Thursday, December 24, 2015

A merry time!

Our annual guild holiday party at our last meeting was a merry time! Lots of great food, charity donations, fun swaps, and oohs and ahs over guild members' finished projects. If you weren't there, you missed a wonderful time and we missed you. Mark your calendar for next year's meetings and be a part of the fun, encouragement, and inspiration! Remember, we meet on the last Tuesday of the month at St. Gabriel's Church on Providence Road. Our January meeting is on January 26th and we've got a great program planned for it. (More on that in another post).

Now, how about some pictures from our holiday celebration ...

 Cute drawstring bags full of goodies for the swap.

 Lots of wonderful placemats made from orphan blocks 
that will be donated to Friendship Trays (Meals on Wheels in Charlotte).
I'm sure that these placemats, delivered with meals to shut-ins,
 will brighten the day of every recipient.
Great job, guild members!


 Another charity quilt sewn by Kelly. We will no longer allow her to say she doesn't quilt!

The following pictures are of our QuiltCon 2016 Quilt: Postcards from NC.
 



Swap for Someone you Love was completed this week and lots of perfect gifts were shared:
 
 A knitting needle roll for Xandi's mother-in-law

 A horse-themed bag, sewn by Kelly for Sarah's daughter

 A cute elephant themed baby quilt sewn by Sarah.

And finally, a few of our Sew and Share items:



At the end of the meeting, those who participated in the drawstring bag swap got to choose bags. Lots of fun bags and great goodies were received. We all decided this was a really great swap!
 

Remember, mark your calendars now for our January meeting. Dues for 2016 ($40) are due at that meeting.

Til then, have a joy-filled holiday season. Hope in the midst of the happy chaos (as Dee called what will be happening at my house with five sons, wives, and a grandbaby arriving for Christmas), you'll get a chance to sneak away to the sewing machine!
 

Monday, December 14, 2015

December Holiday Meeting/Social - Tuesday evening!

Hi Everyone! Just a reminder that our December meeting/holiday social is tomorrow evening, December 15, from 6-8 at St. Gabriel's Church. It will be a fun evening of food, swaps, sharing, and fun!

Please bring with you:

Show and Tell – What have you been working on? Bring it to show. We all want to see and oooh and ahhh and be inspired!

A potluck dish – A dish to share. The guild will provide cups, plates, napkins, etc. Kelleigh has already
claimed drinks so she doesn’t have to cook! Hope someone brings the fudge!

Swap for Someone You Love – If you signed up for this swap, please be sure to come to the meeting or
send your item through someone else. We all can’t wait to see what you came up with.

Drawstring Bag Swap – If you’d like, join us in a Christmas lined drawstring bag swap! We will use Jeni Baker’s free tutorial at http://www.incolororder.com/2011/10/lined-drawstring-bag-tutorial.html. If
you’ve bought her pattern (which is great), it does include other sizes, so please stick with this 10” x 7”
size. Make them Christmas/Holiday themed and fill them with a few little goodies. For each pouch you
bring in, you will get to choose one to bring home. No peaking at the goodies inside before choosing,
though! Those are a fun bonus.

Placemats – to donate to Friendship Trays. See the blog post from late August. These instructions are
only a suggestion – any way you’d like to make then is fine. We’d love to have each member donate at
least two. This is a great way to use up those 12 inch orphan blocks you have at home.

Secret Sewing Sister Swap – if you did not bring your final bag to the last meeting, please bring it in
December.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

December Meeting/Holiday Party Reminder

Hi Everyone! I'm sorry I forgot to post a reminder that there was no meeting in November.  I sure do hope no one showed up!  Sorry about that!

I do want to remind everyone about the meeting in December....all of the information is below.  We hope you will join us for an end of the year celebration!

Our next meeting will be the holiday party on December 15th, from 6-8 at Saint Gabriel's church, and it will be full of swapping, show and tell, and eating!  All the best things in my book!


Please bring with you:

Show and Tell – what have you been working on? We want to see it all!

A potluck dish – A dish to share. The guild will provide cups, plates, napkins, etc. Kelleigh has already
claimed drinks so she doesn’t have to cook!

