Monday, May 19, 2014

Onwards, to the stars!

Hello Quilters-
I'm posting an update so I can link to Jess's Star Count over at lifeunderquilts. And the count is... not that much! Since I last posted on my progress, though, I've almost finished basting diamonds. I'm out of templates again now, and I don't want to buy more- so I'm going to see how much piecing I can get done in the near future to free some up. I've got 35 diamonds pieced in my "purple" section, can you tell which ones?
I'm not sure I'll meet the 2nd of my goals, finishing the piecing by the end of this month. It's been a very busy semester. But yesterday was graduation! I've got a sick day today, and a vacation coming up... here's hoping I can crank up the pace a bit. I am looking forward to finishing laying out the "blue" and "green" sections!

Maybe by our next meeting I'll have something for show and tell!! Happy sewing, everyone-

-Christa

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Queens Sewing Social

Nellie has a sewing group set up for June 28th,
if there any of you who would like to join them.  
Please check out the link below.


http://www.meetup.com/Queens-Sewing-Social/events/182397142/

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

April 2014 Meeting Recap

Sincerest apologies, friends! This post is long overdue, but worth the wait-- we had such a great meeting and so many beautiful quilts were shared. I hope you enjoy!

Before we started the official Show & Tell, guild members who made baby quilts for our charity project shared some of their creations. 






Anita's super-sized nine patch. Tutorial available here.

We were in for a special treat: Rachel May, author of Quilting with a Modern Slant and one of the founding members of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild, attended and shared some of her experiences. Quilting with a Modern Slant is not your standard quilting book with patterns and tutorials-- though those are found aplenty, but the book shares the biographies and stories of many quilters from around the country-- another plus, many of our guild members are featured in the book! Definitely worth a read!


Rachel shares a quilt she made.


After a short break, we kicked off our Show & Tell!

Lisa shared a pincushion made out of hexies and fitted into a vintage dish. She filled it with kitty litter.

Karen shared a quilt using a pattern from Made by ChrissieD. The pattern calls for a jelly roll, but Karen had a honey bun and made do!

Sue made this quilt out of "square in a square" blocks. She is trying to use up all the commercial fabric in her stash. This quilt will be donated to charity.

Bernadette took on the Ugly Quilt Round Robin that Karen started at the last meeting. The center block was quite large so Bernadette cut it in half, which means this quilt's twin is available if anyone wants it! Lisa will take on the round robin next.

I started this Shooting Star mini quilt at SewDown Portland in February and finally finished it for the meeting. The class was taught by Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced and it was my first attempt at paper foundation piecing. I am hooked!

Maria made this quilt for her brother. It is the Disco pattern by Jaybird Quilts. The pattern called for the blocks to be randomly placed, but Maria decided to deliberately arrange them by color. The quilt is quilted by Rachael.

Liz is new to quilting and made this sea-themed double wedding ring quilt using Tula Pink fabrics. She is hoping to quilt it with octopuses! 

Margaret had some ugly fabric and decided to make it into this twin size quilt for a women's shelter through Bumble Beans Basics.

Helen shared a note from a quilt friend, Dorothy Hill from England, who said the NYC Mods were the "most friendly guild in the city." She also sent Helen a bundle of Liberty fabric!

Anita shared how to use border print fabric cut into quarter triangles and pieced into hourglasses to make this giant block. All that's needed is 1.5 yards of fabric to make a small quilt in a pinch.

Brian's friend is welcoming the first great grandchild into their family, so his friend will be a great uncle. The family provided a bag of clothing to incorporate into a quilt for the baby. The bag included a the family's great grandmother's Irish handkerchiefs!

The back of the quilt features some of the logos from various t-shirts.

Rachael asked her 4-year-old and 2-year-old to "design" this quilt by laying fabric on the floor. Rachel long-arm quilted it herself.

Jessica is working on a baby quilt for a 9-month-old. She has quilted along the seams but not sure how to fill the open areas.

Jessica also included the baby's name on the back!

While closing up shop at the City Quilter one night, someone from the Lower East Side Girls' Group phoned at 6:00PM in a panic and said she needed a quilt pieced for a celebrity auction in New York. Chris heard herself say, "Yes, I'll do it for you." The lady showed up at 6:45PM with the blocks (which are shown in the photo above).

Chris went over what the girls did and strengthened each block and turned into the quilt above.

Andrea's niece got married 1.5 years ago and she wanted to make her a quilt in her niece's wedding colors, which were red and yellow. Red fabric is much easier to find than yellow. Andrea used the Quilt as You Go method thinking it'd be fast. The blocks are from the Tipsy Strip class taught by Judy at the City Quilter.

Several years ago, Rossanna took her mother to a quilting shop when she visited and her mother fell in love with the Sunbonnet Sue block. Rossanna's mother purchased the Sunbonnet Sue book for Rossanna. That was 17 years ago. Rossanna's mother was visiting the weekend following the guild meeting and she still had not made her a Sunbonnet Sue quilt! Rossanna saw this quilt made from a Sunbonnet Sue cheater fabric at quilt show and plans to embellish it before gifting it to her mother.

Rossanna's best friend from Argentina had her first grandchild. Rossanna was almost finished with the quilt before her machine passed away. The baby is almost 1 now, so Rossanna hopes to finish soon!

A year ago, Tina decided that she would only buy fabrics from thrift stores. Everything she was wearing was also from Housing Works. The quilt is based on a knitting pattern. The backing is a bedsheet. The blocks are made from napkins, a pillowcase, a linen shirt, and lining from a skirt.

Jeannie wanted to make a nap blanket for a baby and the mother insisted that no "baby fabric" be included. This is what she came up with.

