Here are detailed instructions on how to complete this month’s Block Lotto! Thank you Lucinda for coordinating this for the guild.
As a compliment to last month’s “Blue Moon” block, this month’s “Comet” block is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Last month’s solid was white, and it used a pattern, and curves. with an online tutorial. This block uses black, no pattern, and only straight lines, with no tutorial. These instructions are a guide, but there will be some improvisational decisions to make, and some monkeying around to fit the block together. Some may find this bit of freedom fun and easy, while some may find it more challenging.
The Guild provided one 11.5″ square of Kona Black. Participants provide scraps from their stash in three or more shades of a single color. It’s okay to use prints that read as solid. Stitch your gradation of scraps to form a rough strip approximately 3” x 12”. Seams do not need to be straight or parallel to each other.
Cut a long triangle wedge out of the strip. You choose the angles and direction. No need to measure. This is your “Comet”.
Cut the black square in two. You choose the placement and the angle of the cut.
Insert the Comet between the two black portions.
Take care to ensure that the result will yield at least a 10.5” square.
In order to accommodate the Comet piece, you may need to remove a wedge of black, adjust your angles, or flip one of your black portions over.
Sew the two black portions onto either side of your Comet. Don’t panic if the result is not square.
Square up the block, and trim to 10.5″
It’s okay if the point does not meet the edge of the block.
Black backgrounds always seem to make colors glow.
We should end up with a fun collection of 10.5” Comet blocks which can be assembled in any the winner desires.
Have fun with the colors, and don’t sweat the details.
The tutorial instructions are thorough, with clear pictures of each step, and the measurements are generous to allow for trimming down and squaring up.
For each block, the guild will provide two 5” squares of WHITE, and participants will use two BLUE (prints or solids) 5” squares from their stash (a total of four 5” squares are needed to complete the block.). Prints with outer space or sky motifs are especially cute and reinforce the Moon theme, but there is no need to purchase new fabric. Any solid shade of blue will also work. Your two blue squares do not have to match. Mix it up!
You will need an 8″ circle to use as a template. Paper templates were distributed at the meeting, but if you did not get one, you can use any means to create a circle with an 8” diameter.
When making my samples, I encountered two points that were not discussed in the tutorial, which might be helpful for first-time curve piecers.
1. One of the steps is to “find the center of each piece and pin them together.” The easiest way to find the center of a curve is to simply fold it in half and make a little finger-pressed crease. Match up the center creases of the convex and concave pieces, keeping right sides of the fabric together. Pin the center first, then pin the corners, and then fill in with as many pins as you find helpful.
2. I found that I was able to get the bias of the curve to stretch more easily when I fed the fabric through my machine with the convex piece on top. The tutorial pictures show the concave piece on top. Try one each way to see which works best for you.
Individual Drunkard’s Path units will be squared up to measure 4.25” each.
Four units will piece together to make a moon block measuring 8” square.
In order to create the Half Moon look, join the units so that they form a white semi-circle.
No one expects perfection! This is a way to build our skills with curves and try something new. Let’s make it fun!
Last week, we posted about MQG’s pattern of the month as one of the “perks” to belonging to The MQG mother-ship. This week, we bring you WEBINARS.
About once a month, the MQG hosts a webinar on a topic related to quilting – Creative and Business. Past Creative Webinar topics have included Social Media, Being True to Your Inner Quilt Artist, Alternate Gridwork, and many others. They are done by people who are involved in the quilting world – business owners and artists – and they share their knowledge about how to start your own quilt related business to tips on color theory.
There’s one coming up in March 22nd, Freedom from Perfection and Procrastination with Amy Marson (publisher of C&T Publishing). Find upcoming webinars from The MQG home page under EVENTS. This information can also be found on this blog under MQG Calendar, which is linked to MQG’s calendar (tech magic). To sign up, just go to the event, click on the webinar you’re interested in, and click on the REGISTER HERE! button. Let us know if you’ve tried these and what you’ve learned (at our next meeting, on our FB Group, or in the comments below)
So, now that you want to see what they are all about, how do you know when they are scheduled and how do you get to view past episodes? Why, just log into The MQG site with your user name and password (you should have received instructions on getting these when you initially joined OCMQG). Then click on COMMUNITY. Then RESOURCES. On this page, you’ll see a list of topics.
