Due to construction in the Multi Purpose Room our meeting has been moved upstairs to Room D

Artist Statement:

“I’ve always struggled with the Minimalist Movement by the Modern Quilter. While I appreciate the designs and negative spaces created, I’m a “More is More” kind of gal in all my art!  I love vibrant colors with whole works of art to be full of color and design.

This year, Quiltcon created a Maximalism category for the 2024 show. I thought this would be a great opportunity to push myself outside of my comfort zone. My inspiration was sent to me by my daughter.

I enjoy multimedia art, mark making and doodling as a way of relaxation.  My daughter challenged me to try to use this image as a guide. This image spoke to me as it contained a lot of mark making and zen like doodling. I challenged myself by only using fabric in my stash and no floral prints.

My presentation will be more about my process rather than a “hands on” experience.

While my Quilt was not selected for the exhibit, I was very happy with the final piece.”

Karen will be giving us a presentation on her inspiration and design process. Afterwards we will all have the opportunity to try doodling our own quilt designs.

Supply list:

Paper- at least 8/12 by 11 or larger

Pencils ,pens, markers - anything you want to draw with.

Guests are welcome for a $15.00 fee.

Please join us for a CCTMQG sewing day at the Quilted Ewe in New Hartford.

Amenities include irons and ironing stations, cutting stations (bring your own cutting tools) , design walls and a lunch room with a refrigerator. There is plenty of space with great lighting and the opportunity to browse the shop.

The cost is $15.00 (non-refundable) and is payable in advance to the Quilted Ewe. Registration will begin March 4th - just go to the Quilted Ewe website and click on the March 23 Open Sew Day.

The month we will be having a F.A.R.T. to the Quilted Ewe located at 37 Greenwoods Road in New Hartford, CT. This is located about 10 minutes from our meeting location in Canton. They have a big, bright beautiful shop. This is a members only event.

This month we will be making blocks for the Trinity Retreat Center quilt(s). They have been very kind and accommodating to the guild during our retreats and would like to present them with a thank you gift.

They have also dropped the occasional hint that a quilt for their living room would look nice.

The guild will provide the fabric. This is a very simple improve style block that will be fun to work on.

Please bring your sewing machine and necessary supplies.

This month we will be celebrating our 8th year with our traditional cupcakes made by Rebecca and two door prizes.

Members will also be sharing their 2023 Bucket list projects along with our monthly Show and Share. This is also a great time to start your 2024 list!

Charity quilts will be available to hand sew labels on. If you have any finished quilts for either Quilts for Foster Children or the Cove Center charity please bring them to the meeting. The Cove Center needs 76 (twin size) quilts by April and we hope to have enough to meet their need. They are put on the campers beds prior to their arrival and are taken home by the children.

This month is our annual December Social.

This year we will be having a Yankee Swap along with a block swap.

Yankee Swap instructions:

No gag gifts.

Can be handmade or purchased.

Value between $20 - $30.

Does not have to be quilt related.

We will be having appetizers, desserts and beverages and playing our favorite Quilters game - LCR. You will need one fat quarter of each of the following - Solids, Boy themed and Kaffe Fassett. Please roll your fat quarter and secure with a rubber band or tie with fabric or string for easier passing during the game.

Aurifilosophy
From the thread makers of Aurifil… a program designed to unlock the mystery of thread, educate the masses, and help all users achieve brilliant results!  Sheri, a certified Aurifilospher, will present a fun and informative presentation and trunk show of her award-winning quilts that will increase your knowledge of thread, tools, uses, and tips.  Exclusive Aurifil resources and swag for attendees included!

This is a members only meeting.

We will be having an open sew day at the Quilted Ewe in New Hartford, CT on Saturday October 28th from 9:15am - 3pm. We thought this would be a nice way to get together for some extended sewing time without interruptions at home. It will be a great opportunity to work on (or start) any holiday projects you may have - and be able to shop for fabric!!! Open Sew includes classroom use and a 6 foot table to work on.  Ewe will need to bring your own sewing machine and rotary cutter.   Classroom amenities include design wall, irons, ironing boards and cutting station. 

