Meeting reminder

The March meeting is on its way! (And I hope it's bringing spring with it) We will be meeting on Tuesday March 12th at 7pm in our usual space at the SouthWest Mission in Verdun (corner of Verdun and Melrose).

Boro Bag made by MTLMQG member Cinzia Allocca (@cinzia_allocca)
incorporating old jeans, a jean jacket and a zipper from an old leather purse.

Remember, the "Show Yourself Some Love" Upcycle Challenge projects are due, so get those finishing touches finished up and get ready to share the love with the group!

Also, we will not be having a regular Show and Tell, but rather a themed one; by popular demand, the theme will be your favorite quilting/sewing tool or notion. Think about the things you can't live without when sewing or quilting... do you always use a particular brand of thread? Do you have a soft spot for your grandmother's pincushion? Have you discovered a particular kind of pin that works better than any other? Bring along an item that you just can't live (or sew) without, whether it is for practical or sentimental reasons, to share with the group.

See you on Tuesday!

February 12th meeting - RESCHEDULED!

UPDATE: We have rescheduled the February meeting for the 19th at 7pm at our usual space, the SouthWest Mission in Verdun. We will follow the same agenda as planned just on a different night. Hope you can join us then! 

Living in Montreal means that sometimes the weather has the final say on what we do... and at the moment Mother Nature has decided we won't be having our Feb. 12th meeting. There is a storm forecast to hit us on Tuesday and last into Wednesday with heavy snow and strong winds, so for everyone's safety, we are cancelling the meeting.

We are checking with the Mission if it is possible to reschedule for Tuesday Feb. 19th instead and we will let you know as soon as possible if that is indeed going to happen. But in the meantime, please stay home on Tuesday, enjoy an evening at home with something hot to drink and work on your upcycle challenge projects!

Meeting reminder

Just a quick reminder that our first meeting of 2019 is coming up on Tuesday January 8th at 7pm! We will be meeting in our usual spot, the SouthWest Mission space at the corner of Verdun and Melrose in Verdun.

Bundle up, grab something warm to drink and join us for the evening. We will be announcing a fun new challenge at the meeting, so don't miss it! See you there!

(For those who can't make it, we will of course be posting the details to the blog after the meeting)

Applique demo by Claudia

Happy new year! Our first meeting of 2019 is coming up on the 8th and Claudia will be treating us to a hand applique demo. If you would like to participate at the meeting, please complete the following in advance:

• Trace the applique image (downloadable PDF here) onto the right side of a piece of fabric. A window or other flat glass surface with a light source behind it is very helpful for tracing. 
• Baste the drawn fabric onto a second piece of background fabric, keeping both pieces right side up. (Not sure how to baste fabric? Check out this tutorial.) 

Along with your traced and basted fabric from the above steps, you will also need to bring:

• Thread the same color as the fabric you drew the picture on
• A needle (Size 12 hand appliqué needles or size 10 Milliners needles are good. You want a thin needle that glides through the edge of a fold smoothly)
• A thimble
• Small pair of sharp scissors

That's it! If you have any questions, let us know... otherwise see you on the 8th!

Meeting reminder

Just a quick reminder... our December meeting is tomorrow night! We will be meeting at 7pm at the SouthWest Mission space, as per usual.

Ornament tutorial by Amy Smart

Have you made your ornament for the swap? If not, there is still plenty of time to whip one up... check out our Pinterest board for some inspiration and tutorials.

We will also be having the mid-year raffle (yes, you must be present to win) and a holiday potluck - please bring your favorite seasonal treat to share! We will get the business stuff out of the way quickly and spend the rest of the meeting on Show & Tell and socializing.

Take a break from all the things you need to do and join us for a relaxed evening of quilt-y goodness! See you tomorrow evening...

September meeting reminder

Tonight is our first meeting of the 2018-19 season! The rain should be clearing up in time for our 7pm meeting at our usual spot, the SouthWest Mission in Verdun (corner of Verdun and Melrose).

