October Meeting Highlights…

The Team Quilt Tops were unveiled…
These tops started with some U-G-L-Y fabric scraps that were used to make improv blocks. Each Team was challenged to make a 54" x 72" top using "Modern Traditionalism" and/or "Expansive Negative Space". Do you think they met the challenge?

Team Sandi…

Team Jean…

Team Janet…

Team Denise…

Then there was Show and Tell and the Stash Sale…

1. Janet Suber  2. Audrey Workman  3. Pam McCallie

5. Joan Thornbury  6. Joan Thornbury

7. Susan Lawson and Lynn Sweeney  8. Gerry Haywood  9. Joan Thornbury  10. Kate Trundle

September Meeting…

Show and Tell

Kate Trundle • Marcia Taschenberger • Susan Asendorf • Joan Thornbury

Martha Griffin • Patricia Steadman

Mary Keasler • Melody Johnson

Bold Graphic Color Challenge

Camille Parker • Catherine Price • Jackie Cory (Denise is holding)

Members in the Spotlight

Two of our members have their work showing around town…Vista Mahan and Jackie Cory.

Vista has a quilted wall hanging showing in a multi-media art exhibit with the theme of "Wings". This juried show opened on August 14, 2014 and will run through September 29, 2014 at The Jewish Cultural Center. Twenty-nine artists from the southeastern United States and Israel were selected from the entries. The art work includes photographs, drawings, paintings, prints, and fiber art.

Jewish Cultural Center • 5461 North Terrance Rd. • Chattanooga, TN

Jackie has four of her "Altered Books" showing at a fine art show celebrating books and their readers at Reflections Gallery. This exhibit opens on Thursday, August 28, 2014 with a opening reception from 4:00—7:00 p.m. and will run through October 23, 2014. Jackie will be presenting a "Altered Book" workshop during the Chattanooga Gallery Hop on September 6, from 2:00—5:00 p.m., also at the Reflections Gallery.

Reflections Gallery • 6922 Lee Highway • Chattanooga, TN 37421

I hope you get a chance to visit these two exhibits. Congratulations Vista and Jackie!

AQS QuiltWeek—Chattanooga

September 10—13, 2014, Chattanooga Convention Center

The ChattMQG's exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX Theatre

will open on Wednesday, September 10, during their regular hours,

 with a Lobby Exhibit on Friday, September 12, from 5:00—9:00 p.m.

An interview promoting Chattanooga Quiltweek with our very own Denise Ohlman and Sandi Suggs will air on WUTC  88.1FM on September 3 at 10:00 am and at 8:00 pm.

July Meeting Recap

Our July meeting started with a lot of twists and turns…of the Tennessee River! Twenty-four of our members came together and created a beautiful quilted rendition of the Tennessee River for our upcoming exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium during AQS QuiltWeek-Chattanooga, September 10-13, 2014.

Speaking of QuiltWeek-Chattanooga, Denise from the Chattanooga Quilt Guild spoke briefly on Volunteer opportunities for the show. Volunteers are needed in two specific areas; Show Hostesses and Quilt Hangers. You can sign up to volunteer on VolunteerSpot at http:/vols.pt/RJGiWC. Just enter your email address and choose an available spot. Remember, admission to the show is free on the day you volunteer.

The July Lottery blocks, were collected. Josie and Sharon both went home with six "Crooked Road to Tennessee" blocks. Linda presented the Lottery Block for August, "Improv Herringbone". Handouts were passed out during the meeting. In case you didn't snag one, you can find the tutorial here: http://www.13spools.com/2013/05/improv-herringbone-tutorial.html

Joan and Veronica "squared up" some details regarding the Aquarium exhibit. Exhibit quilts and/or pictures of the those quilts, along with their dimensions, are due at our August meeting.

Our program this month focused on the Modern design element, Bold Graphic Color. Our Team Leaders made samples for a hands on look at this element. Five volunteers agreed to take challenge packs of bold solid colors to create their own Bold Graphic pieces. Can't wait to see those at our August meeting!

