October 2023 Meeting Recap
Fall has officially arrived and this month’s program was all about weaving. Fabric weaving, to be more precise. Let’s review the business portion and then check out some pictures of the work everyone did!
President: Mary explained that there are some proposed by-law changes that have been put forth. You can find a button to the proposed document as well as the current by-laws in the Members-Only portion of the site. Please check with Gail or Cheralee for the password if you can’t remember it or can’t locate the July email that contained it. These proposals should be reviewed in time for the November meeting where we will be voting on them.
Judy Irvin has agreed to be the election officiate again this year. All of the leadership positions can be applied for by a member in good standing of at least one year. (Social Media is an exception to the one year rule.) Job descriptions are in the current by-laws and you can reach out to any leader to ask what all their job entails. Submissions are due by the end of the day, Friday, November 24, 2023. Voting will take place at the January General meeting in 2024.
Last year’s community quilt, Meet Me At the Point, has found a home with the women’s shelter that we made totes for earlier this year, Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh! Thanks again to Michele for all of her hard work and all of the members that participated in the creation of that quilt! This year’s quilt, based on Deco, has been pieced and is going to be quilted. It has been entered into the Community Quilt category at QuiltCon 2024. We’re waiting for a final look and the answer to our submission.
Programs:
Erin shared the techniques for different styles of weaving as well as tools you can purchase or make at home.
REMINDER:
Q3 Challenge was limited palette quilts. You can now find that gallery at our Challenge page.
Q4 Challenge is to include weaving in any project. Due at the January 2024 meeting.
Q1-2024 Challenge is Temperature Quilts, due in April 2024.
We’re trying something new in November. The first 20 minutes of the meeting will be a social time for members to catch up and chat. The doors will still open before 1pm and the business portion of the meeting will begin immediately afterwards.
December is our holiday party. The swap item this year is a thread catcher. Links to some projects are in the October slides, and in the Challenges Highlight on Instagram.
September 2023 Recap
September was a sew day and we assembled out community quilt!
First, we want to thank every one who took a block kit and braved the scant quarter inch seam allowance! We had 100% of the blocks returned and we were able to get most of the quilt assembled before everyone headed home. Special thanks to Rose and Connie, on our community charity quilt committee. Also, thank you to those members who were willing to tweak blocks and remake the ones we couldn’t for the front. We see you and we’re so grateful!
We have confirmed the Sarah Goer workshop, Building An Improv Toolbox, for October. Supply lists will be gong out this week!
October’s meeting is all about fabric weaving! We’ve already sent out emails with the supply list, but here they are, one more time:
Supplies you will need to bring:
some kind of weaving tool… see options below
pins
Scissors
strips of fabric at least 9" length, prepared by either:
cut 2.5" strips (or use a jelly roll!), fold in half lengthwise and sew the long edge together with a 1/4" seam, turn the tube so the seam is on the inside and press. You will then have 1" wide strips
cut 2" strips and press the long edges to the center for a finished 1' wide strip to work with.
Tips for picking fabric:
Coordinating colors
Color gradient
2-3 similar tones with a contrasting pop
"ugly" fabrics can look better as small strips
Want some ideas for this project? Visit Weftyneedle.com and check out the blog.
** You can purchase a Wefty needle, but if you’re not sure if you want to commit, here is the Wefty and two alternatives - a bodkin and a homemade Wefty from template plastic:
Image 1 from the Wefty website, Image 2 from Joann.com
We also REALLY want to get the 2023 charity quilt into a new home. If you have ANY suggestions, bring the organization’s information with you for the October meeting. We’re voting on where Meet Me At the Point should go.
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Things we want you to remember! Now functional on the website: Workshop Registration, Submit Bio, Guild By-Laws, Suggest A Shop, Submit Show & Tell, Membership Roster buttons are all good to go. The roster button is also live.
August 2023 Recap
Whew! August was chock full of information, plus we had cupcakes. Community blocks went out, we covered QuiltCon registration and framing quilt blocks.
Whew! This meeting set a record! We had 38 attendees, including 4 guests! Thank you so much for showing up to celebrate our guild’s birthday! I did a little digging, and it appears that the “birthday” of the guild is July 7, 2012. So, we’re 11 years old! We gave members their new MQG member pins (now with snazzy magnetic clasps) and everyone could enjoy cupcakes in the guild’s colors.
Programs:
The first part of programming was Cheralee talking about framing quilt blocks; this was a survey result back in February. She gave three examples with variations: framing using paper, canvas, and using an embroidery hoop. Additional links can be found in the meeting slides. Most of the supplies can be found at your local craft store or on Amazon to DIY the project.
The second portion of programming was Rose & Cheralee explaining the scant quarter inch seam allowance needed with an assist by Mary. Lo & Behold Stitchery wrote the pattern we are using for the charity quilt this year and the instructions call for a scant quarter inch seam. There is a link in the meeting slides as well as in the post written for anyone who was struggling with their block. Community Quilt Block Tips We distributed the blocks for the cahrity quilt and ask that all blocks be ready for the September 9, 2023 assembly day.
The current challenge is to make any quilt using just 3-5 colors. Please use the #pghmqgltdcolor hashtag!
Future programming:
September - Sew Day
October - Fabric Weaving
November - Temperature Quilts
December - Winter Party & Sew Day
President:
Mary covered the information necessary to prep for the August 15th registration for QuiltCon. The email that you provided through the registration with the PghMQG is the email we provide to the MQG. Your PghMQG membership includes membership to the MQG. If you aren’t receiving the weekly MQG emails, please let Gail know. QuiltCon offers discounts and a free 4 day pass to members who register before 11/30/2023. You can find out more about entering your quilts, the challenges being displayed at the 2024 location (Raleigh, NC) and more at QuiltCon.com
We are still acccepting registrations for the improv workshop in October! This is a 2-day Zoom workshop, so wear your PJs, we don’t care! The cost is $40 for members, and we will be opening up the registration to other guilds and the public at large in September. We only have 20 seats, so hurry up and RSVP! You can commit to the workshop through the registration button in the Members-Only section of the site. Then send or bring your payment in. Building An Improv Toolbox with Sarah Goer
Social Media:
The migration of the Facebook accounts is ongoing, but the August goals include moving the 700+ photos we currently have on Flickr to the Archives here on our own site. Maintenance to the Flickr account lapsed sometime around 2017 (?) and reducing the number of websites that we have profiles on was one of the goals leadership identified when we first began building the new site. Linking more of the old content to the new site from the old blog as well as adding more programming content is also ongoing.
Treasurer:
Jen presented our Fiscal Year 2023-2024 projected budget. It includes amounts for some new equipment, and also emphasized that we don’t aim to make a profit off our our workshops. You can check that slide out in the Archives, found through the Members-Only portion of the site.
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Things we want you to remember! Now functional on the website: Workshop Registration, Submit Bio, Guild By-Laws, Suggest A Shop, Submit Show & Tell, Membership Roster buttons are all good to go. The roster button is also live. The Beaver Valley Piecemakers show is accepting entries, too! You can find more info in our calendar. ONE LAST THING, our own member, Karen, is running in the Region 3 MQG election. You should have received an email from the MQG regarding the candidates. Voting ends Sept 7, 2023.
