June 7, 2014 Meeting Recap and Show & Tell

I hope everyone has been having a great summer! It's been a while since our June meeting but here is the recap (finally!). Sorry for the delay! 

The last meeting definitely closed out the year with a bang-- we had a trunk show hosted by Cloud9 Fabrics, many updates to the various guild and bee projects, and of course a Show & Tell chock full of beautiful techniques and talent!

The quilts that were raffled off at the end of the meeting.

Of few of the charity baby quilts that members have made. 

Members were each gifted a choice of a fat quarter piece of fabric purchased from Pins & Needles.

The guild's progress on the group quilt made using English Paper Pieced star headed by Jessica. 

First up, an insider's look into Cloud9 Fabrics. Creative Director, Michelle Engel Bencsko joined us to share so many gorgeous quilts and insights into running an organic fabric company.

Above are just a few of the quilts shown from Cloud9 Fabric's latest lines. The company produces about 18 collections a year. The quilt patterns above are all designed by Michelle herself and offered as free patterns on the Cloud9 Fabric's website. Many of the quilts are made and quilted by Linda Spiridon.

In addition to the great trunk show, Cloud9 Fabrics also donated small fat quarter bundles of their latest Ed Emberley collection, Picture Pie to be made into charity baby quilts.

Then we kicked off Show & Tell!

Michelle shared a piece based on the theme of reflections. The quilt she shared is of reflections of old buildings onto new ones, but often, reflections get distorted. She incorporated dyed fabric, hand painting, and gold netting into the final piece.

Although Elaine has been quilting for five years, she still considers herself a novice. Elaine took a class at the City Quilter where she learned to stack patterns, cut, turn pattern 90 degrees. The quilt as you go method was used to finish the quilt. The result makes all the blocks float. The only catch is that you cannot use directional fabric. 

In Deborah's family, once you are married for 50 years, you get a quilt. It is a family tradition. This time around, it was her parents' turn. Everyone in the family gets a packet of fabric in the same colors. Most of the blocks returned are completed by hand. The quilt is pieced by machine with some hand sewing. Deborah designed the center wreath. This quilt is the fifth one in the family and may be the last one for a while. Although Deborah's mom usually helps her with the anniversary quilts, she completed this one all by herself and also enlisted the help of friend and fellow guild member, Andrea Murray. 

Jackie cut rainbow strips over New Year's to make this quilt. After squaring it up, she lost some colors. To quilt it, she experimented with free motion quilting after watching some Angela Walters videos. Jackie also shared two articles she authored in quilt publications!

Karen works at the City Quilter and a customer who likes to practice new techniques, gave her the middle piece so Karen completed the rest!

Karen also shared this robot quilt she made. Karen is obsessed with robots!

I shared a bag I made using Green Bee Patterns Ship Shape Tote. I was inspired after seeing beautiful Doe leather handles in Portland, OR and set out to construct a bag with my own fabrics.

This was Doris's first meeting at the guild. She heard about the guild at a panel at The City Quilter. Doris has a grand daughter in college who is interested in stage productions and will start in a play in May. Doris wanted to bring her something so she decided on this star quilt because her granddaughter would be the "star" of the show. Doris created a template from the Macy's logo found on a shopping bag. Doris has had a Baby Lock sewing machine for 10 years and it was the first time she used it for machine applique. She watched videos on YouTube to learn how to echo quilt. Doris will turn this into a pillow.

Michael was inspired by a Baltimore Album Sampler block and made this from a drawing from 20 years ago! The entire quilt is pieced not appliqued.

Sara made this quilt for the charity baby quilt donation. It is machine quilted.

Maren started a tradition of making bat mitzvah quilts for a friend's daughter two years ago. Her friend has two more daughters so Maren has completed another one. The recipient loves "Paris, France" and the quilt is a "mixed bag" of themes. Mallory and Karen at The City Quilter helped Maren choose coordinating fabric for the back and it will be quilted by Rachael. 

Greer has been quilting for seven years and finally made a quilt for herself after taking Andrea Deal's class. There is no additional quilting on the quilt and it is backed in Anna Maria Horner velveteen fabric.

Melly shared her swatch cards for her newly released fabric line, Meadowlark.

Melly had several friends from the guild (Chris, Jackie, and Stephanie) help make things out of her beautiful fabric!

It was Season's first time at the guild. She made this stunning quilt out of Essex Linen and metallic cotton. It is machine pieced and took a very long time to complete!

We took a break so that participants in the postcard swap could swap their pieces! 

The before photo. Everyone holding the postcards they made.

After. It was a very methodical swap. ;)

Andrea shared a quilt she made for a dear friend from her neighborhood who just had a baby. At the shower for the mother, attendees were given bird-themed fabric to stitch a wish. Andrea incorporated the fabrics into this quilt and will be gifting it to her friend who has just moved to New Zealand.

Monica and Ellen collaborated on this quilt with a teenager, Amina, who is 18 years old. The quilt was a gift for a dear friend who was retiring after 18 years. The mutual friend loves green and stars so this quilt was a perfect combination of both. 

Jody made this charity quilt from scraps in her stash. She quilted it on her "tractor" AKA "longarm."

Nancy shared that left to her own devices, she would "stick rainbows on everything." She had misgivings about putting so much white on a baby quilt, but everyone at the meeting agreed that it is perfect just the way it is!

Margaret finished the quilt that will be sent to France for a charity auction. It is made of 100% recycled fabric and the batting is even pieced from scraps. Five others from our guild sent blocks and Margaret incorporated blocks from Bees as well. Rachael quilted it on her longarm.

Andrea shared her submission to the Modern Quilt Guild's Michael Miller Challenge. She thought the fabrics "screamed Dresden Plate." When Andrea couldn't find the perfect background fabric, she made her own using a bleach pen!

Sandy's son was getting married in two weeks. For the ceremony, she wanted to incorporate a chuppah made with blocks from family and friends. She sent out 140 and received 81 in return. The pattern incorporates a Jewish star.

Rachael shared one of four quilts that was made for a family whose mother had passed away. The quilts are comprised of fabrics from boxes of childhood clothing. As part of the process, Rachael speaks with the family about pattern ideas.

Detail of Rachael's beautifully intricate quilting!

Maria shared a charity quilt made with fabrics from the Thomas Knauer Challenge.

Maria was inspired by an image from a magazine and recreated this optical masterpiece into a quilt!

Cynthia is new and has decided to join the guild. In 2014, she decided that she would say "yes" to anything that was not dangerous or criminal. She met the editor of Quilting Arts Magazine at a workshop and decided to participate in the Opposites Attract Challenge. Cynthia was inspired to make this 9x9 "piece of torment" summer sunset piece entitled Sunset at Seaside. She was also helped by another member of the guild Chris D. The piece was accepted by the magazine and Cynthia was a finalist!

Chris shared a quilt she made as a sample for her upcoming class at The City Quilter. It is made using a wholecloth Quilt as You Go technique. 

Chris also shared the quilt made by her daughter, Flicky, using the same method. Flicky completed this quilt in one evening!

Lisa shared the latest round of the Round Robin quilt that has been circulating among guild members. There is a twin for this quilt. Each person may keep the quilt for two months. Next up, will be Brian!

Earamichia ran a half marathon 8 weeks before the meeting. She broke her ankle and calls this piece, Ode to Foot.