September PMQG Meeting Recap

Thank you Members! Because of YOU we were able to send these quilts to the families of people hurt by the shootings in Orlando. They are all so beautiful! Thanks again for donating your time and talents! 

Slideshow: 

Thank you, Melissa Averinos, for coming to our guild! We were left feeling very inspired!

Row by Row Progress

It's always fun to see everyone's progress on their row by row quilt! Don't forget that this is our theme for 2017 Sisters Outdoor Show, start working on yours now! ;) Also, you're free to make your own row and design, don't limit yourself just to the rows we are presenting. 

Sock Hop Charity Drive @ October Meeting

This beautiful quilt could be yours! Bring new socks (any size - infant to adult), each pair of socks give you one entry to win this beautiful quilt! Special Thanks to Sam Hunter and Friends for organizing this! 

Show & Tell

PMQG Row X Row - September

My Row for September is a foundation paper pieced block called The One Direction Block. 

I made my row using our Kona palette of Snow, Shale, Dusty Peach, Blueberry, Wasabi, and Curry.

I attached my row to our earlier rows. In my row I also used an addition section of background fabric to break up the blocks in an interesting (to me :) way. 

Click here for the template! 

-Violet Craft

Shop Hop Details

We're lucky here in Portland to have so many great fabric shops, and we want to encourage you all to visit them! 

The MQG PNW Meetup Shop Hop will take place on Friday, August 20, and Saturday, August 21. Our five participating shops are: 

Check your Shop Hop Passports and Swag Bags for discounts and coupons from participating shops. And, if visiting these fabulous shops wasn't enough, there's also a chance to win prizes! 

Here's how it works:

All meetup attendees will be given a Shop Hop Passport including a list of the shops, their hours, and locations. Use the Passport as a guide to visit each shop, making sure to get your passport stamped at each one.* When you're finished, you can drop your completed Passport into the collection box at any of the participating shops.

Be sure to turn your passport into one of the shops before closing on Saturday, August 20, so that you can be entered in our prize drawings. (Each shop's hours are different, and they will all be included in the passport.)

Each of the shops is putting together a special prize. If you have a stamp in your passport showing that you've visited a shop, you will be entered in a drawing to win that shop's prize.

If your Passport has stamps from ALL of the shops, you'll be entered in a drawing to win an amazing Grand Prize including an array of fabric, patterns, and tools.

Winners will be randomly-selected and will be announced at our Hand Sew Brunch event on Sunday, August 21. (Although you don't need to be present to win a prize, we encourage you to join us for a fun morning of hand sewing, donuts, and mimosas!)

Shop Hop Passports will be available at check-ins and all meetup events. 

Be sure to watch our Instagram feed for more details on these wonderful shops and prizes! 

*No purchase necessary to enter. 

PNW MQG Meetup 2016 Schedule

We're so excited to kick off this year's Meetup! 

Picnic at Laurelhurst Park

Thursday, August 18, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

SE Oak & SE 35th - Walk into the park from this intersection and you'll see us! 

  • Please bring your own food/picnic & drinks. (Alcohol is permitted.) PMQG will provide plates, cups, and utensils. You may bring something to share if you wish, this is not required.  
  • Bring a quilt for Show & Tell
  • Bring a quilt or chair to sit on
  • Check-in for the Meetup. Receive swag bag, name tag, and shop hop passport 

Shop Hop

Friday, August 19 - Saturday, August 20

Visit Portland's best fabric stores and get your passport stamped! Click here to read all the info on the Shop Hop!

Friday Reception

Friday, August 19, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Widmer Brothers Brewing, 929 North Russell Street 

Click here to RSVP for this event. Deadline is Tuesday, August 16.

  • Check-in available 
  • Mini-Mini Swap - Click here for details! 
  • Light appetizers and a drink (beer, wine, and soda) are included 
  • Cash bar for beer and wine also available 

Sew Day

Saturday, August 20 - 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

St. Andrews Community Center, 806 NE Alberta Street

Click here to reserve a spot for Sew Day.

