Details for Mary Kerr Lecture and Workshop

In one week, Mary Kerr will be here to teach us how to use vintage blocks and textiles in modern quilts!

"Twisted" Lecture

Join us for a lecture and trunk show Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30)

Mary will showcase a collection of modern quilts created with vintage textiles, and copies of her book Twisted will be available for purchase. The event will be held in the Youth Center at Christ United Methodist Church, located at 8645 E. Brainerd Road in Chattanooga.

Please be advised that E. Brainerd Road is under construction; attendees will need to enter the church complex from Morris Hill Road. The Youth Center is located on the western side of the complex and has its own entrance. Follow the signs!

Lecture admission is free for current ChattMQG members, $15 for nonmembers who pay in advance, and $20 for nonmembers who pay at the door. 

Nonmembers, secure your spot and pay today using the PayPal button below.

"Twist and Shout" Workshop

Two spots remain for Mary’s four-hour workshop Saturday, April 8. It starts at 2 p.m. in the Adult Education Building at Christ United Methodist Church; participants should arrive between 1:30 and 1:45 to set up their work area.

In this fast-paced environment, Mary will teach participants how to showcase vintage quilt fragments in new, contemporary quilts. Students are invited to bring their own vintage blocks or they may purchase a kit in the class for $30. Mary will also show quilts from her book Recycled Hexies for inspiration.

The workshop costs $50 for current ChattMQG members and $70 for nonmembers.

Once again, enter the church complex from Morris Hill Road. The Adult Education Building is on the northern side of the complex and has its own entrance. Follow the signs!

March Meeting Recap

Blocks assembled using foundation paper piecing methods

Foundation Paper Piecing

Speed Dating Style

We had the fun of speed-dating several kinds of paper piecing techniques. Designs ranged from simple to complex and used printer paper, vellum or freezer paper. Did you find a method you loved?

Toni showed us how to make a simple paper-pieced string block and this one is great for beginners. She used a red strip down the diagonal of her printer paper squares, added other colors to each side, and ended up with a unified design. 

Toni presses a string block

Audrey's striped stars

Toni presses her seams after each addition. After the paper has been covered with fabric strips, she turns it over and trims even with the paper. No fuss at all and the blocks end up square with no distortion that sometimes results from strip piecing.

Audrey used a pattern for a striped star. Like Toni, she used printer paper for her foundation. Her pattern was numbered (1-8) and she showed how to add fabric in order of number. 

Audrey recommends using your old machine needles for paper piecing (paper dulls needles just as it does scissors). 

Also, sew along the lines of the pattern with no thread in the needle to perforate the paper before you sew with fabric, especially along the outer edges. 

Delores demonstrates chain piecing

Sandi recommends the Add-A-Quarter ruler

Delores prefers to use vellum as she pieces because she can see right through it. She prints her pattern onto the vellum using her home computer and then lays out several patterns on a fabric strip in a form of chain piecing.

Sandi works with freezer paper instead of printer paper or vellum. She cuts the freezer paper to 8.5” x 11” then uses a warm iron to adhere only the top half inch to a piece of printer paper—it glides right through her printer that way. Sandi prints her pattern onto the freezer paper (dull side up).

When she constructs her blocks, she folds the paper on the seam line and sews beside the paper. No tearing of paper is involved, and a pattern can be used three or four times before it loses its stickiness.

Sandi recommends the Add-a-Quarter Ruler as a super-helpful paper piecing tool.

Denise showed us how to construct complex paper piecing patterns. Some designs cannot be sewn as single blocks, so they are broken down into sub units, paper pieced, then joined into a whole. 

Denise recommends the book Quilt Block Bonanza by Nancy Mahoney. She demonstrated how to make a complex geometric block. 

Check out the slideshow for more pictures!

Mary Keasler and her quilt "Not Easy Being Green"

Sound the trumpets...

We have a QuiltCon award winner!

