escape to a nice cool sewing room to sew a few of these up!

This block is one I pinned back when we first started doing lotto, and I'm happy it has finally reached the top of the pile!

John Adams is  QuiltDad, and the designer of Modern Starlings which he designed for Generation Q   This pattern is also in his book Beyond Neutral as Canyonlands.

We will be making these blocks as singles.
Colours - If it's in the palette below, it's fair game.

Pay careful attention to making the 2nd half of the block in mirror image. I now have 2 blocks of each colour way as I didn't pay attention in step 4. Note that step 5 needs to be flipped as well.  :-)

Wondering what hashtags to use? #calmqgblocklotto #calmqg #calgarymqg

                        
photo credits

July Social and Sew Day

Our July meeting will be a potluck social at Vice President Mary's house 7 – 9 pm on Thursday July 20th, 2017.  The address was sent by email already, if you don't receive it contact calgarymqg@gmail.com. If the weather is bad, the meeting will revert back to the Wonderful Threaducation Center. Members with last names A-J are asked to bring potluck for the group (K-Z will be at Christmas). The dues cycle is January-December and they are $50 per person. Members who join after June will pay $30. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

The agenda is:

• Guild Business
• QuiltCon Charity Quilt presentation
• Block lotto
• Show and tell

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag 
• Block lotto blocks 
• A quilt to picnic on
• some food to share if your last name is A-J

Our July Sew Day Saturday July 22nd, 10am-3pm at the at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE.   This month's focus is Libs Elliott's Rebel quilt - if you have a Rebel quilt you're working on or would like to work on the quilt, make sure you bring the pattern and materials and experienced members will help you with it.  Alternatively, bring anything you'd like to work on.

You'll need to purchase a copy of the pattern if you want to join in - you can do that on her website. She even includes the modifications if you want to make a mini instead of a full quilt.  There is also an option to purchase it at a discounted rate when coupling it with her "Just Like Heaven" quilt pattern.  On top of that she's even holding a pattern sale - get 15% off patterns with the code NOBUMMERSUMMER until July 17th.  Share your planning, ideas, progress with #calmqgrebelquilt

June was Charity Month

Congratulations on a massively successful Charity Month!

During the June meeting we collected over 200(!!!) blocks for charity quilts and collected over $300(!!!) from the Charity Table. The money will go towards buying anything we're missing to finish charity quilts this year.

At the sew day members quilted a donated top, pieced 4 more quilt tops and quilted 2 more of those! Great job everyone! Prizes for attending the sew days will be handed out at the next meeting, and we'll also be drawing for the Grand Prize at the meeting!

The QuiltCon Charity Quilt for 2018 is well underway. The theme is "Modern Traditionalism". The palette is a pretty mix of oranges, reds, and purples with a white and an off-white

The design committee met near the end of the month and take a look what's already come out of it! Here is a sneek peak from Jera's Instagram where she writes:

concinnity.ca Working on some exciting stuff here. This thing is massive at almost 36" in diameter. Hope all my Calgary Modern Quilt people like the start of this idea for our Quiltcon Charity challenge. #calgarymqg #calmqg #quiltcon2018 #quiltconcharitychallenge #quiltcon #improvdresdens

Jera and Diane will be talking more about the concept and design and getting feedback from members at the July meeting.

Libs Elliott Workshops Registration now open!

Libs Elliott Lecture and Workshops - September 14 - 17

The Calgary Modern Quilt Guild is pleased to be bring Libs Elliott to give a Special Lecture and teach her "Embrace the Chaos" and "Weight of Love" workshops. 

• Thursday, September 14, 2017 - 7pm - 9pm - Special Lecture and Trunk Show
• Friday, September 15, 2017 - 10am - 4:30pm - Embrace the Chaos workshop
• Saturday, September 16, 2017 - 10am - 4:30pm - Embrace the Chaos workshop
• Sunday, September 17, 2016 - 10am - 4:30pm - Weight of Love workshop

Place:

• Wonderfil Calgary Threaducation Centre: Bay 3, 2915 19th St. NE, Calgary, AB, T3E7A2

Cost:

• Calgary MQG members: $200
• Other MQG members: $225
• Non-members: $250
• Lecture $10, free if attend a workshop

Payment:

A $50 nonrefundable deposit per workshop is required to secure your place (or full workshop amont). Deposit can be made by Electronic Fund Transfer to Stephanie Hutchinson at treasurercalgarymqg@gmail.com Full payment is due by Thursday, August 17, 2017.