Swap for Someone You Love – If you signed up for this swap, please be sure to come to the meeting or
send your item through someone else. We all can’t wait to see what you came up with. (At this point, I
can’t wait to see what I come up with…)

Drawstring Bag Swap – If you’d like, join us in a Christmas lined drawstring bag swap! We will use Jeni

Baker’s free tutorial at http://www.incolororder.com/2011/10/lined-drawstring-bag-tutorial.html. If
you’ve bought her pattern (which is great), it does include other sizes, so please stick with this 10” x 7”
size. Make them Christmas/Holiday themed and fill them with a few little goodies. For each pouch you
bring in, you will get to choose one to bring home. No peaking at the goodies inside before choosing,
though! Those are a fun bonus.

Placemats – to donate to Friendship Trays. See the blog post from late August. These instructions are
only a suggestion – any way you’d like to make then is fine. We’d love to have each member donate at
least two. This is a great way to use up those 12 inch orphan blocks you have at home.

Secret Sewing Sister Swap – if you did not bring your final bag to the last meeting, please bring it in
December.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

December Meeting Information and a Look Back at October

Our next meeting will be the holiday party on December 15th, and it will be full of swapping, show and tell, and eating! All the best things in my book! Please bring with you:

Show and Tell – what have you been working on? We want to see it all!

A potluck dish – A dish to share. The guild will provide cups, plates, napkins, etc. Kelleigh has already claimed drinks so she doesn’t have to cook!

Swap for Someone You Love – If you signed up for this swap, please be sure to come to the meeting or send your item through someone else. We all can’t wait to see what you came up with. (At this point, I can’t wait to see what I come up with…)

Drawstring Bag Swap – If you’d like, join us in a Christmas lined drawstring bag swap! We will use Jeni Baker’s free tutorial at: http://www.incolororder.com/2011/10/lined-drawstring-bag-tutorial.html. If you’ve bought her pattern (which is great), it does include other sizes, so please stick with this 10” x 7” size. Make them Christmas/Holiday themed and fill them with a few little goodies. For each pouch you bring in, you will get to choose one to bring home. No peaking at the goodies inside before choosing, though! Those are a fun bonus.

Placemats – to donate to Friendship Trays. See the blog post from late August. These instructions are
only a suggestion – any way you’d like to make then is fine. We’d love to have each member donate at least two. This is a great way to use up those 12 inch orphan blocks you have at home.

Secret Sewing Sister Swap – if you did not bring your final bag to the last meeting, please bring it in
December.

December will also be our last meeting with the old Board and Chairs. Last month we elected the following generous volunteers:

Co-Presidents – Kelleigh Bland and Jenn Thurston

Program Committee – Laurie Treib, Susan Austin, and Dee Wittmack

Secretary – Beth Pinckney

Treasurer – Liz Harris

Swap Chairs – Sara Struhs and Jessie Gettliffe

Library Chair  - Xandi Hamilton

A look back at our October program, just in case you missed out!

For our program  in October, Christine Sahli-Williams of Shine Wellness in Concord led us in a group participatory stretching and massage session. She demonstrated a variety of neck and shoulder and hand and arm stretches to relieve the stiffness and tightness some of us feel after sitting at the sewing machine for a long time! Next we paired up and Chris led us in some partner massage for the neck, shoulders, head, and back. We each took turns sitting backwards in a chair and being massaged by our partner. If you weren't here, you missed it! Half of us fell asleep after our massages and we spent the rest of the meeting trying to wake up all the relaxed quilters. No, no ...just kidding. Seriously though, it was relaxing and helpful and if anyone is interested in contacting Chris for massage or wellness information, her website is http://shine-wellness.com/

It was a sparse night for Show and Tell. No one brought anything! OK, women, next month, let's make up for that and bring lots to share.

Friday, October 23, 2015

October Meeting and a Peak Back at September

 We had a wonderful time at our last meeting working on the Charity Quilt for QuiltCon!  It was a great night of brainstorming, planning, cutting, piecing and improvising.  Everyone was so creative and worked so well within their teams!  It will be exciting to see the results of all that work at the Guild Meeting this Tuesday!   The Meeting will be Tuesday the 27th from 6-8 pm at St. Gabe's. 

All of the photos below are from the Improv Sewing meeting last month: 












Also, you all are so willing to share your talents and efforts with others.  As a result of your generosity the ladies from St. Gabe's working on the auction you so generously contributed items for were blessed by your kindness.  Way to go CLTMQG!  This is a note from Dee:

My warmest and heartfelt thanks to all of you who lent your time, talents and projects to St. Gabriel’s Ladies Luncheon that will be held on October 19. To say that the chairladies were pleased is a huge understatement! As I suspected, they were so excited with the quilts that they decided to offer a “BUY NOW” option instead of using them for a raffle. Their decision was a good one as all proceeds from the luncheon will go to the Charlotte Food Bank.
 