From here, you can click on Creative Webinars to see the list of creative topics OR click on Business Webinars to see the list of business topics.
One of the questions that’s routinely asked by new members (and current ones) is: What are the benefits of belonging to The MQG through OCMQG?
Besides member discounts for QuiltCon (future post), every month a new pattern is released to MQG members. These patterns are designed by active modern quilters, many of whom have their own quilting businesses.
If you remember to sign up for the MQG monthly newsletter, you should also be receiving a link to the latest pattern mid-month. This month’s pattern is Meeting of the Geese by Sylvia Schaefer.
Let us know if you’ve made a quilt using one of these patterns – comment below or post to Instagram with #ocXXXMQGpattern (where XXX is the month – jan, feb, etc).
Didn’t sign up for the newsletter? Forgot to download a previous month’s pattern?
Fear not! Help is on the way…
Go to the MQG website and login (login is in upper right hand corner)
Click on COMMUNITY
Click on RESOURCES
Under Table of Contents, click on 1. Click Here for Quilt of the Month Patterns
You should now see a list of links to patterns, newest patterns first. Click on the pattern you want.
2016 Patterns
2014 Patterns
Click on the link to the .pdf file (yes, there’s a lot of clicking involved)
Et Viola! The pattern should open up in a new page. Once it’s finished opening, you should be able to save it to your computer or other drive (dropbox, google drive, etc). You can also print it out, if you wish.
We had a full house at Cosmic Quilting for our March meeting! It is always wonderful to see so many people at the meetings!
Upcoming Workshops
Playing with Color & Fabric: Making Your Stash Work For You with Cecile Choi
We have two exciting workshop opportunities for our members. Cecile’s workshop will be held on Sunday, April 30, from 10-4 at Cosmic Quilting. This is not a sewing workshop; it’s about how to put fabrics together. You will bring fabrics from your stash. Cecile will use someone’s stash as an example and pull from other people’s stashes to create intriguing color palettes and combinations. Bring approximately 60 pieces of fabric from your stash. Using a pattern that Cecile chooses as an example, she’ll show you how she’d put the pattern together using fabrics from your stash. The cost is $60 for members, $70 for non-members, limited to 12 participants. The workshop will be open to friends if it does not fill up with members.
Indigo – Shibori Workshop & Lunch with Sandra Johnson
Sandra’s workshop will be held on June 3 from 10-3. The location is in a private home in South Orange County, and will be sent to those who register. It is $75 for OCMQG members, and $100 for non-members. To register, email Sandra at sandrajohnsondesigns@gmail.com This workshop covers:
learn to fold, tie and clamp resist using historic patterns
indigo dye is a natural fiber which is what we will be using
dye natural fiber goods in an indigo dye vat
learn a method for creating an acvite dye vat
all fabric for dying provided by instructor
in class you will learn to create a variety of paper patterns which you can use on fabrics
includes: fabric for dying ½ yard white cotton, dye, lunch, and fun!
Scrap Swap
Bring your scraps to the April meeting to participate in the Scrap Swap with the Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild!
Quiltcon Charity Quilt
We are seeking a female veteran that we can give our Quiltcon Charity Quilt to. If you know someone, please send an email to ocmodernquiltguild@gmail.com.
Raffle Items
Sandra donated three beautiful handmade items to this month’s raffle: A gorgeous fat quarter basket, a nifty zipper bag for holding sewing supplies, and a beautiful notepad/journal cover. Thank you Sandra! We raised $78 for the guild with this month’s raffle!
Raffle Item 1: Fat Quarter Basket, made by Sandra
Raffle Item 2: Book Cover, made by Sandra
Raffle Item 3: Zippered Pouch, made by Sandra
March Challenge – UFO
Thanks to everyone who participated in the March Quilt Challenge! There were so many beautiful quilts presented, and it was great to see so many UFOs completed. Congratulations to our winners!