Our Show and Tell is always a great way to end our monthly meetings. Thanks to Melody for the pictures.

1. CeeCee Foster  2.Delores Dady  3. Delores Dady  4. Denise Ohlman  5. Jackie Cory

6. Ginny Csiszko  7. Ginny Csiszko  8. Ginny Csiszko  9. Jean Larson  10. Kathleen McMullen

11. Josie Dinwiddie  12. Josie Dinwiddie  13. Josie Dinwiddie  14. Martha Steele 15. Martha Steele

16. Mary Keasler  17. Mary Keasler  18. Mary Keasler  19. Toni Faidley

22. Nancy Packard  23. Patricia Steadman  24. Sharon Griffith  25. Sharon Griffith

Make it Modern,

~Pam

May Meeting Recap

A great group filled our meeting Saturday! Janet welcomed our visitors and members alike. Several announcements were made. Here is the run-down…

Our next Sew-In is immediately following our June meeting. We've got a couple of exciting activities planned during this time…

• Vanessa will be demonstrating how to make a Boxy Zippered Carry-All Pouch. A materials list was available at the meeting. In case you didn't get one, you can find it here: Boxy Carry-All Bag Material List

• There will be a "Stash Sale" during the Sew-In. This is an opportunity to sell some of your stash or buy someone else's. Just bring in your sewing fabric, notions, etc. Tag each item with your name, item name and price and hand it over to the "Store Keeper". Thanks to Catherine for bringing this idea to the Guild. Guidelines for selling your stash can be found here: Stash Sale Guidelines

Several dates of interest were announced.

• International Quilt Festival, October 25—November 2, 2014 in Houston, TX. Modern quilt entry registration will open at midnight CDT on May 30, 2014. The last day to register is June 27, 2014 until midnight CDT. You will be notified no later than Friday, August 1, 2014, regarding the quilts to be included in this exhibit along with shipping instructions. If selected, the quilts will need to arrive in Houston no later than Friday, September 5, 2014. Quilts will not be traveling and will be returned by the end of December 2014. Visit their website for all of the details. http://www.callforentriesmodernquilts.com
• QuiltCon 2015, February 19-22, Austin, TX. Workshop registration will open to MQG members on June 23, 2014. (We announced June 1 at the meeting) A complete catalog of lectures and workshops will be available on June 1, 2014. To keep up on all the important dates visit the website: http://www.quiltcon.com

Joan gave an update on the TN Aquarium/IMAX Exhibit. An updated timeline has been emailed to all members and should serve to answer any questions you have.

Lottery Blocks were collected. Gerry and Sharon went home with seven "Modernized D9P" Blocks. Vista presented the Lottery Block this month, "Strip Blocks". Here are her instructions.

You can also find some beautiful inspiration for the Strip Blocks at this link from Melody:

http://brookeandmel.blogspot.com/2014/04/just-strips.html  

Our program this month was a Team Project. Our teams from January were reunited and our new members placed with a team. The teams were challenged to come up with a design, using either "Expansive Negative Space" or "Modern Traditionalism", the Improv blocks from our January program, and create a Modern quilt top. Quilt tops are due at our October meeting.

And then there was Show and Tell…

1. Melissa Klingensmith  2. Linda Smith  3. Audrey Workman  4. Catherine Price  5. Gerry Haywood

6. Brenda Cregger  7. Brenda Cregger  8. Brenda Cregger  9. Delores Dady  10. Delores Dady

11. Jean Larson  12. Jean Larson  13. Jean Larson  14. Kathleen McMullen  15. Toni Faidley

16. Mary Keasler  17. Mary Keasler  18. Melody Johnson  19. Veronica Hofman-Ortega

20. Nancy Packard  21. Nancy Packard  22. Nancy Packard  23. Nancy Packard  24. Vanessa King 

It was another inspiring meeting. Let's keep it up and Make it Modern!

~Pam

April Meeting Recap

Janet opened the meeting by welcoming our visitors. We had four new members join this month, which brings our membership to 41.

