Tomorrow night is the July meeting and we are meeting in a new location. We will be at the Bernina Dallas store at 635 & Midway. The meeting starts at 7:00 and we will have hexagon demonstrations! If you haven't given these little beauties a try, I'll warn you....they are addicting! You will see a couple of different methods for doing "hexies".
We are very excited to be meeting at Bernina and want to issue a big Thank You to them for opening their store for us. I was in the store yesterday and they are very excited to have us. Everyone, bring your show and tell and come ready to have some fun!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friendship Groups
Hey ya'll! The guild is growing like wildfire and we are spread out all over the metroplex. We are trying to put together some Friendship Groups in order to make it a little easier to connect with people a little closer to home and also as a way to "connect" with each other. The way it works is this: send an email to membership@dallasmodernquiltguild.org and mention that you'd like to join a Friendship Group. State what city you live in (or near), a way to contact you (email, phone, smoke signals, etc) and whether or not daytime or evening get togethers work best for you. We will "assemble" everyone interested into local groups. The group can then pick a time and place and begin to meet up for little "stitch-ins". When I have belonged to these in the past, we usually met once or twice a month at someones house and talked, sewed, ate, whatever. It is just a fun way to spread out the fun between guild meetings and to make new friends who like to spend time doing what we all love to do! The board members will be happy to help get these groups going in whatever way we can. So, just shoot an email to the above address and we'll get you hooked up with a new group of quilty buddies!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
June Meeting
I hope everyone is planning on coming to the June Meeting of the DMQG. It's next Monday, June 14th at 7:00. It will be held in our usual meeting place at City Craft. We have a special treat in store for us.....Callie is going to share some of the great stuff she saw at Quilt Market in Minneapolis. From what I hear, there are some amazing new fabric lines coming out in the next couple of months...Yeah! I am quite excited to see and hear what she has to say. See you there! Bring a friend!!!!
I am just amazed at the great new friendships I have developed in the few short months we have been meeting. I also hope you will all consider joining us at the next Saturday Sew on June 26th. We have so much fun and it is where I have truly begun to develop the new friendships. It makes me really happy to think that in November we have a full 4 day quilt retreat planned for the guild. Talk about time to develop new friendships! (and maybe get a few UFO's done!) Put it on your calendar and plan to join the fun.
I am just amazed at the great new friendships I have developed in the few short months we have been meeting. I also hope you will all consider joining us at the next Saturday Sew on June 26th. We have so much fun and it is where I have truly begun to develop the new friendships. It makes me really happy to think that in November we have a full 4 day quilt retreat planned for the guild. Talk about time to develop new friendships! (and maybe get a few UFO's done!) Put it on your calendar and plan to join the fun.
Monday, May 10, 2010
An Inside Peek
at a Dallas Modern Quilt Guild Meeting.
As always, a big thank you to Callie for letting us use the City Craft space for our meeting. You can see we cover alot of ground in our meetings & would love to have you join us tonight.
Our next guild meeting is tonight Monday, May 10 from 7pm to 9pm at City Craft in Dallas. We would love to have you join us!
Are you curious as to what we do at a meeting? Well, here's a peek!
Are you curious as to what we do at a meeting? Well, here's a peek!
Last month's meeting was the second meeting of the guild & we were excited to see both some familiar faces and new ones.
The officer's were introduced and are as follows:
Lisa Calle, President
Amanda Wray, Vice president
Michelle Kitto, Treasurer
Monica McNeill, Historian
Jenny Garland, Weekend Sew Coordinator
Gina Weems, Weekend Sew Coordinator
Ellen Lamb, Secretary
It was announced that the officers are planning a retreat for members in November. For more information please visit the topic, DMQG Annual Quilt Retreat - Save the Date, on the Ning Site. You are able to access the site by clicking on the main tab at the top of this blog.
We are also working on obtaining 501(c)status which means that we will be recognized as a tax exempt, non-profit organization. This will allow us to raise donations for charitable causes.
Even though we do not have our 501(c) status yet, we are still looking for ways to give back to the community. We will be collecting 8" blocks for various charity projects at both guild meetings & Saturday sews. If you have any fabric that you would like to donate for use in these charity blocks, please donate at either the guild meetings or Saturday sews. Please share all suggestions for charities with Jenny Garland.
As a guild we have held two fun weekend sews so far. We are using a great space that is an office building conference room in Irving. We have ironing, cutting & an education station set up. The next Saturday Sew is on May 29th, for more details please see the topic, May Saturday Sew, on the Ning Site.
We are also in process of building a guild library. This will be a compilation of books and magazines donated by members for others to check out and use at their leisure. If you have donations, please bring them to Saturday sew or the monthly meeting.
We discussed a contest for a design for our guild name tags. We would love for members to submit designs for the guild to vote on. We will have a door prize for the winning design.
