Posts from the ‘Sew Days’ category

Charles Cameron comes to Boise June 7 & 8

We’re so excited to welcome Charles Cameron to Boise in June. Charles will lead a one-day workshop (space is limited) and give a lecture at our BMQG meeting. Both events will be at JUMP, with space provided as part of their Jump it Forward Program.

ONE DAY WORKSHOP Register here!
Friday, June 7 • 10 a.m.— 4 p.m.
Crooked Crosses & Bent Boxes: An introduction to semi-improv quilt design
If you want the look and feel of improv, but you’re not quite ready to give up your ruler, ‘semi-improv’ is for you! Join award-winning quilter and designer Charles Cameron for hands-on instruction at each step of the way, using his original Crooked Crosses and Bent Boxes quilt pattern. We’ll also explore the use of different fabrics, colors and prints, and layout options. And, there’s time for you to work toward making your own 30”x30” wall hanging or 15”x60” runner.

  • Cost: $100 for Boise MQG members / $125 for non-members
  • Includes lunch & pattern! Bring all your favorite tools (sewing machine, rulers, rotary cutter, etc.); we’ll have cutting and pressing stations set up.
  • Workshop Size: Limited to 24 participants. Registration open to Boise MQG members only until March 31. On April 1, registration opens to non-members as space allows.
  • Parking: Once you’re registered, watch for details on what to bring and where to park at JUMP.

PUBLIC LECTURE
Saturday, June 8 • 10:30 a.m.— 1 p.m.
Color! An engineer’s guide to color value & placement in quilts
Join us for an engaging conversation with Charles, an engineer by training who is very methodical about color selection. We’ll briefly discuss color theory basics, and then look at lots of examples to see how colors enhance the overall effect and design. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced quilter, you’ll find ways to become more adventurous with color, and get tips for when you’re stumped deciding on color scheme.

  • Cost: FREE for Boise MQG members / $10 for non-members (cash or check only at the door)
  • Members, please note: this meeting will replace our regularly scheduled meeting
  • Parking is available at the public parking garage adjacent to JUMP (parking fees apply; first hour is free). Whatever your parking plan, please allow a little extra time.

While you’re marking out these June dates, don’t forget to add these upcoming events to your calendar:

  • Saturday, March 23: BMQG Monthly Meeting, 10:30 a.m. at the Bown Library; featuring a panel on Quilt Judging
  • Saturday, May 18: Featherweight Maintenance Class with Mary Simmons – watch for more info soon
  • August 15-18: Quilt Camp at Luther Heights Bible Camp near Stanley
  • September 27-28: Boise Basin Quilt Show
  • October 24-27: Nampa Modern Quilt Guild Retreat at Trinity Pines in Cascade; open to BMQG members; registration information available soon, with optional extra night on Oct. 23

Sew Party Fun in January!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our after-holiday sew party! Our appreciation to Red Rock Christian Church for hosting us again this year. 

 

 

Some reminders & announcements:
Feb. 6 Nampa Modern Quilt Guild: Several of our members are visiting the Nampa MQG  Feb. 6 meeting for a trunk show of modern quilts. Want to join us to show your modern creations and share your ideas about what’s modern? Members, check your email for contact info.
Community Giving: Holy cow! 18 completed quilts and 8 pouches/backpacks were turned in. Thanks to Anna for delivering quilts around town.
  • Animal Mats: The Idaho Humane Society uses small mats to set at the base of animal kennels. You can simply make a quilted mat (fabric on both sides, batting or even an old blanket sandwiched in the middle, zigzag or binding around the edge) that eventually can go to the animal’s new home. Bring yours to the next meeting and Jeri has volunteered to deliver them to the Humane Society. Finished sizes are: (1) Cats: 18“ x 24” (2) Small animals: 24“ x 36” (3) Dogs: 40“ x 25”
  • For pouches and backpacks: New socks can be added to the list of useful items that go into zipper pouches and backpacks. Thanks to Dawn for a generous donation of travel size toiletries and to Jeri for getting all of this into hands of folks who can use them. CATCH Housing staff told Jeri at her last drop off that they love the BMQG!
Quilts of Valor: Feb 3 is National Quilts Of Valor Sew Day. The Canyon County chapter is asking for folks to help with their goal of making and gifting 100 quilts to veterans by the end of 2024. Right now, there are 47 nominees to receive a Quilt Of Valor in Canyon County alone – and an estimated 300 statewide. If you’d like to make something for QOV, read about their guidelines here. And, read a recent article about them in the Idaho Press here. More questions? Contact Sue Laird at [email protected]
Prizes: Congrats to Dawn and Ginny on winning those terrific raffle prizes! And thank you to Lindsie for her generous donation of a new Quilters Planner set to the prize line-up. Check out everything new here: https://quiltersplanner.com/
Mark your calendars for our February 24 meeting, at the Library at Cole & Ustick (7557 W Ustick Rd, Boise), 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. It’s an open sew! Bring your machine, project tools, handwork and of course, show & tell! To see photos from our sew day, keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram feeds!