The Michael Miller challenge fabric was distributed. It was agreed, due to our commitment to the Aquarium Exhibit, we would not have a specific guild challenge. We do want to encourage members to participate in the MQG Challenge individually. Who wouldn't want to win a "Year of Fabric" from Michael Miller? The guidelines for that challenge can be found here.

The Wonky Log Cabin Lottery Blocks were collected. We drew three names and two lucky members, Kate and Martha (Martha's name was drawn twice) got to go home with some of these.

Josie presented the Lottery Block for May. She demonstrated the "Modernized D9P" from Kristin Daum who blogs as the St. Louis Folk Victorian. It is based on the Disappearing Nine Patch. You need to start with nine, five inch squares; four prints, five solids. They should be sewn together in a nine patch block using any layout you choose. There is no color scheme restriction. Here is a top Josie made from her "Modernized D9P" blocks. The tutorial can be found here.

If you choose to cut your "Modernized D9P" block as described in the tutorial, please be sure to pin the four blocks together. The four cut blocks will count as one entry to the Lottery Block drawing.

Joan gave an update on the TN Aquarium/IMAX Exhibit. Members who have committed to display quilts need to have an artist statement/inspiration for each quilt. Artist statements are due at our May meeting. All quilts are to be finished by our July meeting. Each member will be responsible for delivering their own quilts to the Aquarium. No date has been set for delivery yet.

We had 23 members sign up for the Tennessee River Project. Joan distributed map sections of the River to each participant with detailed instructions. This is going to be a great creative display. Thanks to the Exhibit Committee for all their hard work.

What a Show and Tell we had this month…the largest one to date!

1. Sandi Suggs 2. Joan Thornbury 3. Joan Thornbury 4. Joan Thornbury 5. Joan Thornbury

6. Patricia Steadman 7. Josie Dinwiddie 8. Denise Ohlman 9. Janet Suber 10. Martha Griffin

11. Gerry Haywood 12. Gerry Haywood 13. Josie Dinwiddie 14. Marcia Taschenberger 15. Marcia Taschenberger

16. Jean Larson 17. Jean Larson 18. Jean Larson 19. Kathleen McMullen 20. Delores Dady

21.Vista Mahan 22. Vista Mahan 23. Vista Mahan 24. Audrey Workman

25. Mary Keasler 26 Mary Keasler 27. Mary Keasler 28. Susan Asendorf

It was another inspiring meeting.

~Pam

March Meeting Recap

Janet opened the meeting to a very energetic packed house! Our National Modern Quilt Guild membership cards and pins were distributed to members who joined in January. The MQG distributes membership cards quarterly. Members who joined in February or March should receive cards in May/June.  The dates for QuiltCon 2015 have been announced for February 19—22, 2015 in Austin, TX. Course catalogs will be released on May 15, 2014 with Member registration for workshops/lectures opening June 24, 2014. 

Joan gave an update on the TN Aquarium/IMAX Exhibit. She presented an idea for a collaborative project depicting the Tennessee River. This idea was well received by our energetic members and several agreed to participate. More information regarding this project will be sent out as it becomes available. The next deadline for the exhibit is due at our April meeting. The Exhibit Committee needs to have firm commitments from members planning to display quilts, with number of quilts and their measurements.

The Lottery Blocks for March were collected…we had 40 "Plus" blocks! Josie, Linda, Sandi and Susan each went home with 10 of these.

Look what Linda did with the February Dresden Plate Lottery blocks she took home!

Sharon presented the Lottery Block for April, a Wonky Log Cabin block. Your block should measure 9 1/2 inches or larger and should be made with true solid colors. Here is the handout Sharon passed out at the meeting with links to tutorials to help get those creative juices flowing.

This month's program was free-motion quilting. Denise gave a great comprehensive presentation of the preparatory steps and essential tools needed to get us started quilting our own quilts. Seeing her own work inspired us all.