Congratulations to Mary Keasler for winning the Best Machine Quilting—Frameless award at QuiltCon! Her textural masterpiece Not Easy Being Green hung in the winner's circle with the best of the best and will be featured in an upcoming MQG publication.

Our latest Habitat for Humanity quilt

Habitat Quilts

Jean has become a manager extraordinaire of all things Habitat. Her latest design uses 3.5" squares—preferably of bright, modern prints and solids—set in a solid color to show them off.

Members sewed individual blocks for the quilt pictured here; Theresa then assembled the top and quilted it on her domestic machine!

When you are working on your own quilts at home, think about cutting a 3.5" strip of one of your fabric, then cut that into 3.5" squares and bring them to our next meeting. We appreciate all of your contributions, and so do the Habitat for Humanity homeowners.

 

Show and Tell

Star Blocks for Habitat Quilt: Call for Volunteers

A collection of four star units.
Each unit is made from four star blocks.
Sixteen blocks are pictured above.

We learned several techniques for paper piecing at our March meeting. Now it's time to make scrappy stars for a new Habitat quilt.

Audrey modified the Stripey Star pattern by Wombat Quilts to meet our needs. Click the link below to find the modified pattern and directions to make one star.

In order to make a unit like the one pictured above, you need to construct four blocks of a single color, then sew them together to make one 12.5" unfinished star unit. The tutorial below should make this clear.

Thank you for your help!

Habitat Star Block Tutorial

ChattMQG to Host Lecture and Workshop with Mary Kerr

Join Mary Kerr in Chattanooga April 7 & 8.

We are pleased to announce Mary Kerr is coming to Chattanooga for a special two-day event! Mary is an author, award-winning quilter, and antique quilt enthusiast who lives just outside Washington, D.C. Mary’s recent work encourages the use of vintage blocks and textiles in modern quilts. 

“As quilters we often limit ourselves to playing in a specific sandbox. We are traditional quilters, art quilters, contemporary quilters, or modern quilters,” writes Mary in her 2016 book Twisted. “Rarely do we take the opportunity to blur these lines. ... It amazes me to consider what can happen when we refuse to follow the rules and allow ourselves to combine our passions.”

Dig through your stash and learn to work those old fabrics and long-forgotten UFOs into your current endeavors following Mary’s unique approach.

Mary's 2016 book Twisted

"Twisted" Lecture

Join us Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. for “Twisted”, a lecture and trunk show where Mary will showcase a collection of modern quilts created with vintage textiles. The event will be held in the Youth Center at Christ United Methodist Church, located at 8645 E. Brainerd Road in Chattanooga.

Admission is free for current ChattMQG members, $15 for nonmembers who pay in advance, and $20 for nonmembers who pay at the door. 

Nonmembers, secure your spot and pay today! Use the PayPal button below.

"Twist and Shout" Workshop

Then on Saturday, April 8 at 2 p.m. Mary will lead a four-hour workshop entitled “Twist and Shout” in the Adult Education Building at Christ United Methodist Church. In this fast-paced environment, Mary will teach participants how to showcase vintage quilt fragments in new, contemporary quilts. Students are invited to bring their own vintage blocks or they may purchase a kit in the class. Mary will also show quilts from her book Recycled Hexies for inspiration.

The workshop is limited to 20 participants and costs $50 for current ChattMQG members and $70 for nonmembers.

A material/supply list will be provided to participants via email. For more information about the workshop, please contact Mary Keasler at chattmqg@gmail.com. 

March Meeting: Paper Piecing

Join us Saturday, March 11 at 10 a.m. for our monthly guild meeting.

We’re going to talk paper piecing in a fun and fast-paced environment that resembles speed dating, but without the sweaty palms and heavy cologne.

Small groups will rotate around the room to observe demonstrations of five different techniques that run the gamut from easy to advanced, and there will be lots of gorgeous samples to inspire you.

Perhaps you’ll walk away with a newfound love!