  • Bring your sewing machines and sew to your heart's content! We will provide some irons, ironing boards, and cutting mats. You are also welcome to bring your own. If you have an extension cord, please bring it. (This will be similar to our Fabric Depot Sew Day setup.)  
  • Charity Sewing: If you would like to sew for Quilts for Pulse, we will have blocks available to sew into tops. 
  • Light snacks will be provided. There are also many great lunch spots within walking distance.

HAND SEW BRUNCH

Sunday, August 21 - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Normandale Park, 5700 NE Halsey Street 

  • Bring a quilt or chair to sit on and your hand sewing project.
  • We will have donuts and mimosas to share!
  • We will be awarding all of the prizes from the shop hop at this event. You need not be present on Sunday to win prizes.  

T-SHIRTS

Monica Solorio-Snow aka Happy Zombie designed these awesome t-shirts for our meetup! Order yours today! 

Northwest Quilting Expo Quilt Entry Info

Our guild will have a special exhibit at the Northwest Quilting Expo this year!

We're asking for quilts that represent modern quilting in your own personal style and we're excited to be able to have a larger exhibit of 60 quilts!! 

How do I enter a quilt?

Download and fill out this quilt label or we will have copies available to fill out at the August meeting. 

Attach a quilt sleeve to the back of your quilt. Here are instructions to make one from Northwest Quilting Expo.

Please enter one quilt per person. We would love to represent the most amount of members as possible. This is first come, first serve, it is not a juried entry into the show. 

Quilts are due by September 15th. You can bring your quilt  to the September guild meeting or arrange delivery directly to Pétra through our PMQG email portlandmodernquiltguild@gmail.com

PMQG Row by Row // Studios & One Bedrooms

My Row for July is a little row of buildings which, like most patchwork, can look very different depending upon the fabrics used. Like the other officers, I made a row for our group quilt using our Kona palette of Snow, Shale, Dusty Peach, Blueberry, Wasabi, and Curry. You can also see in this photo what the row looks like with a darker (Essex yarn-dyed Indigo) background and scrappy rainbow-colored houses. If you plan to use prints, this row provides lots of opportunities for fun fussy-cutting, like I've done here!

Click here for the instructions! 

-Elizabeth Hartman

2016 PNW MQG Meetup Swap--Mini Mini Quilts!

Announcing the 2016 PNW MQG Meetup Swap--Mini Mini Quilts!

Photo Credit from Erin at Why Not Sew?

Photo Credit from Erin at Why Not Sew?

(All information on the #pnwmqgmeetup here)

For this swap, we're going to exchange Mini Mini Quilts! What's a Mini Mini Quilt, you ask? For the purposes of this swap, it's a teeny tiny quilt with no side larger than 12 inches, although it can be much smaller if you like. 

When making a quilt this small, it’s obviously going to be used for decorative purposes only, so let your imagination run free with your design and materials! Feel free to use tiny piecing, English or Foundation paper piecing, applique, thread sketching or hand embroidery or any other technique that sounds fun to you. Also consider using textiles other than quilting cottons if you want to mix it up.

This swap will be a blind swap, meaning you don’t have to sign up ahead of time and won’t be partnered with a specific person. Just wrap your swap item (it can be as simple as in a brown paper bag, or feel free to wrap in wrapping paper, fabric, or whatever tickles your fancy).

Here’s the lowdown:

Step 1: Make a Mini Mini quilt (all sides less than 12 inches) and wrap it up (don’t forget to include a note with your name)

Step 2: Bring it to the Friday night cocktail party at Widmer* (Sign up here if you haven't already, it's $10 but you get apps and a drink! This is only to secure how many people we will have at Widmer)

Easy peasy, right?

*If you’re unable to make the cocktail party Friday night, please check in with Mary Ann at the Saturday Open Sew and we’ll make arrangements

There are a couple of general swap guidelines I always like to mention: Remember to do your best work and make something you would appreciate receiving. Please don’t stress out, if you make something you’re proud of, the person who receives it will appreciate it! Having said that, let’s also remember to be gracious swap partners, let’s make sure this is fun for all.

For inspiration for your Mini Mini Quilt, please check out our Pinterest Board:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/pmqg/mini-mini-quilts-for-pnw-mqg-meetup/

Looking at patterns for Mug Rugs or Coasters can be a great place to find ideas as well, or try sizing down a larger quilt pattern or doing something special with a favorite block pattern.

