*We will be gathering at a different location in the park due to construction work. Please see the map below for the new location.
Monday, June 30, 2025
July 2025 Meeting and Raffles
June 2025 Meeting Recap
New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild Meeting June 12, 2025 First Church Nashua
President Helen Labadie opened the meeting at 7:07 pm and welcomed everyone.
Two Guests came to this meeting and were introduced- Liz and Ase.
Hospitality: Maryellen thanked members for bringing treats to meetings this year. She sent around a clipboard for members to sign up to bring refreshments to next year’s meetings.
Community Outreach: Carol Krasin announced that 3 quilts were given to Families in Transition in Manchester. She gave an overview of this state-run service which provides life skills training, a sense of community, and living units to 11 families. They have an 86% success rate in clients finding a job and living independently.
10 pillowcases were given to the Amherst Police Department and 26 to Ryan for Cases for Smiles.
Carol also is our Guild-to-Guild volunteer and communicates with Denise Fox from Souhegan Quilt Guild sharing information in a newsletter between local guilds in our area. She thanked Amanda for editing and reformatting her submission!
Programs: Laurie noted that she is collecting the purple color block challenge and has 3 blocks left for any member to take and create. She and Susan Hardy passed out a flyer about our next 3 meetings agendas: July- Ice Cream Social at Greeley Park (brings chairs, bug spray etc.), August is a strip swap, September; Sewing Machine Maintenance by Quilt Perfect in Bow, NH.
Treasurer: Sonia Gilmore stated that last month we made $147 on the raffles and there is approximately $7,028 in our account. Helen asked that members submit suggestions of presentations for ways to use that money to benefit guild members. Our guild now is a member of the NE Quilt Museum and gets 8 yearly passes. Beth Bell-Lavoie spoke about how she is enjoying using Quilt Connection membership- which provides online workshops on zoom and videos members can access for a few days. She suggested this as a possible expense.
Secretary: Mary Lou Soczek is not present. Robin Rich is filling in as secretary for tonight’s meeting.
Door Prize Raffle: Patty Kind won the set of quilting pens and chain sewing cutter.
Retreats: Ophelia Chang has booked the next spring retreat in Portland Maine at the Fireside Inn for Memorial Day weekend. You may check in Wednesday at 7 pm and sew 24 hours starting Thursday morning. Members pay for the hotel room on their own for $85 per night. There is an indoor pool and sauna. Shelly Toomey will be the coordinator.
Raffles: Ase (guest) won the Ruby Star half yard bundle and Laurie Kofstad won the set of Superior thread spools.
Show and Tell:
Robin Rich - showed her Hedgehog wall-hanging using the Laura Heine technique she learned in a class.
a Lovely Ombre Cabins by V and Co. in Moda Ombre confetti fabric, quilted by Ophelia.
2 Community Outreach quilts- Double Square Star by Missouri Quilt in Tilda fabric
and an antique race car quilt in Allure, both quilted by Susan Boots.
Carol Krasin - shared an Animal panel charity quilt.
Beth Bell-Lavoie - showed Dashed by Quiltin' Tia
Interwine, a free pattern from Robert Kaufman Designs
and a mystery quilt using a layer cake and background (which she didn’t follow some of the rules by paper piecing, using several different disappearing 9 block designs, and 2 color borders.
Leslie Ross - Two quilts by famous author Michelle Cain!- Five Star Experience
and All the X’s in a smaller size than the pattern.
Eileen Ahearn - X-Effect using Kaffe shot cotton stripes.
and Local quilt by Carolyn Friedlander, retro look quilting by Ophelia.
Liz Hannum (guest) - showed her second quilt that she has made! Interwoven by Lo and Behold, with colorful stripes.
Jennifer Marks - Her own self-drafted pattern which she quilted herself
and several bags, project bags with zippers, a needle holder and drawstring knitting bag.
Lori Breen - Mayfair using fat quarters.
Love Is baby quilt by Bear Creek Quilting Co., using panels for her niece. Lori’s sister was able to give her a second set of panels to complete this baby quilt.
Sarah Keefe - Midpoint by Cotton and Joy
Marie Joerger - Interwoven from the Stashtastic 2 book
and many bags as wedding party gifts for her daughter for is getting married this month!
Chelsea Folini - shared three quilts: Classic Hearts by Quilty Love
Pathways from Stashtastic 2
and Chapel windows.
Susie Boots - Bird houses
Eye Spy quilt
and Chapel Windows quilts.
Ophelia Chang- working with Chelsea- Carousel Medallion by Alison Glass
Five Star Experience by Michelle Cain
and On the Rails
Susan Hardy- Star Adventure from Then Came June.
PRESENTATION- Michelle Cain gave a trunk show of her quilts and spoke about the process of how she came to publish a book on quilting with jelly rolls. She began quilting in 2013, became a NH modern quilt guild member in 2014, and her book was published in April 2025. Her book acknowledges our guild for all the support and knowledge she gained as a member. We have already seen several guild members sharing their versions of Michelle's patterns from the book.
Meeting ended at 8:38 pm.
See you next month!
Robin Rich, acting secretary, Amanda, and Lorri W.
Monday, May 26, 2025
June 2025 Meeting and Raffle
The June NHMGQ meeting will be held Thursday June 12th, at 7 PM. Doors open at 6:30 for socializing.





Wednesday, May 14, 2025
May 2025 Meeting Recap
May 8, 2025 General Membership Meeting Recap
The meeting was led by Helen.
There were 30 members and 3 guests in attendance.
Thank you to Amanda, Sonia, and Carol K for attending the door and welcome table.
Thank you to Shelly and others who brought food and beverages.
Raffle Winners
- Sarah won the door prize, an Oven Mitt kit.