A few things we will be discussing:

• Collection of dues for the new year ($40 per member)
• Collection of the completed Palliacco quilts
• Guild labels will be available for application at the meeting. If you wish to use one, please bring a waterproof marker and white thread and needle. 
• Collection of the QuiltCon 2019 charity challenge blocks
• We will be discussing next steps in the process.
• Andrea Tsang Jackson workshop
• Announcement of a swap (yay!)
• Lots and lots of Show and Tell :) 

Bring a coffee, bring some handwork and join us for a relaxed and quilty meeting. Looking forward to starting a new year with you all, see you tonight! 

September meeting

Don't freak out!!! Summer isn't over just yet... we still have weeks of lovely warm weather ahead of us. But... September is just around the corner, which means our meetings are starting back up soon!

Our first meeting of the 2018-19 year will be Tuesday, September 11th at 7pm in our usual meeting space at the SouthWest Mission, corner of rue Melrose and rue de Verdun in Verdun. We have updated the guild's Facebook Events page with all of the meetings and sew-ins for the year, and as always you can find the agendas for each meeting in the Members Only section of the blog. (The new year's password will be given out at the September meeting :)

We will be collecting the finished 2017-18 charity quilts, if you have done one please make sure you bring it. We will be arranging delivery of the quilts to Palliacco after the meeting, so September 11th is the firm deadline. Don't forget to label your work! Also, as discussed in June, we will be collecting the wonky star blocks for the upcoming QuiltCon 2019 charity quilt. If you haven't made any up yet but still want to contribute, there is still time... please see the blog post for the guidelines and bring your finished blocks to the meeting. If you are interested in contributing to the 2019 quilt in a different way (basting, quilting, binding, etc), let us know!

We will be devoting as much time as possible at the meeting to show and tell so everyone can catch up on what they did over the summer break. Bring along those projects to show off! Looking forward to seeing everyone! :)

June meeting reminder

F1 is taking over downtown this week, which means summer is about to begin, which means our June meeting is upon us! Our last meeting of the 2017-18 year is next Tuesday, June 12th at 7pm at the SouthWest Mission space in Verdun. 

Mod Melons pattern by Suzy Quilts

We will be wrapping up the year by discussing the results of the annual survey and discussing some of the plans for next year. We will also be raffling off all the goodies we've been collecting all year, having a quilty swap meet and enjoying a potluck. If you plan on bringing something, please take a moment to add your dish to the sign-up sheet. Hope to see everyone next week! 

April 2018 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

April 2018 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

April 11, 2018 at 7pm SouthWest Mission, Verdun, QC

Business:

• Riley Blake fabric challenge: the MQG will mail the bundles to Claudia, but they will not be in time for the deadline.
• Humboltd Broncos: the Saskatoon MQG is organizing a quilt drive for the people affected by the bus crash. They are looking to collect 200 quilts. If you'd like to contribute or get more information, go to the https://saskatoonmqg.com/quilts-for-broncos/ website.
• Charity Quilt: our charity quilt from 2 years ago will be donated to the Syrian family during a presentation on April 29 at 12:30 PM. Check your email for all the details.
• Volunteers for the Executive: we are always looking for people who would be willing to become a member of the Executive Team. Not a huge time investment and lots of fun. If you are interested, please speak to any member of the current team.

EPP Hexie Lottery

Last meeting we swapped warm and cool charm sqaures!  The rainbow that we got was rather lovely.

At the May meeting (so there is still some time) we will be have a EPP hexie lottery. To participate, 4 x 1" English Paper Pieced hexies will get you 1 entry. Make more hexies and get more entries! If we get a very large quantity of hexies, we may create more than 1 lot.

You do not need to use the charms from the last swap. However charm squares can be cut into mini charms (2.5" squares) and they are the perfect size to make 1" hexagons with! You can use scraps, strips from jelly rolls or whatever fabric you would like! There is no colour or print restrictions for the lottery. However, please only submit hexies made of quilting cotton.

Another thing to ask is that the basting stitches only go through the fabric and not through the paper (makes it easier to pull out the paper without having to cut the basting threads)

The important thing to note, is that the edges of the hexagon is 1". There are a bunch of different templates out there. Everyone will agree that is the hexagons are set up in rows versus nested it makes cutting the paper templates much MUCH easier. I found a free template on Geta's Quilting Studios. The PDF have 6 different sizes, so please mach sure you are using the 1" (and that you are printing at 100%, not scaled to fit!)