If you haven't filled out a membership form please do so at tonight's meeting or the Saturday Sew. The dues are set at $20. We will also have the form posted on the Ning site shortly.
We are so excited that the Ning group has grown to 136 members! This shows what an interest there is in the DFW metroplex for Modern Quilting.
Going forward, the Ning group will be one of the benefits of membership of the guild. We plan to make this a vibrant resource for sharing of projects, tutorials & tips. We would also like to have the group be a learning resource drawing upon the wealth of knowledge & experience that resides within the group.
If you are unsure about Modern Quilting we will be using this blog as a place to share more about this new movement, the Ning group & the activities of the guild. If you have any suggestions as to what you would find valuable both on the Ning site & the blog please reach out to Monica McNeill.
We ended our meeting with two door prizes & show and tell. Thank you to Jenny Garland & Lara Kay of Happiness is . . . Quilting for their donations.
Here are some shots of our show & tell.
The officer's were introduced and are as follows:
Lisa Calle, President
Amanda Wray, Vice president
Michelle Kitto, Treasurer
Monica McNeill, Historian
Jenny Garland, Weekend Sew Coordinator
Gina Weems, Weekend Sew Coordinator
Ellen Lamb, Secretary
It was announced that the officers are planning a retreat for members in November. For more information please visit the topic, DMQG Annual Quilt Retreat - Save the Date, on the Ning Site. You are able to access the site by clicking on the main tab at the top of this blog.
We are also working on obtaining 501(c)status which means that we will be recognized as a tax exempt, non-profit organization. This will allow us to raise donations for charitable causes.
Even though we do not have our 501(c) status yet, we are still looking for ways to give back to the community. We will be collecting 8" blocks for various charity projects at both guild meetings & Saturday sews. If you have any fabric that you would like to donate for use in these charity blocks, please donate at either the guild meetings or Saturday sews. Please share all suggestions for charities with Jenny Garland.
As a guild we have held two fun weekend sews so far. We are using a great space that is an office building conference room in Irving. We have ironing, cutting & an education station set up. The next Saturday Sew is on May 29th, for more details please see the topic, May Saturday Sew, on the Ning Site.
We are also in process of building a guild library. This will be a compilation of books and magazines donated by members for others to check out and use at their leisure. If you have donations, please bring them to Saturday sew or the monthly meeting.
We discussed a contest for a design for our guild name tags. We would love for members to submit designs for the guild to vote on. We will have a door prize for the winning design.
If you haven't filled out a membership form please do so at tonight's meeting or the Saturday Sew. The dues are set at $20. We will also have the form posted on the Ning site shortly.
We are so excited that the Ning group has grown to 136 members! This shows what an interest there is in the DFW metroplex for Modern Quilting.
Going forward, the Ning group will be one of the benefits of membership of the guild. We plan to make this a vibrant resource for sharing of projects, tutorials & tips. We would also like to have the group be a learning resource drawing upon the wealth of knowledge & experience that resides within the group.
If you are unsure about Modern Quilting we will be using this blog as a place to share more about this new movement, the Ning group & the activities of the guild. If you have any suggestions as to what you would find valuable both on the Ning site & the blog please reach out to Monica McNeill.
We ended our meeting with two door prizes & show and tell. Thank you to Jenny Garland & Lara Kay of Happiness is . . . Quilting for their donations.
Here are some shots of our show & tell.
As always, a big thank you to Callie for letting us use the City Craft space for our meeting. You can see we cover alot of ground in our meetings & would love to have you join us tonight.
Monica
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Bee Season
It's bee season!
Quilting bees are a fun way to learn new techniques. Many of you have probably participated in online quilting bees, and now you will have a chance to do one with people you actually know! We are going to try a couple of different bee types this year. Sign ups will occur throughout May (at our Monthly Meeting and Saturday Sew). The first round of Bees will kick off in June. Depending on the interest level, we may start a second round in July (with sign ups at the June meetings, dates TBA)
If you would like to participate, please carefully review the rules and evaluate the time commitment required.
Monthly Block Swap
Participants: Anyone who attends monthly meetings or Saturday Sew.
Rules: Make 2 blocks in the style and/or color scheme chosen for the month and bring one to the meeting. Swap with other participants.
Commitment: All you have to do is make 2 blocks! This will be an ongoing swap and participants can join or opt out at any time.
x2 Bee
Participants: 6 quilters over 6 months
Rules: Each quilter provides fabric and instructions to make blocks of her choice. All quilters exchange fabric during month 1 and have 6 months to complete 2 blocks for each member (plus 2 blocks for you). One bee member will act as facilitator (Bee Keeper). At the end of the bee, each member will have 12 completed blocks, which she can sew together to make a completed quilt top.