Working on your swap and want to share pics on social media? #PNWMQGminimini

 

Happy Swapping!

Mary Ann Morsette

for PMQG

 

 

 

 

July Meeting Recap

Announcements 

Members are working and sharing their #pmqgrowbyrow quilts. It's so fun to see how unique each member is making their quilt! Make sure to use the hashtag and bring in your rows to meetings. 

This month, we asked members who participated in the Sisters Quilt Show to share a mini trunk show. Seven members responded to the call and we couldn't have been happier to take a better peek into their journey as quilters. 

Heather Davidson:

Gail Weiss

Nicole Howe

Karen Lee

Jeri Bonser

Pétra Anderson

Kristin La Flamme

Show & Tell

June Meeting Recap

This month, we had a special speaker, Lori Mason! She shared with us her process of making memorial quilts. It was quite moving to hear stories of people who have passed and how the process of making quilts is such a blessing for herself and other grieving families. 

One example of a memorial quilt Lori has made, entitled Genevieve's Red Cross

One example of a memorial quilt Lori has made, entitled Genevieve's Red Cross

 

Show & Tell - Special thanks to Kim Lumapas for being our photographer this month! 

Quilts for Pulse

As you might have seen on Instagram or our Facebook page Alissa Lapinsky the President of the Orlando MQG has put together a drive for quilt blocks or quilts to be donated to the survivors, victims families, and emergency workers that helped during the unbelievable tragedy at the Pulse club in Orlando. 

We have so many members that would love to contribute and have already started making blocks. As quilters it's a way we can reach out to comfort people and a way to help when we're so far away. 

The PMQG has decided to make Quilts for Pulse our charity for the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meetup. We will be making blocks and putting tops together during our sew day at the meet up and then sending finished quilts to Alissa. Even if you wont be attending the Meetup you can contribute by bringing finished blocks to our July and August meetings! 

If you have already started making blocks or organized a quilt of your own that's great!!  We have already signed up as a guild so you don't have to. Bring your finished quilt to the August guild meeting and we will send it to Orlando! If you have already signed up through the MQG post you can continue that route as well what matters is Quilts for Pulse!! 

 Here are some guidelines deadlines and links! 

Alissa is asking for 10" heart blocks in rainbow colors from the Cluck Cluck Sew's Heart tutorial if you are sending blocks to her. 

If you are making a quilt you can make any heart rainbow themed quilt you would like and deliver it to our guild or send it to Alissa. She asks it not be smaller then 48" x 60" and not larger than a twin. 

 Alissa's post with more details  http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

The MQG post with links to block tutorials and a sign up if you will be sending in your own blocks or quilt https://themodernquiltguild.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/quiltsforpulse-charity-drive-with-the-orlando-mqg/

We are looking for people to help with quilting and binding once we have tops together. Please email Pétra at our PMQG address to sign up for that. 

Thank you to all that contribute! 

 

PMQG Row x Row // Frond // Row 3

Row 3 for the 2016 Portland Modern Quilt Guild Row X Row is designed by Kathryn Schmidt. Kathryn was inspired by the palm fronds she picked up from her yard as a child. This row is foundation paper pieced and the templates can downloaded here. 

Make 5 copies each of the 2 paper templates.

Cut sashing strips:
2 - 3" x 8.5"
2 - 4" x 8.5"
2 - 4.5" x 8.5"

Piece the 5 blocks using the foundation paper piecing method of your choice. Use a pin to ensure the 2 halves of each block match up. You may want to grade the seams where they come together at the base of each block to reduce bulk.  

Attach the sashing to the blocks in the following order:
3"  +  block  +  4"  + block  +  4.5"  +  block  +  4.5"  +  block  +  4"  + block  + 3"

Kathryn suggests to keep the paper on until the block is complete to avoid stretching any bias edges. 


For paper piecing tips and help, Kathryn recommends the following sources:

Violet Craft: Tutorials
http://www.violetcraft.com/blog/the-forest-abstractions-quilt-along-the-bunny

Cath Hall: Tutorials & Tips
https://wombatquilts.com/2013/10/14/paper-piecing-monday-tips/
 

Enjoy!

