QuiltCon 2018 Charity Quilt: Block Instructions

For those of you who are working with Carolanne to make our QuiltCon 2018 charity quilt, this post is for you!

At October’s meeting Carolanne will be handing out packets for you to create blocks for this quilt ...

Each packet will create one of two blocks, as marked on the packet:

Block A

Block B

Whether you’re sewing Block A or Block B, please:

•    Use white or cream thread (to avoid seeing colored thread through the white background!)
•    Bump your stitch length down to about 1.8 (to sew more secure seams!)
•    Sew a scant quarter-inch seam (to get the right block size in the end!)
•    Press your seams open (save your Bloc Loc for another project!)

For both blocks, you’ll need to create half-square triangles (HSTs) and trim them down to 4.5-inch squares.

How to Sew HSTs

1. Draw a diagonal line on one of the squares.

2. Layer that with the other square.

3. Sew a scant quarter-inch seam along either side of the diagonal line.

4. Cut along the diagonal line, and press the seams open.

5. Trim both resulting blocks to 4.5 inches. To get an accurate cut, make sure to line the center seam with the diagonal on your ruler.

6. Your finished block is ready to be inserted into Block A or Block B!

Other Important Info

Please note: Two square pieces of fabric will yield two HSTs.

If you are sewing Block A, use the squares in your packet to make HSTs. The rectangles are cut to size. Sew two of them together length-wise to create a two-toned square (TTSs). There is no need to trim those TTSs.

Sew your HSTs and/or TTSs together into pairs. Sew two pairs together to create Block A or Block B. Press all seams open.

The unfinished size of both Block A and Block B is 8.5 inches square.

Returning the Blocks

Carolanne would love to receive finished blocks by the November 14th meeting. If you have any questions, please email her at carolannel (dot) donovan (at) gmail (dot) com.

Supernova - QuiltCon Charity Quilt 2017

Once again the NHMQG decided to do the Charity Challenge using Robert Kaufman's Kona as our color palette.  The committee decided to use shades of blue, yellow, silver and white to meet the requirements. 

The co-chairs met and decided to use some sort of stars in their quilt. With no real game plan on how to use these stars, they handed out packets at the meeting. Members of their guild were to take a sample of 2 shades and complete a star or 2. They were asked make either 3” or 6” stars using the colors on their card. They could use any color from that palette the only requirement was to use the white, grey, or yellow solid as their background.  

Once we received the stars back we had a group sew-in with members from the guild.  

A game plan was established! Yellow fabric was donated from members of the guild which was cut and sewn back together to create a “scrappy looking” made fabric. We used this made fabric to make a large scale star. 

We then used a design wall to scatter the stars for placement in the large pieces of fabric to be used for the bursts.

After a bit of trial and error it was determined to make non uniform star points. We started with the large star and bottom burst. We continued breaking down the quilt into large sections, working our way up and around the quilt. 

As we laid our finished quilt top on a flat surface, we found the *made fabric caused a pucker.(*made fabric has an excessive amount of bias in play)  After consulting our long arm quilter it was determined she could work out the excess in the quilting process. 

Off to the quilter it went! Lisa from Garden Gate Quilting, Amherst, NH worked her magic. The puckers disappeared as she used a variety of quilting designs to enhance the quilt. Once the quilt was returned, blocking was completed and binding added. Let us present  “Supernova”, NHMQG entry into Quilt Con 2017. 

A HUGE Thank You To Robert Kaufman

As a guild we often make charity quilts and we are very lucky to have fabric companies donate fabric to us. 

However, never have we seen such generosity as recently came from Robert Kaufman fabrics!

Susie, of our charity committee, came home one day to these boxes, full of fabric donations!

Want to see a sneak peek of what was inside? Prepare to be amazed!

We raise funds throughout the year that go into our charity quilt fund and together with this generous fabric donation we are well on our way towards future quilts to benefit our community.

As a matter of fact, we've already made a very special quilt top that will be donated to a charity our guild has made two quilts for. Want to see it? Come to our September meeting or subscribe to our blog from our homepage as we'll be sharing it later this week!