Thank you all so much. Our meeting room at St. Gabe’s had definitely been secured by your hard work!
 
Dee Wittmack


We hope to see you Tuesday!  There will be a speaker at the meeting presenting on ways to ease back pain while sitting at our machines for extended periods of time.  

Also, bring you last SSS gift in a bag, as you have for the  previous months.  This is the last month!   

Thursday, September 10, 2015

September Meeting

At the September meeting we will be working together in small groups to pull together a quilt for the MQG QuiltCon Charity quilt.  
We have a theme for the quilt "Postcards from North Carolina"  
In order for our time at guild to be productive we will need you all to bring the following items: 


Fabric:  Solids or Prints, but they MUST be in the QuiltCon colors.  


Here is a link with all you need to know about the correct colors:  QuiltCon Charity Quilt info


Rotary cutters and mats

There will be six sewing machines at the meeting. Ironing boards and irons as well as thread and bobbins for machine sewing.  


If we all bring our supplies and come ready to dig in, we will finish the night with a pretty good beginning of our charity quilt. 


Don't forget to make and bring a name tag for the swap, an auction item for St. Gabe's and also your Secret Sewing Sister item if you have a SSS.  

Secret Sister Swap:  If you have something to bring, please write something about yourself and put it in the bag along with whatever you've made/bought.  Put the bags on the table when you come in.  Also, next month is the last month of the SSS Swap.  

One more important bit of information!  Officer Nominations will be made at the September meeting and voting for new officers takes place in October.  Please consider how you might help out in one of these roles:  President, Vice President, Swap Coordinator and Library officer.
See you soon!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

August Meeting Recap

We had a great crowd at the August meeting, it sure was great to see you all there!

We covered a lot of ground, I am going to try to get it all down so we remember what we need to be getting done!

First, let's start with a look at some of the great finishes you all shared with the group!  


Alright, here's the link with all of the information about printing on fabric from Vicki's presentation at the beginning of August:  Fabric Printing at Home

There will be no more quilt blocks for the charity quilt.  Instead we are using those orphan blocks to make placemats for the Friendship Tray program.  The instructions for the placemats are on the post before this one, so go back one post and you will find everything you need.

Our program for the August meeting was about Improv with Intent.  We participated in a webinar by Cheryl Arkison, which helped us understand a little more about the Improv process.  This will help us along as we work on the QuiltCon Charity Quilt, more on that in a minute.

There are some basic steps to remember as we use the Improv technique in our quilting:
1. Examine our inspiration
2. Pull fabric
3. Sketch
4. Cut fabric
5. Sew. Play.
6. Stop and Step back
7. Keep Sewing
8. Piece it together

At the September meeting we will be working together in small groups to pull together a quilt for the MQG QuiltCon Charity quilt.  We will be bringing our ideas, inspirations, fabric (in QuiltCon colors), and hand sewing supplies. You are free to work on your ideas/blocks/segments at home and bring what you have to the meeting as well.  We will be basting our pieces together and Xandi will take them home to piece.  Some of the inspirational ideas thrown about at the meeting were:  Mountains to Sea, State themed ideas; ie. state flower, bird etc; The Queen City and Charlotte Traffic.   Here is a link with details about the quilt as well as a list of the colors required, broken down by manufacturer:  QuiltCon Charity Quilt Info  Please note, that you can bring in solids or prints, but they must be the correct color!  Please also bring some mats and rotary cutters to the next meeting, so we can slash away! 

If you have a Secret Sewing Sister, please bring her goodies to the next meeting. 

Also, if you drew a name for the Nametag Swap, please make and bring the nametag to the September meeting!  

Last but by no means least, Auction Items for St. Gabe's are due at the September meeting.  Please bring something for them as a way to thank them for the FREE space the are so gracious to provide for us every month! 

Okay, I think that covers everything!  

Meetings: 6-8 pm at St. Gabriel's Church. 

September 29th
October 27th
No meeting in November
December 15th



Placemat Instructions for Friendship Trays

Here are the insturctions for the placemats:  If you are interested in turning your orphan blocks into something useful for some people in our community, follow the instructions below and bring them with you to the next meeting! 