May Meeting Recap

For the May meeting, we had a fun game night! Here's our show and tell quilts from our members.  Thanks so much to Kimberley for taking the photos and our two volunteers quilt holders, Marjorie and Karen! 

SHOW & TELL

Hotel Info for the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Retreat

The Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Retreat is August 18th to the 21st! For those of you that live farther away or just want to be in the thick of it we'll be staying at Hotel Rose please call in or email to book your room, reservations@staypineapple.com or 866.866.7977 by June 19th! This is coming up soon so don't delay! Reference Portland Modern Quilt Guild to receive the group rate of $215 a night! The discounted rate starts on August 18th and goes through the 21st. Activities for the retreat will start on the night of the 18th with our PMQG meeting at Laurelhurst Park. Stay tuned for a blog post with registration and schedule information. 

Row by Row- Stacked Row 2

Stacked by Pétra Anderson

Stacked by Pétra Anderson

In continuing our Row by Row I wanted to do something linear but then grounded with the squares. This is a simple block to make and then rotate as you put them together. 

If you are sewing along at home and have created your own row to share please send us an email and we will link up to your row! 

To start cut 

15 Strips 12.5" x 1.5" (I cut mine a little over for trimming) 2 Dusty Peach, 2 Wasabi, 2 Blueberry, 2 Curry, 2 Shale, and 5 Snow

20 Squares 3.5" x 3.5" 3 Dusty Peach, 3 Wasabi, 3 Blueberry, 3 Curry, 3 Shale, and 5 Snow

To assemble the blocks layout all of the cut pieces according to the finished image above. This will keep you from having any colors out of sync especially if you are using different fabrics. Feel free to improvise if needed! I used a scant 1/4" seam for all piecing. 

For the squares I chain pieced. Chain piecing is when you sew your pieces together in one continuous chain. Starting from left to right I paired Shale and Snow, Blueberry and Wasabi, Wasabi and Snow etc. then chain pieced together.

Cut the chain apart and press the seams open then sew your sets of squares together according to the diagram, press the seams open.

Moving on to the strips sew them together lengthwise according to the diagram and press seams open. If you have left the strips a little long trim to 12.5" long.

Stack the corresponding strips and blocks together and sew, press seams open and you have completed the block! Layout all of the blocks and sew together end to end and you have your completed row! 

April 2016 Meeting Recap

Thanks so much, Valori Wells, for coming to PMQG and sharing your amazing work with us! 

PMQG Row By Row // Row One

I'm excited to be hosting the first row of the PMQG Row by Row. Over the next eight months, we will present a row for this quilt. You could choose to make all of them, or also create your own row. We will encourage you to be creative and share your own row with the members too! 

Guidelines: Each row will measure 60" wide. The heights of the rows will vary.

For the quilt that the board is making collaboratively, we are using the following kona colors: dusty peach, wasabi, blueberry, shale, curry, and snow. However, you may use whatever solid or printed fabric you love! 

Row 1: Hourglass World

Especially with this color pallette, it was me dreaming of It's a Small World. I've been loving hourglass blocks lately and decided it would be fun to make a row of them for our first Row! 

We are using 6 colors, but you could use less or more. I'm going to share how I made mine, but feel free to experiment! 

Cut: 12 6.5" squares: 3 Snow, 2 Curry, 2 Shale, 2 Wasabi, 2 Blueberry, 1 Dusty Peach

Combinations: 

Curry & Snow 

Shale & Wasabi

Snow & Blueberry

Dusty Peach & Curry

Snow & Shale

Wasabi & Blueberry

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show Call for Entries

outdoor.png

We hope you are all working on your quilt entries for Sisters! If you haven't made it to the show yet we hope you'll join us there this year! Held on July 9th it's an amazing experience. 

This will be our 6th year having a Special Exhibit and the theme will be The Quilt Block Abstracted. 

Entry details

  • Deadline to enter May 27

  • Quilts will be blind juried

  • Size between 45"-60" and 60"-72"

  • Enter Your Quilt here.