After-Holiday Sew Party is Jan. 27

Join us for an all-day after-holiday sew party! We’ll sew, show, eat (potluck!) and swap.

When: Saturday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (swap happens at 11:30 a.m., followed by potluck lunch, then show & tell at 1:30 p.m. )

Where: Red Rock Christian Church, 1124 S Roosevelt St. (corner of Roosevelt & Kootenai), Boise

Parking: Please park in the lot on the north side of the church for easiest access to our space.

It’s a potluck: Bring your favorite food to share for a potluck lunch.

Tea towel swap: If you want to participate in this swap (purely optional), create something from a tea towel. It could be a bag, an apron, an embellished tea towel, a pin cushion or anything else you come up with! Use a vintage tea towel, a brand-spanking new one, or one from your kitchen drawer. In a pinch, bring one you pick up on the way to the party (because hey, life happens!). Need some inspiration? Check out our Tea Towel Crafts Pinterest board and consider the kind of creation you’d like to get!

  • We’re fortunate to be able to use this space at no charge. A basket will be available if you’d like to throw in a few bucks as a donation to the church — purely optional and no pressure or obligation.
  • Bring your community giving projects in any phase of completion to show and pass along.
  • Door prize and raffle prize not to be missed!
  • We will be at a church facility, so please no alcohol or pets.

Members, check your email for additional details.  Looking forward to seeing you on the 27th!

October meeting is open sew!

It’s time for some fall sewing!

BMQG Guild Meeting / Open Sew
When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Where: Library! at Cole & Ustick, 7557 W. Ustick Rd., Boise
If you plan to sew, bring your machine, tools and projects. We’ll have a small ironing board and an iron available.

There will be more fabric for the taking (due to the generosity of our new friend Pat!) so prepare to browse. And, don’t forget to bring your solid creations from the fun snip-rip-drop-pass game (thanks, Mary Simmons!) to our October meeting.

Bring your show & tell and community giving quilts. We want to see what you’ve been working on! And, if you have any community giving quilts (in any phase) to pass along to a new home, or for a next step toward completion, bring those, too! Marilyn Shake has some spiffy new labels to sew into the binding, and if you need batting for a donation quilt, please contact Millissa Masters (members, check your email for contact info).

Finally, we are looking for two folks to join our board. We so appreciate the service of Marilyn Shake and Millissa Masters, and we’re happy that both continue to actively participate in guild projects. Here’s a snapshot of the open board positions, and what is involved:

    • Vice President: You’ll reserve monthly meeting spaces, and arrive early to arrange tables and chairs as needed; set out routine meeting items as needed, which may include: nametags/pens, directional signs, fabric exchange, community giving project collection items and other items related to the meeting agenda. We’ll ask you to participate in board discussions and planning; act as the president in her absence; and assist the president as needed.
    • Secretary: You’ll take notes at monthly meetings (announcements, group projects, donation info, etc.) and at board meetings (a basic meeting summary, decisions made, action items); if needed, coordinate with Apryl for social media posting; and participate in board planning, discussions and decisions.
    • General info: Our board generally meets monthly for 1 hour; about half the time we meet in person, and when appropriate, we skip an in-person meeting and communicate electronically instead. Your ability and willingness to communicate electronically and familiarity (or willingness to learn) with Google Drive/Gmail is extremely helpful; we’ll introduce you to Quip, our online collaboration tool document editing (e.g., agendas, meeting notes, camp planning) and group communication.

If you’re interested in board service, we’d love to talk to you! Drop us a line at [email protected]

April meeting was a hoot!

Our April meeting making face collages was so fun and energetic! A huge thanks to Cathy R. for coaching us through the process and for her design inspiration! And, we’d love to see your face when it’s complete — members, watch your email for a future group show & tell.

  • July target for Scaled Triangles & Leader/Ender: Turn everything in by the July meeting, and from there we’ll start assembling quilt tops for donation. So far we’ve received 22 of the large Scaled Triangle blocks (wow!), and quite a stack of completed scrappy leader/ender blocks. If you’re working on the leader/ender blocks, you can bring completed, or partially-completed chunks (pairs or half blocks) to the next meeting; you may want to exchange other partially-completed blocks to mix up fabrics. Finished leader-ender blocks should turn out 6.5“ but you might find yours are a little skinny. No worries, they’ll all go together great!!
  • Community Giving: We’ve already delivered 26 quilts so far this year – that’s so amazing! Thank you Linda J., Jamie H. and Mary S. for some recent long arm quilting, and to everyone who has helped with binding, piecing and delivering. Warm Spring Counseling Center expressed an interest in receiving four “cozy” quilts to use in therapy offices during sessions with children clients — so if you’re inclined to sew with minky or flannel, this might be the project for you.
  • Drawstring backpacks & zipper pouches: This week we’ve delivered more than 20 finished drawstring backpacks and 30 zipper pouches for sustainable period packs to the Faces of Hope Victim Center. Thank you Pam P. for helping with deliveries!
  • Spring cleaning: We’ll be clearing out the burgeoning collection of donated fabric, orphan blocks, books and patterns in the coming months. If you’re doing the same, please refrain from bringing your unwanted items to BMQG, and instead find another good home.