Placemats and Napkins
These directions assume you are using a 12.5" square block for the center.  Ending size of placemat is 16.5" x 12.5" bound.  Napkin 17" x 17" hemmed.
Placemat:
Materials
16.5" x 12.5" batting & backing fabric; 12.5" block; 2.5" x 12.5" strips to match block (2); binding material 1.5" x 68"  (can be one continuous or spliced piece for mitered binding or (2) 12.5" and 18" sections for squared binding)
Steps:
1.  Sew 2 strips to 12.5" block using quarter inch seams.  Spray baste back to batting and then front to batting. 
2. Machine quilt.  (In the ditch, all-over lines or pattern...optional)  Do enough to make the sandwich secure. 
3.  Optional 1/8th " seam around edges to secure. 
4.  Fold the binding strip (s) in half and iron wrong sides together.  Sew the binding to the front....Bind according to the method desired.  If not used to doing continuous binding, follow this link:        Binding Your Project - YouTube
Then either hand stitch or machine stitch in the ditch on the front to secure the binding to the back.
Napkins:
Materials :  Cotton fabric to match placemat cut 18" x 18".
1.  Iron 1/2" around all sides, wrong sides touching.  (I use 1/4" fold because I want thinner edging.)
2.  Fold the napkin right sides together diagonally.  Mark sewing line for miter on all four corners.  The sewing line will be perpendicular to the fold line...crossing the edges of folded fabric.  Pin to secure.  (see YouTube reference.)
3.  Stitch and trim to 1/8".  Push out the mitered corner.
4.  Iron again, allowing the fold to match the mitered corner. 

5.  Top stitch on front, making sure to secure the corners.  

Saturday, August 22, 2015

August Meeting: Tuesday the 25th


Our next guild meeting will be this Tuesday the 25th!  We will meet at St. Gabes from 6-8pm and can't wait to see you all there! 

We will be enjoying a program called Improv with Intent. We will we have the opportunity to go home and play with the techniques we learn in order to make blocks for Quilt Con, in the MQG Quilt Con colors. This is a great opportunity to really play with modern techniques and participate in something with all of our MQG sisters (and brothers) around the country.  

Don't forget if you signed up to be a Secret Sewing Sister, please bring in your first bag this month.  Remember, you should not be spending tons of money or hours for this swap.  Just pack fun, thoughtful little treats to brighten your partner's day!  Remember to put a note with a few hints or facts about yourself in the bag each month so your Sister can have fun getting to know you and trying to guess who you are!   Partners will be revealed after the last bag is opened in October.  Make sure to give your bag to a friend to bring if you cannot make the meeting this month.  

After many requests, our swap next month will be name tags!  We will choose partners at our August meeting and the name tags will be sue in September.  If you want to be in the swap but can't make the August meeting, you can always ask a friend to put your name in the basket and draw out a partner's name for you.

I think that covers everything!  We hope to see you Tuesday! 





Sunday, August 16, 2015

BOM Link

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to put up the link to the BOM that will be due NEXT WEEK!  I'm so sorry, I should have put this up earlier in the month....but don't fret, there is still time to put one of these beautiful blocks together in time for the meeting!    Here is the link to the instructions: broken herringbone block   We will be meeting TUESDAY, the 25th from 6-8 as usual at St. Gabe's.  More information about the program and swaps will be posted soon!  So check back.


Monday, July 27, 2015

Coats and Clark Thread Evaluation: Deadline: July 29th

From time to time Coats and Clark conducts consumer tests of their threads. These evaluations can be quality related, a comparison to other products or evaluation of a proposed new product.  They will be conducting an evaluation this month and they are hoping to recruit participants through the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild.

Here is the information:
Thread Evaluation
Coats & Clark is looking for people who sew to participate in a comparison test of all-purpose threads. All materials will be supplied.  Participants should:
•             Own or have access to a sewing machine
•             Sew on a fairly regular basis
•             Be able to devote 1-2 hours to the test
•             Be able to complete in the next 3-4 weeks.
  
They usually send out a packet which contains the thread, fabric and needles plus instructions and an evaluation form. It also includes a postage paid envelope for returning the samples.  If Lynn has email addresses, she can follow up with details and get the shipping info. If anyone wants to contact her directly via email that is great!  Here is the email of Lynn Browne:  Lynn.Browne@coats.com
You will need to contact her by July 29th!   Get to it!  



Wednesday, July 15, 2015

June Meeting Recap!




First, let's send out a big THANK YOU to Lee Monroe for joining us at last month's meeting.  She was such a delight and shared so much of her amazing work with us, as well as great tips and insight on how to design and incorporate different color palettes into our quilt projects.  She is such an inspiration!  

