May 11, 2016 Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order by President Kelly at 7 PM with one guest and 26 members in attendance.

Daisy and Jenny reprised their informative presentation for the Pioneer Quilters quilt show in April of “What is a Modern Quilt?”.  Modern Quilts are functional items. Examples shown made it very clear that it is a minimalist improvisational style of quilting that is evolving as it develops.  The emphasis appears mainly in the bright colors and expansive negative spaces with alternate grid work.  Current characteristics are a cleaner palette (Whites, Brights, and Greys with few beiges or browns). Shawna told us that there are now 353 shades of Kona solids.  Modern Quilts often use larger and fewer pieces than traditional quilts. The quilting tends to be minimalist: parallel lines, pinstripe straight lines, all-over circles.

The Skill Building block for this month is a Dresden Plate. A pattern for the blades and center was given out. The hand out with instructions will be posted on the EMQG blog.  If you would like to make a donation quilt block, please make the Dresden Plate in rainbow colors on a light color background.  Resulting blocks will be made into a donation quilt.  Please bring your completed blocks back to the June meeting.

We were reminded that the Charity Quilt for QuiltCon auction will be ”A Path Through The Forest”.  The quilt will consist of half square triangles and will be a 72” X 92” size.  Materials for this quilt will be distributed at the June meeting. (edit by Daisy)

Members who are participating in the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge showed their pieces.

Bonnie explained how the new Geek/Fandom Swap will work and passed out forms for participation.  These are also available on the MQG website. The deadline for sign ups is Friday, May 13^th. We should be matched with our secret fan partners soon.  The swap and partners reveal will happen at the September meeting.

Participating members brought back last month's Bee Block.

Bee Block packets and instructions for next month are for a Log Cabin style block. 

Coming Events:

The next Sit and Sew will be at the Willamette St. Market of Choice on May 24^th from 10 – 1-ish.

Members are reminded that registration for Lane County Fair entries is now open online and include new categories.

The Corvallis Meet-up is scheduled for June 25^th, time to be announced. It will be a Potluck. The swap item is a tote.  Members are reminded that they should use Modern fabrics.  

The Show and Tell segment of the meeting was, as usual, filled with the Ooos and Ahws of appreciation of our fellow quilters.

The next meeting is June 8th.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.

May skill builder

2016 Eugene MQG Skill Building BOM

 

Month: May

 

Topic: Dresden Plate

 

Presenter: Kim Olsen

 

Objectives:

How to make Dresden blades and an applique circle. Work on quarter inch seams. Also, sew down/applique onto background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial websites

Pat Sloan Dresden Tutorials  (Pat Sloan blogged about many different tutorials

Giant Scrappy Dresden Plate Tutorial

Sew Mama Sew Dresden Tutorial

Missouri Quilt Star Dresden Plate Tutorial Video

Bunny HIll Design Dresden Plate

 

Proposed Quilt Block (16.5” unfinished)

I used a 30 degree ruler, as I could not locate my 18 degree one. The 30 degree ruler makes 12 blades in the dresden plate, while the 18 degree makes 20. Blades can be made from almost any isosceles triangle that divides evenly into 360 degrees: so one can use a 45 (makes 8 blades)(kaleidoscope ruler anyone?) or a 60 degree one that makes only 6. I used a 6 inch strip of fabric to cut the blades, but placed the 7 inch line of the wedge ruler at the top and had an inch of the ruler hang out over lower part of fabric. This makes a resulting circle that is close to 14 inches in diameter. The center circle will easily cover the resulting hole in the center. It is easier to sew this way than having the points join in the center. Having the plate be 14 inches allows for centering, or skewing, as you prefer. One could make any size at all! I used a lid from a can of peanuts to draw around for a template (cereal box) for the center. Cut about a quarter inch larger than desired circle size and using a double threaded needle, I sewed around and pulled it up around the template. Starch and press! Probably best to use a 17 inchsquare for background. As one sews/appliques on the dresden plate, it may cause shrinkage! Ha Ha! The tutorials on Sew Mama Sew and Bunny Hill give very good tips for the sewing. Well worth reading :-) There are many variations in color placement and striping that would be very fun to try!

May meeting, Wednesday the 11th

You are invited to the May meeting of the EMQG on Wednesday evening, May 11th. Doors will open at 6:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 7. This month's special presentation will attempt to answer the question "What is Modern Quilting?". April Bee Blocks are due and there will be a new Skill Building Block and Show-and-Tell. 

Bonnie G. will present more information about the EMQG Geek Fandom Swap. She's very excited about it! The sign-up form for the swap is posted as a separate file on the EMQG group page on the MQG website. Please print the form, fill it out, and bring it to the meeting so she can begin assigning Secret Partners. Deadline for sign-ups is this Friday, May 13. 

April Meeting Minutes

Eugene Modern Quilt Guild Meeting Notes for April 13, 2016

President Kelly called the meeting to order promptly at 7 PM with 31 members in attendance, including our newest member; Lisa Ponder.

Mindy Patterson, of Mindy’s Needlework Shop in the 5^th Street Public Market was our guest speaker. Mindy spoke about and displayed some of what she called “candies” (threads) from her shop. She also described and displayed a selection of the needles that are used with them. Mindy answered questions and sold some of what she brought with her during the break that followed her presentation.

Kelly announced that the Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge package had been received and the fabrics were available for those who had signed up.

After this month’s swap of decorated Tea Towels was completed, it was announced that the process of the “swap” activity was going to change somewhat. The monthly swap will be temporarily suspended. Instead, there will be a Geek Swap which will take place with secret fan pals being matched up through the completion of a questionnaire regarding what participants are crazy about. Full instructions will follow and participants will have several months before the reveal during the swap.

There was a lively discussion regarding the invitation to participate in the NW Quilt Expo. It was decided not to accept the invitation this year due to time frame and costs.

Kelly issued an invitation to all members that there would be an open Board Meeting at the Little Green House on April 20^th at 7 PM. Anybody who is interested is invited to attend.    

Pat Johnson announced that due to spotty participation the Permission 2 Play activity will be discontinued at least temporarily.

The March Bee Blocks were displayed.

Janice Hoffine passed out April Bee Block packets for Modern Christmas Tree Quilt Blocks from diaryofaquilter.com by Amy Smart.

Linda Delaplain presented the April Skill Building Block: Machine Applique Techniques. She displayed six versions in the form of leaves with different stitching and fusible bonds weights.

minutes by Malika; posted by Daisy

June Meetup with Corvallis MQG & Butterfly Blankets

On June 25th we'll be meeting up with the Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild at Sweet Earth Vineyards, 24843 Kyle Road, in Monroe, where we met together last summer. Time is still to be determined but we know that the swap item will be a TOTE! Start looking at patterns and please use modern fabrics for your fabulous creation!  

Also, a big Thank You to all EMQG members who helped make over 25 butterfly blankets for Bags of Love this past winter! They were so excited to receive them! You can see a few of your creations below.

posted by Daisy