New Online Block Activity!

This month's online block activity is for all the hexie wannabees (myself included!). The good news...you get to make a hexagon block and maybe win a bunch more to make a hexagon quilt. The even better news...no hand sewing to join the hexagons together! 

This "Hexing Around" block was designed by Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced. You can find the tutorial here.

Please use bright colors for the hexagon, staying within one color for each round (doesn't have to be the same fabric--just the same color). Then use a white solid, tonal or low-volume print for the background. 

The tutorial includes a template to download for the center. Please double check the size after you print and before you start sewing. Also, Joanne suggested considering using a fussy cut piece in the center, which I thought was a great idea. 

Our next meeting is earlier than usual--September 12--so make your block(s) soon! It goes together quickly, I promise! I will say this--if you start to get discouraged as you trim the strips in your first round, stick with it. I felt like I had to reposition my ruler multiple times for each cut, but by the time I finished the first round I had gotten the hang of it and assembled the rest in no time.

Just for fun, here are a couple more of these hexagon blocks to look at from our recent social meeting. 

(The back story...I had given my block to Joanne a couple weeks ago because I didn't think I could make the meeting. Since she had a "sneak peek," she made one and then shared the block with Sharon C., who made one as well! The hexagon without a background is Jackie's--she actually made it a year ago and just happened to have it with her at the meeting! What a coincidence!)

BTW, here is my new resource, both for personal inspiration and for our online activities. Check out all these block tutorials!

Now for the details on how to win the blocks:

Submission/Winning:

• Submit a photo of the completed block by September 11th.  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 GLMQG092015. *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 12.  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 May 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!

Can't wait to see your blocks!

Thanks!

Lisa

Mini duffel bag tutorial

What a great meeting we had today!!!  And three new members joined!  I shared my mini duffel bag and had several requests for the tutorial.

Here is the link:  tiny duffel bag tutorial

English Paper Piecing EPP

Hi,
Next meeting this Saturday March 22 at 10:30am.
Our leader Stephanie (aka the big kahuna) will be teaching us English paper piecing.  I can't wait.  EPP is a technique I have always wanted to learn.  According to  paperpieces " Even though the way paper pieces are produced has changed, the way EPP is done has not changed since its creation".  I bet GLMQG will have a modern twist.  

Here are a few links for tutorials and inspiration.

http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/2012/01/english-paper-piecing.html

I really like the quilt that was made my Katy.  She has a hexy quilt along on her blog.

bee in my bonnettepp tutorial.html

english-paper-piecing tutorial craftsy

Stephanie has put together some kits with some awesome  fabric.
Please bring a thimble and some scissors.  She will provide all other materials.

Don't forget your on line challenge mug rugs.  Some sneak peeks have been posted on face book.  I am sure we are in for some fun eye candy.

We will also have a sew in starting at 1pm just down the street at the community center.

See you on Saturday.

Pam

January Online Guild Activity!

Hi Everyone!
It's Lisa here with our January online activity. Is it just me, or did December and the holidays go especially fast this year? 

I try to have a sample block done to show when I do these posts, but I'm so late in getting this up, and now with the *lovely* weather outside, I wanted to get it up ASAP in case you are housebound from the cold and snow and want to SEW!!! 

Our block for the January meeting: the wonky star! (Shown in digital form...I'll be sewing mine later this week!)

You can find the tutorial for this from Shanna at Fiber of All Sorts. She has the directions for 12.5" unfinished blocks. She's also got cutting information for 6.5" unfinished blocks. You can either make a 12.5" block or you can make four 6.5" blocks and join them together to make a four-patch of stars. 

So to recap:

One 12.5" star block

If you're really ambitious, follow the cutting for the 6.5" star blocks and join four together to make a four-patch star block, as shown above. This will count as 1 block for the drawing.

Color Specs:
Anything you like, but let's switch it up from  Shanna's original. Make your star white and the background the print or colored solid fabric, as I've shown in my illustrations. Please do use the same fabric for the entire background in each star block though. 

Submission/Winning:

• Submit a photo of the completed block by January 24.  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 GLMQG-Jan14
• 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 January 25.  You do not need to be present 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 January 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?

Any questions? Leave a comment below. See you at our January meeting!

October Online Guild Activity

Our October activity will be a "virtual meeting" instead of an actual gathering. We'll each take the month to create a quilt block (or more than one!) display them all online together. Any participant posting online or bringing blocks to the November meeting will be entered in a drawing to win the all blocks!

Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block

I demonstrated this block in the September meeting. If you did not attend, no worries! I'm attaching the step-by-step instructions here.

Make one or more blocks, finished size 6' (6.5") using the paper pattern I passed out at the meeting, also downloadable here.

Make sure you use white and a bright modern print for the main sections, and light-to-medium grey for the corner pieces. I used Kona "Iron" in these blocks, please make sure your grey is no darker than that. Grey or white patterns that "read" solid grey or white are acceptable.

Notice how my blocks alternate which section is next to the grey: in the first photo, the colorful fabric does; in the second, the white fabric does. If you make more than one block please alternate in this way.  This is how we will get a wonderful kaleidoscope effect when all the blocks are put together!

Submission/Winning:

• Submit a photo of the completed block by November  22.  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 GLMQG-Oct13
• 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 (Carolyn) 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 November 23.  You do not need to be present 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 November 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?

Any questions? Leave a comment below. See you at our November meeting!

June Guild Activity!

Hope you all are enjoying summer! I don't know about you, but for me it's already going too fast!
Our June activity will be a "virtual meeting" instead of an actual gathering. We'll each take the month to create a quilt block and at the end of the month we'll display them all online together.  Participants will be entered in a drawing to win the all blocks!

Details:

• The block pattern is the Bow Tie block featured in this tutorial by Megan from Canoe Ridge Creations
• Make one or more blocks, 12" finished size (12-1/2" square) 
• Use a white solid or white background print for the background--text/writing fabric if you can find it--and modern prints for the "bows." Let's stick with a warm color scheme for these blocks--reds, oranges, yellows, etc. (It's okay if the prints have other colors in them as long as they predominantly "read" warm.)
• Submit a photo of the completed block by July 20.  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 GLMQG-Jun13
• 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 toglmodernquilter@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 July 27.  You do not need to be present 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 July 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 to me.  E-mail us atglmodernquilter@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?

Happy quilting!
Any questions? Leave a comment below. Can't wait to see you all at our July meeting! 

April Guild Activity

Our April activity will be a "virtual meeting" instead of an actual gathering. We'll each take the month to create a quilt block and at the end of the month we'll display them all online together.  Participants will be entered in a drawing to win the all blocks!

Details:

• The block pattern is Converging Corners by Film in the Fridge by Ashley
• Make one or more blocks, 12" finished size (12 1/2" square) 
• Use the same color scheme in the tutorial : solid white Kona for the background, bright (saturated color) prints or solids for the rest. Use a large, fun print for the center square. 
• Submit a photo of the completed block by April 27.  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 GLMQG-Apr13
• 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 (Carolyn) and I will arrange to photograph your block.

• View the completed blocks here
• Bring your block to the May 18th meeting. We'll draw a lucky winner who will get to take home all our blocks. That winner must assemble the blocks into a finished quilt before being eligible to win again. Fair enough?

Happy quilting!