Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Monthly Group Sew!

We have set up a possible monthly group sew date we hope works out!  We plan to meet on the fourth Tuesday of every month!  Our upcoming Group Sew date is Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at the Morgantown Public Library in the downstairs meeting room from 2-5PM.  I tried to secure the room for more time but they have story time in that room in the mornings and evenings.  We may have to look in to changing the day or location in the future if three hours isn't long enough, we will have to discuss it at our next meeting. For this Group Sew bring whatever project and supplies you want to work on and an extension cord if you have one. Hope to see you there!
P.S. Remember the May Group Sew day will be a Dying for Summer Party at my house with details forthcoming so stock up on some white or light fabric and be sure to have it washed and ready!
Happy Quilting!
Amanda

April Meeting Recap

We had a busy April meeting where we got a lot of business taken care of and had a good turnout for our budding group.  Terry shared her Grim Ripper and Gitta shared her doll and teeny dolly quilt.  Amanda shared more than can be mentioned.  After telling everyone to remind me to take pictures, we all forgot! We had three new attendees: Lesa, Gitta and Deloris in addition to myself, Terry and Mavis.  Here is a recap for those of you who were unable to attend.

First, we discussed the changes being made to the international MQG and the ability, in July, to become members at the national level and get 501 (c)3 status for our guild among many other perks.  It will cost $10-15 per person or $25 for an individual membership and we need at least 10 paying members to join.  We will also need a treasurer, a bank account and to adopt a set of by-laws.

Second, we discussed a number of local quilt exhibitions and charity options and the possibility of a shop hop car pool in June, possibly Friday the 6th or Saturday the 7th, in coordination with the WV shop hop. The Western PA Shop Hop is the following weekend from the 19-22.  The Greenbrier Valley Theater Presents: Quilters: A Musical weekends in May, for more information call the box office M-Sat 1PM-5PM at 304-645-3838.  The 2013 Quilts and Wall Hangings Juried Exhibition is accepting entries by mail through May 3 at 5PM to be shown at the Great Hall of the Culture Center.  Please contact Betty Gay at Betty.G.Gay@wv.gov for more information.  Also, there will be an exhibit of local quilts throughout the Seneca Center June 7th and 8th during normal business hours.  The National Quilters Association will be holding its annual show in Columbus OH June 27-29, visit nqaquilts.org for more information.

Third, we planned a group sew day as best we could in accordance with attendee's "good" days. We decided on the 4th Tuesday of every month from 2-8 at the Morgantown Public Library in the large meeting room on the ground floor.  The library, however, has story time in the evening there so I was only able to secure the room from 2-5.  We may have to change dates or location after this upcoming sew date if we need more time.  Bring whatever project you would like to work on in the company of others. Everyone should have plenty of space as the room seats 50. You may want to bring an extension cord if you have one.

We also discussed a "Dying for Summer" Party to take the place of the group sew day in May, in my back yard, weather pending...  We will advertise it at the local shops and see if we can drum up some new membership.  There will be a shared group fee that I will use to purchase supplies for everyone.  More information on that will be forthcoming!

I also had a questionnaire for information to include in a member directory.  If you would like to be added to the directory or have any questions please e-mail me at nwvmqg@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

Happy Quilting!  Amanda

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

ACS Quilt: The Making of...

We are a relatively new guild, we only started planning in October 2012, so I jumped at the chance to work on a charity quilt for the Austin Children's Shelter as a donation during QuiltCon without a real consult from the group. It was move it or lose it and I made an executive decision hoping it would be a good way to kick off some group camaraderie. It was! Here is our process and the finished project.

Here are Jeanie and Mavis at our first group sew day, piecing away! Six members were responsible for two blocks on point assembled into an 18x39 inch section before we came together to work out and assemble the top. We did this rough planning at our regular meeting so everyone would know what to bring.

We showed up that day with our "blocks" and any scraps. I picked up some grey sashing and we set to work. Here is what we came up with at the end of 4 hours.

From the top left working in rows is Mavis' section then Linda's section, followed by Pat's section dissected by Janie's Section, in the last row is Terry's section followed by Amanda's section. Of course the quilt is sideways but it was easier to hold that way!

We ran out of time and I put the top and bottom borders on at home and this is the finished top.

