April 2018 Meeting Recap

Sample from Gunnel Hag's Spotlight on Fabric Painting

Welcome back everyone to the blog! As in previous blog posts, I always like to start with awkward small talk on the weather. Well, it’s finally spring/summer. Alright then, we had a wonderful and full meeting in April, so let’s hop to it!

TMQG Happenings

First off, we’d like to thank the Workroom for the partnership/sponsorship of this month’s raffled door prize of a $40 gift card. Lucky ducky, Valerie won and we wish her some happy shopping! We’ll continue to have our monthly $2 raffle tickets for juicy, delicious door prizes. Thank you everyone for your support.

A few other announcements in support of guild members or interesting things happening:

• Berene Campbell @happysewlucky is spearheading a banner installation for North York. She’ll be at the May 27th meeting, so bring your banner then! www.happysewlucky.wordpress.com for instructions and more information.
• The annual Quilts at the Creek will be July 28th & 29th. Let’s get a modern alley going again!
• Coming soon! Andrea Tsang Jackson from 3rd Story Workshop will be here in October! More info to come as the details get nailed down, but we're excited for 2 days of her amazing workshops!
• Also, thank you to Kim Mastromartino, Helen Matt and Diana Fox-Revett for bringing the delicious snacks. I’m not going to lie, I ate 3 of Diana’s butterscotch treats.

Wondering what you can expect in the upcoming months at the guild? Here’s the line-up!

• May: Showing Your Quilts
• June: Monetizing Your Craft
• July: Quilts at the Creek
• September: TBD
• October: Andrea Tsang-Jackson of @3rdstoryworkshop

Karen Brown showing Memories of a Churn Dash blocks

Block Lotto Challenge

This month’s Block Lotto Challenge is called Memories of a Churn Dash and is also our shout out to the 2018 Colors of the Year. Thank you to Karen Brown for writing the instructions and creating another great video! Rules for the challenge are:

• 9.5” unfinished / 9” finished block
• Use only Kona Bright Periwinkle, Tiger Lily and White (in any way)
• Must be distilled from the Churn Dash block
• Due at the May 27th meeting

Fabric kits are available for purchase for $8 (includes shipping) and include a FQ of Kona White, a fat eighth of Kona Bright Periwinkle and a fat eighth of Kona Tiger Lily. Email us at torontomodernquiltguild@gmail.com to order your kit.

Don’t forget to use your hashtags! #tmqgblocklotto #memoriesofachurndash

Gunnel Hag's Painted Fabric

TMQG Spotlight: Fabric Painting with Gunnel Hag

Thank you to Gunnel Hag for her delightful spotlight on fabric painting. She showcased many of her samples of screen printed and fabric painted works, which she used non-toxic pigments on. My personal favorite was her witty presentation on how to use everyday found objects to create various patterns on fabric. I’ll never look at a potato masher the same way again. For more information on fabric painting visit here.

Also, thank you to Gwen Hopkins for organizing the 2018 TMQG Spotlight series!

One of Johanna Masko's Scrappy Quilts

Programming: Johanna Masko on All About Scraps

Thank you to Johanna Masko for coming and making us rethink the scrap bins we have in the corners of our studios. Johanna is an award winning quilter and teacher who has an epic scrap stash that spans decades.

In her presentation she described her various techniques on how to not only use scraps, but also minimize wasting fabric (aka not creating as many scraps). Here are quick highlight of some of her tips:

• Suggests using Patchpieces’ No Waste Flying Geese
• Analyze piecing and cutting instructions to reduce scraps
• Store scraps by color
• Scrap busting quilt ideas include:
• strip quilts
• simple repeating shapes
• double wedding rings
• log cabin
• Herringbone patchwork
• Improvisations
• foundation paper piecing
• English paper piecing
• sampler quilts
• quiltalongs

Show & Share

This month was pretty epic in the number of quilts that were ready to present at Show & Share. Steff Rose kicked it all off with her self-designed Ugh… quilt. Steff loves to free motion quilt and this quilt provided lots of negative space. @steffwess

Bob Gentili showed us her Yuma quilt that was made using a Gotham Quilts pattern. Her stunning version used some beautiful Alison Glass and a backing she loved too much to give away. @geekybobbin

Bob also had her contribution to the Red Feather Project using a free pattern from Anna Maria Horner. Calgary quilter @cozy.chloe.designs started the #redfeatherquilt to raise awareness of the national tragedy of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. She is currently working on a quilt to benefit an organization in Ontario, let her know if you’d like to contribute. @geekybobbin

Helen Mah brought A Star is Born which was adapted from Fig Tree Quilts’ Jelly Girl. This is a baby quilt to celebrate the birth of a baby boy. She was also inspired by Shirley Dawson’s Make it Big, Make it Small quilt (for this year’s Quilts at the Creek) and made the quilt reversible. Very nice touch!

Berene Campbell brought her finished Tattoo Quilt #tattooquilt! We’ve seen this quilt come together tattoo block by tattoo block and it was simply stunning in person! It was beautifully quilted by Stacey Murton @hushrules. This quilt is Berene’s response to the events that were occurring around the world throughout 2017 with each block symbolizing an emotion. @happysewlucky

Elena Langlois brought her Kitty Squares 1 & 2 that were made using the squares won in a game we played at the TMQG a couple of years ago. She’s donating them to Cummer Lodge, which is a city run facility specializing in the care of people with dementia. Lovely work, Elena! @elenalanglois

Gwen Hopkins blew us away with her 3 quilts! She presented A Maze for Sarah, a Scrappy Wedding Quilt and A Whale of a Quilt!

Gwen’s A Maze for Sarah

Gwen’s Scrappy Wedding Quilt

Gwen’s A Whale of a Baby Quilt

S. brought in her awesome version of the Foothills Quilt by Mary Elizabeth Kinch. She stumbled upon this quiltalong on Instagram and used mostly only scraps and fabrics she bought at the 2018 TMQG Crafty Sale. She scored an awesome assortment!

Rebecca Burnett also had a self-designed quilty hat trick (that’s all the hockey I know folks). First up was Aces & Kisses for her daughter’s volleyball coach.

Stir Crazy is an old top she found in her studio and decided to finish up!

Checks & Balances is another old top she finished up this year. @rebeccaburnettquilts

Valerie Prideaux brought in her self-designed Biased on Blue that used up some fabric she received for a Quilts at the Creek challenge quilt.

Joan Kilpatrick brought in her self-designed Curved Space quilt that was inspired by an improv workshop she took in Haliburton with Al Cote. @joanflettkilpatrick

Next Time at the TMQG

Mark you calendars for our next meeting on May 27th from 3:30 to 5:30 at Trinity-St. Paul’s (427 Bloor St W). Here’s what you can look forward to!

• Social at Future's Bistro at 2pm (483 Bloor St W)
• Tips from guild members on showing your work in quilt shows, including QuiltCon!
• Wrapping up the Memories of a Churn Dash block lotto
• Spotlight: Tool Time with Shirley Dawson
• $40 gift card for the paid raffle door prize. $2/ticket or 3/$5.

See you all there!