Green Grocery Bag Challenge

In conjunction with Sew Mama Sew and The Modern Quilt Guild, 
I present to you:

A Holiday Sewing Project for Mother Earth

Fact 1: US consumers generate 4 million tons of wrapping paper and shopping bag waste during the holiday season alone.

Fact 2: The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic grocery bags every year.
 
Fact 3: This year, you can make a difference!

The Green Grocery Bag Challenge is a project to encourage sewists to wrap their holiday gifts in reusable cloth grocery bags, thus reducing the amount of wrapping paper entering the waste stream, while simultaneously getting multi-use bags into the hands of consumers.

Our goal is to involve the entire sewing industry in this campaign to challenge sewists to include Mother Earth in their holiday plans.

LINKS:
Green Bag Lady video instructions.
Green Bag Lady pattern.
Furoshiki-Cloth Gift Wrapping
A tutorial at Sew Mama Sew-a little more involved, but produces a really great bag. 
Facebook page for the Green Bag Challenge 
Sew Mama Sew Blog post 

Kristin of Sew Mama Sew will be doing a short presentation and giveaway on this at our next meeting!  Stay tuned for details.

The Practical Guide to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker

This Saturday, Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson! will be signing her first book The Practical Guild to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker.

Photo by Modern Domestic

The place:  Modern Domestic
The Time:  4pm-6pm
The Date:  11.13.2010

This to be followed by PMQG open sewing night from 6pm-9pm. If you've never been to a PMQG event, now is the time to stop in and meet local quilters while working on your latest project!
Hope to see everyone there!

Destash Swap and Sale November 18

There has been a lot of interest in the upcoming PMQG Swap and Sale. We will have fabric, tools, supplies, books, and perhaps even some quilt blocks and unquilted tops for sale. Hopefully there will be finished quilted items too.

We will have 15 tables available but you must reserve a table by adding your name to the swap and sale list on the PMQG Flickr page. The flickr page has more info on items that will be available as well as a way for you to request items.

If you only have one or two items for sale, please bring them. We will provide an area for display. Include your name and price along with the item and if someone wants to buy or trade for your item, they will find you amongst the shoppers. This way you can shop too!

Time to start organizing your stash and sewing supplies. Bring items you no longer need and buy or trade for new treasures!

A Happy Zombie Halloween at PMQG

Zombies and Halloween go together like pins and pincushions, so The Happy Zombie was the perfect choice for an October presentation to PMQG.  Of course, a little sustenance for our favorite zombie before the meeting seemed appropriate as 43 members settled in for an evening of fun, friends, fabric and inspiration!
Sweets and liquid courage supplied by Jen.

NEWS ABOUT DUES
After new members and visitors were welcomed, Program Chair, Cherri Langley, announced that dues of $25 per year would start in January 2011.  Meetings will remain free; however, benefits of being a dues-paying member will include such perks as free all day sewing days, a mention in the blog sidebar, and discounts at fabric shops.  The dues will help fund special events (e.g., bringing in out-of-state speakers for workshops/trunk shows), paying national Modern Quilt Guild dues, etc.  Although the dues go into effect in January 2011, members may submit dues to Tamara (PMQG Treasurer) at the November meeting.

TEN MINUTE TUTE
Michelle provided a Ten Minute Tute with an organizational theme.  Michelle does a lot of sewing in addition to quilting and came up with a system to organize the many different types of needles that she uses.  She uses notecards in a decorative box to keep the needles organized and handy.  Any needle still in use is stuck through the little piece of gray felt (appropriately enough for October, the felt is leftover from a previous year's Halloween costume).   For more information on types of needles and when to change them, Michelle provided these links:
Sewing Machine Needle Overview:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3752/sewing-machine-needles-an-overview
Machine Needle Overview:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3751/machine-needle-know-how

Michelle also showed a beautiful binder that she uses for other sewing organizational and reference purposes, including a stitch sampler, pocket for her sewing machine manual, etc.  Thank you Michelle for sharing your functional and creative ideas!  Enjoy your gift certificate to Cool Cottons.

PRESENTATION BY THE HAPPY ZOMBIE
Monica was inspirational and entertaining, with plenty of amusing stories to tell.  Monica Solorio-Snow was discovered (much like Lana Turner) after years of drawing and playing around with design (since 7th grade in Mrs. Gruffman's class.  My apologies to Mrs. G. if the name is misspelled).  
Copies of Monica's Glow Happy quilt pattern were provided at the meeting.  

Monica designs for Lecien.  Her current line is Holiday Happy, with another line coming out in 2011.