Enjoy making your hexies! They are a great little project to do in a waiting room or while watching TV! The lottery will be held at the May 8th meeting.

December 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

December 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes
December 12, 2017 at 7pm SouthWest Mission, Verdun, QC

Quick points of business:

• Welcome - No new members this month 

Meeting topics:

• Snacks: The snacks provided by the Mission might not be enough for the crowd. We would need 5 volunteers to take care of bringing a snack in addition to the Guild paying for something every month. We sent a sign-up sheet and got our volunteers!
• Sew-Ins: We are moving our sew-ins back to the Centre in St-Henri starting with the January sew-in. The hours will also go back to 10 am to 4 pm.
• Club Tissus Modern Quilting Conference: Club Tissus would like to invite us to speak at their quilting week the weekend of January 20 and 21. If anyone is interested, contact Stephanie.
• Twist Festival: The Festival invited us to display some of our quilts. If you have a quilt lap size or bigger you would like to display, contact Stephanie as soon as possible.

Ornament Swap:  Some really cute and creative ornaments were swapped.

Show and Tell

• Tamara - cute small quilt in her fabric collection
• Jennifer - Baby quilt in pinks and greys
• Izzy - City Sampler quilt finished

Skill builder block of the month:

• Stephanie - HST Star blocks

Party!!

Meeting reminder

Just a quick reminder, our next meeting is Tuesday December 12th at 7pm. Time to take a break from all those holiday gifts you're working on and come relax and have some fun!

We will be raffling off some mid-year goodies, having an ornament swap and enjoying some seasonal treats. Please feel free to bring along something edible or drinkable to share!

For those of you who wish to participate in the swap, simply make a fabric ornament and bring it with you to the meeting. No need to bring it in a bag, we will put them all in one large bag to draw from. There is no required pattern to follow, but if you need some inspiration you can check out this Pinterest board for some ideas.

If you wanted to learn how to make the Scandinavian star ornament and couldn't attend Stacy's demonstration at the last sew-in, you can find the written tutorial here, or if you're a more visual learner you can check out this tutorial on YouTube:

Hope to see you on Tuesday!

November meeting reminder

Just a quick reminder... our next meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday November 14th at 7pm.

If you are participating in the 1-hour basket swap, please make sure to bring your finished basket in an opaque bag for the blind swap. Bring a basket, leave with a basket!

We will be having a talk by Cinzia on quilt labels, and we will be wrapping up the Square/Strip-based block section of the skillbuilder challenge with a presentation from Izzy on the Log Cabin block. If you have blocks to contribute to the charity quilts, please bring them to turn in.

Tomorrow's meeting is also the deadline to pay fees for the Memory Quilt workshop... if you have signed up for the workshop but not yet paid your fees, please make sure you do so before leaving.

Hope to see you tomorrow! :)

October 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

October 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

October 10, 2017 at 7pm SouthWest Mission, Verdun, QC

Quick points of business:

• Seating arrangement, comments welcome. Trying new things with the fridge making too much noise.
• No one answered for last call for being paired up to make name tags, so if you want one please make your own.
• Membership dues are due by November meeting.
• Only a couple left FQ Mtl Fat quarter bundles left at Clinton Modern, order them asap if you want one.
• Please be aware that the room accoustics are terrible so please listen when someone is talking.
• Remember we are a welcoming, collaborative and often rule breaking modern quilt guild ….. compliments, suggestions and ideas are always welcome. Be careful to phrase them with kindness and openness ….. quilt rules demanders and quilt police, please keep your comments to yourself. 

Meeting reminder

Just a quick reminder... our next meeting is this Tuesday October 10th at 7pm at the SouthWest Mission in Verdun.

We will be discussing the details of the memory quilt workshop in November, Stacy will be announcing our first swap of the year, there will be a demonstration of quilt binding techniques, and Cinzia will be presenting our next skill builder block, the Nine Patch.

So grab your favorite autumn-themed beverage and join us for the evening on Tuesday! Hope to see you there.