July Challenge – Library
July’s challenge is to make a quilt from a pattern in your pattern library that you have bought and never made before. It could be from a magazine or a book. There is no minimum size; it can be a table runner or a king size quilt! You do not have to post a picture of the pattern you will be using on social media, but we’d love to see what you’ve got planned – use #ocmqglibrary or #ocmqg.
Quilt Show
The Orange County Quilter’s Guild show will be held on April 21-22, Friday and Saturday, from 10-4. Location is 222 N. East St., Anaheim. There is a special preview evening with a Wine & Cheese Reception on Thursday, 4/20 from 6-8:30 PM, cost is $25 for the preview evening. Tickets to the show are $10 at the door, or $8 presale. To purchase tickets, visit their website.
Quilt Show in San Diego
Jean Wells, a quilt artist and author, is having an exhibit entitled “Anatomy of Nature.” It will be at Visions Gallery in San Diego. Jean has been quilting for 39 years and owns and operates The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, OR. She has experimented with many different quilting techniques. She designs with line, pattern, color and texture, and recurring themes are inspired by nature—rocks, trees, grasses, flowers and landscapes. Bunnie and Kathy have taken 2 workshops from Jean and can tell you firsthand that she is a fantastic teacher and person.
Her exhibit opens on Saturday, April 22nd with a special opening reception from 5-7 PM. The exhibit runs until July 2nd. Bunnie will be going to the opening and can take 3-4 people in her car. Send Bunnie an email at bunnie@dbmsoft.com if you are interested in carpooling. For more info on the exhibit, visit here.
Speaker for the April Meeting
The Batty Lady will be giving a presentation on batting and thread at our April meeting, thank you Alicia! You will learn everything you need to know about different types of batting and thread at this presentation, so be sure to attend the April meeting!
2017 Budget
One item was incorrect on the budget presentation at last meeting, the amount for our Cosmic Quilting space was listed as $300/year and the actual amount should be $600/year. Bunnie proposed a motion to approve the space rental and this was approved by the guild.
Block Lotto for April
Thank you Lucinda for organizing this month’s block lotto! Here are detailed instructions on how to make the block.
Traditional Meets Modern – “Blue Moon”
This is a block made up of four Drunkard’s Path units, joined to make a circle.
We are using the free tutorial from Stitched by Crystal
The tutorial instructions are thorough, with clear pictures of each step, and the measurements are generous to allow for trimming down and squaring up.
For each block, the guild will provide two 5” squares of WHITE, and participants will use two BLUE (prints or solids) 5” squares from their stash (a total of four 5” squares are needed to complete the block.). Prints with outer space or sky motifs are especially cute and reinforce the Moon theme, but there is no need to purchase new fabric. Any solid shade of blue will also work. Your two blue squares do not have to match. Mix it up!
You will need an 8″ circle to use as a template. Paper templates were distributed at the meeting, but if you did not get one, you can use any means to create a circle with an 8” diameter.
When making my samples, I encountered two points that were not discussed in the tutorial, which might be helpful for first-time curve piecers.
1. One of the steps is to “find the center of each piece and pin them together.” The easiest way to find the center of a curve is to simply fold it in half and make a little finger-pressed crease. Match up the center creases of the convex and concave pieces, keeping right sides of the fabric together. Pin the center first, then pin the corners, and then fill in with as many pins as you find helpful.
2. I found that I was able to get the bias of the curve to stretch more easily when I fed the fabric through my machine with the convex piece on top. The tutorial pictures show the concave piece on top. Try one each way to see which works best for you.
Individual Drunkard’s Path units will be squared up to measure 4.25” each.
Four units will piece together to make a moon block measuring 8” square.
In order to create the Half Moon look, join the units so that they form a white semi-circle.
No one expects perfection! This is a way to build our skills with curves and try something new. Let’s make it fun!
