Quiltcon 2020 Charity Quilt Challenge

Again this year, the Mtl Mqg is excited to be participating in the Quiltcon Charity Quilt Challenge presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. 

The theme selected for this year is quilts incorporating “TEXT”, with a color scheme of black/white and shades of gray as you see below.

You can find more specific information on colors and about the challenge itself, by following this link:
https://www.quiltcon.com/charity-quilt-challenge-2020

 Here is the idea behind our guild's group quilt: 

-  Based on a suggestion by Stephanie Baldwin, I decided to play with the idea of word poetry magnets like you see below.

-       I found a free downloadable sheet and cut out the words. Using all the words would have been too much to fit within the size constraints of the quilt, so I filtered through them came up with a cohesive message (message is being kept secret until the final reveal). Members who are interested in participating are asked to contribute a "word block" for the quilt. At last week's meeting we asked interested members to pick a word or two from a the lot.  Here are the guidelines for making your word block:

-        - Printed or solid fabrics are acceptable. 

- Prints for background restricted to tone on tone black (ie: must read like a solid).  

- Prints for the letters are acceptable as long as you adhere to the gray/white color scheme (stick to whites and/or cool gray tones. Please do not use creams or beige). NO COLOR IS ALLOWED.  

- You are encouraged to use fabrics from your stash or scrap bin.

-Letters/words can be pieced, paper-pieced, improv, hand or machine applique. 

- Individual letters can be no taller than 5 inches and no wider than 3 inches. Note that this is the maximum size that your letters can be.  You can make the letters smaller as long as the finished word block is 6in. tall.  This means that if your letters are smaller, you’ll have more background fabric around the letters.   

Below are guidelines for spacing and sizing of letters. You must leave a minimum of ½ inch space around the word. Finished word block must be 6 inches tall regardless of the size of the letters/word.

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 Below are 2 examples of word blocks, each made with different size letters but both finishing at 6 inches tall: 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:  If you’ve signed up for this project, then you’ve signed up to respect this timeline!

Finished words given back by November 13^th meeting.

Sew-in to assemble quilt top and baste quilt: Novemebr 23rd at Craft de Ville. 

Top / backing / done for Dec. 11^th meeting

Quilt bound and ready for shipping for January meeting.

Quilt must arrive in Austin on Feb 8^th. 

Below is a list of patterns/tutorials related to text quilts/word blocks:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/86370709/wonky-alphabet-pdf-digital-download

https://shop.mybluprint.com/quilting/article/quilt-with-words/

http://quilttaffy.blogspot.com/2013/05/adding-words-to-your-quilt-back.html

https://ohfransson.bigcartel.com/product/refrigerator-magnets-quilt-blocks-modern-patchwork-pdf-pattern

http://www.aqsblog.com/free-pieced-alphabet-patterns-a-z?fbclid=IwAR01jBvYEJE8QF1AcmRMp12GHsd49tH314VnYFqhk6Uvkx_Mqfys8YoHcSo

You can GOOGLE “free printable alphabet template” and use the letters to create your own pattern. 

If you missed the first meeting and wish to participate in the challenge, there are still some words available!! Please contact me directly at cinzia-ibc@videotron.ca and a word will be assigned to you and added to the sign up sheet. Please also reach out to me with questions regarding the challenge. 

We are still looking for a charity to donate the quilt to. Suggestions are welcome.

We will also need volunteers to assemble the quilt top, backing, binding and backing. We also need a volunteer to quilt it. 

Patti is working on finding donations of batting and backing. 

Thank you for your participation and I look forward to seeing your words! 

Cinzia 

Name Tag Swap

It was great to start a new year with the guild last night! Thanks to all of you who came out and to those of you who couldn't make it, I hope we see you at another meeting soon.

As discussed, our first challenge is a name tag swap. It's a challenge open to all who'd like to participate: newer members who don't have one, those who'd like an update from the older one, or like me, think that the more accessories to choose from, the merrier.

This is one I received, made by Stephanie the last time we did this swap.

If you were at the meeting and are taking part, you should have the name of the person you are making for as well as their preferred colour palette and geometric shape of choice as parameters for your creation. (Anyone who wasn't at the meeting and would like to take part, I will suggest it again at the next meeting and hopefully you can find a partner and make one for each other or simply create one for yourself and come show it off at the next meeting).

The shape can be incorporated in the piecing, be appliquéd on, be embroidered, used as the overall form of the piece... the choice is yours.

As our group discussion last night was about what brought us to a modern guild and many members voiced an appreciation for the modern aesthetic (but didn't necessarily think their work currently fit into that category), maybe this is an opportunity (on a very small scale) to try to push those boundaries and try something a bit outside your comfort zone. How about an asymmetrical design, a bit of improv or playing with minimalism?

And this is the one I made Melanie last time.

You can find ideas to start brainstorming your modern creation here and images of some fun name tags here. Don't forget to think about how the recipient will wear their tag (pin, lanyard...).

DEADLINE: Our October meeting (Wednesday 9th).

And have fun!