Toronto Modern Quilt Guild

Well, LAST summer during our vacation we got together outside of the city for a little eating and show and tell, but just for the afternoon. THIS year we had an actual, bona fide quilting retreat! One of our members, Adrienne Van Halem, generously invited us to her family cottage up North. So, a handful of us who could take the time and make the drive headed up to Georgian Bay for the weekend.  And it was GLORIOUS! I mean, look at that! I wish I'd taken a good picture of the cottage, but basically its a gorgeous little place with hight ceilings and art filled walls, that looks right out onto the lake. Just walk down the lawn and you can hop off the dock straight into the water! But don't worry, we didn't spend all day down on the dock.  We did a LOT of sewing! We took over the living room and set up a cutting station, an ironing station... and a great big sewing table where we fit five sewing machines... …and another little table for the vintage feather...

Yes, its very sad, but we do take a little bit of a break in the summer. Not from quilting. Heavens no, we are all still probably quilting up a storm in our respective homes, but we of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild take a little break from meetings. The Summer is so short and there are only so many weekends to go around and people camp and travel and go to weddings and whatnot, so we decided it was easiest to just take a brief hiatus in the summertime.  Our last meeting of the year was great though. We kicked things off with a gift.  Zoriana, one of our members is going to have a baby soon (in fact, at the time of this blog, she probably already has!) and we got together to make her a little quilt for the baby. Nothin' more fun to make than a baby quilt! So small and manageable and it can be just a colour free for all! We all made quilt-as-you-go log cabin blocks in a bright fun palette and the result is perfect for a little tummy time.  Here are some of the bloc...

Alright then, better late than never, here is the blog post about the "Not Really President's Challenge" A short note on the title of that. Most guilds have a President's Challenge once a year, but we are a guild that doesn't really have a president. When our last president resigned, no one wanted to step up and take the reins. But at the same time, we all loved being part of the guild and did not want to let it dissolve, so we decided to share the responsibilities around, and keep things running. Sort of like a collective. We still have a treasurer, and various people who do various things, and we keep it all running. But since there is no actual President we thought (those of us who were organizing the challenge) that we should call it the "Not Really President's Challenge". You know, since we are not really Presidents.  So, that being explained, let me explain the challenge to you. On the day that we issued the challenge we brought in a big s...