Charitable and other projects that give back to the community.

Posts from the ‘Community Projects’ category


Feb
2024

February Open Sew and Lots of Community Giving Quilts!

categories: Community Projects, Meeting Minutes, Monthly Meetings

Our Saturday open sew meeting had lots of community giving show & tell, and plenty of time to sew and visit. Here’s a recap:

Community Giving Quilts: Anna showed several quilts for donation. Just recently, quilts have been distributed to the Women’s and Children’s Alliance (4), MSTI (3), Ada County Victims Services (4), and Children’s Home Society (2). She reported that the best part of donating quilts was talking to the recipients who are very thankful and happy to receive the quilts.

Animal Mats: The Idaho Humane Society uses small mats to set at the base of 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”

Backpacks & Zipper Pouches: Jeri recently took 8 filled backpacks with 8 pouches to the Agency for New Americans. We can use more pouches and backpacks to donate in several places. A backpack tutorial is attached; and a couple of helpful zipper pouch tutorials from Noodlehead are here and here.

Announcements and upcoming items: 

  • The next guild meeting is March 23 at Bown Library. A panel discussion on quilt judging will feature our own Fay, Millissa, Karen F., Linda J. and Carol M.
  • Mary will teach a class about Featherweight sewing machine maintenance; tentatively scheduled for May 15 — stay tuned for details.
  • Cathy R., Pam, Jeri and Darla presented some Modern Quilts to the Nampa Quilt Guild. Pam did a great job running the little quilt show and talking about Modern Quilting.
  • Diane is giving away a complete Hawaiian quilt pattern.
  • Marilyn is looking for batting scraps to make “frankenbatting” — if you have extra, bring to the next meeting

Show and Tell: participants showing quilts included Shelly, with 8 quilt tops made by her niece for donation,; Linda Cooper; Margaret Eastwick with pouches; Faye with a donation quilt; Sarah and Stephanie; Debi with an English Paper Piecing pattern using Tula Pink fabrics; Michelle with her gingham quilted jacket; and Cheryl (first time attending!) with 3 small art quilts from an online class she is taking. Mellissa showed 3 donation quilt tops — fabric is from Shelly; Marylin had donation quilts; Elizabeth showed her Violet Craft elephant quilt; Karen Falvey had some colorful quilts (front and back!). Watch our Facebook and Instagram feeds for photos.

We hope to see you on March 23 for our next meeting!
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Feb
2024

Sew Party Fun in January!

categories: Community Projects, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days
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!
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Oct
2023

BMQG quilts go to organ donors’ families

categories: Community Projects
Thanks to Matt Coffin, RN of Cascade Life Alliance for passing these quilts to local families of deceased organ donors.  Matt and his colleague from the St. Alphonsus Chaplain’s office expressed gratitude and appreciation on behalf of families — these quilts become family heirlooms and tangible reminders of the deceased donor.
Do you have a quilt to share with a donor family?  Here are some helpful guidelines:
  • size: lap size quilts are best; this size ensures that the quilts are never too big to interfere with patient management while in the hospital; a suggested size range might be 36″-40″ wide x 45″-50″ long
  • colors & themes: there are considerably more male donors in our area, so consider gender-neutral designs and colors (green, blue, red, brown, orange, low-volume), and red-white-blue for veterans; there is less need for pinks and florals
  • wash and label: please wash your finished quilt and add a BMQG label (available at meetings)
  • a few other things: please no religious symbols, logos, political references, etc.;no need for children’s fabrics or designs

Bring completed quilts to monthly meetings, and if you need batting for any community giving quilts, please let Millissa Masters know.

Finally, if you haven’t already, please consider becoming an organ donor yourself.

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Apr
2023

April meeting was a hoot!

categories: Community Projects, Events, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days

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.

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Apr
2023

March meeting recap

categories: Community Projects, Member Spotlight, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days

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.

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Mar
2023

Join us March 25 for Drawstring Backpacks!

categories: Community Projects, Member Spotlight, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days

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
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Dec
2022

2022 Annual Meeting Minutes

categories: Community Projects, Meeting Minutes, Monthly Meetings

Date: Dec. 3, 2022
Location: Library at Bown Crossing, Boise
Attendees: 27 members 1 visitor

President Lindsie Bergevin gave an annual report:

  • Membership is at 57, Facebook followers 593, Instagram followers 893
  • 2022 events included:
    • May Yard Sale resulted in a $75 donation to the Warm Springs Neighborhood Association.
    • September Quilt Walk received positive interest from the community, with approximately 350 visitors participating in voting for People’s Choice; location not as suitable as we would have liked.
    • August Quilt Camp at Luther Heights; continues to be a great facility; the event was profitable by $482 ($356 from the raffle ticket sales)
  • Giving Back: Anna Yates and Jeri Wood volunteered to help deliver 8 quilts made by many of the members, and the group made 69 zip pouches. The programs will be ongoing.
  • Financials: As of November 27, the Guild’s 2022 expenses have exceeded income by $226 deficit, though cash on hand makes this a minor issue.
  • 2023 Dues: To sustain future Guild activities (such as workshops and lectures), membership dues will increase to $25/year in January 2023. Lindsie explained that dues will increase incrementally in the next few years (e.g., $5/year) to support programming.
  • 2023 Programming plans include:
    • Jan 28, 2023 After Holiday Party. Pincushion Swap, extended hours 8am-4pm Location to be determined, potluck lunch
    • June 24, 2023 Guest speaker, Steph Skardol
    • August 17-20,2023 Quilt Camp negotiating extended hours Thursday, December 15 eve arrival through Sunday late departure.