Our theme will create a cohesive example of Modern Quilting. The idea behind the theme is to think outside the box or the traditional quilt block that is. Here are some inspiration quilts for you. 

Double Edged Love by Victoria Findley Wolf

Double Edged Love by Victoria Findley Wolf

Deconstructed Lone Stay by Amy Stuckmeyer

Deconstructed Lone Stay by Amy Stuckmeyer

Group Charity Quilt Quiltcon 2013

Group Charity Quilt Quiltcon 2013

FullSizeRender-2.jpg
Refresh by Anna Boenish

Refresh by Anna Boenish

Interviews with the QuiltCon 2016 Judges

At our recent March PMQG meeting we had the fabulous opportunity to have Lisa Congdon visit us and not only share her experience with us as a judge for the QuiltCon 2016 quilt show, but also some of her experience and path to her art career. 

In preparing for our live Q&A with Lisa, I was also able to interview Cheryl Arkison, Scott Murkin and Heather Grant. I found these interviews and the information found through the linked resources below to be fascinating and really made clear how difficult the job is to jury and judge such a large show.

Cheryl Arkison, QuiltCon 2016 Judge

Please tell us a bit about your background.

I've been quilting for nearly 18 years now. In that time I have made well over 100 quilts!
I am the author of 3 quilt books - Sunday Morning Quilts, A Month of Sundays, and You Inspire Me to Quilt. In addition to writing books I am a freelance writer and have contributed both articles and quilt patterns to numerous magazines. All this on top of my full time job as a mother. Which is much preferable to my old full time job in climate change policy.

Have you had any experience judging other quilt shows?

This was my first time.

Have you entered shows yourself? For judging or exhibition?

Yes. I've entered a few. Twice I've had quilts accepted in QuiltCon, twice I've had quilts rejected by QuiltCon. (I did not enter any quilts at all this year. As a judge I could have entered for exhibition only, but I did not feel that was appropriate nor fair to potentially take a spot from someone else.) I've also entered local shows - some are judged, some are exhibit only.

How do you feel QuiltCon differs from other show experiences?

My experiences with other shows? Well, this is the big show! Competition is fierce to get in. My local shows aren't juried, so that makes a difference. But judging is judging, no matter the show!
It is quite nice to see QuiltCon and actually have more than a dozen quilts I am interested in looking at, unlike some other shows I've been to. It was more like all of them were interesting in one way or another!

What was your experience like judging the QuiltCon quilts? 

Intense. (See my blog post for the process).
http://www.cherylarkison.com/diningroomempire/2016/3/1/from-a-judges-perspective-quiltcon-2016
Eye opening in many ways too. I went in thinking I would be all about technique and be all Quilt Police, but quickly realized that seeing the hand of the maker and less about perfection was quite important to me.

How did you feel after seeing them again in the show?

To be honest, I'd forgotten about some. Also, some were new to me because they were exhibit only. Mostly it was fantastic to see who made what! I only recognized 10-20% of the quilts while judging. I'd made an effort to stay off social media to do so, but really, there were a lot of names I didn't know. And I thought that was fantastic. It means there are more and more quilters putting themselves and their work out there. (Or that I lead a sheltered social media life).
I was totally confident in the decisions we made while judging when I saw them again.

Were there quilts in "exhibition only" that you would have like to have been in judging?

I didn't really think that, but I also wasn't looking for that. There were stunners all around.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our members?

Don't let rejection sideline you from entering shows. And always take judges comments as constructive criticism. No one is trying to make you feel bad about your quilt, only point out ways to improve your skills and overall designs. Finally, if you are entering a judged show, remember that you are being judged. Period. If you don't want anyone commenting on the quilt you made to celebrate your anniversary or the birth of your baby then either don't enter it or enter for exhibit only.
Okay, one more thing. Creativity matters. Technical skill is one thing and an important thing, but demonstrating creativity is awesome.

Scott Murkin, QuiltCon 2016 Judge

Please tell us a bit about your background.

My primary education is in science and then more specifically in medicine. I’ve always had an appreciation for the visual arts and grew up in Illinois in a family of hobbyist quilters. After my grandma passed, I started making quilts for the family and then quickly moved into quilt design and experimentation. I have made almost 500 quilts to date (since 1994) ranging in size from postcard to queen sized bed quilts. More than 150 of these have been published in various books and magazines.

