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Fabric Sale this Saturday!!!!!

4838 Pepperwood Avenue
Long Beach from 8 to 3 pm.

Sale includes fabric, notions, books and patterns!
Cash only!

 The summer is winding down, and we have enjoyed a number of sewing get-togethers this month including Latifah Saafir's Clam Shell class.

Our next meeting is September 6 at 7 p.m. Natalie Barnes will be speaking on the topic of "Birth of a Fabric Line". Please bring your completed Mystery Medallion quilts. 

July 5th 2016 Guild Meeting - Favorite Tools, Tips, etc.

For our July meeting, everyone was asked to bring in their favorite tip, tool, or book for show and tell and here's what we all shared:

 Kim - Quilt Suspension System while doing free motion quilting on your domestic or sit down machine.  These are actually pet grooming stands (you need at least two).  If you simply add a clamp, you can suspend a section of your quilt so that there is not as much drag while doing free motion quilting.  Link to product
  
Jan - Creative Grids Ruler CGR15125 (1.5" x 12") - Just the right size for so many uses.  Also she loves using bias tape makers by Dritz or Clover

 Samantha - The Purple Thang - Great for removing paper piecing paper and much, much more.  The Groove Book website for printing out ideas / photos that are on your smart phone

 Trudy - 8.5" ruler that is compact enough to fit into your travel case, but big enough for extra wide squares

 Helene - Makeup Brushes and QTips for cleaning those dust bunnies in your sewing machine

 Carol - June Tailor Ruler - Perfect Half Square and Quarter Square Triangles.  You can get this one at Sew Vac!

 Ann - Invisifil Thread and #10 Bohin Applique Needles.  The thread is available at Sew Vac

 Carlene - Bacon Press - After ironing, put the bacon press down on your block to retain the heat and keep the block flat

 Lucina - Inspiration / design notebook - She logs her ideas and quilt designs for future reference in a bound notebook with grid paper inside

 Sharon - Binding clips (pink of course) and Electric Seam Ripper

 April - Karisma Chalk pencil and 1/4" masking tape

 Sara - Metal Snap Clips

 Tomoko - Tortoise thimble from Little House for hand quilting and running stitches and a Nimble Thimble for hand applique and hemming

 Rebecca - Goody ouchless hair holders to wrap around bobbins to keep the thread from unraveling.  And Superior 3 in 1 Snips

 Elaine - Martelli Circle Turntable Cutting Mat

 Zina - Bread tags for row markers; Clover double pins for pinning seams; plastic, mesh-like shelf liner to place under your sewing machine pedal to prevent it from moving around.

 Ricky - Basting tape for matching patterns when piecing a backing

 Deb - Sench (easy threading) Needles for burying your threads when quilting 

 Maria - Take your books to Staples to have them converted from a regular binding to a Spiral binding.  This allows your book to lie completely flat when in use

 We also had some beautiful Show and Tell (sorry gals, some of the pictures didn't come out so not all quilts are included):








June 7th 2016 Guild Meeting - Frances Moore





We were so pleased that  Frances was able to visit with us at our guild meeting.  She truly inspired us with her beautiful quilts and her free motion quilting process.  If you want to see a bit more of her work, check out her website Frantastic-stitch witchery.

 You can also find a couple of her quilts on our Instagram page and last but not least, here is another one of her fantastic creations:


If you ever get a chance, be sure to take a class with Frances.  She's fantastic!







April 5th 2016 Guild Meeting - Jennifer Rapacki

We had a great time with Jennifer Rapacki who talked to us about how she uses the following tools and websites to help her create her beautiful quilts:
Check out Jennifer's Quilt Gallery on her website.  Also, if you sign up for her mailing list, she'll provide you a link to her Top Ten Hints for printing on fabric.


As always Show and Tell was a lot of fun.  The proof is in the pictures...........





  

March 2nd 2016 Guild Meeting - Sashiko!

Per Wikipedia...........
Sashiko (刺し子?, literally "little stabs") is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery) from Japan. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting and embroidery. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.
Many Sashiko patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by the Japanese themselves. The artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) published the book New Forms for Design in 1824, and these designs have inspired many Sashiko patterns.

Guild members had a great time trying out Sashiko at the Guild Meeting.  Tomoko of Momen+ showed us the ropes and provided the supplies for a little pouch.  It was great fun.  We're all looking forward to seeing several completed pouches at the next guild meeting.