Lee has started a new series on her website, called "color stories", it is a great resource to see how to use color in a way you may not have thought about before.  She will be in our are again in August teaching some classes! She will be at the Quilted Thimble Cottage on August 14th and also at We're Sew Creative on the 15th.  You can find more about the classes she is offering, here:  http://www.maychappell.com/learn/

Lee shared so many wonderful quilts with us at the meeting!  If you want to get a glimpse at them, head over to our Flickr account and you can view them there!   https://www.flickr.com/groups/cltmqg/pool/   If you took some pictures during the last meeting it would be great if you could share them on Instagram!  Use the hashtag  #cltmqg and we will all get to see them if we are following the CLTMQG account.  



The Block of the Month for the August 4th meeting is below.  

There isn't a tutorial online for this one, here are the steps:
- Cut 36   2.5" squares of all the same shade - in my example it's all in the pink family
- Each block will have 6 squares in each row, and 6 rows total making it 6 x 6  2.5" blocks
- Arrange colors randomly, I sewed them 2 at a time and then began adding them together to make the rows... no planning on the layout




We did not follow through with the fabric swap during the last meeting, so we are just going to plan to do it again at the August 4th meeting!   Bring a fat quarter or two and swap with the other ladies who are participating! 

Please remember that our meeting day has changed, just for the July meeting.  The church needed the room that evening, however they can accommodate our group on Tuesday, August 4th instead!  We voted at the last meeting to cancel or take the new date for our July meeting, and since you all love the Cltmqg so much, you voted to meet on the 4th!   Same time: 6-8; same place:  St. Gabriel's, Room D.  See you there!   You are not going to want to miss out, Vicki Chase will be doing a program Fabric Postcards and Printing on Fabric From Home!


Sunday, June 28, 2015

You Really Don't Want to Miss this!!!!

Hi Everyone!  I want to remind you that the very talented and incredibly sweet Lee Monroe will be speaking at our June meeting.  This is a very special opportunity to get to know Lee, learn from her and see some of her amazing work in person.  Please plan to attend!  Information about the meeting and a short bio of Lee can be found below.


June’s program is going to be so exciting!  We’ve booked Lee Chappell Monroe to come visit our guild and speak.  Lee will be speaking about her quilting path, showing a “ton” of quilts, and talking about the patterns she’s designed. 

Here’s a bit more about Lee, straight from her blog www.maychappell.com.

"Lee has been creating since she first discovered crayons at age 2! She’s from a family of quilters and learned everything from her mother, affectionately known as The Guru. She loves all things fabric—from zippy pouch to queen size quilt—and everything in between. With a love of color and bold graphic shapes, Lee enjoys designing patterns and teaching all types of classes, while sharing her adventures on her blog, www.maychappell.com. She is a trained graphic designer which shows in her clean aesthetic. She was runner up in the Accuquilt Barn Quilt Design Competition and her work has appeared in multiple publications, including Stitch and Quiltmaker. She is Vice President of the Triad Modern Quilt Guild. Lee lives in beautiful North Carolina with Mack the Chihuahua."

Please visit Lee’s blog to check out more of her work – and a great series of tips every Tuesday.

We are so happy to welcome Lee to Charlotte, and would love for members and guests to join us on June 30th at 6 pm, at St. Gabe’s.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Did you know.....Lee Monroe is coming to CLTMQG in June? Don't Miss Out!

June’s program is going to be so exciting!  We’ve booked Lee Chappell Monroe to come visit our guild and speak.  Lee will be speaking about her quilting path, showing a “ton” of quilts, and talking about the patterns she’s designed. 

Here’s a bit more about Lee, straight from her blog www.maychappell.com.

"Lee has been creating since she first discovered crayons at age 2! She’s from a family of quilters and learned everything from her mother, affectionately known as The Guru. She loves all things fabric—from zippy pouch to queen size quilt—and everything in between. With a love of color and bold graphic shapes, Lee enjoys designing patterns and teaching all types of classes, while sharing her adventures on her blog, www.maychappell.com. She is a trained graphic designer which shows in her clean aesthetic. She was runner up in the Accuquilt Barn Quilt Design Competition and her work has appeared in multiple publications, including Stitch and Quiltmaker. She is Vice President of the Triad Modern Quilt Guild. Lee lives in beautiful North Carolina with Mack the Chihuahua."