Here is a quick look at March's Show and Tell…

1. Jackie Cory 2. Jackie Cory 3. Jackie Cory

4. Jean Larson 5. Karen Sperry 6. Karen Sperry 7. Karen Sperry

8. Karen Sperry 9 Karen Sperry 10. Karen Sperry 11. Karen Sperry

12. Karen Sperry 13. Lynn Sweeney 14. Mary Keasler 15. Mary Keasler

17. Melody Johnson 18. Melody Johnson 19. Melissa Klingensmith 20. Melissa Klingensmith

21. Nancy Packard 22. Patricia Steadman 23. Vanessa King

And if all of this wasn't enough…we had a Sew-In afterwards! I hope to see a lot of "Ginormous Tote Bags" at our next meeting.

~Pam

March Meeting

The March Meeting of the ChattMQG is this Saturday, March 8th at Christ United Methodist Church at 10:00 a.m.

Plan to join us this month, bring your sewing machine and participate in our program, Free-Motion Quilting (FMQ). Denise will walk us through all the steps you'll need to get started quilting your own quilts. In addition to your machine, you will need a darning, embroidery or FMQ foot and a light colored, 12-15 inch quilt sandwich.

Since you'll have those sewing machines, stay with us for our first Sew-In of the year from 12:00—4:00. You can choose to join the group that will be working on the featured project, "Ginormous Tote Bag", or bring your own project to work on.

If you haven't made any Lottery Blocks yet, there is still plenty of time. This month's block is a super-simple Plus block. You can find the tutorial here. The only requirement is that the colors be true solid colors.

As always, bring your Show and Tell.

~Pam

Oooops! A correction to Ginormous Bag Info

On my drawing of how to fix a one way print, I flipped the indication of which way was WOF and the 36" cut side.  Thanks Joan for pointing it out.

Hope it did not confuse anyone else.  It would still work the other way - just change the dimensions of finished bag some.  As Tim Gunn would say - We'll make it work!

Janet

Generous Offer from Spool!

You may not have seen this on Facebook, so I wanted to share this here as well - from Maddie at Spool:

I love big prints I cannot lie. These dramatic prints and more are perfect for really big bags!

So if you are part of the Chattanooga Modern Quilt Guild and will be part of the March Ginormous Tote Sew-in then come over and see the fantastic fabric combinations we can help you put together for this project.

To make it even sweeter we are offer 15% off of your bag making supplies! Now through the end of the month!!

See the Feb meeting recap for a link to the fabric requirements for the bag.  Also, if you need a set of the swivel clasps, let me know if you want me to save you a set.

See you in March!

janet

February Meeting Recap

Another enthusiastic group of quilters showed up for our February meeting!

The meeting started with the following announcements:

Membership—Members who joined the ChattMQG in January should have received an invitation from the national MQG to join their website. Members who have not received that invitation or are having trouble logging in, should email us @ chattmqg@gmail.com. Members who joined this month should receive their invitation within the next couple of weeks.

March Sew-In—Our first Sew-In of the year is Saturday, March 8th immediately following our March meeting, from 12:00—4:00. Bring a project to work on or join the group that will be making the "Ginormous Tote Bag". The fabric and notion requirements for the "Ginormous Tote Bag" can be found here. In addition to all your sewing essentials, you will need to bring a multi-plug extension cord or surge protector. You may also want to bring your lunch to get a jump on those projects. 

Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX Theater Quilt Exhibit—Our committee for these exhibits met with our Aquarium/IMAX liaison to preview the spaces allotted for the quilts. The themes for both the Aquarium and IMAX exhibits, quilt entry requirements and timeline for entries, were all discussed. The complete committee report was emailed to our members. This is a huge opportunity for our guild and we need to make it a great show.

The Modern Dresden Plate lottery blocks were turned in. Catherine and Linda each went home with some of these.

Jean presented the lottery block for March, a simple Plus block. Here is a quick tutorial. You can use any color scheme you want. Make them any size, wonky or straight. The only requirement is that the colors be true solid colors.

