Connecting with the CMQG

Connecting with the CQMG:

it's not only our quilting that's gone MODERN!

When I (Peta) first began to quilt, and realized that I wanted to meet other quilters, I wasn't sure exactly how to find them, other than word of mouth.    I noticed a few flyers at my local quilt shop,  but it was hard to figure out exactly how to participate.  As a new mom in my 30's,  many of the people I saw in that first guild meeting didn't seem very much like me at all, and it was intimidating. Especially when it came to show-and-tell time!  

How times have changed!   Here's a breakdown of how to get information about guild meetings and events, learn about our meetings and members, and become a part of our community.    Best of all, we continue to work to connect each of the four major portals, allowing members and potential members to easily navigate between them.   

BLOG ~ welcoming 

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild blog acts as the official face of the group to the public. It is the place where we share information about our group like meeting and event details, news about members, and inspiration we share for modern quilting. If you are interested in sharing a story (modern quilting inspiration, sewing tips, techniques, tutorials, or other news), get in touch with our Technology Chair Quilters at chicagomodernqg@gmail.com.

FACEBOOK ~ connecting

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Facebook page is the place to share information about our group and our passion for modern quilting, and is a place to connect with CMQG members. Feel free to share with us at the CMQG Facebook page!

FLICKR PAGE ~ sharing

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Flickr page and group pool are there to share photos with our members and the public. The Flickr page is where we share official photos from meetings, events, retreats and workshops. The Flickr Group Pool is for CMQG members to share photos of quilts, projects, and inspiration. Feel free to upload and share photos of your modern quilting projects with us at the Flickr Group Pool.

BIG TENT ~ informing

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild BigTent.com forum is the principal place for sharing group news and information with members. Event details, meeting RSVP’s, group news, and even conversations between members take place on the forums at Big Tent. 

Important documents like the CMQG group Bylaws are shared at BigTent. Make sure to upload a photo, use your first name, and fill in your profile so other members will recognize you when having conversations at BigTent! Big Tent is the only secure site - only members have access to this information. 

If you're worried about missing something important, be sure to follow our guild on Big Tent. All major updates will be posted to Big Tent.

We hope this helps explain the primary functions of the various social media sites we utilize to keep members informed, inspired and connected.

PS - Links to our various sites are listed in the sidebar of the blog, if you get lost you'll always be able to find the links there. 

CMQG June Workshop: 15 Minutes of Play with Victoria Findlay Wolfe

CMQG's June Workshop:

15 Minutes of Play Workshop

with Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Victoria with her Double Edged Love quilt which won best of show at QuiltCon 2013

Join us for an all day workshop based on Victoria’s book “15 Minutes of Play”. Enjoy improvisational piecing, playing with “made-fabric”, and learning techniques to “jump start your own creative path”.

Saturday, June 29, 2013 

10:00 am-4:00 pm

~Catered lunch provided~

Held at the Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church

149 West Brush Hill Road

Elmhurst, IL 60126

Cost is $60 (CMQG members only***)

15 Minutes of Play

Victoria Findlay Wolfe is an artist, quilter, fabric designer, wife, and mother who is constantly on a creative journey. Having been raised on a farm in central Minnesota, the skills she learned as a child, became her art form after she moved to NYC. She started quilting & Blogging full time in 2008 at BumblebeansInc, and very quickly began getting recognition for her unique custom quilts and local community work.

BumblebeansincBASICS.com is a quilt gathering program for homless families entering transitional housing in the NYC area. She is also a fabric designer for Newcastle Fabrics. Most recently Victoria won BEST IN SHOW at QuiltCon, Feb 2013, with her quilt "Double Edged Love." 

***Participants will be selected by lottery at the May 19 meeting. Please see Workshop Lottery Procedures description on the blog and Big Tent. Confirmed participants will receive details about the workshop via email.***

CMQG Event Lottery Procedures

Our group has outgrown our previous methods of signing up for a spot on retreats and workshops. To help the signup process run smoothly for these events we have worked out a lottery system so that each member has a fair chance to go to these excellent workshops and retreats. To read about the new lottery procedures check out the "Special Events, Retreats, & Workshops" page on the top header of the blog. 

In addition to hosting the official lottery procedures, the "Special Events, Retreats, & Workshops" page will have an up to date list of upcoming guild events. Mark your calendars!

April Meeting: Faith Jones Presents!

At this month's guild meeting we enjoyed a presentation by Faith Jones of Fresh Lemons Quilts! 

Faith lives in the Chicaoland area, began quilting in 2009 and has been going nonstop ever since! She has a love of Modern Traditional quilts - those made using traditional quilt blocks in a modern way. 

Faith shares her Arkansas Traveler Quilt

Faith showed us a lot of beautiful inspiring quilts. We were lucky to see so many fine examples of precise paper pieced blocks using bright happy fabrics. 

