Our April Meeting was all about Modern Seams
But first, some announcements:
Julie Lund is helping to facilitate the small quilting groups that are now forming. If you are interested in being part of a small group, email PMQG for more information. We are working to set up a Small Groups Forum where PMQG members can exchange information about existing and prospective small groups. More information will be available soon.
Would you like to provide some input on the jurying and judging criteria for QuiltCon? Through April 30, you can apply to be on the MQG Jurying and Judging Policies Task Force, which is expected to complete its work by June 30. More information is available on the MQG website.
Support our PMQG Business Members and/or become one! Information about our business members can be found here. Several of our Business Members offer discounts to PMQG members. If you are an individual member with a business and you would like to upgrade your membership for only $10, you can do so here. Email us at portlandmodernquiltguild@gmail.com if you would like more information about being a PMQG Business Member.
Due to the increasing popularity of All Day Sew at Fabric Depot, please be mindful of your sewing space and please don't save seats. We know people like to sit with their friends, but please be courteous about offering empty spots to arriving members. We are going to be working with Fabric Depot to see if we can arrange the space to accommodate more people comfortably. All Day Sew is a great place to wear your name tag. There may even be prizes for nametag wearers in the future....
We played a rousing game of Sit Down If .... Dianne Denhem was the last woman standing and took home the last Retreat Swag Bag.
Quilts We're Making
Meredith Hobbs talked to us about making appliqued letters for our Word Quilts. Meredith will be doing a demonstration of fusible web applique at 11:00 a.m. at the next All Day Sew on May 6th at Fabric Depot. Post your Word Quilt progress on social media using the hashtag #PMQGspeaks2017.
April BOM by Anne Matlak
The April Block of the Month instructions and tips for sewing and cutting are now available on our website. We love seeing your blocks -- keep bringing them to the meetings and don't forget that you can swap BOM blocks at our monthly meetings. Post your BOM blocks to social media with the hashtag #PMQG2017BOM.
PMQG Charity Programs
PMQG members have made 11 quilts for the children and teenagers attending this summer's Camp Erin! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this amazing gift and thank you to our tireless Charity Quilts Coordinator, Cath Hall. In the next trimester we will be making quilts for Legacy Hospice's Passage Quilts program. Quilts are given to patients in hospice care. We are continuing to make quilts for the PICU at Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Our next Charity Sew Day at Modern Domestic is Thursday, April 27th. Don't forget, PMQG members get 20% off on Charity Sew Days!
For our Charity Zipper Bags program, from May through August we'll be making pencil cases for local schoolchildren, which will be distributed by Back-2-School Fresh, a local charity that provides supplies and services to schoolchildren who need them. Information about the pencil cases and a list of needed supplies, as well as links to tutorials and free pencil case patterns will be added to the website soon.
Upcoming Events
Bountiful by Sharon Holland
Art Gallery Fabrics is sponsoring a Mini Quilt Challenge for PMQG members. 24 quilters will receive a bundle of 10 fat quarters of Sharon Holland's beautiful new fabric line, Bountiful. The challenge will be to create a Modern Mini Quilt inspired by rustic elements that complement the homey and earthy feel of Bountiful. The quilts can be no larger than 20" on any side. Three winners will be chosen by Art Gallery Fabrics and Sharon Holland, and Art Gallery is providing fabulous prizes for the winners. The Mini Quilts will be shown at the PMQG Member Quilt Showcase in October. More details will be provided soon. Please, sign up only if you are committed to making a Mini Quilt. If more than 24 people sign up, 24 participants will be chosen by lottery.
Convergence by Latifah Saafir
Sign ups for the June workshops with Latifah Saafir went live on April 23rd. The Glam Clam workshop is sold out, but you can sign up on the wait list here. There are still some spots available in the Pickled Beets and Design Your Own Bias Tape Applique workshops. More information and a link to purchase a spot in the workshops can be found here. At this time, workshops are open exclusively to 2017 PMQG members. If you would like to become a member, you can do that here.
Latifah Saafir will be the guest speaker at our June meeting, where she will do a trunk show and talk to us about Being True to Your Inner Artist. This meeting is free to members, but there will be a $5 charge for non-members.
Blair Stocker, author of the new book, Wise Craft Quilts, will be coming in May to speak to us about making quilts from vintage, upcycled and collected fabrics.
Seams Modern
Quartered A 1/X by Stephanie Ruyle
We were so happy to have Stephanie Ruyle as our April guest speaker. Stephanie is a member of the Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild, an instructor at the University of Colorado's Idea Forge, and has won many awards and accolades for her very modern quilts made with clever seaming techniques that she has developed by drawing on her garment sewing expertise. She is a great believer in cross-pollinating your garment making and quilting skills. Stephanie showed us many of her beautiful quilts, which provided a visual history of her evolution as a quiltmaker using complex seaming techniques adapted from garment making. On April 22nd, 15 lucky PMQG members took Stephanie's workshop, Making Modern with Minimal Decisions, which focused on designing modern quilts with minimal complex seam construction. Students were limited to 8 seams in their project. Photos of student work and links to Stephanie's blog posts about her techniques can be found here.
Wrapping Up
We had three fabulous raffle prizes and two surprise prizes. Carol Parks won the Working with Color Bundle, full of colorful goodies donated by Hunter's Design Studio, Cath Hall, C&T Publishing, and Quilters Dream Batting. PMQG Business Member Kazumi Peterson won the Tula Pink and Material Obsession Bundle, featuring a jelly roll of Tula's new line Tabby Road, donated by Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop, and books, tools and batting generously donated by June Tailor, C&T Publishing and The Warm Company. Christine Yi won the Electric Quilt + Art Gallery Bundle, with the new EQ Mini software, a fat quarter pack of Sharon Holland's Bountiful fabric, and a coloring book and batting donated by C&T Publishing and June Tailor.
Stephanie Ruyle brought us color cards and beautiful Painter's Palette Solid fabrics from Fabri-Quilt to give away to two lucky members, who turned out to be Lara Giles and Donna McClelland.
All the Blues by Chelsea Clarke-Pitt
We topped off our evening with a wonderful Show and Tell by our talented members. Show and Tell photos are on Flickr. No login or password is necessary.
Upcoming Events
Charity Sew Day
Thursday, April 27th, 10 - 4
Modern Domestic, 422 NE Alberta St
Don't forget: PMQG members get 20% off at Modern Domestic all day on Charity Sew Day!
Open Sew Day
Saturday, May 6th, 10 - 8
Fabric Depot, 700 SE 122nd Ave