This was Monica's first meeting. She just started sewing and quilting. Fellow guild member, Ellen taught her how to use a sewing machine. She finished the quilt by pillow casing it with mitered corners. Her nine-year-old daughter picked out all the fabrics.

Jody made this for a friend's daughter who was getting married. When asked her favorite color, she responded with gray and gray. This is a queen-sized quilt made in the stack and whack method which Jody quilted straight lines using her tractor AKA Handi Quilter Sweet 16 Long Arm.

Ellen shared this mini piece valentine heart using made fabric technique from 15 Minutes of Play

Melanie shared a preview of her fabrics for Windham called Meadowlark. They will officially launch at Spring Quilt Market so we could not share the photos!

The NYC Metro Mod Guild is on Facebook. Make sure to "like" us! 

Two Related Quilt Competitions!

Luke Haynes is hosting a quilt competition on his blog asking for images of a 16"x16" quilt with the winner receiving a portrait of themselves made by Luke! He's suggesting that you make the quilt to the specifications of the Quilt Alliance "Inspired By" competition, that way you can get a two-for-one entry into the both competitions. I already have my inspiration quilt in mind, but now to find the time... The deadline for Luke's competition is June 15th, Quilt Alliance entries must be postmarked by June 1st.

Tina




1) Your quilt has to be 16" square.

2) It has to consist of 3 layers. [thus making it a "quilt"]

3) Submit by anytime up till June 15th and then voting will go live for two weeks. - See more at: http://www.lukehaynes.com/competition#sthash.7r7RomAJ.dpuf
1) Your quilt has to be 16" square.

2) It has to consist of 3 layers. [thus making it a "quilt"]

3) Submit by anytime up till June 15th and then voting will go live for two weeks. - See more at: http://www.lukehaynes.com/competition#sthash.7r7RomAJ.dpuf
1) Your quilt has to be 16" square.

2) It has to consist of 3 layers. [thus making it a "quilt"]

3) Submit by anytime up till June 15th and then voting will go live for two weeks. - See more at: http://www.lukehaynes.com/competition#sthash.7r7RomAJ.dpuf

Saturday, May 10, 2014

For Doctors Without Borders

I hope I can get these to Margaret today...
Nothing like procrastination!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Our Next Meeting June 7th

Our Next meeting is Saturday, June 7th
10 am to 1 pm
at
Hartley House
413 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036



Here's what you need to bring!  (Wanted to give you all enough time to gather your goodies.)

1.  Your hand sewing supplies to work on our ongoing EPP project.  And some scraps for that. Or you can work on your own project!

2.  Block Lotto blocks.  This month it's a Log Cabin block 12.5" unfinished,  with a red center.  Wonky or not.

3.  Summer Themed Post Card Swap.  4" x 6" finished.  Can be bound or pillow turned edges.  These will be cute little "art" quilts.  We will play a game to swap them and you must be present to join in the swap.

4.  We will be selling raffle tickets for our three group quilts, the quarter circle, Michael Miller, and the recently finished June Challenge block quilt, quilted by Rachel Dorr.  Tickets are $2 each and 3 for $5.

5.  Bring your baby quilts to donate!

6.  One show and tell each. 

7.  Your lunch, snacks and drinks!

We are having a trunk show by Cloud9 Fabrics and they will have fabric bundles for those who want to make a charity baby quilt for Inwood House.  

There are a couple of other surprises, but you'll have to come to the meeting to find out!  
See you on the 7th!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Judy's Lucky Bee Block



Here are your blocks, Judy.... hope they're what you were looking for.  They'll to out in the mail soon.
Should be a beautiful quilt when you've got them all together.

Make & Love Quilts by Mary Katherine Fons

Mary Fons will be at the City Quilter May 20th at 6pm
to celebrate her new book and launch party.
Hope to see you there!

Monday, May 5, 2014

Classes at the City Quilter - Summer Session

The City Quilter's Summer Schedule 2014 is now available and amongst the classes on offer are several by our very own guild members Andrea, Chris, Emily and Karen.
Dresden Block
Fastest Baby Quilt Ever
Friday Night Sip 'N' Sew
Modern City Sampler Blocks
Pleated Patchwork Quilt
Zippers 101
Laminated Boxy Zipper Cosmetic Bag & Tissue Case
QAYG Wholecloth Strippy Quilt
Karen Haynes:
Tick-Tock Quilt
Emily Klainberg:
Intro To Machine Sewing
For full course descriptions, dates, times and prices click through to The City Quilter's Summer Schedule 2014 or call the store on (212) 870-0390.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Sewin Day at the City Quilter!

We had a very fun and productive day at the City Quilter yesterday!
Our Sewin was a great success.

Margaret worked on her donation quilt.


Here are minions fast at work.



Kim and Maria


Karen layered her donation quilt. 


Chrissie stopped in at lunch time to see what we were up to.
She was working yesterday, so she kept a close eye on us!
Thanks Chrissie!


Nancy layered and quilted.


 Bernadette fast at work.


Greer made great progress on her twin quilt.


Margaret and Ellen worked so hard on this quilt!
I was so impressed by the calculations and re-arraning.
Great work ladies!


More smiling faces.


There were goody bags.


And we got to meet the Meatballs!


Little G had just woken up, so you know how that goes.


Roassana finished quilting this baby quilt.


Andrea got her top done, with mitered corners I might add!


Bernadette squeaked by with enough blue to put this top together!
Yeah!


And I worked on the "Ugly" Round Robin Quilt.
Karen started it, Bernadette added to it,
and now it's my turn.

I think we are going to have a few more of these collaborative projects.
They are very fun!


And someone who broke her foot,
had to stay home and rest.


But she still managed to sew!
We will plan more of these fun sewing days.
Hope to see you at the next one.