The cost is $15.00 per person and pre-registration is required through the Quilted Ewe website. Please note the Quilted Ewe does not give refunds for cancellations.

Please note the date change to the 3rd Monday.

2024 Guild Officer introductions take place this month.

In preparation for our December swap Debbie will be teaching an ugly sweater block. Members can decide how to use the block - mug rug, small wall quilt, banner…..

You will need to purchase the pattern from Full Bobbin Designs prior to the meeting. This is a downloadable PDF pattern.

The block comes in three sizes, 8, 9 and 10 inch.

For the 10 inch block you will need:

6”x7” fussy cut main piece

2 1/2” strip for sleeves

Fat quarter for the background

Lee will be presenting her Improv Herringbone Project this month.

For this project you will need the following supplies:

1 inch white or contrasting solid strips of fabric for a boarder for the colored pieces

Scraps 4 inches or larger for the colored pieces of the quilt

A long ruler

Seam roller/irons

Sewing machine and necessary sewing supplies

This month we will be making the Stand and Stow bag from Atkinson Designs (please purchase the pattern prior to the workshop). These bags come in 3 sizes and can be modified to suit your style. It will be helpful to prep for this workshop ahead of time.

Supply list for making a medium (12” x 12” x 7 1/2”d):

Main color 3/4 yard (42” wide)

Contrast color 3/4 yard (42” wide)

Fabric handles included in yardage

Fusible interfacing for fabric handles 1/8 yard

Pletex 71F single side fusible 7/8 yard

Debbie will be demonstrating how to add additional pockets. You will need the following:

For the medium bag -

1-2 pieces of fabric 12 1/2” x 14”

1-2 pieces SF101 12 1/2” x 7”

For the large bag-

1-2 pieces of fabric 14 1/2” x 16”

1-2 pieces SF101 14 1/2” x 8”

This month we invite everyone to bring their favorite sewing tool to share and demonstrate. Perhaps you have a unique item you use for sewing that is normally for another purpose. This will be a fun way to learn about sewing tools and their uses - in ways you may never have thought about.

This meeting will also be an open sew.

The Farmington Valley Quilt Guild is sponsoring Connecticut Hang-A-Quilt Day June 17, 2023. It is the perfect open air quilt show! Hang a quilt outside your house --on your garage, clothesline, fence, tree or chair. Ask a local business if you can display a quilt for the day. Post a picture on social media with the #CTHangAQuiltDay. There is no preregistration required.

This months meeting will be highlighting the final reveal of our Traveling Quilt Sew Along. These quilts began their journey in July 2022 and we are all looking forward to seeing the finished projects.

De-stash Swap This is an opportunity for pass along those fabrics, threads or patterns that no longer speak to you. The guidelines are as follows - fabric must be clean and odor free. You are welcome to bring anything quilting related. Anything that you bring you are responsible for taking home. We can not use the Community Center trash for this event.

1) 5” squares of background fabric.  Typically a white or very light solid, though dark blue might look really good.  For my lap size quilt I used 120 squares, making a 45”x54” finished size.

2) strips of solid fabrics in varying sizes from 2-3” wide and 3-10” long.  Bring a big variety of colors.  Each block takes 3 to 6 strings.

3) standard sewing supplies: your trusty machine, rotary cutter, small scissors, etc.  There’s lots of pressing to do on this project so bring a travel iron or seam roller if you have one.

That’s really it!  This is a simple project.

If you don’t want to commit to making a whole quilt, and are interested in this, I would be willing to combine the blocks we make that night into a community quilt that we donate to our service project.

This month we will be holding our Annual Business Meeting. We hope see everyone there as we will be discussing our Bylaws.

This is also an open sew meeting. Don’t forget to bring your Show and Share

We will be having Brenda Gael Smith of Serendipity Patchwork and Quilting in Australia teaching her Geometrics workshop on Saturday February 4, 2-5 pm. The fee for this workshop is $35.00 and is for members only. Payment is due at time of registration.