Please visit Lee’s blog to check out more of her work – and a great series of tips every Tuesday.

We are so happy to welcome Lee to Charlotte, and would love for members and guests to join us on June 30th at 6 pm, at St. Gabe’s.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Meeting Reminder

Hello Ladies! Just a quick reminder that next week's meeting is with Make Welcome.  Please bring a traditionally southern dish, thread (3 spools) and any fabric you might like to donate.  Also please pack up your sew and share bags with anything you would like to share with our new friends.  We want to encourage these ladies by showing them our first/last projects and with a variety of things that we make.

The guild is providing plates, napkins and utensils.  I am bringing the cups and drinks (Sundrop and Cheerwine, both born in the Carolinas, as well as Sweet Tea and water).  

Please plan on sharing your self and your sewing with these ladies.  I can't wait to see what you all bring!


Also:  Please remember to vote for the bylaws, in person or by email by midnight the night before our meeting on Tuesday. Our email address is cltmqg@gmail.com 


We will meet Tuesday, May 26th from 6-8 pm at Saint Gabriel's Catholic Church. We will be in Room D of the Ministry Center.  See you there! 

Monday, May 4, 2015

April Meeting Re-Cap


It was great to see everyone at the meeting in April!  We had a great turnout and several new faces joined in the fun.  It is great to see familiar members and to welcome new friends to the guild.  

Thank you Liz for the great presentation on Surface Design.  We learned a great deal and the presentation was helpful and informative. 

We also want to thank Liz again for wading through all of the details involved in becoming members of the National Guild and how to be determined as a non-profit group.  Thank you for all of your hard work! 


Here is a look at some of the great work that you all brought in to share! 



It is always inspiring to see what you all have been up to!



The BOM for next month is pictured below.   Here is a link to follow for the instructions on how to piece it together! http://weallsew.com/2015/04/10/scrap-plus-quilt-along-week-1/



Now, let's get to some of the details for the May meeting! 

Don't forget, in May we will be hosting the ladies from Make Welcome!  This is a refugee craft collective that Beth Pinckney, one of our Guild members, helped found.  

We will be sharing a meal with the ladies who come to visit, so please bring a dish to share!  We will be keeping to a "Southern Foods" theme, so please plan accordingly.  For example, I will be bringing some Banana Pudding; some other ideas are; biscuits, fried chicken, greens, coleslaw, watermelon, bbq, cornbread, peach cobbler, sweet tea etc.  You get the idea.  Please bring enough to share with the group.  

We will each be bringing three spools of thread to give to each lady.  If you have any fabric in your stash that you would like to donate, please consider doing so!  The ladies only make items from donated fabric, so it would be great to be able to add to their stash!

Also, please, please bring several items to the Sew and Share portion of the meeting.  We want to share with the ladies, items that we have made and the progress we have made during our time sewing.  Even, something that you made early on and something you completed more recently.    

Lastly, don't forget to bring your Secret Sewing Sister her last goodie bag!  This is the last month and when you will reveal to you SSS who you are!  

Alright, really, the LAST thing to remember:  If you aren't going to be at the meeting in May please remember to VOTE on the amendments to the By-Laws by midnight the Monday (25th) before the meeting! You can email your vote to cltmqg@gmail.com 

The next meeting is Tuesday, May 26th, from 6-8 pm in room D of the Ministry Building at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church, at the corner of Providence and Sharon Rd.  See you there! 



Monday, April 27, 2015

Meeting Tuesday April 28th!

Just a quick reminder that we are meeting this Tuesday, April 28th at St. Gabriel's Church.  We will be meeting from 6-8 pm in Room D of the Ministry Center located on the St. Gabe's campus. There is a link below to the map of the campus.  


http://stgabrielchurch.accessdomain28203.org.s205844.gridserver.com/wp-content/uploads/Campus-Map.pdf

Don't forget to bring your items for the Secret Sewing Sister swap, if you signed up for that back in January!  Also, bring your completed blocks of the month for the charity quilt and your needle books to swap if you decided to participate!

See you tomorrow!

Friday, April 3, 2015

March Meeting Re-cap

Hi Everyone!

It was great to see everyone at the meeting!  We had a great turn out and our new space was wonderful!  Thanks Dee for arranging our new meeting space for us.  St. Gabe's has a large campus and now that we know, the name of our building is the Ministry Center.  We will be meeting in room D, unless otherwise noted.

Below you will find links to all of the wonderful things we talked about at our meeting.

