Lucky Bee - February block for Deborah

Queen of detail Deborah chose a very fun block for us, Rocky Road to Kansas. The guidelines were to make two warm and two cool colored blocks. Here are mine, Deborah, I hope you enjoy them!

Mod Bee Blocks for Brian and Ariana

January was for Brian. He always chooses very clean looking blocks, with defined lines and colors. This block was no exception. I can see a great red and white quilt in your future, Brian!

February was Ariana's month. She chose a square block with an inset square of our own design. I hope you like this one, Ariana! I enjoyed choosing the block for you.

See you all next week!

Maria

The National Quilt Museum - 25th Anniversary Juried Contest

Hello Mods!

Here is some info that was emailed to us.

Maybe you are interested in entering???

The National Quilt Museum Announces 25th Anniversary Juried Contest Over $40,000 in prizes will be awarded.  Some quilts will become part of traveling exhibit In 2016 The National Quilt Museum will be celebrating its 25th year. The Museum was established in 1991 with the mission to honor the work of today's quilters and bring it to new audiences worldwide. Over the past 25 years, millions of people from all 50 US states and over 70 foreign countries have experienced this extraordinary art form through the Museum's in-facility and traveling exhibits, educational programs, and advocacy efforts.  To celebrate the past 25 years and herald the future of the art, quilters around the world are invited to enter quilts that showcase their most innovative use of materials and techniques in our 25th Anniversary Contest, The Gala of the Unexpected. The competition gives quilters an excellent opportunity to share their work with people across the country. Through exhibition, publications, and promotional efforts, the quilts juried into this contest will be seen by thousands of art enthusiasts. Click here for full contest information. Click here for signup form. The deadline for submission is December 1, 2015.  Please contact Museum Curator/Registrar Judy Schwender with questions at jschwender@quiltmuseum.org or by phone at 270-442-8856. The National Quilt Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization funded by the quilting community. Contact us  / Privacy Policy

NYC Metro Mod March 7th Meeting . . . .

Our next meeting is Saturday March 7th!

I know it seems far away, but it is really only 8 days away!

Yeah!  Spring is almost here!  Hard to believe I know.

And in that vein, Andrea Murray has come up with a very

cute idea for a group challenge quilt.

I know it's short notice, and I know you guys wait till the last minute

to get your blocks done!  Hehe.

So  here is the premise.

Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday the 8th 

and we have to set the clocks forward by one hour, 

therefore we are 'losing" an hour.

Our DST Challenge!

                  
                                               "What would you do with an extra hour?"

Create a block showing what you would do if you got

an "extra" hour handed to you.

Any size, but let's 8" is the smallest.

Doesn't have to be square, can be ANYTHING you want.

It will be so fun to see what everyone comes up with.

They we can play around with putting it together.

Hopefully it will be done for raffling off at the June meeting!

* * * * *

Our block lotto this month is orphan blocks.

You can gather up all your left overs, and single blocks.

See!  You don't have to make these, 

so you can do the DST challenge!

One raffle ticket for each block you bring.

* * * * *

Ellen Foster and I have been working on a 

Spring Quilting Retreat.  We will talk about it at the meeting,

but check your calendars now.

It is scheduled for the weekend of June 12 - 14.

More details to come.

Here's what you should bring to the meeting:

1.  Hand sewing supplies to help finish the EPP project.

2.  Your DST challenge block.

3.  Your block lotto orphan blocks

4.  Your lunch and snacks, stay and sew after the meeting!

5.  One Show & Tell

6.  Got a project you want advise on?  The design wall will be up!

So looking forward to seeing you all on the 7th!

Quilts of Valor . . . contest for a cause . . .

My friend Christie is throwing her hat in the ring for Quilts of Valor.  If you want to participate, I am happy to collect any blocks you make and deliver them to her shop and enter you in her contest.  Lisa