We also had a good time with Show and Tell.........






Luke Haynes' Quilt Exhibit "The Log Cabins of Donald Judd"

Several guild members made it down to Crafted in the Port of Los Angeles last weekend to see Luke's exhibit of 50 Log Cabin quilts.    

Some of us even got a mini tour of the exhibit by the artist himself.



The 50 quilts were all designed by Luke with the following formula in mind:  
They all had to be constructed of re-purposed fabric with a red "center" for each of the log cabin blocks and with the rest of the block consisting of light and dark fabrics.  The backs of the quilts were re-purposed sheets improvisationally pieced together.  The rules for quilting the layers together were that all light fabric on the quilt top was quilted in vertical lines with light colored thread and the dark fabric was quilted in horizontal lines using dark thread.
   

You were pulled into the exhibit as you walked through the spiral of quilts. The variations of the log cabin pattern were innovative and unique.  These definitely were not your grandmother's log cabin quilts.  However, with a little effort, you could always find the foundation of the traditional log cabin block.  





Not to pick favorites or anything, but I came back to this one over and over.



It took Luke and his team of quilters 4 years to create the exhibit.  I'm sure they each brought their individual talents to the endeavor and that they are all proud of the part they played in helping Luke bring his vision alive.

Quiltcon Memories

Quiltcon 2016 has come and gone.  In one way or another, I think we all had a great time. Here are some of the highlights or fond moments that I gathered from our guild members.






Kim King loved seeing Natalie Barnes' (Beyond the Reef Patterns) new line of fabric in origami format:

Ann Leibovitz was thrilled by the bright colors & graphics of the quilts and vendors' fabrics!

Alicia Czuzak met up with both her Los Angeles MQG and Long Beach MQG buddies:
Per Alicia,  here I am with Amy Smart from Diary of a Quilter, learning Y seams. She's as sweet as can be!


Now Alicia is with Melissa Averinos in her making faces class. Per Alicia, it was such a great experience being in her presence especially when it was announced to her during the first hour of class that she had won "Best in Show" for her quilt "my brother's jeans.

Per Sharon Drobka, I loved it all!  The lectures that I went to seeing the amazing quilts and meeting some great people in the quilt industry.









February 2, 2016 Guild Meeting - Jean Impey Lecture & Trunk Show

We were so pleased and honored to have Jean Impey join us at our Guild Meeting this month. She inspired us with her artistry, her passion and her love of all types of quilts whether they be traditional or modern or something in between.  

 Jean started quilting in 2007 and her passion was awakened when she was introduced to the work of Gwen Marston.  Jean provided us with the following advice and tips to help us find our passion:

  • Get out of your comfort zone
  • Take a workshop
  • Have a friend teach you something new
  • Read books
  • Combine your talents (like painting and sewing)
  • Tell a story with your quilt
  • Do something creative everyday (this builds your skill set or toolbelt)
  • Find your "pack" or your kindred spirits within the quilting world
  • Talk about what you want to do (so your friends can help you get there)

Additionally, when you find a pattern or technique that you're passionate about, explore it, make more than one quilt, make smaller pillow sized exploratory versions of the pattern. Have fun with it.  Learn, experiment, grow.

 Also, Jean shared some of her other favorite designers with us, such as:



 And now for some photos of Jean's unique artistry............

Spectacular Spider Web Quilt

Another Spectacular Spider Web Quilt

Improvisational Baskets

Improvisational Baskets - So fun and beautiful
Every Quilt Tells A Story - Attend a Jean Impey lecture to hear the story behind this one!

Beautiful.  That's all.

I just love this one!


Who doesn't love a String Quilt.  The colors are amazing, the quilt is spectacular!

 Now for a little "Show & Tell" from our talented guild members...........



Quiltcon 2016 Charity Quilt Submitted

We delivered our quilt to the Modern Quilt Guild office in downtown LA today.  Didn't have time and enough hands available to get a good picture of it, but you get the idea.....

 We'll get a better photo of it at Quiltcon in a couple of week.

 Thanks to all of the following guild members who participated in the making of the quilt:
Rebecca, Lorena, Carol, Tami W., Tami K-R, Alicia, Kim, Sharon, Francesca, Deb, Joy, and Sylvia.  
Also a big thank you to Barefoot Quilters for quilting it for us!

This is just 2/3 of the quilt