Jeanie and I met a week later, after I pieced a back to save cash (but not time) to pin the quilt and get it ready for me to take home and machine quilt on my trusty little Viking.

I used two extra blocks from Lu-Ann who wasn't able to sew with us and some leftover fabric and 2.5 yards of light gray to piece the back and quilted it in semi-straight columns the length of the quilt.

The finished Front!

The finished Back!

And finally a label close up.

We had such a blast on our first collaboration I think some round robin sewing might be in our future?

 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

First Group Sew Day!

Our group had a very fun and productive FIRST Group Sew Day at the Morgantown Public Library on Monday, January 14 from 10-2. Our task was to put the finishing touches on a quilt top for the Austin Children's Shelter in return for Austin hosting QUILTCON this year. We had a lovely time and got the top 95% complete. I put the top and bottom borders on at home because we needed some trimming. Linda, Amanda and terry were in charge of the planning, calculating and cutting while Mavis and Jeanie did the brunt of the sewing. Here is what we ended with...

After I got home a day later I got the borders finished and here is the final top.

We pieced the borders and sashing improvisationally because I had 60 inch strips that needed to reach 68! We loved the outcome more than we could have imagined.

 

Monday, January 21, 2013

January Meeting Recap

Sorry this is so late ladies. I have been busy and forgot to do it right when I got home like usual.

Madrona Road by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics Challenge: Don't forget we decided on a bucket bag or any bag with handles and a round bottom. We have to use only fabric from the Madrona Road collection or solids. The project is due by photograph on January 31, 2013 if you wish to be entered into the national competition OR due by the meeting on February 07, 2013 if you wish to compete at the local level only. Photographs can be sent to nwvmqg@gmail.com. Remember the photos need to be posted in the Flickr Group Pool for the challenge. A link can be found here.

Charity Twin Quilt: Your 18 x 39 inch section for our charity quilt is due at our group sew. All blocks need to be on point and use colors appropriate to the QuiltCon logo.

Future Challenge Ideas: I gave out little sheets to each member and asked that the pull together some Challenge Ideas for future meetings and bring the slips back at our Feburary meeting so we can do some future planning.

Group Sew/Alternate Meeting Location: We decided to begin meeting at the Morgantown Public Library on our regularly scheduled day from 5:30-7:30 because of library hours. I have reserved Meeting Room B on the second floor through April so far because we can only reserve 4 months in advance. We did our first group sew there too and we will be scheduling additional group sew events during our February meeting.

Binding Demonstration, Thanks Terry!

 

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Michael Miller Challenge Update!

The guild wide Michael Miller Challenge Projects (our round bottom bag challenge) is going to be judged via Flickr and the pool closes on January 31st. I am linking to the Modern Quilt Guild's Blog for the instructions here.

Please let me know via e-mail or a phone call if you need any help signing up and let me know if you entered and send me pictures so I can post them on our blog here!

Terry shared her completed project and here are some photos of it!

 

 

Monday, January 14, 2013

January 2013 Meeting Recap

At our first meeting of the new year we had a few challenge reminders and some new business as well as a few major changes! Please read carefully if you missed it!

New Meeting Place and Time! We will meet from here on out at the Morgantown Public Library on the first Thursday of Each month from 5:30-7:30 PM!

Group Sew for January will be at the Morgantown Public Library from 10-2 on Monday! January 14.

Madrona Road by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics Challenge: Don't forget we decided on a bucket bag or any bag with handles and a round bottom. We have to use only fabric from the Madrona Road collection or solids. The project is due by photograph on January 31, 2013 if you wish to be entered into the national competition OR due by the meeting on February 07, 2013 if you wish to compete at the local level only. Photographs can be sent to nwvmqg@gmail.com.

ACS Charity Twin Quilt: Your 18 x 39 inch section for our charity quilt is due at our group sew on January 14 from 10-2. All blocks need to be on point and use colors appropriate to the QuiltCon logo.

Future Challenge Ideas: I gave out little sheets to each member and asked that they pull together some Challenge Ideas for future meetings and jot down all the details. These will be collected at our February 7th meeting and we will plan our calender from there.

Group Sew/Alternate Meeting Location: We decided to choose an alternate meeting location, preferably a free one, so Amanda is going to look into it in the next few days. We also are in need of a group sew location for piecing our ACS Twin Quilt top.

Binding Demonstration, Thanks Terry!