Thank you Sandy for organizing this month’s Block Lotto and doing a demo of the pattern—it’s a paper-pieced coffee mug! Those who signed up received a piece of fabric in Kona Silver and RightPatterns (R)’s Coffee Cup pattern (available on Craftsy.com). Pull any fabrics from your stash to complete the coffee mug. Paper piecing the “steam” is optional, you can top the mug with a solid block if you wish. Sandy enlarged the block to a 10” block. The pattern when enlarged doesn’t include the 1/4” seam around the outside so be sure to include the 1/4” seam around the block.
Thanks for attending our February meeting and thank you Lisa for leading the February meeting! At the beginning of the meeting, Karen A. and Lucinda checked in from QuiltCon via Skype and shared their initial impressions of the conference, thank you both for taking the time to share your experience at the conference!
Block Lotto
Thank you Sandy for organizing this month’s Block Lotto and doing a demo of the pattern—it’s a paper-pieced coffee mug! Those who signed up received a piece of fabric in Kona Silver and RightPatterns (R)’s Coffee Cup pattern (available on Craftsy.com). Pull any fabrics from your stash to complete the coffee mug. Paper piecing the “steam” is optional, you can top the mug with a solid block if you wish. Sandy enlarged the block to a 10” block. The pattern when enlarged doesn’t include the 1/4” seam around the outside so be sure to include the 1/4” seam around the block.
Demo’s
If you would like to volunteer to demo a sewing or quilting technique at an upcoming meeting, let us know!
Budget
The 2017 budget was unanimously approved at the meetinng
Volunteer Positions Update
Sandra has volunteered to coordinate field trips and workshops for OCMQG, thank you Sandra! Lisa has also volunteered to help co-coordinate field trips, thank you Lisa!
Mary has volunteered to coordinate the handmade item raffle, thank you Mary! We also had many people sign-up to make a handmade item to donate to the guild for raffles, thank you to our amazing members for signing up! We have enough sign-ups to be able to have a raffle at every meeting through 2017! Raffle tickets will be $1 each or 6 tickets for $5, and proceeds will go to the guild. Each month, Mary will be touching base with the person who has volunteered to check-in on your progress. Bring some cash to the March meeting for raffle tickets.
Scrap Swap
At the meeting, some members brought scraps to donate to the “Scrap Swap.” Elise is coordinating this with the Long Beach MQG, thank you Elise! At the March meeting, Elise will bring back three “scrap bags” and three members will be chosen at random to take a bag home. Those people will select the scraps from the bag they would like to keep, add scraps back to the bag, and bring the bag back to the April meeting. If you donated scraps at the February meeting and are selected, you do not need to add additional scraps. There will be a separate bag of solid-color scraps. Elise will get a scrap bag from at the Long Beach MQG meeting on 3/7 to bring to our March meeting.
Social Break
Our mini Social Breaks are a big hit! Halfway through the meeting, we are taking a break so that members can socialize and get to know each other better.
March Challenge
Quilts for our first challenge of the year are due at the March meeting! Your quilt must be completed including binding. We’re so excited to see what our members have created and hope you are feeling a sense of completion as you tackle those UFO’s!
Staying with the theme of UFO’s, an idea for the next challenge (due in July) is to make a quilt from a pattern that you already own, so start going through all those patterns you’ve bought and never made!
Workspace Tours
Elise had a great suggestion to do a powerpoint presentation of people’s workspaces. If you would like to participate, send Elise some pictures of your workspace and a brief explanation of your setup, organization, or process. This presentation will give members some ideas and inspiration on how they might organize their workspaces better. Elise’s email is elise.a.beck@gmail.com.
During show and tell, Julie presented a quilt that had a QR code on the label. Using this technology, Julie recorded herself reciting the poem that is sewn on the quilt. When the code is scanned, it plays back Julie’s voice reciting the poem. What a great idea! For more info on how to add this to a quilt, check out Www.stkrit.com.
Finish up those UFO’s at our next Sew-In, it’s on Sunday March 12 at Cosmic Quilting from 12-4. Our next meeting is on March 30. Happy sewing!