Christie's Quilting Boutique

20 hrs · Edited · 

Quilts of Valor !
THE CONTEST FOR A CAUSE !!!!
Christie's Quilting Boutique
We have decided to join Quilts of Valor !
http://www.qovf.org
"The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. "
Wendy Russell of the Patchwork Square will be joining us and allowing us to use free patterns from her fabulous website !
Please use this link to visit her site and see the large variety of squares offered.
This link brings you to squares that finish at 12"
http://patchworksquare.com/index.php…
THE CONTEST FOR A CAUSE:
We will be collecting 12" finished blocks in Red, Whites & Blues
(cream color is also acceptable)
Each block received is one entry and will be hung in the store, as well as, posted on our Facebook page. Here you and your friends can vote/ like for a winner who will receive a gift certificate to Christie’s Quilting Boutique:
1st place $100.00 gift certificate
2nd place $ 50.00 gift certificate
3rd place a $25.00 gift certificate
Submit as many blocks as you wish.
Each submitted block counts as a vote.
Example: 10 submitted blocks equals 10 votes. All instore/online votes will be accumulated for all quilter’s submissions. In store or online.
Blocks are accepted from now until May 10th and the winner of the gift certificate will be chosen May 13th
Our Quilts of Valor State Coordinator and local press will be joining us May 16th, so SAVE THE DATE, as we stitch all the quilt blocks together to make what I hope will be several quilts.
If you are not local and would like to participate please send your 12" finished blocks to: Please message me if you are sending a block please make sure the block has your name, address, & email address.
Christie's Quilting Boutique
176 Main St
Norwalk, CT 06851
The shop will welcome any donated Red White & Blue Fabrics to use for backings, binding, as well as, batting to finish the quilts.
The finished quilts will be quilted on the longarm here at Christie’s Quilt Boutique and distributed to Veterans! If you know a Veteran that you would like to be added to our list please email me.

A Star for Deborah

After getting over the panic/quandary about which side to sew to which piece of paper - it was an exciting finish. This is going to be a gorgeous quilt.

Deborah's February Lucky Bee blocks

I finished Deborah's Lucky Bee blocks for this month just in time to deliver them at Dear Jane class tonight.  I tried to choose colors I thought she'd like (as well as several of the Kaffe prints you provided), but also wanted to choose fabrics from my stash that reflect my personality.

I hope you like them, Deborah!

Lucky Bee 13

for Deborah

Warm/Cool Rocky Road to Kansas

Oops!  Forgot about extra 1/4" ... hope it still works for you!

Deborah's Lucky Bee Blocks

Here are your blocks, Deborah... I left "extra" margins so you can trim off some of my "adjustments"
Can't wait to see what you do with all of these.

A moderately successful improv quilt

In January of last year, I was selected as one of a number of quilters to create test quilts for Sherri Lynn Wood's new book, Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. I don't remember how I found about that she was looking for folks, but I was pleased to have been selected. (Some of you may have seen the post on Lisa's blog about her quilt for the project.  )

One of the rules for the quilt, was NO RULERS.  That was a challenge, but I eventually overcame the urge to reach for my ruler. Still, I learned that I just can't feel comfortable putting together two pieces with obviously wavy edges, so although I didn't use a ruler (except to square off the quilt for binding), I couldn't resist straightening blocks out by eye and freehand.

Because she didn't want to give away the secrets of her book, Sherri's provided rather vague descriptions and no pictures, so I felt a little at sea not knowing what the quilt was supposed to look like. She referred to the pattern as a "score," so I kind of envisioned a musical score and found my layout kind of taking the form of a score in my mind...kind of.

As for the outcome, at several points, I was convinced that it was a horrible piece that I would never like, but when I put it aside and came back to it, I found that it wasn't horrible. In the end, sometimes I like the finished piece, and sometimes I tolerate it.

Since my next improvisational quilt will likely not be made for possible inclusion in a book, I won't feel a need to meet a set of requirements. I know that Sherri wanted us to go with the flow and follow our inspiration, but in the back of my mind, there was always that knowledge that it needed to illustrate her pattern in order for it to fit her needs.

With 164 submissions, I wasn't surprised that my quilt wasn't selected, but it was a good learning experience and I enjoyed the process more than I expected to.

Lucky Bee Blocks for Deborah

While the words "wonky stars" and "paper piecing" trigger fear and loathing, I really liked doing these. I think I've got the hang of it.

Smithtown Stitchers Quilt Guild Show April 2015

FYI Mods . . . .

A Garden of Quilts

April 11-12, 2015

http://www.smithtownstitchers.com/quiltshow.html

The time has come...

I am sad that I missed the meeting yesterday (again!), I look forward to the virtual show-and-tell. I've been so busy with work and life lately that I haven't sewn much. Yesterday, though, I made great progress towards adding a border to my lap quilt:

 

I finally basted it to the border I made months ago! This project stalled for so long that I kept thinking that this step would be really hard- but I took out the remaining templates in about an hour (while watching a movie), ironed the piece in less than an hour, and pinned it to the border in less than an hour. It's amazing how much easier tasks are than I think they will be, when I just get started. Here's to Jess's "Monday" Morning Start Count- happy sewing, all!