To see all of the charity quilts we have made so far visit this page.

Quilts For Pulse

At the June guild meeting of the NHMQG we, as a group, decided to accept the call for quilts from the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild. Their goal is to give a quilt to all of the survivors of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, as well as to the first responders and families of those killed.

 

Nancy Tatro has volunteered to chair this effort! 

Take it away Nancy!

The "O"MQG would like to have blocks, or IDEALLY, finished quilts, with a heart theme and in the colors of the rainbow. I say lets send them finished quilts! 

 

I've chosen a free block graciously supplied to us from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Here is the website for the pattern, cutting directions for specific sizes, pictures of the sewing process and an embedded tutorial (if you need it):http://cluckclucksew.com/2015/01/making-heart-blocks-in-multiple-sizes.html

 

Now for the particulars:

 

1.  Please use a solid white or a white on white fabric for the background.

2.  Please use a solid color or a monochromatic fabric that reads like a solid for the heart.

3.  Please use the colors of the rainbow, don't be afraid to stretch those colors, just please keep it HAPPY and BRIGHT.

4. Please make either a 10" block or four 5" blocks, only. NO other sizes, please.

5. Please press all seams OPEN. This reduces the bulk at seams.

6.  Please measure and ensure that your blocks are 10 1/2" or 5 1/2". This is a group project, so your best work will be greatly appreciated!

7. Please bring your finished blocks to the July NHMQG Meeting and give them to me.  If you can't make it to that meeting, you can mail your blocks to me at:

                      25 Forest Road

                      Candia, NH  03034

 

Dina Niskala from the PINE TREE QUILT SHOP, 224 North Broadway, Salem, NH has offered us the use of her classroom space (for free!) to complete the quilt tops!  Our first SEW-IN date is Sunday, July 24th from 11-4pm.  We have a provisional date (if we need it) on Sunday, August 7th,11-4pm.  I will be passing around a sign-up form at the meeting. The space can fit 10 sewists comfortably and we will need two "pressers"

 

If you would like to be involved in the project, but can't make blocks, consider volunteering to quilt the tops, sew the bindings and labels on, or donating a few dollars to offset the costs (batting, backing and binding material and postage)!

 

If each one of us makes just one block, we can complete 2 lap size quilts, but I think we can do better than that!  I made a practice block last night and it took me longer to draw the diagonal lines on the background squares than it did to sew the whole block together!

 

Here is a link to the original message sent from the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild: http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/2016/06/details-for-quilts-for-pulse-donations.html

 

Thank you in advance for your help with this project. For myself, I hope this helps with a little of the horror and paralysis that I've felt since this insanity happened.

Thank You Art Gallery Fabrics!

It is with great pleasure that we bring you a very special blog post to thank a great fabric manufacturer for their donation to the NHMQG.

Art Gallery Fabrics generously donated a medium sized box of scrap fabric to our charity quilt committee!

We raise funds throughout the year that go into our charity quilt fund and together with this generous fabric donation we are well on our way towards future quilts to benefit our community.

To see all of the charity quilts we have made so far visit this page.

February’s Dutch Windmill Block

Image used with permission

At the February meeting, we introduced the Dutch Windmill Block, from Red Delicious Life. It’s a beginner paper-piecing block, perfect for those guild members who want to try this technique or practice for our June workshop with Amy Garro!

This block may seem humble, but something magical happens when it’s pieced in a quilt:

Image used with permission

We will be donating the finished quilt to a yet-to-be-chosen charity. To participate, use the pattern handed out at the February meeting. You need four copies to make a complete block; you may photocopy (just double-check that copies are the exact same size as the original) or trace the pattern.

Some well-seasoned paper piecers in the guild—thank you!—cautioned against printing from different printers for this project to avoid discrepancies in the pattern dimensions (this has nothing to do with the pattern itself or with your printer’s settings), so be sure to use the provided pattern instead of printing one out yourself. 