To see photos from everyone’s show & tell, check out our Facebook and Instagram feeds (this is thanks to Apryl!). And, the May 27 meeting is open sew! Bring your projects, machines, tools and say hello. We’ll be at the Bown Library in east Boise (2153 E. Riverwalk Dr., 83706), 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

March meeting recap

We had a fun and super productive meeting! Thanks to everyone who worked on making drawstring backpacks! Here’s a recap of our day:

Drawstring backpacks & zipper pouches: We had 20 finished drawstring backpacks (wow!) by the end of the meeting. Nicely done all! We still have a few pre-cut packs ready to sew (thanks Anna for cutting and Marilyn for fabric!), and if you’d like one or two of these pre-cuts before the next meeting, please send a note to [email protected]. We’ll bring more cording to the April meeting for those who have backpacks in the works. And, we are looking for some more zipper pouches that will hold sustainable period packs. These items will all be gifted to Faces of Hope Victim Center.

Community Giving: We received a treasure trove of finished quilts for donating (thank you Carol M. and Marilyn for your generosity), plus others ready for  quilting — and yahoo! our amazing long arm quilters Linda A. and Jamie volunteered to quilt them. Mary brought a completed whole-cloth quilt, which was snatched up for binding. Thanks everyone for helping out!  (notes about backing: if passing a quilt to a long arm quilter, please make your quilt back 3-4 inches bigger than the front on all four sides; this extra fabric allows the quilt to be attached to the long arm rollers)

Scaled Triangles & Leader/Ender: Our Modern Quilt Bee is well underway, with nine blocks already completed. We’re looking for more blocks (see attached instructions). And as Marilyn says, any red, orange, or pink will work! Marilyn also brought pre-cut scrappy fabrics for a simple leader ender quilt. If you took some home to sew, bring them back next month. Ultimately, both quilts will be donated to a local organization.

April 22 Meeting Faces Collage: Our own Cathy R. will lead us in making whimsical collage portrait mini quilts. No sewing machine needed; just bring scraps to share, scissors and glue sticks (watch your email for details). We’ll be at the Library at Cole & Ustick (7557 W Ustick Rd, Boise) 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Thanks to Linda Armstrong for her wonderful show & tell! What a variety of beautiful and charming pieces she shared. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out her member spotlight. And, to see photos from everyone’s show & tell, keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram feeds.

Join us March 25 for Drawstring Backpacks!

When: Saturday, March 25, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Where: Library at Cole & Ustick, Sagebrush Room, 7557 W. Ustick Rd.
What: We’ll have a sew day making drawstring backpacks. The meeting will feature Linda Armstrong in the Member Spotlight .

Things to know:

  • Bring your show & tell and community giving quilts: We want to see what you’ve been working on! And, if you have any community giving quilts (in any phase) to pass along to a new home, or for a next step toward completion, bring those, too! As a reminder, the Guild provides batting for these donation quilts. Please contact Millissa Masters (BMQG Secretary) to get the batting you need (members, check your email for Millissa’s contact info).
  • We can use 30 more zipper pouches by late April: Faces Victim Center is working with a high school student to create kits with sustainable menstrual products (like period cups and underwear, washable cloth pads, and organic cotton tampons). They asked if BMQG members would be willing to provide more zipper pouches to package the items, instead of using plastic ziploc bags. If you’re interested in making another pouch, any pattern works. Here’s one we have used: https://blog.noodle-head.com/2012/06/open-wide-zippered-pouch-diy-tutorial.html

Feb. 25 Meeting & Mini Sew Day

Join us for our February meeting and mini sew day.

BMQG Guild Meeting & Mini Sew Day
When: Saturday, Feb. 25, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (please note new start time)
Where: Main Boise Public Library, Marion Bingham Room (3rd floor), 715 S. Capitol Blvd., Boise

– Bring your show & tell and community giving quilts: We want to see what you’ve been working on! And, if you have any community giving quilts (in any phase) to pass along to a new home, or for a next step toward completion, bring those, too!

– Member Spotlight: Linda Jolly has amazing quilting skills, and she’ll share some of her work with us.

