COMQG makes a Quilt for Pulse

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is collecting quilts and blocks for the victims of the shooting at Pulse nightclub on June 12, and MQG members around the world are invited to participate. The goal is to gather enough quilts to help not only the victims who survived, but the families of victims who perished, as well as first responders, nurses, police officers, etc.

The Orlando MQG is asking for a minimum of 102 quilts — one for each survivor, and one for the families of each victim who perished. Any quilts that surpass that number will be given to first responders, and then distributed to the LGBT community in Orlando via organizations like The Center and Zebra Coalition.

Rainbow hearts are the design theme, and members are asked to submit either finished quilts (strongly encouraged) or 10-inch blocks with at least one heart. We have decided to submit a finished quilt from the Central Oregon Modern Quilt Guild.  We are using the heart block tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew, found here. 

The plan is to try and collect 56, 10" finished heart blocks (10.5 inches unfinished) and make a quilt that is 70" x 80."  The blocks need to have a white / very light grey background fabric and then the heart itself can be any rainbow / primary color.  It can be solid or print!  If we collect many more than 56 blocks I can either work them into the backing or make a second quilt depending on how many blocks we get!

Anyone can make a block! Or five! :)

Sara or a board member will be collecting blocks at meetings. We'd like all blocks turned in by the August 2nd meeting (which will be at Sonia's house), so that Sara, Lorraine, and Kayla will have time to get the top and back pieced, and the thing quilted and bound. 

For more information, check out the Orlando MQG blog about it: 

http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/2016/06/details-for-quilts-for-pulse-donations.html

and the MQG blog post: https://themodernquiltguild.wordpress.com/2016/06/14/quiltsforpulse-charity-drive-with-the-orlando-mqg/

A few members have been busy making blocks already: 

COMQG at QuiltCon

A bunch of us were lucky enough to attend QuiltCon last week in Pasadena. It was a great event, between the workshops, the quilt show, the lectures, and the wonderful exhibitors and vendors. We can't wait till Savannah in 2017!

We didn't all make it to the photo, but a few of us gathered in front of our charity challenge quilt which was hanging near the lecture hall doors.

The charity challenge was a group project led by Kristin Shields. Kristin wrote an improv feather tutorial, gathered blocks from guild members, and assembled the quilt top. Corni quilted it for us and as always knows the right thing to do to bring the quilt to life.

COMQG members in front of our Improv Feather Quilt

One of our members, Kristin Shields, had 4 quilts hanging at the show. Her Modern Improv Sampler won first place in the small quilts category. Congrats to Kristin!

Modern Improv Sampler, by Kristin Shields.

Read all about the other winning quilts in the show here on the MQG blog.

Palm trees and the Pasadena Convention Center

Charity Projects

We've been having so much fun this summer and not updating the blog much!

So we're going to have recaps all week long of some of the fun things we did. 

Making quilts for charity is something that is really important to our guild. We love to pass along the quilt love. 

This summer we have donated three quilts: one to the Ronald McDonald House that was raffled off at their auction at the Ghost tree invitational, and two to Camp Erin campers. 

This summer we've been working on our charity challenge quilt for QuiltCon 2016 in Pasadena!

Here's all the information about the challenge:

http://quiltconwest.com/get-involved/member-charity-challenge/

Kristin offered to take the lead on this group project of improv with intent. A bunch of guild members made feathers with her tutorial:

http://kristinshieldsart.com/blog/2015/7/2/improv-feather-tutorial

The blocks have all been collected and now we'll start on the fun process of putting the top and back together before sending it to our amazing member Corni who will quilt this one for us. 

In July we sent away two quilts to Camp Erin, a camp for grieving children. Unfortunately I only grabbed photos of our blue stars quilt. I hope these quilts brought joy, comfort, and love to the campers who got to use them and take them home from camp this summer. 

Quilters at Craft

We had a great meeting last night in the Central Oregon sunshine along the Deschutes River at Craft Kitchen and Brewery.

Some things discussed at the meeting:

--Remember that next month we resume normal meeting schedule so we'll be at Quiltworks on September 1 from 5pm to 8pm for our First Tuesday meeting.

--Susan has organized a retreat for us in Sunriver! Check your email for all the details and how to RSVP.

--Coming up in October, our Gee's Bend challenge quilts will be shown in the Quiltworks Gallery. To show our support and involvement, please plan to attend the gallery reception on First Friday from 5 to 7pm at Quiltworks on October 2nd

We collected the last of the improv feather blocks using Kristin's tutorial! They all look so great! These will go into our QuiltCon charity quilt for display at QuiltCon 2016 in Pasadena, and we will donate the quilt to a local charity. 

Wonky Star Tutorial

At our last meeting, I passed out bundles of fabric for making a blue wonky star block for a charity quilt. This one will be quilted by Corni and sent along to Camp Erin, a children's bereavement camp.

Here's how you make a star! Any questions, get a hold of Lindsey. There's also plenty of 12.5 inch wonky star block tutorials out there, try an internet search .

The block bundle contains 8 background 4.5 inch squares, 1 center 4.5 inch square, and 8 triangles for the star points. 

The bundle pieces (left), and how they will all fit together in the final block (right).

To make the star points, use the 'flip and stitch' method. First lay the triangle over the corner of the square rights sides together like in this picture, and stitch a 1/4 inch seam. The angle you lay the triangle affects how 'wonky' the star point is. Try out some different angles!

Then trim away the background square that will be underneath the triangle once it's flipped over 

Now, press.

Repeat for the other star point. Lay the triangle on the background, right sides together, and stitch a 1/4 inch seam.  

Trim the background 

Press, and then trim this completed star point block to 4.5 inches.  

Make four of the star point blocks. Here you can all the block pieces all laid out. 

Sew the pieces together in rows, then sew the rows together for the completed block.  

Admire your completed block!

Wish Upon a Card Fabric Postcard Challenge

As mentioned by Kathy the SOQG rep at the last meeting Michael Miller Postcards are easy and fun to make.

 

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show page includes more details and rules on the Wish Upon a Card postcard challenge to benefit Wendy's Wish

The tutorial for fabric postcard creation is found on About.com Quilting.

They have two recommendations for filler  Fast2fuse in regular weight (heavy weight is too thick for the mail) or Timtex.

The 2013 Wendy's Wish Facebook page has a beautiful slideshow of last year's lovely cards.

More information about Wendy's Wish on their homepage.

From the SOQG website: Michael Miller Challenge winners and other cards selected by jury are custom framed (compliments of High Desert Frameworks!) and silent auctioned.  Unframed cards will be available for sale with proceeds from the sale and silent auction benefiting Wendy’s Wish. 
Postcards should be 4” x 6”
To be considered for Challenge prizes and silent auction, cards must be received  by April 15
We are happy to accept cards for sale up to July 1st
Please include your name and address with each card and mail to 
SOQS/Wish, 220 S. Ash St. #4,Sisters, OR 97759