The cute bag in Holiday Happy fabric was made for Monica by her friend and partner-in-crime, Pam (aka Pam Kitty Morning).

In addition to fabric, quilts, and other sewing projects, Monica showed the group some beautiful Lecien Cosmo embroidery floss and how to make a portable design wall.
Monica donated several giveaways for the evening, including fabric and the portable design wall!
Thank you, Monica, for great inspiration and keeping us in stitches! 

OCTOBER SWAP
What could be in these plain, brown bags?

A variety of charming and colorful pincushions for a swap!  Here are just a few examples:










 SHOW AND TELL
This is always a special part of the evening, and PNCA cooperated with a little Halloween-appropriate artwork in the background....  
 Jeri

 Katie

 Tracie

 Back of Tracie's quilt.

 Kristen

 Back of Kristen's quilt.

 Autumn

 Jenn

 Jenn

 Cherri

 Petra

 Mary Ann (Quilts for Kids kit)

 Laura

 Jen

Back of Jen's quilt.

Christina

GIVEAWAYS
Sprinkled throughout the evening were a variety of giveaways (with some donated by Monica and Elizabeth): fabric, a quilting magazine, fabric, the portable design wall, fabric, Elizabeth Hartman's book (The Practical Guide to Patchwork), fabric, a mini Halloween tote, and -- of course -- more fabric!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Book Signing with Elizabeth Hartman + Sewing Night
November 13th @ Modern Domestic from 5-9 pm

PMQG Monthly Meeting*
November 18th @ PNCA from 7-9 pm
*This meeting will feature a fabric, materials, and craft swap and sale.  "Vendors" may bring their goodies as early as 6:30 to set-up; however, the doors will be closed to "shoppers/swappers" until 7:00.  
No pre-shopping, ladies!
If you plan to bring items to sell or swap, please contact Cherri via this discussion page on flickr.  Her email is also available on that page.

*There will be a Give and Get Gift Swap starting at the November meeting and ending at the December meeting: Fill a sandwich size ziplock bag with pieces of your favorite fabrics -- any size -- as long as it all fits in the baggie.  Write your name and email address on a tag and enclose it in the baggie.  Bring the baggie to the November meeting for a swap.  You will make a quilted gift using only the fabrics in the baggie + one additional fabric of your choice.  Bring the finished creation to the December meeting to return to the original fabric owner and receive your gift made from the fabrics you donated.
Questions can be posted to the PMQG flickr group page - Portland Modern Quilters.

Whew! How much quilty goodness can Portland Modern Quilters fit into one meeting? 
Well, you've just seen it!  What will November bring?....

I feel that I may have missed at least one quilt from Show and Tell.  Please contact me with any corrections/additions to the "minutes" of this meeting: joanhcallaway@comcast.net.

Saturday SEWING DAY!

This Saturday is our free sewing day at PNCA!

The date: 10.23.2010
The room: 205
The time: 10-5pm (come anytime within the seven hours!)
Bring: Anything you need to work on your project

It would be great if we could coordinate some items such as:
Irons
Ironing boards
Cutting mats

If you have any of these that are easily portable, let us know in the comment section.

Also, let us know if you'll be stopping by. We want to make sure there are enough plug ins, stations and room!

Can't wait for SEVEN hours of sewing!
How about you?

2011 Officer Position Descriptions!

Hi everyone-

At our last officer's meeting we pulled together officer positions for the up coming year. As an officer's group we decided that each position would only serve one term. Thus as much as we would like to, none of us would be returning as officers. This allows more voices to be heard, new talents to emerge and a well-deserved break for the current officers!

If you are interested in, or have ANY questions about these positions please feel free to email portlandmodernquiltguild at gmail.com.  For those who have already expressed interested please continue to ask questions!

When it comes to presenting the new team in December for Jan-Dec 2011, if there are multiple people interested in one particular position we will have a majority rule vote.  Otherwise, if there is simply one person per position interested it will be a none voting election.

President Job Description
  • Arrange for, schedule and facilitate meetings for Monthly Officers meeting and PMQG meetings
  • Assist/Coordinate in planning monthly PMQG meetings
  • Assist in maintaining Blog, Goggle Docs, and Flickr

Primary function is to see to the smooth running of the entire guild. Must feel comfortable speaking in front of a large group of people. Organization is necessary and follow through is a must. The time commitment for this position is about 10 hours per month, which includes monthly PMQG meetings as well as monthly officers meetings.