• Step 1. Select two contrasting or different value fabrics. Fabric (a) = background, Fabric (b) = contrast, different value. You will want to cut your background fabric a little larger than your planned block size.
• Step 2. Cut two strips (will become the Plus) out of the contrast fabric (b). Strips need to be long enough to be sewn to background fabric length-wise and width-wise and can be any width. The strips shown are 1 1/2" wide and will finish at 1".
• Step 3. Cut background fabric (a) in half length-wise, as desired (wonky or straight).
• Step 4. Sew one contrast fabric (b) strip to one half of background fabric (a). 

• Step 5. Press seams open.
• Step 6. Sew remaining half of background fabric to contrast fabric strip and press seams open.
• Step 7. Cut block in half width-wise, as desired (wonky or straight).
• Step 8. Sew remaining contrast strip to one half of the cut block. Press seams open.

• Step 9. Sew remaining half of the block from Step 7 to contrast strip sewn in Step 8. Press seams open.
• Step 10. Ta Da! You have a Plus block.

Sandi presented our program this month on two characteristics of the "Modern Aesthetic", expansive negative space and modern traditionalism. She gave a thorough description of both characteristics, while member quilt examples where shown. It was an informative and visually impressive presentation. Her goal was to help answer questions some of our members may have as to what denotes a Modern quilt. I think she was successful! Our members broke into their teams from last month. They were asked to think about ways their improv blocks could be worked into an expansive negative space or modern traditionalist quilt.

Time for show and tell.

1. Tricia Steadman   2. Tricia Steadman   3. Melissa Klingensmith

4. Mary Keasler   5. Mary Keasler   6. Mary Keasler    7. Mary Keasler

8. Marcia Taschenberger   9. Marcia Taschenberger   10. Kathleen McMullen   11. Kate Trundle

12. Catherine Price   13. Joan Thornbury

Melissa asked me to add; the product she used to get the "yellow" out of her high school dress was "Retro Clean".

It was another great meeting!

Make it Modern~Pam

February Meeting

The February Meeting of the ChattMQG is this Saturday, February 8th, 10:00 a.m. at Christ United Methodist Church.

Remember to bring your "Modern Dresden Plate" lottery blocks. In case you haven't had time to make any yet, here are a few links to inspire you.

www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/dymanic-dresden-plates/

www.sewmamasew.com/2010/04/dresden-plate-block-sew-along/

www.lurlineg.blogspot.com/2009/12/dresden-plate-tutorial.html

www.swimbikequilt.com/2012/06/dresden-squares-tutorial-ez-dresden.html

Our program this month will focus on two characteristics of the "Modern Aesthetic", expansive negative space and modern traditionalism. I think you will find this very informative and inspiring. It may even help answer the question, "What is Modern Quilting?".

As always, bring your Show and Tell. Hope to see you there.

Make it Modern~Pam

Member Monday—Ava Moore

Today's Member Monday is Ava Moore and here is her story…

"I feel like I have been sewing all my life. It started when I was young—by sixth grade I had sewn my father a down vest from a kit one used to be able to buy, feathers and all! I do recall feathers all over my room before I figured out how to get them from the plastic baggies to the vest. I learned to sew on my mother's 1950's Singer machine, which was a tank, even back in the day. But it is a great machine and would stitch anything! I learned tailoring and pattern making in high school and made a lot of my clothes, even into college. I made my first production order for a friend that was starting a line of "dog" clothes—remember, this was 30 years ago—and made 500 dog rain jackets as one of my summer jobs between my junior and senior year in high school. 

Two of my favorite projects were making my sisters and best friend's wedding dresses, as well as numerous bride maid dresses. And yes, I made my own wedding dress as well.

I was always intrigued with quilting, but felt like I would do it "one day when I had the room". At that time we were living east of San Francisco in an 800 square foot house…and yet, that is where I ended up starting my quilting adventure. I felt so lucky to be in an area with such creative quilting inspiration all around me, from the "quilt artists" to those gals who were never afraid of color! I took my first quilting class in Berkeley and never looked back. I took just about every class I could fit into my schedule—a unique Winding Road, even using design boards back then to visiting quilt teacher's at the East Bay Heritage Quilters. I can remember laying out the Winding Road quilt in the living room, from edge to edge and then running to the back room to stitch the blocks together in order.  Who says you need room? 