Officer Elections for 2023 Board
Twenty-seven ballots were cast, and the nominated slate of officers were elected unanimously:

  • President: Darla Christiansen
  • Vice President: Marilyn Shake
  • Secretary: Millissa Masters
  • Treasurer: Kathy Stockton
  • Membership Coordinator: Shelly Harshman

Guild members Gwen Smith and Fay Hikida tallied and confirmed the resuls.

Show & Tell
Deb Stoner – Arrowhead quilt (pattern by Kristi Schroeder) and a charm pack baby quilt
Betsey Johnson – Drunkards Path quilt using all oranges and a cardinal table topper/wall quilt
Ginny King – two whole cloth baby quilts with gauze backs
Misty Neilsen – black and white Circular paper pieced quilt (pattern by Audrey Esarey)

Guest Lecturer
Tara Faughnan gave a 1-hour presentation via Zoom, including Q&A. The presentation was well received by the group.

January 28 Volunteer Sign-up
SET UP
Anna Yates
Mary Simmons
Lindsie Bergevin
Shelly Harshman
Sharon Cullen

TEAR DOWN
Mary Simmons
Apryl Gardner

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Sep
2022

Quilt Walk recap & fall updates

categories: Community Projects, Events, Quilt Show, Quilt Walk

Quilt Walk: Thanks to everyone who came out to the inaugural Quilt Walk in the park. It was so fun to show off our quilts of all sizes and styles in an informal setting! And we had fun inviting passersby to vote for People’s Choice. There were 48 quilts on display, and more than 130 people cast votes; Lynne’s Bar Quilt was the winner. It was great way to connect with the community and share our love for quilting.

Zipper Pouches: We delivered nearly 40 pouches to the Faces of Hope Victim Center and Community Outreach Behavioral Services (COBS), all filled with personal hygiene items like soap, toothpaste, tampons, etc. And, we have more than 30 more ready to fill. Thank you all for your generous response in making these beautiful pouches! Watch for details on what’s next.

Be sure to mark your calendar for these upcoming quilty events:

Sep. 18: Final day of the Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance exhibit at Boise Art Museum. His work draws visual inspiration from medieval altarpieces, nineteenth-century photography, Dutch wax print fabrics, and from African American story quilts.

Sep. 30 – Oct 1: Treasures of the Valley Quilt Show from Boise Basin Quilt Guild at Expo Idaho, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day.

Oct. 13-16: MQG Sessions is a member-only virtual event. 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.

Oct. 22: Boise MQG monthly meeting; 10:15 a.m. We will be meeting at the downtown Boise Library! Marion Bingham Room for a Sew Day and show and tell. There will be plenty of space to sew, iron and cut, so feel free to bring a project to work on.

Dec. 3: Boise MQG Annual Meeting, 10:15 a.m. (no meeting in November)

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Jul
2022

Announcing our Modern Quilting Bee + June 2022 Meeting Recap

categories: Block of the Month, Community Projects, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days

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!;

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Jun
2022

Join us in June for Zipper Pouches!

categories: Community Projects, Member Spotlight, Monthly Meetings, Sew Days

When: Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Where: Sewfinity, 800 S Industry Way Ste 360, Meridian
What: The meeting will feature Marilyn Shake in the Member Spotlight and making zipper pouches.

We’ll be making zipper pouches to donate to two local organizations: Faces of Hope Victim Center and Community Outreach Behavioral Services (COBS). We’re asking you to help make the pouches following this simple tutorial by Noodelhead (or if you have an equally simple pouch pattern, you’re welcome to make that), and then we’ll fill the pouches with personal care items, donated by local businesses. The Noodlehead medium pouch (check here for cutting info) is a versatile size and perfect for our inserts. BMQ is supplying zippers and interfacing — and we need you to bring your fabric, sewing machine and your quilty selves to help make it all come together!

What to bring:

  • your sewing machine & tools (irons, ironing boards and cutting mats are provided by Sewfinity)
  • fabric (if you want to get a jump start, cut 2 pieces of exterior fabric and 2 pieces of lining to 9“ x 12”)
  • you can use one piece of fabric for the exterior, or maybe get creative and piece something to a finished size of 9“ x 12”

Apryl Gardner has graciously agreed to lead us in a pouch-making tutorial at the meeting, along with Cathy Rogers’ own bag-making tips. They’ve both made loads of professional-grade pouches, bags and purses, so have first-hand expertise in this area. Our goal is to make 30-40 pouches in this initial effort. If members are interested in continuing the project, we can add it to our ongoing community giving activities.

We hope to see you soon!

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