If you missed this presentation, or want to learn more be sure to check out these pages on Faith's blog:

         Summer Sampler Series (quilt block tutorials)

         Solstice Stars Series (quilt block tutorials)

         Tutorials and Patterns

         Finished Quilts

  Thank you Faith for sharing your quilts and giving us some insight into you design process!!

....

During the second half of our April meeting we gathered quilts, stuffed animals, and books for our charity project with Project Night Night. 

The two quilts made using blocks from our February Alphabet Workshop - wonky letters based on Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts book

Our guild members donated 45 quilts, stuffed animals, and children's books which will be given to children as they enter homeless shelters. These Project Night Night packs will help provide the recipients with a sense of comfort and stability. 

A big thanks to Erika, Holly, and all those who helped with this project!

Sew to Serve Project Night Night in Chicago

Image provided by Project Night Night

The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild is sewing for Project Night Night shelters here in Chicago as part of our “Sew to Serve Chicago” program. PNN (Project Night Night) benefits children in need just arriving in homeless shelters. Too often children arriving in shelters have little more than the bare essentials, and a PNN tote bag assures that a child leaves the shelter owning a book to encourage reading and family bonding, a security blanket to be cuddled, and a stuffed animal to become a cherished best friend. Each year PNN donates over 25,000 Night Night packages to shelters across the country, and the organization has the objective of reaching every homeless child in the country that needs help with a Night Night package.

We are hand making lots of cozy quilts for our PNN tote bags, and are also tackling the job of sewing up cuddly stuffies that will be a new best friend for a child. In fact, we’ve put together a little Pinterest Board to help our group get inspired and to share some of our favorite stuffie friend patterns and tutorials – you can check ‘em out right here!

Be sure to visit the official Project Night Night website to learn more about the organization and how you can help.

If you are a CMQG member and would like to find out more, please visit our Project Night Night informational thread here at Big Tent.

Thanks for putting together this information Erika and Holly!

Alphabet Workshop

Random pic of some wooden letters...

Sounds fun right???  Than come on over to the next meeting of the CMQG!!!!  Join us as we learn to make wonky letters based on Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts book.  

Here's how it will go down, first a demo of how to do it all and then we make a TON of blocks that can be used for Project Night Night.  So basically this is a charity sew in, so come on out and help us!  

RSVP here on Bigtent and see whatcha have to bring and we hope to see you at the meeting!

QuiltCon Charity Quilt - Done!

This quilt is on its way to Austin, Texas. It will be displayed, along with all the other charity quilts for the Austin Children's Shelton at QuiltCon in late February. The back is almost as fabulous as the front:

Thanks to Iris Johnson for her design; Sarah Shulman, Debbie Bookman, and Debbie Pine for piecing the front and the back and providing a label; Erika Mulvenna for her embroidery of the CMQG logo; Terri Karls of T and F Quilting Studio in Lemont for supplying the batting and doing the quilting; and Donna Moscinski for binding, washing, photographing, and mailing the quilt.This group effort is a good one!

Check out some of the details....

January Meeting Fun!

 As advertised the January meeting was awesome!  Check out what we did:

The Paper Piecing Station led by Wayne and Eileen turned out some beautiful work.

Working with Sara H and Linda some cool Curves were mastered.

Donna and Melissa's Improvisational Foundation Piecing Station sure was productive!

Stars of all colors were pieced in the Traditional Block Improvisation Station run by Sarah S and Emily B (me!).

Aaaaand, last but not least was an amazing Show and Tell.  You all never fail to inspire!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting, the blocks we made will be put into quilts for Project Night Night.

QuiltCon Donation Quilt - in process

The seven blocks of this quilt were submitted to the Modern Quilt Guild as part of the QuiltCon Block Challenge. The Modern Quilt Guild's goal is to put a quilt on every bed of the Austin Children's Shelter - Austin is where the Modern Quilt Guild is holding its first convention in February 2013. These 7 blocks were sent to the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild for our donation quilt to the shelter. Thanks to a clever layout by Iris Johnson and even cleverer execution of this layout by CMQG Program Chair Sarah Shulman, Debbie Bookman, and Debbie Pine, this top (and look at the wonderful backing), this quilt is ready for quilting. The top and backing have travelled 50 miles from Vernon Hills to Lemont, the home of T and F Quilting Studio and Terri Karls.

Once this is quilted, bound in orange, and washed (but before it is boxed and shipped), there will be final post.

Come to the January Meeting! Piecing Techniques

For our January meeting we have some talented members who are going to show us all some techniques for piecing our quilts!  The piecing demos will cover traditional block improvisation, improvisational foundation piecing, paper piecing, and curves.  When you enter the meeting you have the chance to sign up for 2 of these demonstrations, doors open at 1:45pm!  All the blocks we make on Sunday will be made from solids and later pieced into a charity quilt.

Doesn't this meeting sound awesome?  Dontcha wish it was right now?  Well it isn't but you should go and RSVP if you are coming on our Bigtent site under the "events" tab!