Since then I have loved being a part of the quilting community—both the alone time stitching and creating in my own space and coming together with other quilters to share ideas whether on the web, at a guild or a road trip to a quilt show near or far. I love finding a local quilt store in a town where I am traveling to see what other quilters are up to. The latest stop was the Treadle Yard Shop in St. Paul, MN this weekend. And in addition, it was a "real fabric store" which are disappearing from the landscape. Lots of gorgeous wools and flannels to go with the colder weather. 

So as I head home, I look forward to quilting my Kaffe Diamonds quilts in the room once considered the dining room and creating new projects for the winter ahead!"

I love reading these stories! It is so interesting to find out what brought our members to quilting. Thanks for sharing Ava.

Ava's logo block is featured in the ChattMQG header.

~Pam

January Meeting Recap

What a great start to a new year of the ChattMQG! Janet opened the meeting with a few notes of business. She informed the members that the Board of Directors had approved the Guild’s by-laws. Everyone on our e-mail list should have received a copy of those last week. She discussed an invitation we received from the Tennessee Aquarium to exhibit “nature-inspired” quilts during AQS QuiltWeek in September. The members voted to participate in this event and it was agreed that a committee would be formed. Membership applications were distributed during the meeting and dues were collected. We have 27 ChattMQG members!

Gayle presented the Lottery block for February, the Dresden Plate. We want everyone to get their “modern mojo” on and create a dresden plate-inspired block. There are no color or size restrictions. Here is the link Gayle provided for the paper pieced pattern.
www.christaquiltsblog.com/2013/01/31/do-you-dare-to-dresden-free-paper-pieced-pattern/

Here are a few more links to inspire you.
www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/dymanic-dresden-plates/
www.sewmamasew.com/2010/04/dresden-plate-block-sew-along/
www.lurlineg.blogspot.com/2009/12/dresden-plate-tutorial.html
www.swimbikequilt.com/2012/06/dresden-squares-tutorial-ez-dresden.html

This month our program was Improvisational Piecing. We divided into four teams and with the help of our great team leaders, everyone got their hands on a wide variety of scraps and created their own, one-of-a-kind fabric pieces. What a great time everyone had while learning such a diverse technique.

If you are interested in exploring improvisation further, you may want to check out some of these quilters.

Denyse Schmidt - www.dsquilts.com

Gwen Marston - www.gwenmarston.com

Jean Wells - www.jeanwellsquilts.com

Sherri Lynn Wood - www.daintytime.net

Bonnie Hunter - www.quiltville.com

Victoria Findlay-Wolfe - www.bumblebeansinc.com

Certainly, this is not a complete list, but will be a good start.

…and it wouldn’t be a ChattMQG meeting without Show and Tell.

1. Gerry Haywood  2. Gerry Haywood  3. Gerry Haywood

5. Sandi Suggs  6. Marcia Taschenberger  7. Denise Ohlman  8. Susan Lawson

9. Josie Dinwiddie  10. Josie Dinwiddie  11. Josie Dinwiddie  12. Josie Dinwiddie

13. Vista Mahan  14. Jackie Cory  15. Jackie Cory  16. Jackie Cory

17. Linda Smith  18. Linda Smith  19. Linda Smith  20. Mary Keasler

21. Melody Johnson  22. Melody Johnson  23. Vanessa King

It was a great meeting! 

~Pam

January Meeting

Our first meeting of 2014 is this Saturday, January 11 at 10:00 a.m. in our new meeting place, Christ United Methodist Church. We are very excited about our new space. It is huge and will accommodate us very well with plenty of room to grow and to sew! 

We are also excited about the activities we have planned for the year. Our program this month is Improvisational Piecing and will be interactive. I don't want to say too much, but think you will find it both fun and enlightening; an experience you won't want to miss.  

Be sure to bring your Show and Tell and get ready for a great year with the ChattMQG!

~Pam