For sections A1 and A5, use the white fabric handed out at the meeting. For section A4, use the navy fabric handed out. You may use any color you want from your scraps for sections A2 and A3 as long as you (1) use solids, (2) use the same solids in all four quadrants of the block, and (3) do not use white or navy. Please keep the paper on the pattern after you’re done sewing.

Read the full tutorial: At Red Delicious Life

Unfinished size: 12.5”

Due date: At the monthly meeting on March 15

Questions: Click on the email button in the sidebar to send us any questions about this project

NHMQG presents.... Controlled Chaos

NHMQG Presents

Controlled Chaos

Lisa Teichmann, of Garden Gate Quilting

has completed our quilt and it is just fabulous! The co-chairs received little glimpses of it throughout the process. 

How exciting is that! She handed the quilt back and said, "You should block it." Having no idea what that meant, she sent us several links on how to block and we blocked our quilt. 

The quilt was squared and René Therrien volunteered to add the scrappy binding.

Sleeve and label were added and we have Controlled Chaos!

Now the biggest challenge of all will be deciding who to donate it too. Any suggestions?

Michael Miller Charity Blocks

This past year Michael Miller donated a box of fabric to our guild. We made a quilt to be auctioned off at a charity this January. There was a lot of fabric left so we decided to make bundles of fabric to be given out at our holiday party this week. 

Individual members were asked to take a bundle and make as many 6" blocks as they can with their bundle. With all scraps left over they can make some made fabric. These block will be put together for another charity quilt. We have asked members to use one of  Janome's 100 quilt block patterns. The web link to the patters is at http://janome.com/en/100quiltblocks/download-blocks/. 

Thank you guild members for all your time and dedication and to Michael Miller. It seems like the gift that just keeps on giving!

NHMQG charity quilt in progress

A small group of guild members got together to work on the Charity quilt. They took all the pieces and came up with a game plan. Using a design the plan was to piece the made fabric into larger pieces and add borders to these. With the squares we created nine patches, while the remaining squares were scattered throughout the rest of the quilt.  

Once we had this laid out we started to cut background pieces to fill in the space between the blocks that had been made. With lots of trial and error, our group worked the quilt from top to bottom. About half way down we realized there was to much negative space on top. We decided to appliqué circle blocks to fill the negative space.

After adding the circles we decided to add more shapes. Different size triangles and an arrow were added. The top was completed and off to the quilter it goes. Lisa from Garden Gate Quilting has volunteered her services.  Thank you Lisa!

Finished Margurite's Charity Quilt

Marguerite's Charity Quilt

** Jessie kindly volunteered to quilt the top of this charity quilt. 

** Off it goes to be bound by Ellen.

** Thank you everyone who helped in someway to put this quilt together!!

** And drum roll please.... the finished quilt

** Unbeknownst to the charity committee the theme for the Marguerite's event is "Fire and Ice".  How fitting!!

**  I guess we"ll call it "Fire and Ice"

Details for this event...

FIRE & ICE:

A Hot Night for a Cool Cause

Save the date now for Fire & Ice, our   annual fall fundraiser on Friday, October 16, 2015  at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua. The excitement begins at 6 pm.

A sizzling night to benefit a very cool cause. Whether you sip a three-alarm chili martini or enjoy a flaming dessert, the menu for this fabulous evening promises to take your palate on an adventure with a variety of foods that range from spicy to icy!

Tickets for this special night out are just $100 per person and may be purchased by calling 603.598.1582 or emailing info@margueritesplace.org.

** Help us support this organization

Marguerite's Place Charity Quilt

**The NHMQG has been busy making charity quilts for several organizations. The charity coordinators put together a sew-in at Quilting A Way in Amherst. Bette was gracious enough to let us use her shop to put the top together. Thank you Bette! 

**Here are some of the members putting it together - (or maybe just posing:)

Lisa, Beth and Chelsea

Trish and Sandi

Betsy and Caroline

Trudi, Trish, and Sandi

Marie

Susie and Annick

René, Annick and Nancy