Before Officer and PMQG meetings the President prepares agendas to be discussed. This is to be emailed to all officers before the monthly meeting.  As well, the agenda for PMQG monthly meetings is to be posted on the blog.
Takes suggestions from all members under advisement. Works with individuals as needed.
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 Vice President, Portland Modern Quilt Guild

The vice president will perform the duties of the president if needed, including running the monthly meeting.

Maintain all online media (blog, Flickr, etc)
Attend monthly guild meeting.  Arrive 1/2 hour ahead of time to assist with set up and stay for clean up.

Attend guild board meetings.  Actively participate in guild leadership and decisions.

The time commitment for this position is about 10 hours per month, which includes monthly PMQG meetings as well as monthly officers meetings.
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Secretary
The primary duty of the PMQG secretary is to take notes at all monthly meetings and officer’s meetings and post the information to the group blog/web-page, including announcements, guild business, presentations, show and tell, etc.

The secretary assists in maintaining the blog/website by contributing posts (e.g., writing about other guild events such as shop hops, sewing nights, charity work, etc. or series such as “Meet a Portland Quilter”).

Skills Needed:
Good writing skills
Organizational skills
Attention to detail

Time commitment for this position is about 10 hours per month, which includes monthly PMQG meetings as well as monthly officers meetings.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PMQG Treasurer Position

Main Responsibilities:
  • Maintain bank account including preparing monthly/quarterly statements for PMQG, pay any bills that may incur including reimbursements to members
  • Handle membership dues collection
  • Maintain membership spreadsheet: including collecting new membership forms, entering data and keeping records updated
  • Helping create and maintain PMQG’s online documents and calendar
Time requirements:
The time commitment for this position is about 5-10 hours per month, which includes monthly PMQG meetings as well as monthly officers meetings.

Qualifications:
Organizational ability, can handle collection of money and keep finances recorded and in order

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

PMQG Program Coordinator Position

This position takes about 10 hours per month. Most can be done at home via the phone or email.  Attendance at monthly Officer’s meetings and general meetings required.  

Main responsibilities include:
  • Supports the planning, implementation, maintenance, and documentation of PMQG’s public programs and educational initiatives.  
  • Actively recruits a guest speaker for each PMQG meeting.  Talks with the speaker about what to present and offering any help, encouragement and support
  • Actively works on future month’s meetings: content, lectures, social events, sewing projects etc.
  • Coordinating give aways or further challenges or events based on the program presented
  • Encourage members to be presenters
  • Have on hand “filler” material or a “ten minute tute” on hand in case a meeting runs short and or program changes.  
Qualifications:
Ability to speak in front of large group
Can actively seek new information from people and groups
Organizational ability and attention to detail

October Meeting

Hi everyone!  Hope the cool weather has put everyone in the mood for quilting, sewing and crafting.

I'm very excited to announce the agenda for our meeting this month on the 21st from 7-9 at PNCA room 205.

Announcements
Ten minute Tute by Michelle (needle organization and more!)
Monica Solorio-Snow of Happy Zombie
Pin cushion Swap and Tell
Show and Tell (if you've made something using Monica's fabric or patterns bring it!)
Wrap up

Monica will be bringing  fabric from her Happy Holidays collection to give away to some lucky winners!

We will have a copy of the Happy Holidays lantern pattern for everyone.

We also have 2 other giveaways...little surprises of goodness!

Please RSVP to this posting in the comments section so we can make sure there are enough chairs, hand outs and goodies!

Thanks everyone!
Don't forget your pin cushion...here are some that have shown up in the PMQG Flickr group  Up load yours now!
Pin Cushions PMQG

Criticizing your work...

Today as I was catching up on my Google Reader, I read the below by Kristen.
She was a featured quilter a little while back and you'll more then likely find her at all the Modern Domestic sewing nights working on something cool.

"One of the first things they told us in design school was not to criticize our own work in front of others. Our teacher told us that we had to stand behind our work, because no one else would. They also said that pointing out errors was the best way to get others to notice them, so, in essence, keep your mouth shut about any mistakes you may have made.

It's a hard mindset to get out of. I hesitate to point out things I find wrong with this quilt because of it. Quilting has a lot in common with graphic design, but it differs in that there is an element of sharing success, and commiserating over failure. Quilting is a community, rather than just a business. No one is grading me here, and there is no client to be pleased other than myself, so it would be alright to mention some pretty significant mistakes in the construction of this quilt.

Maybe I'll just let it go and remind myself to keep working on my precision and craftsmanship. All in all, I like the thing."
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Kristen.  I think this is a great reminder for all of us.  Especially during show and tell! I know of several individuals who didn't share last time.  You know who you are!  :D

Enjoy the rest of the rainy weekend everyone!

