July 2017 Meeting Reminder

Our July meeting will take place on Tuesday the 18th!

QuiltCon 2018: We’ll be discussing the QuiltCon 2018 charity quilt during the meeting. It’s not too late to submit a design or idea—submit a sketch or mood board to Carolanne (carolannel.donovan [at] gmail [dot] com) today. Each person who does so will have some time at the meeting to share her vision for the project. Additional information can be found here.

Shop Hop: Our shop hop event is quickly approaching. Sign up to participate at the meeting, and we’ll team you up with other guild members for fabric-shopping fun on September 10.

WIPs: Don’t forget to bring your WIPs to show and tell to be entered to win a fabric store gift card!

Fall 2017 Retreat: Registration for the fall retreat on Cape Cod is open and filling up. Register today!

Giveaways and Raffles: Our giveaway item will be a Domestic Diva apron pattern and pack of ready-wound bobbins.

We will also have two raffles ...

* Raffle #1: Three half-yards of Bluebird by Cotton and Steel

* Raffle #2: The Improve Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously by Sherri Lynn Wood

We'll see you Tuesday at the First Baptist Church!

Our 2018 QuiltCon Quilt

In May we decided to participate in the QuiltCon 2018 challenge and parameters were discussed in June! We'll be strategizing and discussing the QuiltCon charity quilt for 2018 during part of our July meeting time. 

Anyone with a design idea can submit a sketch or a mood board by 7/14/17 to Carolanne and the entire guild will vote at the July meeting on the ideas. Each person with a design idea will have some time at the meeting to share their ideas.

Your sketch/idea/mood board should include ideas on how the quilt will come together. For example, "This quilt will include 6 inch blocks so it will be easy for members to take home a packet", or "This design works well with people of varying skill levels".

Once the design is chosen Carolanne will obtain the main fabric and distribute to those interested in participating in August. The team will meet monthly before the general meeting and provide an update to all members on progress. All members will be invited to join the meetings and any sew in's that take place.


The goal will be to have the quilt top ready by the November meeting to share at show and tell and have it sent home with a member to quilt. The quilt will need to be finished by January 1, 2018 so it can be bound and mailed!

The challenge parameters as outlined by the Modern Quilt Guild are as follows:

QuiltCon 2018 Charity Quilt Challenge: Theme: Modern Traditionalism

The 2018 design theme is modern traditionalism. As modern quilters, we always want to recognize and honor the rich creativity found in traditional quilts. The challenge requires participating local guilds and IMTs to work collaboratively with their groups to create completed quilts by reinterpreting one or more traditional blocks or quilt designs using a predetermined color palette.

In this challenge, your team will dive into quilting tradition and springboard into your own modern interpretation. Here are some general guidelines to help your team get started—and feel free to explore and interpret in your own unique ways!

What is Modern Traditionalism?

Modern traditional quilts can be made by:

• Updating a traditional block with modern quilting elements such as (but not limited to):

• Playing with scale

• Using negative space

• Modern color palettes

• Updating a traditional quilt layout with modern quilting design elements such as:

• Alternate gridwork

• Use of negative space

• Improvisation

• Using updated quilting motifs instead of using traditional designs such as feathers

Color Palette

The color palette is shown here. No, you don’t need to use all the colors in this palette—your team can be selective if you prefer and limit your palette to just a few of the colors shown. 

Retreat with the NHMQG on Cape Cod

This October, we're returning to the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis, Cape Cod, for our fall retreat! This inn is ocean front, and our sewing room looks out over the water! Check it out!

This retreat will take place October 5-8, 2017, and you can stay for two or three nights. Costs include hot breakfast and use of all the facilities. The sewing room will have ironing boards and irons, and each sewist will have her own table.

On Saturday, October 7, we will be welcoming award-winning quilter, fabric designer, and author Melissa Averinos for a trunk show at the Lighthouse Inn. Melissa is well known for her improvisational faces, and her quilt My Brother's Jeans (pictured below) won Best in Show at QuiltCon 2016. You can learn more about Melissa on her website and see more of her work on Instagram.

Pricing

3-night single: $435
2-night single: $325

3-night double: $230
2-night double: $175

The fall retreat is a members-only event. (For information about membership, click here.) Registration is currently open on our events page and is limited to the first 28 sewists who sign up. Payment is due in full. If you sign up and later learn you cannot attend the event, you are required to find your own replacement.

If you have any questions about the retreat, contact Patty at pamagaw (at) comcast (dot) net. If you have questions about PayPal, contact Michelle at michelle.l.cain (at) gmail (dot) com.

June 2017 Meeting Reminder

Our June meeting will take place on Tuesday the 20th!

June is going to be a busy month!

Pixie Baskets: It's time to swap our Pixie Baskets!! If you haven't started yet you can find the directions here. If you won't have a chance to finish just let your partner know and decide on an alternative time to swap.

WIPs: You can still signup for our WIP contest at the June meeting. Please see Nancy Tatro.

QuiltCon 2018 Challenge: Carolanne will be sharing the parameters for the 2018 QuiltCon challenge quilt and we'll be discussing how to best work as a group to design this project.

Crazy For Hexagons! Programming this month will be all about Hexagons. We'll have three different stations setup to show different ways to create these 6 sided quilting staples.

Fall 2017 Retreat: Registration for the fall retreat on Cape Cod will open online at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 25th. More details will be shared at the meeting on Tuesday and posted online next week.