Commitment: You will provide fabric for 10 blocks and you will need to make 10 total blocks (plus the two you'll make for yourself) for the other members over a 6-month period.
Round Robin
Participants: 6 maximum, lasts as many months as we have members, i.e. 6 members = 6 months
Rules: Each quilter makes her own center block during month 1. During months 2 to 6, the center blocks rotate among the bee members who will add borders to the center block. One bee member will act as facilitator (Bee Keeper). At the end of the Round Robin, each member will have a completed quilt top.
Commitment: Fabric to be provided or members can use fabric from their stash. You will need to complete your border on time each month so that you don't slow down the pace of the bee for the other members.
If you are a new quilter or new to bees, don't be afraid to join! It's going to be a lot of fun.
Quilting bees are a fun way to learn new techniques. Many of you have probably participated in online quilting bees, and now you will have a chance to do one with people you actually know! We are going to try a couple of different bee types this year. Sign ups will occur throughout May (at our Monthly Meeting and Saturday Sew). The first round of Bees will kick off in June. Depending on the interest level, we may start a second round in July (with sign ups at the June meetings, dates TBA)
If you would like to participate, please carefully review the rules and evaluate the time commitment required.
Monthly Block Swap
Participants: Anyone who attends monthly meetings or Saturday Sew.
Rules: Make 2 blocks in the style and/or color scheme chosen for the month and bring one to the meeting. Swap with other participants.
Commitment: All you have to do is make 2 blocks! This will be an ongoing swap and participants can join or opt out at any time.
x2 Bee
Participants: 6 quilters over 6 months
Rules: Each quilter provides fabric and instructions to make blocks of her choice. All quilters exchange fabric during month 1 and have 6 months to complete 2 blocks for each member (plus 2 blocks for you). One bee member will act as facilitator (Bee Keeper). At the end of the bee, each member will have 12 completed blocks, which she can sew together to make a completed quilt top.
Commitment: You will provide fabric for 10 blocks and you will need to make 10 total blocks (plus the two you'll make for yourself) for the other members over a 6-month period.
Round Robin
Participants: 6 maximum, lasts as many months as we have members, i.e. 6 members = 6 months
Rules: Each quilter makes her own center block during month 1. During months 2 to 6, the center blocks rotate among the bee members who will add borders to the center block. One bee member will act as facilitator (Bee Keeper). At the end of the Round Robin, each member will have a completed quilt top.
Commitment: Fabric to be provided or members can use fabric from their stash. You will need to complete your border on time each month so that you don't slow down the pace of the bee for the other members.
If you are a new quilter or new to bees, don't be afraid to join! It's going to be a lot of fun.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Personal Ironing Stand
Hey guys! With our second Saturday Sew coming up this weekend, I thought I would show you a quick tutorial on making a personal ironing stand! I've seen this around on the web several places, but I cannot remember exactly where (if you know, please let me know in the comments). I also saw it done during a demonstration at the Garland Quilt Guild. I think it's really quick and easy, and should help cut down on the lines at the ironing board on Saturday!
First, you need this little fella.
I got this TV tray for $9 at Target.
You will also need some extra batting, fabric, scissors and a staple gun. I used leftover batting and some cheap muslin laying around in my stash. You can use any type of fabric you want, just make sure you have a large enough piece to cover the top of the TV tray plus a few inches extra. If you are using a colored fabric, I would recommend washing it first, especially if it is dark. I'm not sure if this helps, but better safe than sorry!
I laid out my muslin (doubled because it is cheap and thin) and then laid my batting on top of it. I doubled it because I don't have high loft batting, so it was pretty thin as well. Then I placed my tray upside-down on top of the batting, making sure there were a few inches showing on each side.
Then trim your fabric/batting to the desired length!
I obviously had to trim mine so it stopped short of the pieces of wood sticking out of the bottom. I then started to staple!
Woo hoo! I love to staple things!
I used at least 3 staples on each side.
Once you have the first side stapled, I recommend stapling the opposite side next, instead of the next one. This helps keep things nice and straight. You will want to pull the second side as tight as possible while stapling.
Then do the third and fourth sides. The corners required additional staples, but I just folded them over and stapled them down. Those staple guns are pretty handy!
Flip it over, and there you have it! A 5 minute project for under $10 . . . who could resist!
I'll bring mine for Saturday Sew this weekend, in case you have any questions.
Also, this is my first tutorial, so any comments you have would be greatly appreciated!
See ya!
Ellen
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A Call for Chairs
Good morning everyone! I have a small request from City Craft.....if you have a spare folding chair lying around, can you throw it in your car and bring it to the meeting tonight. She is busy moving things around in the shop to make room for us, but as we saw last meeting, we may need a few additional chairs. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Michelle
Michelle
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