- Laurie M won the raffle for the Ruby & Bee Blenders FQB by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics.
- Mary Lou won the raffle for the Cheryl Ann’s Design Wall.
Guild Business
Secretary (Mary Lou): Nothing new to report.
Treasurer (Marie/Sonia): Nothing new to report.
Communications (Amanda and Lorri): Nothing new to report.
Events and Programming (Laurie K, and Susan H):
- Laurie collected and thanked members who completed blocks for the Kona’s Color of Year charity quilt. She handed out a few more packets of fabric.
- The June meeting will be a trunk show by Michelle C.
- The July meeting will be our annual Ice Cream Social at Greeley Park (weather permitting).
- The August meeting will include a 2.5” strip swap.
- The September meeting will include a presentation on sewing machine maintenance, by the owners of Quilt Perfect.
Community Outreach (Carol K)
- Carol has two quilts available for donation. She will give them to Families in Transition.
- Sonia made 30 pillowcases! Carol gave 20 to “Ryan’s Cases for Smiles” and 10 to the Amherst Police Department.
- At the end of their presentation last month, members donated two recently-completed quilts to the Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) project. They are no longer accepting quilts from us, because they are at capacity in their warehouse.
Retreats (Shelly and Ophelia)
- Our Spring 2025 retreat at the Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunkport, ME went well.
- Our Fall retreat will be November 13-16th at the St. Methodios center in Contoocook, NH. We may be sewing in their new gym building, if it is completed by then.
Hospitality (Marry Ellen)
- Mary Ellen thanked all the members who bring food and beverages to our meeting.
Guild Day Outings. Helen will organize another outing to the New England Quilt Museum to see a new exhibition of Japanese quilts. It will be in June; more details and date TBD.
Board Positions for 2026. We are anticipating some turnover of Board positions. Helen will send out a survey similar to the one she sent out last year asking for members to tell us if they are interested in serving on the Board.
International Scrap Sorting Day. Helen reminded us that November 1st is the day to sort our scraps! The Modern Quilt Guild is encouraging members to get together and have fun. They will be posting more suggestions and information shortly.
MEETING ACTIVITY
This meeting’s activity was a presentation by Laurie Matthews on her journey as a quilter. She brought many quilts, all with amazing stories to go with them. She offered this quote as inspiration:
Amanda Knox: I am not an accomplished poet or painter, but I’ve fumbled enough at both to know that art is impossible unless you’re willing to start without a plan or coherent vision for what you hope to create. You just have to trust that something will arise from the effort.
Thank you so much, Laurie!
SHOW AND TELL
- Sonia told us about upcoming events offered by the Nashua Area Artists Association. Sonia is the manager of the new ArtHub Gallery on Main Street in Nashua. The Grand Opening of the Gallery will be May 17th, from 2 to 7 PM.
The annual Greeley Park Art Show is scheduled for August 16-17 at Greeley Park in Nashua. The adult competition will be on the Saturday. Shelly is running the children’s competition on Sunday.
- Betty showed her blue Royal Wedding quilt, a Missouri Star pattern.
- Jeannie showed us her Elephant Abstractions quilt, pattern by Violet Craft. This was the Jeannie’s first time doing paper piecing!
- Sarah showed us her Peanut Butter quilt, pattern by Then Came June, which she made from a kit she got at our yard sale!
- She also showed us her Read Between the Lines quilt, pattern by Alison Glass. For the thin strips in the quilt, she used pieces from her handmade COVID masks.
- Ophelia told us she has been exploring patterns from published quilt books. She had five quilts to show. First, her Ahh-Mazing quilt from Stashtastic 2 by Douglas Leko.
- Then, the Pod Patrol quilt from Michelle C’s new book, Not Your Typical Jelly Roll Quilts.
- And Myriad, another quilt from Michelle’s book.
- And Chapel Windows from the Fun Fat Quarter Quilts For Spring book.
- And lastly, her Interwoven quilt, another from the Stashtastic 2 book.
- Susie showed her Barn Star Sampler quilt.
- And her Brightly quilt, pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew.
- Barbara H showed us her disappearing 9 patch quilt.
- Barbara B showed us her Hello Birdie quilt, from Connecting Threads pattern.
- Mary Ellen continues to make progress on finishing her WIPs. Today, she showed us her Evening Primrose quilt, pattern by It’s So Emma.
- Tracy showed us three quilts. First, her quilt made from blocks from Jen Kingwell’s Wanderer’s Wife booklet.
- Then her blue quilt for her new grand-nephew.
- And a quilt she made from a panel of sailing ships.
- Simone showed her completed Passiflora quilt, from a Bernina sew-along, which she made for a class she is teaching. Several of us are still working on ours!
- Shelly showed three wall hangings she completed. First, a pictorial quilt showing the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia.
- Next, a portrait quilt.
- And then a quilt of a dancing girl with a hula hoop.
- Chelsea showed us her Southwest Sunshine quilt, pattern by Quilty Love. She made this for her new 4-month old son!
- Amanda showed us her Shirt Stripe Boxes quilt, pattern from Kaffe Fassett’s Passionate Patchwork book. This quilt was “ten years in the making.”
- Helen showed us a two-sided patchwork chair mat she made for her sister-in-law.
Please note that when we were adding links to raffle prizes and quilt patterns and books, we tried to link them directly to the pattern or book designers’ webpages, but sometimes we couldn’t find the original sources and put links to popular online commerce sites that carry these products. We are not endorsing any particular commerce sites – most items can be found from multiple sources.
Please post quilts, questions, and any other quilt-related information on our private member FaceBook group. To join, click here.
Our Guild email address is: nhmodernquilt@gmail.com.
See you next month!
--Amanda, Lorri W, and Mary Lou