Tuesday, August 5, 2014

August Online Activity!

Get your text fabric ready! It's time for our August Online Activity!!


We're going to be making the Spiderweb block, as suggested by Stephanie. I made mine this afternoon and the tutorial is excellent--easy to follow.


The details:
  • Find the tutorial to make the block here.
  • Please use black on white/cream text fabric for the center star, which means you'll need a 12-1/2" square of text fabric to get you started.
  • For the strips, I followed her recommendation of using strips ranging from 1" to 2" wide. Please use bright, candy-like colors. You can see I've got a bit of variety in mine. :)
  • I will stress a few points from the tutorial and from my own experience; first, follow the directions for marking your triangles--it may seem strange, but trust me--don't think too much about it--just do what she says and it works out! 
  • Second, you're only sewing the strips to each other, not to the text fabric behind as you would in a typical foundation. This means you'll have a triangle of text fabric to trim at the end.
  • Third, this is my own point to stress--after you trim each quarter block, you'll have a decent amount of bias edges. When you start assembling the quarter blocks into the block, pin frequently! Especially where the text fabric joins the first strip so that you get decent points. The text fabric will be very stretchy.
  • Fourth, after the block is assembled, the tutorial says to trim the block to 12". Despite everyone's best effort, I anticipate there being a bit of variety in our block sizes (maybe because mine measures more like 11-3/4" square?!?!). I recommend not trimming--that way the winner of the blocks can trim them all as she/he likes. So to repeat, do not trim the block to 12" when you finish. (And sorry, whoever wins, that mine is already a little small!)


 Here's a pic of my quarter block pieces, pre assembly. I fell more in love with this block as I made it--someone's going to end up with a great quilt!



Submission/Winning:



  • Submit a photo of the completed block by Sept 26.  We want this to be fun and easy, not stressful, so we have several options for submitting your photo.
    • If you have a Flickr account, please post the photo to Flickr, add it to the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild group pool, and tag it GLMQG0914. *Adding the tag is key, because it allows the photo to get into the slideshow on our blog.*
    • If you have a Facebook account, you may post the picture to the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page. 
    • You may email your photo to glmodernquilter@gmail.com 
    • If you do not have access to a digital camera, contact me (Lisa) and I will arrange to photograph your block.
  • How to win all the blocks:
    • We are going to draw for a winner of all the blocks at our next live meeting, which is September 27.  You do not need to be present to win.
    • IMPORTANT: If you want to be entered in the drawing but will not be at the meeting with your block, please make sure to let another attendee know. We try our best to make sure everyone who submits a photo of their block gets entered in the drawing, but making sure a friend puts your name in the hat will guarantee you have a chance to win!
    • You get your name in the drawing each time you enter a block.  So, if you submit two blocks, your name goes in the drawing twice!
    • Please bring your completed block to the September meeting so all the blocks can be delivered to the winner.  If the winner is not at the meeting, we will mail them to him/her.
    • We'll post the name of the winner here on the blog.  So, if we don't have your email address, check the blog so you can see if you won and can send us your contact information.  (If you are at the meeting, you'll get your blocks on the spot!)
    • If you will not be at the meeting, either
      • Give the block to a friend to bring it for you, or
      • Mail it in.  E-mail us at glmodernquilter@gmail.com, and we'll send you the mailing address where you can send your blocks.


  • That winner must assemble the blocks into a finished quilt before being eligible to win again. Fair enough?

As always, leave a comment if you have a question and I'll try to answer it!
Thanks!
Lisa

Sunday, August 3, 2014

July 2014 Meeting Summary



We had 19 members at our meeting.   We would like to welcome our 4 new members, Pat, Susan, Samantha and Mark.  We now have 31 members!

We had a wonderful presentation on fabric dyeing by Teri Springer along with samples of her work.  She gave us a very informative handout on MX and other dyes.  If anyone is interested in dyeing fabric, they can contact Teri at 269-615-6591.  Thank you Teri for sharing your talent with us.


Fabric Swap:  Fun Times!  We had over 100 fat quarters and over 45 different designs of "text fabric". We might see some of the black and white text fabric used in next month's online activity.

 Retreat Update:  The retreat will be at Camp Lutherwald in Howe,Indiana on November 14 thru 16.  The cost is $210.00 for private rooms and $150.00 per person for rooms with 2 to 4 people.  There is a $50.00 deposit due by October 25, non-refundable after that date.  On October 1 we will open reservations for nonmembers.  There is an additional $25.00 fee, but it includes a membership.  Meals are included, Friday dinner thru Sunday lunch.  We will provide our own single bed linens and towels or we may pay an extra charge.  We are checking into the possibility of coming for the day.  More information will be on our blog.

Meetings:  Our next meeting will be at the Portage Public Library on September 27, 10:30 to 12:30 followed by a sew in.  We will not have a meeting in November due to our retreat.  We have a Christmas party planned for December 8 at Bells Brewery with a small handmade gift exchange.  Possible choices include:  pincushion, placemats, oven mitts, coasters, rotary cutter case, eye glass case, small zipper bag or fabric ornament.   January 24, 2015 meeting/sew in will be at Bernina.

Block Drawing:  Our new member Mark  won 27 "X Marks the Spot" blocks.  Congratulations!

Door Prizes:  Pam B. won a very cute small duffle bag donated by Stephanie, and Pat F. won three zipper pulls donated by Holly.

 Tina shared information about donating handmade items to Bronson Babies.  If anyone is interested, please contact volunteer services.  Sue Haas, haass@bronson.org 269-341-8754 or Julie VanderNoot, Vandernj@bronson.org, 269-341-8644.

Show and Tell: Our favorite part, was great as usual.