Have you had any experience judging other quilt shows?

I judged my first quilt show in 2001 and received my judging certification in 2003. I have judged more than 100 quilt shows in all regions of the country, including most of the national and major regional shows.

Have you entered shows yourself? For judging or exhibition?

For almost ten years I entered quilt shows regularly as well as juried and open exhibits, both quilting specific and all-media art shows. I have received comments on judging sheets over the years that have been encouraging, helpful, educational, insightful, discouraging, frustrating, perplexing and flabbergasting.

How do you feel QuiltCon differs from other show experiences?

The judging at QuiltCon is more heavily weighted toward design, including experimentation, thoughtful exploitation of basic design principles and risk taking. The evaluation of construction was focused more on structural integrity and whether the construction supported the design. While everything can’t be “modern” and still have it mean something, it was refreshing to see what a broad range of styles can come under the modern umbrella.

What was your experience like judging the QuiltCon quilts? 

It was very intense—the level of concentration required to evaluate quilts fairly and consistently over three long days is exhausting. I was pleased that the three of us developed a rapport very quickly and found a common language from which to discuss the various merits and final placements of each entry.

How did you feel after seeing them again in the show?

The judging occurred over three weeks before the show opened. I was unable to return for the show.

Were there quilts in "exhibition only" that you would have like to have been in judging?

While I didn’t get to see any of the “exhibition only” quilts in person, many of them were shared on social media, and there were many that seemed like they might have done well in competition. It would have been a treat to get to experience them close up.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our members?

https://mandalei.com/2015/02/10/modern-quilts-traditional-shows-interview-scott-murkin-part-1/

This is an interview with Mandy Leins about many of the same issues—

Heather Grant, MQG Director of Marketing & Programming

Please tell us a bit about your background and role at MQG.

I'm the Director of Marketing & Programming and have more than 15 years experience in developing and executing global strategic projects and programs

Have you entered shows yourself? For judging or exhibition?

Yes, I've entered quilts for judging at many local shows and "for exhibit only" at QuiltCon 2013 and 2015. I'm not eligible to win prizes or be judged at QuiltCon since I'm an MQG employee. I've been accepted to QuiltCon, but I've also sent decline letters to myself three times! I've also scribed for my traditional Austin Area Quilt Guild show several times. It's a process I highly recommend as you learn a TON about judging and get lots of great information on quilt making that you can apply to your own work. I've scribed the art quilt categories twice and while I feel my quilt making style isn't "art quilt" at all, I have learned a tremendous amount of information from scribing that category.

How do you feel QuiltCon differs from other show experiences?

The underlying process for a worldwide show is the nearly the same for jurying. Judging is a bit different as we are very careful to select a balanced group of judges that have quilt making and design ability. Our judges are usually an NQA certified judge, a modern quilter and judge with an exceptional sense of design. The criteria for selection is different from other shows since the focus is on modern quilts.

How do you feel the QuiltCon quilt show experience has changed in the past few years?

From my perspective it has changed tremendously and not very much. It has changed from a process and communication perspective. The modern design concepts of how quilts are evaluated remains the same. QuiltCon 2013 was a lot of time spent figuring out how to do it for the first time as it was first time a modern show of that size was ever exhibited and judged. We did lots of things right, we did lots of things we thought were right but looking back were wrong. When you are doing it for the first time, it's one big experiment. We looked at the internal and external feedback from that show and completely overhauled the judging process for 2015. From the feedback there, we tweaked judging for 2016. After 2016, we'll tweak again for 2017. We have a similar consistency year to year, but we are always working to improve our process. We may change the judging sheet, we may change how to prepare the quilt for show, we may change how we communicate, but we've always been consistent over the concept of modern quilt design and showcasing modern quilts.

How many quilts were entered into 2016? How does this differ from the first show?


Please keep in mind these numbers may be off a tiny bit from our original announcements, as quilt makers sometimes enter their quilts multiple times. One year we had a quilt maker enter the same quilt 6 times!
2013: 689 entered
2015: 1361 entered
2016: 1804 entered

How many quilts were accepted into 2016? How does this differ from the first show?


