March 2017 Recap

Business Review

This summer is shaping up to be packed with events!

The sew day for June, on the 24th, will be replaced with a meet up with the Eugene Modern Quilt Guild at Sweet Earth Vineyards in Monroe.

We have rented a booth at the Corvallis Farmers' for August 5th.

The Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild is sponsoring a class, quilting curves with Jen Carlton-Bailly.

Our second group project of the year is a Quilt of Valor. The quilt will be comprised of a mix of rail fence blocks and pin wheel blocks, in the classic flag colors, red, white, and blue. Blocks are due May eleventh.

Presentation Review

Jessy Yorgey and Geary Cuniff came to the March meeting to offer their inimitable wisdom regarding color. The first advice offered was not to feel guilty about building a stash. Your stash is personal, handpicked, colors, motifs and oddball prints that you love. Think of it as a collection or a library.

They discussed different ways to quantify fabric, by color first of all, value, which is the amount of light or dark, style, which can refer to the pattern of the fabric, country, contemporary, juvenile, holiday, etc.

They brought in an excellent example of a color wheel that quilters can use to help choose fabrics. This color wheel is also sold at Quiltwork Patches.

This color wheel has lots of information on it. It helps with color mixing, tones vs tints, warm and cool colors.

They presented a lot of information on color theory, including different color schemes, how to organize fabric before making a quilt, and looking at value and intensity. They are always very helpful at Quiltwork Patches, so stop by and say "Hi!"

Show and Tell Highlights

 The QuiltCon Charity Quilt 2017 returned from QuiltCon, so we were once again able to admire it. Such a great job was done by all our members!

                  

Erin brought in some quilts to show off. Both baby quilts are quite lovely.

Diana brought in a baby quilt she plans to donate to Quilts from Caring Hands.

Curves Class By Jen Carlton-Bailly

The Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild is thrilled to announce a course taught by Portland Modern Quilt Guild member Jen Carlton-Bailly. Jen is a great teacher and an all around fun person to be around. Her work has been featured on the cover of Modern Patchwork and she taught at the most recent QuiltCon event as well. 

Workshop Description: Does the idea of sewing curves scare the heck out of you?
Don’t let it! In this class, students will learn three different methods of sewing curves – pinning, gluing, and freehand. They’ll learn tips and tricks to creating a beautiful curve as well as tips on how to square up their blocks and sew them together with beautiful matching points. We will play with several different block design from easy to challenging.
Students will leave with four quilt blocks and tons of new ways to sew curves!

The course will be on August 12th, 2017 from 1 pm - 4 pm at the Corvallis Public Library in their main meeting room at 645 NW Monroe Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330.  We are unable to take payment at the time of the class so please pay by Paypal at the button below or by Check/Cash at a prior CMQG event (sew day or meeting). Can't wait to see you all and help you master curves!

Update!!! Supply list details:

Supplies for one block:

·       5 FQ two dark two light and a background (more if you are confident in sewing curves)

·       28 mm rotary cutter - recommend (available for purchase)

·       3 ½ inch square ruler - recommended

·       Spinning cutting mat (optional)

·       Basic sewing supplies

·       Pins

·       Glue stick (available for purchase)

·       Paper curved template will be provided

·       Acrylic templates will be available for purchase (Jen has also kindly provided a discount code for class attendees only. It will be provided via email to all who register!)

Member Options

CMQG Member $35.00 USD Non-CMQG Member $45.00 USD

Please feel free to email corvallismodernquiltguild@gmail.com with any questions!

February 2017 Recap

Business Review

Modern Quilt Guild membership cards arrived, if you are a member make sure to pick up your card. There are also enamel pins for new members! They are pretty sweet!

The swap for next month's meeting is a boxy pouch from Kelby Sews.

Presentation Review

Connie Barkley from Pacific Rim Quilts came to the meeting to discuss a four day class taught by Nancy Lee Chong called "Design Your Personal Hawaiian Quilt." It is a three day class from April 18-20 at the Silverton Senior Center in Silverton, OR. Nancy is also giving a presentation on April 17th titled "Hawaiian Quilting: Its History, Traditions & Superstitions." She will show her quilts and discuss what she has learned about Hawaiian quilts over the years. 

Connie brought her own quilts that she created to show us. Hawaiian quilts are done using large scale, turned edge applique, usually one piece of fabric, and then echo quilted. Her first quilt that she created in the Design Your Personal Hawaiian Quilt class:

She also showed us two more quilts she did using Hawaiian style applique and quilting, one more traditional:

and one more personal:

her family tree, with relatives names embroidered on the leaves. The quilts are truly lovely, and more information on the class and the method can be found on Pacific Rim Quilt's website.

Embroidery Review:


February is national embroidery month, so our very own Stephanie Douglas gave a very informative lecture on embroidery. She discussed the basic tools and supplies; scissors, hoop or frame, needles, different types of thread and fabric. 

A good quality hoop is very helpful, Stephanie recommends bamboo. Brass fittings are a further indication of a quality hoop. The hoops with a groove provide extra hold for your projects. Below are some mini wooden frames that can be used for mounting and a bamboo frame in the middle.

