Sunday, April 30, 2017

Meet Diana Mattoni

Hi Everyone! I’m Diana and I’ve been a member of the guild since October of 2015. I discovered the guild quite by accident through an online Facebook group, in an effort to connect locally with modern quilters in the area after having moved here from Ohio.


I am a former professional stage manager who used to work in New York City and in regional theaters across the country for more than 15 years before retiring and deciding to channel my creativity into other aspects of my life. I moved from backstage to front of house, house managing for various theaters and also worked in the business world as a corporate trainer, putting my theater skills to good use. It wasn’t until 2012 that I decided I wanted to make a quilt. I’d always wanted a handmade quilt, it just never occurred to me to make one myself. Why, I have no idea. Possibly because I thought I hated sewing. And I do. I HATE traditional garment sewing. Okay, hate is a strong word. But what I had to do in graduate school – pattern drafting for costuming, costume construction, and garment sewing – I HATE IT! And that’s why I thought I hated sewing and never thought to try quilting. So the sewing machine I received as a graduation gift from my aunt way back in 1992, was used for the occasional home décor project, until I dug it out to make my very first quilt, one for my son:



I saw a photo of a quilt I liked online, I drew it out and meticulously cut out the various pieces with scissors, not knowing what a rotary cutter was, and laid them all out, and sewed them together. It wasn’t until months later that I discovered it was actually a disappearing 9-patch pattern that could have been so much easier to sew had I done a bit of research. Oh well, live and learn. It’s not the prettiest quilt (it might even border on ugly) but I fell in love with some puppy fabric (and I’m a cat person, 100%) so it dictated my fabric choices. My proudest moment of that quilt was that I never hesitated in quilting it and free motion quilted each block differently. Maybe it wasn’t the best, but not bad for a first time and I had no fear.



Fast-forward to today, and here are a few of my favorite quilts that I’ve made in the past.


I’m not the fastest quilter, partly because I have a 7-year-old in the house, but also because I run a yearlong online quilting bee, called Stash Bee. It’s made up of 99 quilters from all over the world that are placed into 9 different hives. It takes a lot of organization and an extra dose of patience on my part!

My favorite aspect of quilt making is the quilting itself. I enjoy piecing a block and seeing a finished top come together but it’s that last step of quilting the 3 layers together, adding texture and visual interest through straight-line or free-motion quilting that I really love. So much so, that it resulted in me purchasing my very own long arm machine, which has brought about some pretty big changes in my family’s lives.



First and foremost, it made us realize that our current living space isn’t working for us so we’ve pulled the trigger on building a new home, one where I will have a nice workspace because I want to start my own business (eek, I’ve just said it out-loud!). It’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while now, and even though it’s going to take some time, I’m up for the challenge, provided I survive the house building drama, so wish me luck, I’m going to need it!



Saturday, April 29, 2017

Quilt con Charity Quilt Announced


The 2018 Quiltcon Charity Quilt Challenge was announced today. This year individual members are encouraged to enter in teams of four or more. 

The theme is Modern Traditionalism, encouraging members to reinterpret one or more traditional blocks or quilt designs using a predetermined color palette.

The design coordinates well with the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's current Modern Traditional Challenge.  The Community Outreach team will begin working on this project, if you would like to participate with ideas or a design contact Debra Jalbert. 

You can read the entire announcement on the Quiltcon website or click this link: 




Sunday, April 23, 2017

The Modern Principles Challenge

Our sincere thanks to Mary Sorensen for designing this program for addressing the mission to put our emphasis this year on exploring the "Modern" aesthetic/what "Modern Quilting" means.

The goal of the challenge is an original Modern mini-quilt, approximately 24" x 24", using solid color fabrics, designed, pieced and quilted entirely by you!
This challenge will be bi-monthly, at least four - or maybe five - challenges (so 8 or 10 months total)
The challenge starts in April (the first results of block one to be revealed in June) with designing one block, then each bimonthly challenge expands on that original block until the last month we have a mini quilt, approximately 24" x 24"

It goes something like this : 

1. Challenge#1 (April): Modern Traditionalism - reinventing a traditional block, no larger than 8" x 8". This block will be changed, expanded, manipulated as we move forward, so don’t get too caught up in choosing the perfect block; it’s just a stepping off point.
2. Challenge #2 (June): Alternate Gridwork - incorporating the reinvented block in a Modern gridwork setting for a mini-quilt
3. Challenge #3 (August): Negative Space - manipulating the grid to experiment with negative space in the mini-quilt
4. Challenge #4 (October): Graphic Color - using bold, graphic color to further promote the Modern esthetic 
5. Possible Challenge #5 (December or January?): Modern Quilting Alternatives - using a Modern approach to quilting the mini-quilt, either free motion or walking foot 

So, let's start working on the first block!