December Show & Tell Recap

Apologies for how late this is! I was not able to attend the December 6, 2014 meeting, but thanks to Lisa, Maria, and our mystery photographer for getting the images and notes. I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

Maren showed us her “dirty baby quilt." She never thought she would use so much white for a baby quilt but was pleased with the result, showcasing the leftover fabric from our Cloud9 baby quilt challenge. The pattern is the Windy Days/Moda Chain Squares.

Hayden and three of her Timeless Treasures colleagues worked on a Big Love Quilt tutorial for Dear Stella. Her friend Claire loved the quilt so much Hayden made it for her birthday. She marked the quilt with FriXion pens and had great results.

Maureen showed us the quilt she made in Karen Hane’s class at The City Quilter using the Diamond Tread Pattern from Freshly Pieced. She used Christmas fabrics.

To celebrate her first year anniversary at the guild, Rachael shared a quilt she made for a friend who is moving awa. She will gift the quilt at a farewell party, which will be Moroccan themed. Rachael took inspiration from the party theme and researched Moroccan tiles designs, which then translated onto her quilt. The designs are all mostly unique. The rose colored fabric is an old pashmina shawl that her friend had donated to Rachael’s charity to make something out of it. Rachael shared that this quilt represents the starting point of new ideas.

Rachael also showed us a client quilt. This client gave her toddler dresses and asked her to make a pillow for her daughter. Rachael couldn’t resist the temptation to use all the fabric from the dresses so she made her this quilt. The client also got a matching pillow!

We are all familiar with Tina's love of recycling old materials into new. To make use of her leftover batting pieces, she asked her Bee group members to create two QAYG (quilt as you go) blocks with any pattern. In addition to batting, Tina provided the background fabric. Once all the blocks were returned, Tina made this lap quilt, only needing to trim a few blocks and add a few of her own. What a fun project!

Naomi showed fabric she dyed using yellow leaves. Her method involves using fabric set color, placing the fabric in the sun to set and let develop. Then, she hand and machine embroidered veins to provide details for the leaves.

Maria shared a wonderful Christmas quilt. She chose a large one-block design and machine quilted it on her home machine.

A few years ago, Jackie made a big Union Jack quilt for her husband. Her three-year-old daughter kept stealing it to use as a play tent, so Jackie decided to make her daughter her very own. Jackie kept the background fabric the same as the quilt she made for her husband. She created the quilt label on Spoonflower. This is pretty much all she managed to make during this busy year.

Jean was the winner of last month's "block of the month" raffle. She promised to make a quilt out of the blocks and did! She used all the raffle blocks plus extra geese strips she had in her WIPs. Guild members agreed that the red was a very successful element in unifying the blocks!

Stephanie is a new member and a friend of Bernadette's. Stefanie started out crocheting, but Bernadette introduced her to the world of quilting. Stefanie shared her second quilt, which she quilted herself. Beautiful color choices!

Alyson broke a foot (luckily not her sewing machine's pedal foot!). She worked on a simple charm pack quilt to which she added borders. She finished the quilt in a day and a half!

Karen showed us a quilt top she made as a sample for an upcoming class, Kitchen Windows, at The City Quilter. The class will take place on February 18th. She will be adding some borders. She chose this pattern for its versatility and its ability to showcase favorite or special fabrics.

Chris showed a panel she quilted with a star pattern she downloaded from the internet.

Margaret started making two separate quilts and decided to put all the pieces together to make this beautiful quilt. She machine and hand quilted in sections and then joined the pieces by hand.

Sara was determined to have something to show at this meeting so she purchased a Craftsy kit to make the process go faster and then quilted the final piece on her Bernina.

Jacqui showed us a quilt top for a new baby. She used Far Far Away fabric by Heather Ross and will quilt it using straight lines.

Rossanna showed us a quilt she made for an 18 year-old girl, the daughter of her son's doctor. Her son has had six surgeries recently and she is very grateful to the surgeon, who performed four of the procedures. She chose a disappearing nine patch pattern with 6-inch squares.

Rossanna also shared some blocks submitted by bee members. The project called for a wonky nine patch backgournd with an appliqued flower. The flowers needed to be made with candy, coffee, or tea wrappers. The bee members were curious as to how she planned to join the blocks.

Andrea M. continued her indulgence of critter patterned fabrics and used them to make a quilt in Karen Hayne's class at The City Quilter. The background fabric was the perfect choice for this critter garden quilt!

Lisa shared this beautiful and detailed block with us.

That's a wrap! See everyone very soon!

Gearing up for next Saturday

 Lucky 13 Bee blocks for Jennifer

  Lucky 13 Bee blocks for Jody

 Modern Landscape for Rachael

 Anvil Blocks

and other stuff.

 Hoping you have a good Superbowl Sunday (always a good day to sew) and the snow is minimal!  See you next week!