Only once the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild has received your deposit or full payment will you be guaranteed a place in the workshop in which you registered. 

Registration Form:

https://goo.gl/forms/cLKE12J6FIcDTNNW2

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge - Red &White

We are looking forward to seeing all the wonderful mini-quilts that our members will be making and we hope that everybody will join in!

Guild Challenges are designed to give us a chance to explore and experiment with the principles of modern quilt design.

CHALLENGE GUIDELINES THEME: RED & WHITE. Design a quilt with two colours only. As its Canada's Birthday year, we have chosen to use only red  Red and White. Research red and white quilts for inspiration.

MINI QUILT SIZE: No side can be larger than 24 inches. Your quilt must be designed, pieced and quilted entirely by you.

QUILTING: Use a contemporary approach to quilting your mini. However, it does not have to be straight line quilting—there are many options available.

GETTING HELP: If you need help with your project, feel free to bring your in progress work to any meeting and grab a couple members before or after the meeting for a ‘private consult’. (But, it would be really cool to see all the completed projects as a surprise reveal at the due date meeting.)

DUE DATE: Completed projects are due for Show and Tell at our September 2017 meeting or the first meeting you attend after that date. Projects must be pieced, quilted and bound.

HASHTAGS:  #calmqgsummerchallange   #calmqg #calgarymqg

Block Lotto - June 2017

This Block Lotto is all about Canada's Birthday,so we are making red and white Modern Maples  by Amanda Jennings to celebrate!

This is the Modern Maple tutorial, Here is a different  tutorial that is really easy to follow.  It has some great tips for making the stem but this time I am going to recommend sticking with the traditional 2 at a time method for your half square triangles, (using two 5" squares of each colour) as we are doing a scrappy background. It will also be easier for our winner to not have bias edges on the blocks.

Colour Palette:
Background scrappy whites and almost white prints.
Maple leaf, use one fabric for the whole leaf. Either as solid red,  a tone on tone red, or a red and white print.

I wouldn't mind if the odd reverse block was made. ie light leaf and red background. :-)

Wondering what hashtags to use? #calmqgblocklotto #calmqg #calgarymqg #modernmaples

June Meeting and Sew Day

Our June meeting will be at Wonderfil Threaducation Centre Bay 4, 2915 19th St. NE from 7 – 9 pm on Thursday June 15th, 2017. The dues cycle is January-December and they are $50 per person. Members who join after June will pay $30. First meeting is free for visitors, then $5 per meeting (fees could be more for special programming).

We'll also have a Charity Table this month - bring your spare supplies, patterns, magazines.  Everything on the table will be available to purchase by donation. All donations will go towards funding the guild's Charity Quilts.

The meeting agenda is:

• Charity Table
• Charity Presentation
• Collect charity blocks
• Summer Challenge announcement
• Show and Tell

Please bring:

• A quilt or project for show and tell
• Name tag
• Your charity blocks
• Donations for the Charity Table 
• Cash to purchase goodies from the Charity Table 
• Deposit for Libs Elliott workshop

Our June Sew Day will be a two day event this year.  Sew Day will start at Wonderfil at 4:#0pm on Friday June 16th, 2017. Leave your machine set up and continue to sew on Saturday June 17th, 10am-3pm! The focus for the June Sew Day is CHARITY QUILTS for our charity.

June is Charity Month at CMQG!

In preparation of our Charity month meeting and Sew Day, please remember to make up some of these simple blocks to bring to the Sew Days June 16 and 17.  The instructions can be found here  This is a great Stash Buster! Check out the hashtags on Instagram.

At our June 15 meeting, a representative from Sonshine Community Services will be in-house, letting us know how the quilts CMQG donates make an impact in our community!  Here are some pictures of quilts that have been donated from our guild.  In these quilts, you may recognize some QAYG blocks you made!

 Please plan to attend one of our Sew Days this month, Friday June 16 from 4:30pm and Saturday June 17 from 10am to 3pm  as we join together to work on quilts for Sonshine.  There will plenty of door prizes, snacks and fun!