Giveaways & Raffles: Our giveaway item will be Dritz Needle Tip Tweezers.We will also have two raffles!

* Raffle #1: Three half-yards of Sleep Tight by Sarah Watts for Cotton and Steel.
* Raffle #2: A Quilter's Mixology: 16 Projects Using the Drunkard's Path Block by Angela Pingel.

We'll see you Tuesday at the First Baptist Church!

May 2017 Meeting Reminder

Our May meeting is taking place earlier than normal on May 9th at 7pm.

Programs: Our very own Lisa, of Garden Gate Quilting, will be sharing a trunk show with us!

WIP Challenge 2017: Members loved last year's WIP contest so much that we'll be hosting it again! You may enter three works in progress into the contest and you'll need to fill out the slip at the May or June meeting to be entered to win. The winner will be chosen in August. The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate. 

Giveaways & Raffles: Our giveaway item will be these handy directional pins.

* Raffle #1: Three half yards of Cotton + Steel Homebody by Kimberly Knight.

* Raffle #2: This raffle will be a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop. If you are the winner you will need to provide your email address to Beth and it will be delivered electronically. 

Sewing Bee: Ellen needs a head count for the May 21st Sewing Bee at Peabody Mill. If you are a regular attendee and can't attend please let Ellen know on Tuesday. If you would like to attend also please let Ellen know or email our main email address nhmodernquilt@gmail.com

Charity Quilts: If you took a packet to make a flower block for our charity quilt, please bring it back for this meeting. Michelle will be hosting a mini sew-in during this months' bee to get the quilt top together! 


The QuiltCon 2018 charity challenge has been announced! If you would like to participate please contact a board member.

                                 We'll see you Tuesday at the First Baptist Church!

PS: If you're ever unsure of a meeting or event day, check the events page of our website.

PPS: If you're not a member and are thinking about joining us we wanted to let you know that guests may attend their first meeting for free! Please pay us a visit and enjoy an evening of quilty fun.

March 2017 Show & Tell

March was a busy month for show and tell! Our members brought many of their first quilts to show and their latest quilts. Let's see them!

Gail gave away her first quilt so she wanted to share her latest WIP. These blocks are from the Maureen Cracknell sew along. 

Diane's first quilt was from Family Circle Magazine in 1986 and it was lost by her in laws! She brought one of her early makes with her and more recently she worked on this fun quilt top at retreat. 

Nancy always gives her quilts away so she brought one early make that she still has. She also brought in a new bag that she made that could carry a baby! 

Sue was visiting us in March. She is a QuiltCon winner for her appliqué and we were thrilled to see her work.

Deb is about to be a first time grandmother and made these two quilts for her grandchild to be!

Janice started quilting in 1989 and made this quilt 3 years ago for her daughter, but she didn't use it!!

Patty made her first quilt in 1995 or 1996 during a "quilt in a day" class at Covered Bridge Quilting. She took the class with a friend and her friend didn't finish. When her friend passed away Patty finished her quilt too.

She also shared a baby quilt for her daughters college roommate and the mini she received at QuiltCon.

Marie started quilting 20 years ago and used old ties to make this quilt for her husband. Her boy and step daughters actually played Twister to make the hand and feet shapes! For contrast she brought in her newest quilt that used circles.

Michelle gave this green quilt to her friend and borrowed it to bring for Show & Tell. It had been very loved! She also shared her 9-patch challenge quilt that was hung at QuiltCon.

Mary Jean's first quilt was for her daughter, but she no longer has it so she brought in the first quilt she made for herself! Mary Jean and fellow member Nancy met through this quilt. Her last quilt is this beautiful Cotton + Steel snowflake quilt with flannel on the back. 

Tracy started quilting in the early 90s quilting with her mother in law and in 1998 bought her own sewing machine. She's recently been trying her hand at modern! And she also shared her Riley Blake challenge, in which she used every bit of fabric. The picture came out very blurry though so please take my word for it!

Betsy made this quilt using Briar Rose fabrics for her daughter and more recently made these hearts for her daughter and granddaughter. 

Lisa didn't realize this would be tough for a beginner quilt, but she kept going and it became a favorite of her husband! It was 1987 and she didn't know how to bind so she just went with it. Her most recent quilt is an incredible shape and she's not sure what to do with it yet.

Susie moved away and took up sewing and then came back to NH and sewed with Patty.

Rene's first quilt was made in 1977 and finished by hand two years late. She also brought some fabulous newer quilts to share, including Labyrinth. 

Pat John made an her first quilt, Around The World Quilt in a day, and tied it in the 1980's. She took it up again when she retired and recently made this Cat in the Hat quilt for her grandson.

Chelsea and her grandmother made this quilt together for her to bring to college.

Ellen brought in one of her early quilts and some of the cool fabric she died at QuiltCon!

Ellen started quilting when she was pregnant and most recently here is her finished block of the month from a few  years ago.

Bridgett  brought in the first quilt that that she machine quilted.

Mary Louise has twin daughters that she made some of her first quilts for. She loves Camille Ross Kelly and 1930's prints in vibrant shades. She also volunteers with Neighbors Helping Newborns making quilts!

Nancy T made garments and wanted to turn her scraps into a quilt before she moved in the 1980's. Her next share was started by her mother and she finished it after she passed away. Her newest quilt was made with a jelly roll!