Please keep in mind these numbers may be off a tiny bit from our original announcements, as quilt makers always pull quilts from the show. One year a quilt was pulled because a cat ate it!
2013: 228 accepted
2015: 359 accepted
2016: 359 accepted (fun fact: this was not intentioned to be the same number as 2015 at all, it was completely by accident! The jury made their selections aiming for about 350 quilts and had the same number as the year before)

How does the jury selection process work?


We use a software program called ArtCall. I would consider it an industry standard as it is also used by Quilts, Inc., SAQA, Surface Design Association and others. There are 4 jurors. Most shows don't announce the identity of their jurors, some do. We don't, not to hide, but because there is such emotion around declines, that it doesn't feel like it would be a good thing. As a staff member who sends the declines, I have gotten some amazingly nasty emails with personal attacks. Those emails are 100% an emotional reaction. Who enters thinking they wouldn't get in? No one. It never feels good when someone says no. It hurts. We get it. 
When quilts are entered into the system and then the jury can select 1 to 5 on the quilt. They don't see the quilt makers name, so it is blind. They can read the description, view images and other important info. TAKE GOOD PICTURES. Really, I'm not kidding. TAKE GOOD PICTURES. 
At the end of jurying, a threshold is determined depending on the overall scores. Every quilt above a certain score, usually 4.5 or higher is automatically accepted. Every quilt below a certain score, usually 3.5 or lower is declined. The jury then meets and in an epic 4-6 hour meeting reviews the quilts in the middle to determine what quilts are entered. 
We often get the question, can I get comments from the jurying process? The short answer is no. From a time perspective it's impossible. The majority of our jurors are volunteers. It takes a long time to look at all the quilts. The first and most important criteria is visual impact. Period. I did the math once, and if the jurors had to write comments it would likely take 6-8 weeks to jury the quilts, perhaps longer. The jury review 1800+ quilts in about 2 weeks. It's about 40-50 hours per juror to do so.
Our webinar covers this in depth: https://community.themodernquiltguild.com/resources
There's also a great blog post from Latifah Saafir here:  http://www.latifahsaafirstudios.com/former-quiltcon-juror-tells-all/
On judging: http://www.cherylarkison.com/diningroomempire/2016/3/1/from-a-judges-perspective-quiltcon-2016

At what point in the process do the judges first see the entered quilts?

Judges first see the quilts in the judging room. There are several people in the judging room, judges, handlers, scribes and facilitator. All of the quilts for the category are laid out on the table in numerical order (the judges don't see them get laid out) by the handlers. Handlers use plastic party table cloths between furry quilts. Be sure to remove all pet hair before sending your quilt in (fun fact: one time a quilt was so covered in cat hair, it caused an allergic reaction from one of our scribes sitting several feet away. Judging had to be stopped and the scribe replaced until the room was aired out.). Then the handlers fan all the quilts for the category in front of the judges so they get an overview of all the quilts in the category. Then each quilt is held up by a handler from across the room, the number of the quilt is read by the facilitator and confirmed by the handler if it is the correct quilt. Once the judges are ready, it gets put onto the judging table for closer inspection. Judges may ask the facilitator to read the description, if the quilt maker quilted it themselves or had someone else do, design credit, etc. The most common question by judges is if a quilt maker quilted it themselves. Surprisingly, they rarely ask for descriptions. They are judging purely on aesthetic. The facilitator also clarifies rule questions. Scribes write down the comments, they are not permitted to speak unless they are asking for a comment to be repeated or how to spell a word and they never suggest words to the judges. Handlers nearly never speak. It's very quiet. Judges do the talking.

How do you expect the show to change in upcoming years?

This is hard to say. I do feel we've got our process down pretty strongly. We've only had two minor tweaks from 2016 judging and they were both internal criticisms that have little impact on quilt makers. I don't see much changes, but you never know what will happen or how you need to adapt. We are always open to improving our organization and judging.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our members?

