Monday, February 29, 2016

Meet Sarah Lauzon

Hi All, I’m Sarah.  I go by Cera too but that’s a tangential story.  I joined the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild in August 2015.  


I’ve been quilting for about ten years, off and on.   I began a few years before the modern movement was formalized, but could see the beginning (especially in retrospect) from participating in Flickr groups back then.   Work, grad school, starting a family, and multiple moves all seemed to put this hobby on the back burner.  However, I did a count and I’ve averaged 1.5 quilts per year over ten years, so I guess I wasn’t entirely dormant on my sewing even though I was pretty much radio silent about it.



The idea of quilting started for me as it did for my mother – in the firm affirmation that we would never do it.  As in, “that quilt Grandma made is amazing but I can never imagine having the time/skill/patience to do something like that.  Then my mom started, and quite a while after that I was making some art collages with cut out magazine squares and my mom says to me, You know what you’re doing, right?   It should have been obvious.  So I sat with her at her house and she showed me, step by step, beginning to end, how to make a quilt.  Now I’m a fourth generation quilter.

I’m very thankful for that lesson.  It gave me a creative outlet that stuck.  I’ve always felt like a creative soul trapped in a business person’s body so having an outlet is just like a kind of freedom.
A lot inspires me – as a kid my best friend was an amazing illustrator and because of her I have always admired artists’ abilities.  My mother, grandmother, and aunt were always up to something crafty so that was supported.  I married an architect who taught me how to see things in a whole new way.  Fashion, interior design, fine art…even flower arranging all feed into the images that decompress and rearrange in my mind.  
Attending the Victoria Findlay Wolfe class the Guild hosted in December 2014 sparked a creative resurgence for me.  Other quilters who inspire me are Sherri Lynn Wood, Meg Callahan, Sarah Nishiura, Eleanor McCain, and Hillary Goodwin.  And just hanging out with the Guild the last six months has really upped my game.  There is so much talent in this group and I’m excited to get to rub shoulders with all of it.


Current project is deciding on the quilting for “Teal Number 2”.  I was working on a wedding quilt for some friends and the design took two different directions.  The second direction began with the same teal and grey color palette and took inspiration from art by Sven Markelius and the flying geese score from Sherri Lynn Wood.  I started with eightteal toned large flying geese blocks, then iterated some more, decided to add in a little bit of jewel tones, then felt really right when I figured I wanted to dip the whole design into greyscale at the top and the bottom.  So that quilting… I think I have it now but it sure is the part that is hardest for me both in concept and execution.

My favorite creation was my first original design called “For Elisa”.  It was one of those happy creative moments that just poured out so fluidly it seemed like it really wanted to be made.  The medallion center is based on a scarf of mine that my good friend liked.  The outer blocks are a based on a pattern that I noticed in bench upholstery at a diner.  She says she still uses it all the time and that makes me so happy.  I may remake it one day.

Creative process?  It has many manifestations.  Usually it is based on the recipient, so thinking about that person drives design choices around a fabric I want to work with, or a design concept.  Sometimes I get an image in my head and I run to the sketchbook.  Lately, I’m feeling creatively inspired by design challenges and improv concepts.
My bachelor’s degree is in Philosophy so I get really excited thinking and talk about the art vs. craft distinction, whether a quilter thinks they are an artist, and I’m fascinated with the discussion surrounding the schools of design in quilting. Don’t be surprised if I ever use those topics as an icebreaker…fair warning. I think I may be a Modern Eclectic.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

MEETING MINUTES
February 3, 2016
Maitland, FL

President Yanick called the meeting to order.  39 members and 2 guests were present.

Participants were asked to share their work from OMQG's recent precision piecing class with Lee Monroe, and share tips they learned from the class.




TREASURER'S REPORT
Marge presented our projected 2016 annual budget, which was approved by the membership.

RAFFLE BASKET
Last month's winner Tanyia made a special quilt which she included among the other goodies in the basket....
.....which was won by Cara!
 
Blog post winners for this month are Diana and Michelle.

UPCOMING EVENTS
  • Yanick reminded everyone that membership renewals will be collected next month for 2016.  Dues are $50.
  • The OMQG exhibit at Mancuso's World Quilt Fest was such a success last month that we have been asked to again have a special exhibit at next year's show.  Yanick suggested that the guild consider a theme for our entries, as this was something a number of other guilds exhibiting in the show did.
  • Check the blog for a number of exciting quilt shows that are taking place in Florida in the near future.

ONGOING UFO CHALLENGE
The link for this year's challenge is now available on the blog.  You can find the survey here or by clicking on the "Challenges" tab.

