A Color Workshop with Timna Tarr

We are pleased to announce the details of our next workshop!

Timna Tarr is an accomplished modern quilter known for her bold use of color, creative quilt-making techniques, and love of eggs ...

Twelve Dozen

On Saturday, September 17, she will join us at Quilted Threads, in Henniker, NH, for her Designing with Flying Colors workshop. During this half-day event (1 p.m to 4 p.m.), we will explore the use of color in our own quilt making. This class involves no sewing; participants are asked to bring in ten 6-inch squares of fabric to use for the afternoon. The cost is $40 for NHMQG members and includes 15% off regularly priced purchases at Quilted Threads the day of the workshop.

Colorfall

This class is currently open to NHMQG members only. Interested members can secure a spot in the class by submitting payment by the next general meeting, on July 19. After that, any available slots will be offered to the public. To get on the wait list for those nonmember spots, please email Michelle at michelle.l.cain (at) gmail (dot) com. The price for the general public is $45 per person.

Holyoke, 1938

We hope you can join us! Any questions can be directed to Michelle at michelle.l.cain (at) gmail (dot) com.

June Meeting Reminder

Our June meeting is fast approaching! Join us at the First Baptist Church, 121 Manchester St., Nashua, New Hampshire at 7pm on June 21st

We are meeting at the 99 before our meeting for dinner at 5:30pm. Please let me (Carolanne) know if you plan on attending. The 99 is only 1 mile away from our meeting space!

We'll be hosting our first annual book swap. To participate, bring in gently used quilting books to the June meeting. For each book you contribute, you will receive a ticket that you can redeem for a book in the swap. Any unused tickets you have will go into a raffle for a $25 gift certificate to Pintuck and Purl.

We're also in our third month of fabric swaps. If you're participating be sure to get your fabric cut and labeled. If you forgot your swap fabric last month (like I did) be sure to bring both months' worth!

And of course, everyone's favorite part of the meeting, we're having one giveaway and three raffles at our June meeting!

Clockwise from the left: Three half-yards of Aneela Hoey's Foxglove (raffle), Joel Dewberry charm pack (that's the giveaway), 10-pack of Aurafil thread(raffle), and Quilted Living book(raffle).

Show N' Tell should be interesting as well. A challenge was issued at the Amy Garro workshop last weekend to see who could finish by our next meeting. Lets see how many Icy Waters quilt make it to Show N' Tell!

One last reminder for those who might be thinking of joining the NHMQG: Guests may attend their first meeting for free! Please pay us a visit and enjoy an evening of quilty fun.

Amy Was Here

Amy Garro was here in New Hampshire—like, in person. You want to know all about it, right? Here is the secret. She’s awesome—super nice, fun, and kind. Our guild started the weekend with a workshop with her and ended with a trunk show. It was crazy busy but crazy fun. 

Class Highlights  

We tackled a novel paper-piecing technique and Amy’s Icy Waters pattern at a class at Quilted Threads in Henniker, NH.

Trish made her to-die-for scones and brought the clotted cream and jam. (If you haven’t tried her scones, it’s worth coming to an event just to taste how awesome they are.)

As a teacher, Amy was great. The class was fun and engaging. She taught only in small groups, which gave participants more individual attention. The Icy Waters class is listed as an intermediate class. We did have one beginner in the group, and Amy was very good at checking in and providing extra support and encouragement to this student.

Overall, Amy was approachable and kind in her direction and advice. The class had a very laid-back, relaxing atmosphere.

At the end our members decided to throw down and challenge one another to finish the in-progress quilt tops for the next guild meeting. Look out for a wave of finishes soon!

Trunk Show Highlights

The day following the workshop, Amy joined us again—for a trunk show. This was no run-of-the-mill trunk show, though. We were encouraged to get out of our seats and touch the quilts. It was fun to learn about Amy’s journey as a quilt designer, to hear what inspired her creations and to be privy to the lessons she has encountered along the way.

Then as fast as it started, it was over. All those beautiful quilts got packed up and were whisked away. (Yes, they did end up fitting, but only with a lot of force!)

It was a pleasure to host Amy for a weekend. If you have a chance to take a class from her or hear her lecture, we highly recommend it!

Keep tabs on upcoming workshops and trunk shows, including those that we open to the public, here on the NHMQG blog.

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.

May Show N' Tell

It was another great month of Show N' Tell in May! Our Summer WIP challenge is in full swing and many projects brought to show in May were entered into the raffle for a gift card to Quilted Threads. What better incentive to finish works in progress than the prospect of new fabric!

The first show from VP Chelsea is a baby quilt she made with our Janome blocks.

Her second show is another charity quilt, this time for the Make a Wish Foundation

The back fabric of this quilt is the same as the front, the front is just fussy cut to make fabulous shapes!

Sandy made these cute knitting bags

Kathy made a holiday wreath and a table runner that both look great. As an added bonus she used colors that are out of her comfort zone. Great job Kathy!

Gail was gifted this Wax Cotton from an exchange student staying with her. As a garment sewer I (Carolanne) think this would make a great shirt or shirtdress!

Marie made placemats and wine coasters for her step daughter who is getting married.

Susie made two beautiful quilts this month, including her Riley Blake challenge rainbow quilt. 

Janice made this chevron beauty with her new bloc loc ruler.

This is the first quilt that Betsy machine quilted, great job lady!

This is a round robin quilt that Annick started in 2011. Each row represents a different person and there's even a piece of her wedding dress on this. What a great keepsake! 

This other piece from Annick was from a class she took with the Singing Quilter.

Annick was on fire for May and also made this hexagon quilt that has pieces that represent her and each of her brothers. 

Beth also made a baby quilt for charity using the Janome blocks we worked on earlier this year.

Here's the strip from my feather's quilt that is still a work in progress. I spent almost the entire retreat working on these blocks so I really wanted to share my first strip.

Book Swap at the June Meeting

Do you have quilting books to prune from your collection? Would you like to add some new titles to your library? You can do both at the guild-wide book swap on June 21st!

To participate, bring in gently used quilting books to the June monthly meeting. For each book you contribute, you will receive a ticket that you can redeem for a book in the swap. Any unused tickets you have will go into a raffle for a $25 gift certificate to Pintuck and Purl.

If you don’t have any books to contribute to the swap, you can still play! Each title you select from the swap will cost $5.

The fine print: Please bring books—no magazines—that are in good condition, with no damage or extensive writing. Each person may contribute up to 10 titles. Once you’ve found a book and redeemed a ticket for it, you cannot return the book to the swap. Any unclaimed books at the end of the evening will be donated to charity.

May Meeting Reminder

Welcome to May, quilters! Do you know what happens later this month? International Quilt Market! All of the new fabric lines will be shown and we'll all spend months lusting after them. It's a great time to be a quilter!

We also have some excitement ready for our May meeting. Normally we give everyone a raffle ticket when they check in and everyone is entered for a free giveaway, but this month we're taking it up a notch and everyone gets special treat! We'll keep that item a surprise until check-in time.

For our other raffles items we will have:

6 half-yards of Clementine by Heather Bailey

&

4 half-yards of Simply Colors II by Vanessa Christenson

Please bring in your favorite modern quilting book or quilting reference to the meeting. We're going to spend some time sharing our favorite quilting reads. (Are you new to quilting or don't have a quilting library? No worries -- just bring yourself!)

We will have signups for Fall Retreat (more info here) and our fall workshop with Timna Tarr.

See everyone on Tuesday May 17th at 7!