Size 5 embroidery needles are her needles of choice. That size needle can hold two to four threads easily, and six threads if you are good at threading. A size seven needle is smaller, which might be needed when using a more tightly woven fabric. For quilting with pearl cotton, which is often thicker than floss, she uses a bigger needle. She also recommends using a Sashiko needle for quilting, which is strong and sharp and longer than the usual handquilting needle. Below are some examples of Sashiko embroidery, a traditional embroidery style from Japan, often done on blue fabric with thick white thread.

 

Thread choice depends on stitch choice and pattern choice. For standard, decorative embroidery, DMC brand embroidery floss is regularly available, inexpensive and comes in a wide variety of colors. Embroidery floss comes as six twisted strands, so individual strands can be separated out, mixed with other colors, or used fully with all six strands. Pearl cotton is a single inseparable strand of twisted thread. It can be found from size 12 (fine) to size 3 (thick). Mindy's Needlepoint Factory at the Fifth Street Market in Eugene has a good selection of pearl cotton, as does Acorns & Threads in Portland. Stephanie uses pearl cotton for her big stitch quilting as well, shown below.

         

 

Any fabric can be used for embroidery, as long as you have some patience with it and with yourself. A good fabric to start out with would be a regular quilter's cotton. Quilters' cotton is sturdy and easy to stitch through. Muslin is good for practicing a delicate design. Linens can also be nice to embroider with. Below are three different projects Stephanie has made; first, a bird embroidered on some thin fabric curtains, second, a doily embellished with embroidery and third, a little lamb embroidered on a knit cotton shirt.

  

There are several ways to transfer patterns. Stephanie finds pencils easy to use, they are washable and erasable, although it's always advisable to test a small piece first. Water erasable pens are widely available. Iron transfer paper and pens can be used, but remember that they are permanent. Stephanie uses a light tablet to trace patterns onto fabric. Another way to practice embroidering is to use rubber stamps to make a design and then embroider over it.

               

 
Finally, some resources, Stephanie provided our members with a great handout full of pictures and websites and information. Her favorites include; Sublime Stitching, which has tutorials, patterns, kits for sale and other resources, and Needlen Thread, also full of patterns, tutorials and videos for getting started or advancing your embroidery education.

Show and Tell Review:

Linda completed her projects using the fabric from the rip and pass swap last month. She made a jelly roll race style tote bag, pyramid pouch and boxy pouches.

         

Janet finished her paper-pieced teapot mini quilt.

Christina showed us her bubble log cabin block.

         

 
Ann also used fabric from the rip and pass swap; she made a small wall hanging and practiced her free motion quilting skills on it.

 
Erin made a baby quilt for a friend using the Missouri Star Quilt Company’s paper piecing squares.

Amber did a jelly roll race quilt. She learned that quilt math matters and she ended up with 2 tops that were the same width. She used a jelly roll along with some coordinating fabrics from both her stash and the rip and pass swap last month.

         

And then it was Girl Scout Cookie Time!!!

January 2017 Meeting Recap

It was fun to start the new year with all of you at the meeting on January 12th! We're delighted to meet the new year and see what happens with the guild. 

QuiltCon Quilt

This is our first quarter charity quilt, and the guild did a great job of piecing starts. Ann pieced the quilt top and Lisa from Upstairs Birdie will quilt this. We are still looking for backing fabric. Linda will be binding it after the quilting is done. It is so beautiful to see in person, and we are all looking forward to seeing it in finished!

   
Quilt Resolutions for 2017

We discussed our quilting goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. 

The various techniques we're interested in learning are free motion quilting on the domestic, long-arm or mid-arm, applique, paper piecing, sewing a bag, and sun prints. 

We've all got various UFOs to finish. 😉 There are lots of babies arriving whom will need new quilts, babies already here that deserve memory quilts from their castoff clothes.

With an eye toward planning, some of our members are looking to improve their fabric selection processes.

Lastly, it's difficult to be a great sewist and stay on track in a messy sewing room, so several members are looking to organize or set up a sewing room in the new year.

Show & Tell Highlights

There were a lot of beautiful projects shown by the end of the meeting. We unfortunately did not capture photographs of everything, so if anyone has images they want to pass on, please do.

Linda showed one of the boxy bags she made with fabric she sun printed this summer. 

Janet told us all about her visit with her daughter in Burkina Faso over the holidays; bringing fabrics she purchased and a dress she had made while she was there.

Tanya brought a quilt top that her son pieced using the jelly roll racing method. She then quilted and bound it for him, and it turned out wonderfully.

Diana made a woodland quilt with an appliqued deer made for a friend’s baby.

 

Tuesday brought a doll that she made following directions from a make-along doll subscription from wee wonderfuls. She sewed the doll, and then once a month she'll receive a pattern for an outfit to sew for the doll. She also made a very excellent backpack by taking a class on the creative bug website. 

Karla  shared some pillow covers she sewed for a friend who made her a painting.

General Announcements

Stephanie told us about an upcoming show at The Art Center. It's an open exhibition, where the entire community is invited to submit art on February 4th, between noon and 4pm. Check out their website for more information.
 

Looking ahead to February

Connie from Pacific Rim Quilt Company will briefly discuss Hawaiian quilts. There will be no swap, but we'd love to see what you made with fabric from the "yard of fabric" swap.