10% off a class at PNCA

Great News!  I just learned that PNCA is offering all Quilt Guild Members 10% off a class for Fall + Winter (there are the usual fine print:  only good for tuition, only can use once, must be a member to use, must call Cassandra in Registration 503.821.8903 to register)

Isn't that cool! So go sign yourself up for one of the awesome  Fiber Arts classes!
What a great opportunity to grow your skills and learn something new.






Rossie of Fresh Modern Quilts gave a lecture on modern quilting. She describes it as:

"This lecture on modern quilting describes my journey as well as giving the lay of the modern-quilting land. I cover what I see as some key aesthetics of modern quilts, I ponder the appropriateness of the term "modern" as it applies to quilts, and generally get nerdy on a number of topics that relate---in my brain, anyway--to modern quilting.  Among them: wabi sabi, simultaneity, linen clocks, and Bewitched."

An hour long video about modern quilting.
An hour?
Yes.
And ever bit worth it.
Grab some tea, coffee or whatever you drink and have a listen.

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/14680699

Dyeing to create

Despite back-to-school activities for many, 34 Portland Modern Quilters brought their interest and enthusiasm to Pacific Northwest College of Art (thank you, PNCA!!!) to learn and share.  Jen started us off with a few announcements and a Ten Minute Tute on pincushions, which were then given away after the tutorial.

Kimberly won this orange pincushion,

and Cathy was the recipient of this red and blue pincushion.

A gift bag donated by Christina was also given away --
-- and won by Traci.

Elizabeth gave a presentation on fabric dyeing --
which covered overdyeing print fabrics (using iDye or fiber reactive dye), beer cup dying (including improv dying and value scales), and discharging with bleach.


Elizabeth gave away a bag of fabric dyeing supplies and displayed equipment, samples, and resources.

Show and Tell
Elsa shared her version of Elizabeth's New Wave quilt

and this child's car quilt.

Nancy shared this very large quilt made from sketches she made on a trip to Georgia.
Unfortunately, the pictures of the whole quilt did not turn out.  Nancy, we hope you will post a picture to the Portland Modern Quilters Flickr group so we can enjoy your quilt in its entirety.

Annie shared this embellished quilt,

and Gail made this quilt, in her first attempt at creating poster art with fabric.

Remember these free fabric samples from last month?


Jenn already used her fabric to make this quilt top using a Schnibbles "X-rated" pattern.


Tobey made this version of Kate Conklin's Wonky Donkey quilt for her son --

Sally shared her first quilt

and this quilt made in a machine quilting class.

Violet was begged into showing this quilt, which she was still stitching on during the meeting.
Front,

flannel back,

and quilt label.

This is how the quilt top looked at the very first PMQG meeting.
Portland Modern Quilt Guild - 1st Meeting 017

This happy turtle quilt came in after the end of the meeting, missing show and tell, but I was able to grab a photo of it -- Thanks, Laura.

Discussion and Announcements
The meeting ended with some discussion regarding the possibility of dues, adding a business section to meetings, problems with the blog forum, hosting a website, and utilizing Flickr.

Due to technical difficulties, the blog forum will be removed, and in the meantime, we will use the Portland Modern Quilters Flickr group for discussions and sharing photos.

Next month we will be having a pincushion swap, so make one up any way you please and bring it in a plain brown paper bag.  It should be fun to see what everyone creates!  Maybe we'll even see a little hand dyed fabric....

Meeting Tonight At PCNA

Room 205
7-9

AGENDA
Fabric dyeing with Elizabeth of Oh Fransson.
Several giveaways
Introduction of a new segment
Show and Tell
Closing

In regard to Show and Tell, please bring whatever you have to show off.  I have a few quilts in progress that I'll bring.  For this I'll bring some batting to stick up. Know that you don't have to have something complete to show it off!  The process is half the fun!

See you all tonight,

Jen

I'll leave you with a few teaser photos!









Seeking member feedback: Dues


As this wonderful group continues to grow and develop, an occasional expense pops up here and there and we consider other activities/events that may involve some expenses, such as bringing in speakers, organizing "field trips" or retreats, etc.  The officers are again considering the subject of dues and would very much like your feedback.    In the column to the right is a poll -- just under the information on this month's meeting.  Your money and opinion matter, so please indicate your preference.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and we'll get back to you. 

Thanks so much for your input -- Jen, Marcia, Tamara, Cherri, and Joan