Sunday, November 18, 2012

Carolyn Friedlander Workshop

For our monthly Sew Day, we had a paper piecing workshop with the talented Carolyn Friedlander. The project of the day was her pattern "Olive Wall." Carolyn shared new tips and tricks for many of us that have paper pieced before and provided invaluable instruction for those who have never paper pieced. We all learned and accomplished so much. Carolyn has a new fabric collection called "Architextures" coming out very soon. She showed us her quilts made with her new line. Gorgeous!

We wasted no time getting busy (and messy). It was fun to see the variety of fabrics everyone chose. The library patrons were peeking in the window to see what we were up to. Some came in for a closer look.


One onlooker donated her mother's double knit yo-yo's she had been toting around in her trunk. There were plenty of heavy blocks already assembled and even more loose yo-yos. She was happy to see these go to a good home.

We had three tables of yummy food. No one starves on Sew Day. Everyone brings something to share which makes it fun and delicious. From sweet to savory, we cover it all.

Plenty of pretty trees were created. Looks like everyone mastered paper piecing. Thanks, Carolyn for a fun workshop.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

December 2012 Block of the Month

Christmas Ribbons Block

EASY! This block uses red and green fabrics over a white background.

Start with several strips of red and green, varying lengths and widths. I cut widths between 1.5 and 2.5 inches:



Cut white strips to match the green and red strips so that they add to (at least) 12.5 inches in length and sew them together:



You may want to group the strips, by inserting a couple of totally white strips. In this block there are three groups:



The idea is to have enough strips to total 12.5 inches wide. Do not forget to count the 1/2 inch sewing allowance for every strip!

Sew them all together and press:


Trim to 12.5 inch square:


That is the basic block, and that is all you NEED to do for December BOM. For those with more time on their hands, read on...

I decided to add a little extra, in the form of round appliques that simulate Christmas ornaments on the ribbons. I traced them using the edge of a  spool:


Then used a light fusible like WonderUnder to attach them to a couple of the ribbons and finally secured the edges with raw-edge applique method:


The three things to remember with this technique are (a) use as open a foot as you can so you can see where you are going,  (b) use a very small stitch  (I used 1 mm stitch length, the smallest my machine will allow) and (c) try to be close to the edge.

This is the finished block:



Finally, I thought it would be fun to try other applique shapes that look like Christmas ornaments. If you google "christmas ornament template images" you'll get more suggestions than you can handle. To use one, you need to download, print and resize the templates (with a copier or a graphic app) so they fit on a "ribbon". Or you could embellish the ornaments.

Have fun!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

November 2012 Meeting Minutes

OMQG Meeting Minutes
November 7, 2012
Sewing Studio in Maitland
18 present

I.     Meet and Greet

II.    November BOM
Jodi won the November Blocks.




III.   December BOM
Alejandrina showed a sample of the December Block of the Month.
The blocks are to be red, green and white strips with the addition of circles or other simple shapes on some of the red and green strips.


IV.   Raffle Basket
The basket was won by Terry.

V.    Ugly Challenge
The ugly challenge blocks will be used in a donation quilt.  Kathryn won a package of Insul-Bright  in the Ugly challenge drawing.




VI.   Other News
--Judy was surprised with a quilt made by OMQG members as a comfort for her recent loss.

--Jodi is still collecting hand made kitchen items for Habitat for Humanity.

--Jodi showed off the quilt labels for OMQG purchased through Sweetwater Street.

--AAQI
OMQG Member, Mary Sorenson is participating in the AAQI Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction. The auction is active now.

--OMQG member, Rene Martinez, is a finalist in the Favorite ROYGBlV (color wheel) Quilt Category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Voting is still open.

--November Sew Day is the Class with Carolyn Friedlander. Michelle will take photos at the class and post them online.

--December Sew Day is the third Saturday in December.

--December Meeting
We will have a Christmas swap for any interested participants.  Bring a small wrapped handmade item to swap. (A mug rug is an example of a small handmade gift.) Members are also encourage to bring to the meeting appetizers or finger food to share. We would like to have simple to share and clean up food items.

--The meeting room is not available for the January Sew Day. The group decided that we will have a field trip instead with visits to quilt shops in Orange City and Deland and lunch in Deland.

--Sew Days from Feb through June will all be the third Saturday of the Month

--The Modern Quilt Guild will be participating in a new Fabric Challenge, Madrona Road by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics. More information will be shared as it becomes available.

VIII. Demo by Maya
Maya showed samples of using mirrors in fabric projects and talked about how the supplies and techniques used.



V.    Show and Tell








Thursday, November 1, 2012

Art in Stitches


There are only a few days left in which you can see the exhibit, Art in Stitches, at the Florida Museum for Women Artists in Deland. The museum is located at 100 North Woodland Blvd., Suite 1, Deland, Florida.  Phone: 386 873-2976. Nine Florida artists are included in the exhibit. According to their website the hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am 'til 6 pm and the exhibit runs until Nov. 10th.

Here is one sample from the exhibit, "Listen to Your Conscience" by Pat Kumicich.