There are many spectrums in modern quilting – the construction of the quilt top, the style of the quilting (stitch in the ditch, straight line, free motion), or on the artistic spectrum of eclectic (bold and scrappy) to minimalism. QuiltCon had quilts that represented all of these areas and were inspiring to people who are just starting out to folks who are diving into more advanced quilting techniques.
Many people come into modern quilting asking, “What is modern quilting?” and they get the gamut of answers – modern fabrics, lots of negative space, alternate grid work, improv, straight line quilting, free motion quilting that creates a picture in the negative space….
In my personal quilting journey, I started off as a traditional quilter (yes, there was Civil War reprint fabric in my stash), learning the traditional blocks and ways to finish a quilt. I did that for a while, until life happened and I took a break from quilting for about 10 years. When I was ready to get back into quilting, I found a quilt-a-long with Pile O’ Fabric and Carolina Patchworks, where the challenge was using solids and the pattern was made of bold, graphic lines. That’s when I fell in love with modern quilting.
Groovy Movie Quilt pieced and quilted by Karen Aalders (pattern by Carolina Patchworks)
My journey moved on to trying wonky log cabins, using fabrics with more modern designs/colors, and experimenting with straight line and free motion quilting (can you say paisleys?).
By the time QuiltCon 2015 rolled around, I was ready to take the plunge into improv piecing, where you loose the rotary cutter and ruler. Now, that was scary. Then liberating and FUN.
Floating Squares Improv by Karen Aalders (technique by S.L. Wood)
Bias Petals Improv by Karen Aalders (technique by S.L. Wood)
Wonky Log Cabin by Karen Aalders (pattern by J. Gering)
This year, I’m dipping my toes even further – the Might Lucky Quilters Club is already stretching my comfort zone with using bias tape and creating a piece using minimalist methods.
Where are you in your modern quilting journey? How are you going to incorporate the sights from QuiltCon 2016 into your quilting journey?
Where ever you are in your journey, remember – there are no quilt police in Modern Quilting. Create and move along the modern quilting spectrums at your own pace.
Share your journey! We’d love to see your work – post your work with #quiltsofocmqg to share your experience with us.
February’s Block is inspired by Linda Miller’s “Scrappy Lines.” We are changing Miller’s proportions, and using solids instead of prints. Each block is a different shade of off-white, with a single pieced stripe. We are supplying Kona Snow and Moda Eggshell, one piece is 5” x 8.5” and one piece is 2.5” x 8.5”. You will add your own solid-color pieced stripe to the middle of the pieces that were supplied. The strip you will add is 2.5” x 8.5” so the finished square is 8.5” x 8.5”. FYI the pieces we are giving are generously cut. Tip: the pieced strip is the width of a jelly roll strip. Feel free to use pre-cut solids if you have them. Use solids for your middle strip, you can use neutrals or do a pop of color, but adhere to the modern quilting aesthetic.
Thanks to everyone who came to our first meeting of 2017! It’s always nice to see so many faces—and quilts! We’d like to thank Elizabeth, who donated a gorgeous fat quarter bundle for a future prize. Also thanks to Lucinda for coordinating this month’s Block Lotto! Lucinda has also volunteered to be our new Block Lotto Chairperson, thank you Lucinda!
Speaking of Block Lotto, February’s Block is inspired by Linda Miller’s “Scrappy Lines.” We are changing Miller’s proportions, and using solids instead of prints. Each block is a different shade of off-white, with a single pieced stripe. We are supplying Kona Snow and Moda Eggshell, one piece is 5” x 8.5” and one piece is 2.5” x 8.5”. You will add your own solid-color pieced stripe to the middle of the pieces that were supplied. The strip you will add is 2.5” x 8.5” so the finished square is 8.5” x 8.5”. FYI the pieces we are giving are generously cut. Tip: the pieced strip is the width of a jelly roll strip. Feel free to use pre-cut solids if you have them. Use solids for your middle strip, you can use neutrals or do a pop of color, but adhere to the modern quilting aesthetic.
Pieced by Lucinda Walker
Sandy has volunteered to plan the March block of the month, thank you Sandy!
