The "Y" in Yahoo!

  The 2021 Calgary MQG Community Challenge Quilt,  with the signature "YYC" graphic was recently displayed at the Calgary Stampede.  Here's a few pictures from set-up.

Summer Guild Goings On

 

Guild Going's On:

• We will have meetings in July and August, the format (Zoom or outdoors) is being worked on
• Planning for the 2022 QuiltCon Community Quilt is underway! The theme is angles, and the colour palette is below. Send us a note (Calgarymqg@gmail.com) if you'd like to take part
• MiniMod swapping is complete, and projects featuring your swapped squares are due at the July meeting.
• Our June 26th sew day (via Zoom) is a great opportunity to work on your mini mod projects or just hang out. Zoom link has been sent to members.
• We'd like everyone to think about nametags for the fall meetings. Creativity in shape and style is encouraged. Members will be sent a link to get our logo via email
  
• The 2022 QuiltCon Catalog is out!  Link is here:  www.quiltcon.com/catalog   QuiltCon 2022 will be in Phoenix, Arizona from February 16 to 20th, 2022
  
  
  
  

Community Outreach Quilt Challenge - 2021

Things are finally underway for this year's Community Outreach Quilt Challenge - formally known as Quiltcon Charity Quilt Challenge. 

The Calgary MQG Challenge quilt, along with those from the other MQG Guilds and Individual Member Teams will be part of Quiltcon Together Online.

Last week we had a Zoom planning session with 17 members in attendance, and several others wishing they could attend. We had several suggestions put forward and loved many of them. After much discussion, we managed to narrow it down to one. Something we needed to consider this year was not being able to get together and sew, but we have a plan, and it's already being put into action!. 

Theme: Curves 

This year the design focus is on curved piecing. You've probably seen the trend. Calgary MQG has had several workshops on curves, so hopefully, most of our members will be up for the challenge.  If they are not ready for curves, there are some sections that will be straight sewing, so we have them covered too. 

Colour Palette

Each year, along with a theme, The Modern Quilt Guild also puts out a colour palette. We can use solids and/or prints and must use at least 2 of the colours. 

This weekend two of our members masked up and braved a couple of local quilt stores. We were joined by a 3rd guild member who just happened to be shopping!  These are our fabric selections. 

What's next?  

The fabrics are off to be made into kits.  Not long and they will be ready for distribution!

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

Calgary MQG Quiltcon 2016 Charity Quilt

Every year Calgarians celebrate our western heritage at the Calgary Stampede. A major component of the celebrations includes celebrating the aboriginal heritage of this area. It was a photo of this celebration that inspired this year’s Calgary Modern Quilt Guild Charity Quilt Challenge. At the same time Canada was engaged in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools. In this regard Canada has a dark past that continues to haunt our aboriginal population and the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild wanted to create a quilt that could contribute to healing the relationship between our Aboriginal population and those of European descent in Canada. It is our hope that this quilt and its proceeds will work towards building a better future for Calgary’s aboriginal youth.

Photo by Katrina H

In the photo you can see young people dancing at a pow-wow with tipis in the background and Calgary’s skyline in the distance. This seemed to represent our city beautifully and the idea to make a tipi quilt was born.  Tipis are known in the area to have provided shelter to local native tribes throughout history. They provide warmth in the cold winter months and are a cool shelter from summer’s heat. Families gather in tipis to find comfort and kinship. As a group of quilters we knew that we wanted to make a quilt that would symbolically bring people together and provide comfort and to bring our communities together.  

We met at a sew day in August to design the tipis and Jera MacKenzie created kits that members could get at meetings to create blocks for the quilt. We also have the benefit of having Cheryl Arkison in our guild so she provided us with a lesson on "improv with intent". Each person used their own inspiration to craft a tipi that represented her own style.

In November we had a dedicated sew day to finish our quilt top. Members worked together to finish making tipis and design the final layout for our quilt. You can see from the photos that we had a productive day. We all learned so much in this process! Many of our members had never attempted improv sewing like this and were excited to practice a new skill. Our layout provided opportunities for members to practice their "quilt math" and partial seams!!

The whole team agrees that seeing the quilt come together with such an incredible gesture of generosity of time, resources, and talent was the best part. We are very fortunate that our guild is growing and that members are keen to participate in these events.

The quilt was then sent to member Mary Dylke to be quilted by her expert hands. Mary added petroglyphs that have been documented throughout the prairies. Petroglyphs are are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. The quilting was definitely the final touch that brought the quilt to life and helped to tell the story we were hoping to tell through this project.

The quilt will be donated to an organization that supports aboriginal youth in our area and provides them with resources to further their education and helps preserve their culture. It is our hope that this quilt will help to heal the relationship between our two cultures and that it will contribute as one small step in the direction of a better future for Calgary’s indigenous youth. 

Rachel Elliott