Monday, October 12, 2015

Meeting reminder!


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Hope you are all enjoying the fabulous weather and getting your fill of pumpkin pie and other goodies! Just a friendly reminder that our next monthly meeting is tomorrow night, October 13 at 7pm at the CRCS St-Zotique, as per usual.

To view the agenda for the upcoming meeting, please log in to the Members Only Area on the blog. There you will also find the sign-up sheets for the set-up and snack volunteers (just in case you can't remember what week you signed up for ;) as well as the PDF presentation that Agnes will be presenting at the meeting regarding use of the MQG community website. Please take a moment to look it over and make sure you have created your MQG account so that if you have any questions or problems, we can go over them at the meeting tomorrow night. See you at the meeting!


Monday, October 05, 2015

Pick-up Sticks blocks

Our first Sew-In was on Saturday and we spent the day working on the Pick-Up Sticks blocks for the QuiltCon Charity Challenge. A big thank you to Jessica for putting together a great demonstration on constructing and modifying the block! These blocks are fun and extremely quick to put together... a great choice for this "Improv with Intent" challenge. 

For those who could not make it to the Sew-In to pick up their fabric, we will have some available at the upcoming meeting on Tuesday October 13th. Everyone who signed up to be part of the challenge should plan on making at least two blocks, though if we have extra and you'd like to do more, you are welcome to do so! Also, please keep your scraps and turn them in with the finished blocks as we will make use of them in the final construction of the quilt as well. 

We have pre-cut squares and rectangles for the background of the block, as well as 1", 1 1/2" and 2" pre-cut "sticks" for you to choose from, so really all you have to do is decide which colors you like and where to put them! The finished blocks should be one of three sizes: 
  • 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" square
  • 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" square
  • 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" rectangle

You can use as many or as few "sticks" as you like in any color(s) and alignment(s) that may tickle your fancy... it can be colorful or monochrome, it can be chaotic or orderly, it's improv and it's up to you. :) If you need some help getting started, you can refer to the Pick Up Sticks Tutorial over at Happy Sew Lucky, the Pick Up Sticks board put together by Jessica on Pinterest, or feel free to ask for some help at the meeting and we will be happy to talk you through it!

Here are a few example of ones that were finished on Saturday: 


The finished blocks will need to be turned in at the November meeting so that we have time to piece it, quilt it and finish it by the deadline, so make sure you remember to bring them with you!

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Meeting reminder(s)!

This coming Saturday October 3rd will be our first day-long sew-in. We will be at the CRCS St-Zotique from 10am to 4pm, and thankfully the weather is about a zillion degrees cooler than at our September meeting. In fact, it will be a bit chilly so you may want to bring along something warm to drink while you work! Also, bring your project of choice to work on and any tools you need to work on it (including your sewing machine), as well as a lunch and/or snack for yourself.

For those participating in the charity challenge and/or the modern quilt showcase, we will be discussing/doing some important things relating to both projects, so please try to attend! For more details on either of these, check your email for the newsletter (or you can view the web version of it here).

Also mark your calendar for our next regular monthly meeting which will take place on Tuesday October 13th at 7pm at the CRCS St-Zotique, as per usual. Agnes will be giving a presentation on how to use (and get the most out of) the MQG website... if you have any questions on it, that will be the time to ask! If you have not yet paid your dues for the year, make sure you check in with Josee at the meeting and get them paid. We will have a few other points of business to go over and then plenty of time for discussion and show and tell of all of those modern quilting projects you've been working on! Show and tell projects do not have to be finished to be shared, we love seeing works in progress as much as finished pieces, just please make sure they are on topic for modern quilting! :)

See you at the meeting(s)!