Dues Renewal for 2017
Those who renewed their dues at tonight’s meeting paid $45 instead of $50! The dues amount will be $50 if you did not renew at tonight’s meeting. The money from dues goes to the MQG and to the OCMQG, and pays for our membership to the MQG, workshops, the holiday party, block lotto fabrics, Cosmic Quilting space for sew-ins and meetings, and so much more! Our budget was emailed to members, or you can see a hard copy at a meeting—just ask an officer. We currently have approximately $2300 surplus in our budget.
Officer Update
Susie has volunteered to be our new treasurer!! Thank you Susie!!
Sewing Party Block of the Month
Cecile is offering the Delilah Block of the Month from Jen Kingwell Designs! The registration fee is $20 per month including shipping. You will get a pattern and an acrylic template, block sizes are 6”, 9” or 12”. She is going to create fabric selections including three colorways, and she’ll be bringing in some samples. She will make up some kits as well. For more info, contact Cecile at info@sewingparty.com. You can sign up online as well at sewingparty.com.
Quiltcon Charity Quilt
Our quilt is finished and it looks amazing! Thank you Susan for heading up this project and those who helped create and design it. Karen used her longarm to quilt it at Cosmic Quilting, and members who attended the January sew-in had a chance to quilt a few rows. Thank you Karen for doing the quilting of our philanthropy quilt!
Quiltcon is in February, Lucinda has a quilt entered in the show, congratulations Lucinda!
Field Trips and Classes
Sandra Johnson is leading a field trip to Hoffman Fabrics on Thursday, February 9th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. The tour is FREE! Come and see how they make their fabrics. Bring money to possibly purchase fabric at the end of the tour. Every visitor will get a gift, feel free to bring a friend who would like to get inspired to start sewing! Hoffman Fabrics address: 25792 Obrero Drive, Mission Viejo. Sandra is also offering free sewing/quilting classes in Anaheim Hills on Thursdays from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM at the East Anaheim Community Center. The address is 8165 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd, Anaheim Hills 92808. For more info contact Sandra at sandrajohnsondesigns@gmail.com.
Holiday Philanthropy Quilt
Karen Miller / Cosmic Quilting will be doing the quilting for our holiday party philanthropy quilt and Susan has volunteered to do the binding, thank you Susan and Karen!
Scrap Swap
Elise is the liason between our guild and the Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild. The Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild would like to participate in a “Scrap Swap” with us. Each person donates some scraps, takes the bag home, and picks out some scraps. We will switch bags with the Long Beach guild. Donate “usable” sized scraps. Bring your scraps to the next meeting! More details to come. Elise has offered to teach how to make a skirt at our February sew-in, a supply list and more info will be included in the February sew-in reminder. The LBMQG meets on the 1st Tuesday of the month at Sew Vac and their next meeting is 2/7. The address is 1762 Clark ave, Long Beach.
At this meting we switched things up a bit and had a 15 min. “social break” during the meeting. Members had a chance to mingle and chat during the meeting. At this meeting, we also gathered feedback from members on what you’d like to see from the guild this year, and things we can improve on. Thank you for supplying feedback, guild officers will take your comments into account when planning our events and meetings for 2017!
Our “icebreaker” at the meeting was: what are your quilting goals for 2017? We had so many great answers, here are some of them. If you didn’t make it to the meeting hopefully they will be an inspiration for the upcoming year of sewing and quilting.
Finish UFO’s — Learn How to Use a New Machine — Sew Your Stash — Make your Own Clothing — Sew More to Post More on Instagram — Downsize the Fabric Stash — Work Less and Sew More — Make Some of the Patterns You’ve Already Bought — Finish Pieced Tops — Take a Class — Quilt at Least a Little Bit Every Day — Watch All the Craftsy Classes You’ve Bought — Use FQ Bundles — Turn Quilting into a Career / Business
Find upcoming webinars from The MQG home page under 
From here, you can click on Creative Webinars to see the list of creative topics OR click on Business Webinars to see the list of business topics.
Orange County Modern Quilt Guild 
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