The proposed by-laws, the needlebook instructions/options, the Block-of-the-month instructions and also a few links to introduce you to the Make Welcome Refugee Ministry and their craft store, A Journey Home.  The ladies from Make Welcome will be visiting with us in May and more details will follow as we get closer to May



Link to Proposed Guild By-Laws:  Please read over the by-laws as we will vote to approve the changes at the May meeting.  More details will follow on how to vote if you will be absent.   Also, you can find the By-Laws under the new tab at the top of the blog that reads:  Proposed CLTMQG By-Laws 2015


Our swap for the April meeting will be a needlebook.  Here is the list of websites to help inspire you: 







http://generationqmagazine.com/everyday-handmade-needle-book-pattern-and-a-challenge/


This is the BOM that Jenn and Vicki shared with us at the meeting.  The instructions are found through the link below.




Link to Block of the Month instructions:




We had a wonderful assortment of items for Sew - n - Share.  I tried to capture a picture of all of them, I hope they are all represented below!  






You can find information about Make Welcome and their craft shop, Journey Home Crafts through the links below:

https://www.facebook.com/MakeWelcomeRefugeeArts

https://www.etsy.com/listing/228252848/soda-fired-mug-batik-patchwork-cozy-and?ref=shop_home_active_2

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, April 28th at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Charlotte.  Also, don't foreget to bring your Secret Sewing Sister goodies if you are signed up to participate.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Meeting TUESDAY March 31st

Just a reminder that the meeting is this Tuesday, the 31st! 

Please remember to bring the following with you:

If you are participating in the swap; please bring a used book(s) to swap 

Bring you Secret Sewing Sister gift if you signed up at the January meeting

Also, bring along your charity blocks (sailboats) if you have made any, and don't forget to bring your latest items for Sew and Share time! 

We will be hearing presentations about working with interfacing and also on accessing the benefits of the MQG

We are looking forward to seeing you all at St. Gabe's!  We will be meeting from 6-8 pm

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Update on Next Meeting

Hi Everyone!

Just to clarify, we will be meeting on the last Tuesday of March which is the 31st.  I'm sorry for the confusion.

We also decided to push back the Secret Sewing Sister Swap, so just bring your goodies for the swap to the March meeting and we will treat this as the first of the three months.  

Same goes for the block of the month.  Just bring your sail boats with you if you decided to piece any together!

We are looking forward to seeing you all at the end of the month!


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Tonight's Meeting is Canceled

Please take Note:

The Meeting of the CLT MQG for tonight, Tuesday, February 24th has been canceled.
Due to the possibility of dangerous road conditions because of the inclement weather, we will not be meeting.

Please stay safe and warm.  We will see you next month!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Meeting this TUESDAY and Survey Results!

At the January CLT MQG meeting, we surveyed members about their quilting goals for 2015. You all THOUGHT that you were just filling out a form for the Secret Sewing Sister Swap, but Xandi and Kelleigh were being sneaky! We hope to use the answers to plan future programs, plus it's just a fun way for us to all get to know each other more.

By far the most popular answer was "Finish my WIPs" (Works in Progress). Another frequent reply was "Sew my Stash". And the rest:

- Learn to FMQ (Free Motion Quilt)
- Get better at FMQing
- Get better at straight line quilting
- Everything - I'm a brand new quilter
- Piecing shortcuts
- Organize my sewing room
- Quick gifts/projects
- EPP (English Paper Piecing)
- Using a serger
- Learn hand sewing/embroidery
- Wall hanging/mini quilt
- Amy Butler bags
- Double wedding ring quilt
- Cathedral window quilt


Also, please don't forget that we are meeting this TUESDAY!!  We will meeting at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church on Tuesday, February 24th from 6-8pm.

Remember to bring a quilt/sewing book to swap!  

We look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday.  


Saturday, January 31, 2015

January Meeting Wrap Up


First let's just say, it was great to see everyone again!  What a nice way to start the New Year.  Thank you to Jenn and her employer, Trane, for allowing us to borrow their wonderful conference room.  It was a great space and we enjoyed having our meeting there!  Thank you so much.  