– If you plan to sew: Bring your machine, tools and projects. We’ll have a small ironing board and an iron available.

We hope to see you on the 25th. 🙂

July 23 Meeting & MQG updates

The July 23 meeting will be at Julia Davis Park, 700 S. Capitol Blvd. in Boise, 10 a.m. – noon. We’ll gather in a shady area near the Rose Garden. (please note, Zoo Boise is hosting an event that day so parking may be a bit more crowded than normal). What to bring:

  • a chair or something to sit on, water, sunscreen
  • additional finished zipper pouches (we’ll plan on filling them that day)
  • your completed Modern Block of the Month
  • show and tell!

We’ll also update you on Quilt Camp and the September 10 Quilt Walk. Other updates:

  • Inaugural MQG Sessions: Have you seen that Modern Quilt Guild is holding a member-only virtual event October 13-16? You can spend the weekend learning from some of the best quilting instructors in the comfort of your own home. For one flat rate of $95 members will have access to over 20 hours of lectures, social gatherings, and more. Every education session is recorded and registered attendees can watch live and replay the recordings on demand for 14 days following the event. Registration will open to MQG members only on July 26th, 2022 at 11 a.m. CDT. Check out the faculty and schedule here: https://www.themodernquiltguild.com/sessions/
  • QuiltCon is Coming: Registration opens on August 16. MQG is using a virtual waiting room this year to better manage the registration process. Information will be provided prior to registration day about how this process will work. Be sure to check out the QuiltCon Challenges page to learn more about the various technique and fabric challenges for QuiltCon 2023 (and if enough people from BMQG are interested in participating, we’re looking for a couple of volunteers to lead the effort).

Announcing our Modern Quilting Bee + June 2022 Meeting Recap

Modern Quilting Bee

We’re kicking off a Modern Quilting Bee Project! It’s simple to participate, and we think it will be so fun! We’re starting with this 16.5-inch unfinished block.

You’ll need to login as a member of MQG — once logged in, you can follow this path to the pattern: For MQG Members > MQG Journal > Previous Issues > MQG Journal Issue 02 > scroll down the page to find “Issue 02 / Block Study / Barbed” and click on More.  If you trouble getting to the pattern, email us for help.  (Barbed quilt block by Molly Wardlow; photo by Laura Loewen)

Millissa (BMQG Secretary) is leading the effort and has chosen a tranquil blue and aqua color theme, you can also throw in a natural off white if you are inspired.

  • Make your block using these similar colors, using either solids or prints. Don’t worry about finding an exact color match.
  • You can use the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers ruler, or something like it for quickly making a batch of Half Square Triangles (HSTs). Or, check out this tutorial if you want to brush up on tips for making HSTs.
  • Bring your completed block to the July 23 meeting.
  • Eventually, the completed quilt will be part of our Get ‘er Done quilts and gifted to a community organization.

Zipper Pouches

A giant thanks to everyone who joined us for making zipper pouches! We collected 31 completed pouches by the end of the meeting – and we know there are more out there being stitched up. The pouches will be filled with personal care items, including items from Jill Shelton Wagers, DMD and Hilton Garden Inn at Pioneer Crossing, and donated to two local organizations: Faces of Hope Victim Center and Community Outreach Behavioral Services (COBS). We especially appreciated the tips and tutorial from Apryl and Cathy R.

If you’re working on a pouch, plan to turn it in by the July 23 meeting. You can follow this simple tutorial by Noodelhead (or if you have an equally simple pouch pattern, you’re welcome to make that). If members are interested in continuing the project, we can add it to our ongoing community giving activities.

Show & Tell

  • Marilyn was in the Member Spotlight, and brought a collection that illustrated her journey as a quilter. She made her first quilt for her doll’s bed, and not knowing any different, she cleverly used dryer lint as batting. After that, there was no stopping Marilyn! She admitted that she “love(s) weird backs” and Elizabeth Hartman designs.
  • Cassie showed the quilt top she finished during Friday night Club Mod get togethers. There are so. many. HSTs. She’s also leading girls at her church to make fabric bracelets using this fabric and paper version and this fabric-wrapped cord version.
  • Darla showed a purse that’s part of the Sew Powerful purse project. The purses are sent to Zambian girls to use for carrying feminine hygiene supplies, thus allowing them to stay in school all month. Find the pattern here. A group of friends will send a package of purses at the end of October, and if you’d like to make a purse, simply get it to Darla, Jeri or Cathy R. by the October meeting.

Get ‘er Done quilts: If you’re helping make quilts to share in our community, Anna Y. reminded us that throw or twin bed sizes would be especially appreciated by some organizations, though smaller baby quilts will also be accepted. Need batting? The Guild recently purchased a supply for this very purpose. Send us a note to let us know what you need!;