September 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

September 2017 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

September 12, 2017 at 7pm South West Mission, Verdun, QC

Quick points of business:  Welcome

                                    New Space - honour system for the food pantry.

                                    Donation to the clothing swap at the coming up at the mission

                                    MQG - Exec team

                                                      - Steph - Prez

                                                      - Izzy - Vice Prez

                                                      - Claudia - Treasurer

                                                      - Stacy - Programmer

                                                      - Fiona - Secretary and social media Coordinator
                                                      - Josee - registrar

Raffle at the end of year - based on wearing a tag to meetings. Get your tickets from Izzy. 

                                    - We can set you up with partners to swag name tags if interested. 

We are a bilingual guild, we will help with translations when needed.

Meeting reminder!

Tomorrow, September 12th, is our first meeting of the 2017-18 year! Come join us at 7pm as we kick off a new year full of modern quilty goodness! Remember, we are meeting at our *new* location in the basement of the Verdun Elementary school. The entrance is on the corner of Verdun and Melrose.

We will be kicking off the Skillbuilder Challenge with a presentation by Stacy, catching up on what everyone has been doing over the summer, going over what is in store for us in the coming year, and we might even have a surprise or two to raffle off.

Also, for anyone who was interested in donating some fabric for Michele's fidget quilt project (you can read the full details in her forum post), she will be collecting fabric at the meeting.

Looking forward to seeing both old and new faces... see you tomorrow!

Final meeting reminder

I'm not entirely sure how we got here so quickly, but the final meeting of the 2016-17 year is this coming Tuesday June 13th at 7pm at the CRCS St-Zotique.

We will be wrapping up the year and discussing plans for next year. Claudia will give the treasurer's report and we will discuss final steps of the #QuiltsforQC project. We will also be raffling off some goodies from Craft de Ville, QuiltCon and Quilt Market, so make sure you wear your name tag for one last entry in the draw.

It will also be a potluck, so if you will be bringing something to share, make sure you put your name and what you're bringing on the sign-up sheet. We will wrap up the year with a nice, relaxed meeting and start off summer vacation in style! Look forward to seeing you there!

UPDATE! June Sew-In

Due to the cool and rainy weather, we will be holding our last Sew-In of the year at AFA tomorrow June 3rd from 10am to 4pm. 

Everything else stays the same for the sew-in, just the location has changed. And the fact that you won't need sunscreen. ;)

Remember, if you'd like to help with the #QuiltsforQC binding, please either join us tomorrow to work on it, or swing by to pick up a quilt and some binding to work on at home. This is your last chance to help out before we wrap up the project at the June 13th meeting! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Meeting reminder!

Our final sew-in of the year will be a Sew-Out! Weather permitting, we will be holding our sew-out this coming Saturday, June 3rd from 10am to 4pm at Parc Du Square Sir-George-Etienne-Cartier, the park directly in front of the CRCS St-Zotique where we normally meet.

Parc Du Square Sir-George-Etienne-Cartier

Please bring with you a picnic lunch, something to sit on and a project to work on that does not require electricity. If you don't have a project to work on, you are welcome to help do some binding on the #QuiltsforQC quilts. The forecast currently shows sunny weather for Saturday (here's hoping), but if for some reason it rains, Amanda has kindly offered to host us in Verdun. If that happens, I will post both here and on the Facebook event page about the change of venue.

If you want to help with the binding but can't stay for the sew-in, I will have all of the quilts and supplies with me, so you are welcome to swing by and pick up some to work on at home. Just remember that we need them all back at the meeting on June 13th. We will also take the opportunity to photograph some of the finished quilts, so if you have any that are ready please bring them by so we can document them. All of the quilts for #QuiltsforQC must be turned in by the June 13th meeting... no exceptions! We will be making plans to deliver all of the quilts in late June or early July, and of course we will post photos of all the finished quilts here once we are done. :)

And finally, our last meeting of the 2016-17 year will be on Tuesday June 13th from 7-9pm at the CRCS St-Zotique. We will be having a potluck, so if you would like to bring something to share, please add your name and what you'll be bringing to the sign up sheet in the Members Only section of the blog. We will be wrapping up the year, discussing plans for next year, and we will be raffling off some goodie bags! Hope to see you there.