ELECTION COMMITTEE
The prospective slate of new officers for 2016-2017 is as follows:
Alissa, President
Tanyia, Vice-President
Joan, Treasurer
Mary Sm, Secretary

All officers were elected by a vote of the membership.

Thank you to Zonetta and her committee for conducting the search and the election.

FABRIC AUCTION
Our annual fabric auction will take place at the April meeting.  Marge is collecting donations now, and will do so throughout March.  Please add a label to your fabric showing the measurements of any yardage or FQs.  Smaller pieces may be collected in bags and sold as one item.  Books and notions will also be sold.

DEMO
Alissa conducted a very helpful demo on a quick method for chain piecing.
PODCASTS
Several of our members have appeared, or will be appearing, on various podcast.  Frank  recently was a guest on Crafty Planner,  and the outgoing Board members will be featured soon on Modern Sewciety.

LIBRARY
The OMQG Library is now open!  Remember, books may only be checked out for one month, and MUST be returned at the next meeting.  Please donate any modern quilting books you may be finished with, and also contact Yanick with any suggestions for books you'd like to see the library purchase.  Remember to review any Lucky Spools books you check out on Amazon.

SHOW AND TELL




















BLOCK OF THE MONTH
This month's gorgeous blocks......


....were won by Mary Sm.

Jodi presented next month's BOM; pattern is now available on the blog.


In closing, Yanick and the outgoing board thanked the membership for a great experience!  It's been really fun for all, and great way to get to know more of our members.

Meeting adjourned at 11:30.








Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Block of the Month - March 2016

For our block lottery we will be making 8.5 inch (8 inch finish) Economy Blocks.  Economy blocks were all the rage in 2014 and a search for #economyblockalong on Instagram will get thousands of results in many different colors and several different sizes.   Catbird Quilt Studio has a tutorial and a cheat sheet so that you can make these blocks in any size you want.  For our block lottery let’s stick with the 8.5 inch block but I have already done the math on a couple other sizes as well in case you are interested. 

 

Please choose any three fabrics that coordinate well with one another.  I prefer significant contrast between the colors, but that is just my opinion. 

Cut one 4. 5” x 4. 5” square for the center.
Cut two 4.25” x 4.25” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.
Cut two 5.5” x 5.5” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

 

Next sew two center triangles to opposite sides of your center block.  Press. 


Then sew the remaining two sides and press.  



Next trim the block to 6 inches making sure you leave 1/4 inch at each point. 


Repeat the same steps with the outer triangles and trim to 8.5 inches.  I haven’t trimmed my blocks down in the picture.  



Please visit Catbird Quilt Studio if you need more detailed instructions.

Additional sizes

Last month, Yanick asked us about our quilty new year’s resolution and several of us said that we wanted to make a dent in our scraps.  I was one of those people so while choosing the block of the month, I wanted to choose a block that is versatile and can work in many different color combinations.   My plan is to make a bunch of these blocks, some of which will be for our block lottery and some will be for me to eventually turn into a scrappy quilt or two. 
                                                                                     
I have realized that one of the things that overwhelms me about my scraps is that I want to make a matchy-matchy quilt and when I start trying to pick through my scraps to find the fabrics that go together I get frustrated and end up planning a quilt with new fabric, which of course leads to more scraps.   I need to be able to throw all caution to the wind, pick a block to make, pick random fabrics for that block and then throw them all together to make a fun quilt!   

That sounds good until I start looking at scrappy quilts on Pinterest and the internet.  Honestly, I really don’t care much for the totally crazy, color-filled quilt that has no overall color coordination.  Upon further observation, I realized that I can do crazy, busy, uncoordinated colors if I were to have some negative space to sort of “tame” the color theme. 

If you remember Carole Lyles Shaw taught us how to make a quilt using 13”, 8” and 5” blocks.   She beautifully arranged these blocks in negative space to create her Finonacci Quilt.   She said that if we use blocks that measure the same as the numbers in the Finonacci number sequence then our blocks will always work out mathematically. 

My plan is to use up a bunch of my scraps making 13”, 8” and 5” economy blocks and then arrange them in a Fibonacci style quilt.  I am including the measurements for the two additional sizes in case you are interested in doing the same thing.  Only the 8” blocks will be for the block lottery though.

All three sizes together


13” (13.5 unfinished) Economy block

Cut one 7” x 7” square for the center.
Cut two 6” x 6” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.
Cut two 8” x 8” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.
After you sew on the inner triangles you will trim your block to 9.5”

5” (5.5 unfinished) Economy block

Cut one 3” x 3” square for the center.
Cut two 3.25” x 3.25” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.
Cut two 4” x 4” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.
After you sew on the inner triangles you will trim your block to 4”.
on February 03, 2016 by Jodi  | 2 comments