Modern Traditionalism - Choosing a traditional block and reinventing it and altering it to make it modern !

The Rules 

Block size is no larger than 8" finished ( 81/2 with seam allowances )

Only use solid fabrics , no prints (keep the palette modern)

For this first challenge ,  blocks are due at the June 7th meeting 

If you did not see Mary's presentation at April's meeting , here are some helpful resources to get inspired and learn about 
our first challenge ! 

Webinars - 
Making Traditional Modern - Shannon Page 

Fresh Quilting Episodes : ( on the Modern Quilt Guild Website) 
Season 1 Episode 6,  Modern Traditionalism ( 2 segments ) with Elizabeth Dackson

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild Pinterest page has a board titled Modern Series Challenge with lots of examples ! 

Enjoy and good luck !





Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Update on the Block of the Month

 I just wanted everyone to know that a few of us were having trouble with the block of the month trying to get it to come out to 12 1/2 inches… I think that was a miscommunication on my part and I put the directions down wrong so if everyone follows the tutorial whatever size your blocks end up being, that will be fine .... the happy winner of all these beautiful blocks can trim them all to the same size! So,  happy sewing everyone !
Paula

April's Maitland Sew Day

There were many busy hands at Monday's Sew Day! 



Donna Haynes with Legal Aid Society shared how our quilts will make an impact with the youth they serve. She also thanked the guild for the Pulse quilts and how receiving them meant so much to the legal staff and volunteers that helped Pulse victims and families. 


We also worked on ShareBears! They are sweet little bears that will help children that are in hospitals.


I think we will see some new name tags at our May meeting!!


Missed Monday's Sew Day?  Join us Saturday at our Dr. Phillips Sew Day!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Friday, April 7, 2017

Quirky Scrap QAL

Are your scraps taking over your sewing area?  Do you feel guilty buying more fabric when you know you have so many beautiful scraps begging to be used up?  Do you feel overwhelmed and don't know how to even begin putting a dent in those scraps?

If you answered yes to any of those questions then we have a fun Quilt Along for you!!  Our guild is going to be sending out monthly assignments via email and social media posts following Leila Gardunia's Quirky Scrap Quilt Along from a couple of years ago.  You can find Leila at this link and @SewnByLeila on Instagram.  Hop over and follow her on IG.  The coolest part is that Leila is going to be joining us and blogging about her process as well!

Here is Leila's first Quirky Scrap Quilt.  The reason I love it so much is that it uses a LOT of scraps and it has a little bit of rhyme and reason to it.  So often I see scrappy quilts that either make my head hurt because they are too busy or they only use a little bit of scraps and require me to buy another 4 yards of another fabric to bring some harmony to the design.


Everyone can play along by following Leila's blog or our blog,  If you are a member of our guild, you can send your email address to jpeterman at embarQmail dot com and you will be added to the email list.  I am hoping to find a sponsor for prizes for the people that finish the entire quilt by the end of the year or for a drawing for a prize. To be eligible for any prize that may be procured, you must be a dues paying member.

The very first assignment is to "Show Us Your Scraps!!"  Take a picture of your scrap pile, sort it out and choose at least 24 different fabrics to use.  While you are at it, you should go ahead and sort the remaining scraps.  You know you need to do it!  Share your pictures on Facebook and Instagram using #QuirkyScrapQuiltAlong and be sure to tag @SewnByLeila and @OrlandoMQG so we can all support one another.

This Year's Community Outreach Projects

Community Outreach Committee
2017 Projects

Quilts for abused, neglected, and abandoned youth being served by the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, Inc. and The Juvenile Justice Center

Our year long project will be making quilts for the youth being served by the Legal Aid Society and The Juvenile Justice Center who are often neglected, abused, and abandoned.  Quilts will be twin size with a modern aesthetic and gender neutral color scheme.  These quilts will be an item of comfort that each youth can keep as they are often in foster homes and working through difficult situations.  The Legal Aid Society is currently serving 221 youth and our goal is to provide at least 100 quilts toward their need.  The Committee’s contact is Donna Haynes with the Legal Aid Society and we plan to have some of the youth visit the OMQG during our Sew Days. The Community Outreach Committee challenges each guild member to create at least one quilt for our 2017 project.  We would like to present these quilts in either December or January.


ShareBear United

Our community outreach sewing project is making handcrafted bears for children in hospitals as a token of comfort to help children cope with challenges they face in the hospital.  ShareBear United is a service project started in South Florida in 2006 serving Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Gainesville.  Jackie Babb, founder of ShareBear United and a medical student at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine has a goal of sewing 1000 bears by July. OMQG is helping Jackie and the UCF medical school students meet their goal by making these simple and sweet bears the focus of our Sew Days through July.  Look for teddy bear themed snacks and possibly UCF students at our Sew Days!