Now, speaking of great space, we have a new meeting space for the foreseeable future.  We will be meeting at Saint Gabriel's Church at the corner of Providence and Sharon Rd.  The address is: 3016 Providence Rd. Charlotte, NC 28211.  We will be meeting in Room D on TUESDAY, February 24th from 6-8 pm.  Please note the change in the day of the week....we will now be meeting on the last TUESDAY of each month instead of Thursday.  We worked very hard at trying to find a place that would accommodate us on our usual evening, but we were unable to do so  without a substantial fee.  As our guild is fairly young, a free space is really what we need.  Thank you to Dee for securing a place for us a St. Gabe's.  We will be working on some projects for them in the future, making some items for the church to auction off at a future event.  

One last bit of business before we can jump into the fun stuff.  We are now officially members of the Modern Quilt Guild.  Some of you, those who are members in good standing, have received an email from the Modern Quilt Guild inviting you to join.  At the meeting we played a video tutorial from the MQG that walked you through the process of setting up your profile on their site.  If you weren't there and are not sure where to start, please watch the video at the following link:   MQG Database Signup

Now onto Swaps!  Fun times!

Next month is an easy one, I think we all can participate in this one.  
  • We will be having a book swap in February.  Just bring one of your quilt books and you can swap it with one that someone else has brought.  If you bring two, swap for two and so on! I actually have some duplicates in my collection, so I will definitely be bringing some books to swap! 
  • In March we will be making a needle book. Check back in February for some links to make a needle book for the March swap.
  • In April we will have a fabric swap.   


Next, The BOM for February will be these cute little sailboats below!  Aren't they the cutest? Thank you Jenn and Vicki for putting them together for us to see.  Here is a link for you to check out how to piece these sweet blocks.  http://www.quiltmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Final-Nautical.pdf



If you are wondering what happens to the Blocks you make for the BOM, this little quilt below will serve as an example.  This quilt was put together from blocks donated for a BOM.  The top was finished and quilted by Jenn and Vicki at the Quilted Thimble Cottage (thank you) and was donated to charity.  A charity was drawn from those nominated by members using the charity nomination form that you can pick up at any guild meeting,  This quilt will be donated to A Child's Place.  This is an organization in Meck County that serves homeless children in our area.  Please check out their website for more information about this amazing organization and how you can help them achieve their goals.  Thank you to all of you who pieced blocks and gave your time to make this donation possible.


Vicki and Jenn presented a program about baby items that we can easily make for gifts.  The first project was presented by Vicki and was how to make self-binding baby blankets.  (There is a picture of the amazing pile of blankets she has completed in the collage below)  These little blankets make great gifts and don't take the time and effort a full blown baby quilt takes.  Here are some links you can go to find some examples and instructions:  Missouri Star Quilt Co. Video,  Mamaging Blog Tutorial   and Sew Much Ado Blog Tutorial  Vicki also made a great diaper clutch.  I will make sure to bring copies of her great and detailed handouts to the next meeting so you can grab one, or you can email me and I will send you a PDF copy of the handouts.  

Jenn showed us how to make burp cloths.  She has made many in her day and says that the chenille used in this tutorial is the most absorbent of all the varieties she has tried.  So, here's the link:  Dana Made It, Burp Cloths

Since we were on the topic of great baby gifts, Bianca pointed us toward a great tutorial for a hooded baby towel.    She has made this several times as a quick, go-to baby shower gift and it looks easy and adorable!

Now to Sew and Tell!  As usual, there were some beautiful projects shared with the group!





There are a few last things to take note of.

First, y'all are just going to need Margaret's email.  She has so much going on, and if you are wanting to participate, you are going to need to get in touch with her.


  • On the first Friday of each month, starting at 10 am there will be an open sew time at Quilt Patch Fabric in Stallings.  If you are interested in attending, please get in touch with Margaret.  The cost is $2/person, but is waived if you spend $15 in the store while you are there. 
  • Threads of Love is an organization that collects little bitty blankies for babies in the NICU. They are typically made of  2 fat quarters, cotton or flannel and can be given to Margaret at a guild meeting and she will get them to the lady in charge of the donations.  There are specific instructions to NOT wash any of the fabric.  If you are interested in donating, please talk to Margaret. 
  • Also, Margaret is going to be teaching two classes at a Quilted Thimble Cottage in the near future.  One is the Mondo bag that is pictured in the left hand corner in the collage above.  The other is the citrus colored quilt in the collage above that (bottom row, middle).  If you are interested in either class....guess what?  Please get in touch with Margaret!  
Here is her email:  puttchen10@yahoo.com


Whew.....that was a lot of information for one post.  If you have any questions, please email us and let us know!  We will be happy to help.  

See you next month at St. Gabe's.  On TUESDAY, February 24th!