We showcase modern quilts. Just because the jury doesn't think your quilt fits for QuiltCon does not mean it is not modern (although sometimes it is the case), nor does it mean that it sucks. Some amazing quilts have not been accepted to QuiltCon. I have personally sent decline letters to myself three times (and while I thought they would get in, they were right to decline me every time when looking at all the other quilts in the show). Not getting into QuiltCon just means it wasn't a fit for QuiltCon. That's it. Jurying and judging is always subjective. Don't take it personally if you don't agree with it and keep going with being whoever YOU are as a quilt maker. The only one you need to answer to is yourself. Also, we will never ever ever ever ever be able to make everyone happy. We would love to, but we have 10,000 members and 10,000 opinions and that is an amazing, wonderful, exciting but also exceptionally challenging thing! 

A note from Violet:

From my viewpoint a few things I have noticed from watching the online recaps, celebrations and criticisms: we are a very new, vocal and talented community. I think it is still unclear where we will go and how we will yield the power of social media to morph the ways in which we grow and change. 

One aspect of QuiltCon I wanted to address this year at our meeting is the #quiltconreject hashtag being used on Instagram to associate quilts with having not been accepted into QuiltCon. At our meeting we celebrated all our QuiltCon entries, whether they made it into the show or not. Only a small percentage of quilts are able to be accepted into any show and a jury will always be subjective. None of that changes how you felt about your quilt and your reasons for entering it into a show. Every entry is an accomplishment worth celebrating. 

As part of the modern quilting movement we are a part of an era that has technological resources available that have never been associated with a quilt show or quilting movement before. Because of that there are particular issues that face the MQG. The #quiltconreject hashtag is one of those issues. No other show has as much social media presence nor a place for those quilters whose quilts did not get into a show to vent and commiserate together. The social presence of our members is one of the most empowering aspects of our movement.

However, when used in certain ways it can also be very discouraging. I know not everyone sees the hashtag as a positive thing. I feel the use of the word "reject" itself is what has given this hashtag any negative power it may have. None of these quilts or quilters is a "reject". They simply didn't get into the show.

The hashtag exists. It is established and looking through it is a great way to enjoy all of the beautiful quilts that weren't accepted. Fortunately, no one can label you with a hashtag, so it is up to each individual quilter if they wish to join their quilt into the category by using it. Personally, I feel like the hashtag itself doesn't have any negative meaning to me and I will gladly use it and enjoy the entries through Instagram that I didn't get to see in person at the show. 

Now, go make a quilt! 

And if you want to enter it into a show, I found this nifty resource that lists hundreds of shows in every state. The link I tagged is for ORegon shows, but use the map and links at the top of the page to look in other states. 

~ Violet Craft, PMQG President 2016

Valori Wells Workshops


We’re excited to announce our April speaker Valori Wells! Valori is an accomplished professional quilter, author, fabric and pattern designer, painter, and photographer. She has been designing fabric for 14 years and is the Co-Owner of the Stitchin' Post, which her mother opened in 1974. Marks is Valori Wells' newest fabric collection in which she collaborated with her mom, Jean Wells. Marks captures the freedom of nature in pattern, color and texture. The woven imagery is created with hand carved blocks that are carefully layered and printed resulting in unique color palettes. Join Valori as she takes you through the journey of creating the Marks fabric collection and quilting projects.


Valori will also be teaching two workshops while she is visiting us. They will be $75 for PMQG members and $100 for non-members. 

 Screen Printing with Valori Wells on Friday April 22nd from 9-4

In this workshop you will learn how to print fabric using the silk screen printing technique. For this experience you will use Valori's screens and learn how to mix ink and print on fabric. In the second half of the class you will experiment on your own fabric. There will be an overview of how to make your own screen as well as ideas how to use the prints. You will go home with some wonderful prints and full of ideas. 

A $20 materials fee is required and will be collected in class.

Click here to sign up! 

Block Printing with Valori Wells on Saturday April 23rd from 9-4

In this workshop you will learn how to block print starting from a drawing to the final printed piece of fabric. The first half of the workshop will focus on the design and cutting the design out of the block. The second half of the workshop will focus on mixing ink and printing. 

A $20 materials fee is required and will be collected in class. 

Click here to sign up!