Essential: Current version of Zoom loaded on your computer or device. A laptop or tablet is ideal for moving around your creative space.

General:

• Sewing machine with 1/4 inch foot (or equivalent needle setting)

• Rotary cutter with a SHARP blade and cutting mat

• Quilters ruler

• Chalk pencil (I like Clover Chaco liners)

• Neutral-colored thread for piecing

• Iron and ironing mat

• Spray starch (optional)

Fabrics: This workshop is most suitable for fabrics that read as a single color such as solids, hand-dyes, batiks, tone on tone prints and small- scale prints.

Warm Up Exercises & Samples:

• Two, 6½ x 4in rectangles. One dark and one light.

• Four 6 ½ in squares. Two dark and two light. • Four 4 ½ in squares. Two dark and two light.

• One 10x3in rectangle with a 25-40in long 1½ in wide strip in contrasting color

• One 10x1½ in strip with a 25-40in long 1-2in wide strip in a contrasting color

• Four 10x4 rectangles: Two dark and two light For your own compositions • Assorted fabric scraps in both light and dark colors.

• Optional: Background fabric that contrasts with your geometric shapes so that your shapes “float”. Depending on what direction you choose, you may not end up using this fabric in the three-hour class.

This month we are celebrating our 7th Birthday with our traditional cupcakes. Rebecca and her daughter Ally started this tradition at our first Birthday. As we all know kids grow up and take their own paths. The guild wishes Ally best of luck with her future endeavors and a big Thank You to both Rebecca and Ally for the amazing cupcakes over the years. Lee and her daughter Quinn will be taking over in 2023 - so our Tradition lives on!!

This month is a members teaching members workshop with Marcia who will be demonstrating Kawandi Quilting.

The supply list for the kawandi workshop is:

#7 Embroidery needle

12 wt. thread -- white or ecru

fabric scissors

placemat size (or any size) thin batting or flannel

fabric for the backing -- an inch larger than your batting

i.e. if your batting is 12.5 x 17.5, then the backing would be 13.5 x 18.5 inches

colorful fabric scraps

Optional: pins -- not really necessary, but some people may be more comfortable using them, and I use them on occasion myself

Prep work before workshop:

• Place batting over the wrong side of backing

• Fold backing edges over batting to the front and hand baste or press.

Sewing machines are not needed. This is all hand work.

This month is our annual December Social. Registration will begin in October.

We will be having appetizers, desserts and beverages. And of course playing our favorite Quilters game - LCR. You will need one fat quarter of each of the following - Tula Pink, Alison Glass and Low volume. Please roll your fat quarter and secure with a rubber band or tie with fabric or string for easier passing during the game.

Our Holiday Swap project will also take place.

We will be having a Members Teaching Members workshop this month with Mary showing us how to use those pesky orphan blocks - you know you have some - to create beautiful quilt tops. This will also be a great opportunity to share your extra blocks with other members.

We will have an orphan block improv session. Dig through your own orphan block box or, better still, other people’s orphans! We’ll shoot to make a 24” x24” finished block that you can take home or contribute to a charity quilt. NO stress, ONLY fun.

Orphans are blocks that might have been test blocks, or things that you tried and realized that you don’t want to make a whole quilt like that after all, or things that came out the wrong size, or you ran out of the right fabric—whatever.

Between now and November—save your orphan blocks! Go through your stash and put them all in one place, and let them get happy together.

Supplies: things to bring:

1.     Bring your orphan blocks with the expectation to give some/all away. Don’t bring anything that you can’t bear to see cut up.

2.     2-3 fabrics (fat quarter to half yard) that you’ll use to fill gaps or as negative space. You’ll probably only pick one, but it’s nice to have choice.

3.     Sewing supplies: machine, thread, scissors/rotary cutter, cutting mat, pressing tools

We will be presenting and working on our Holiday Swap Projects this month. This year we will be offering a choice quilted box pouch from Fort Worth Fabric Studio by Lindsey Weight and two other pouch projects. Lee assigned swap partners in September.

We will be returning to Valley Fabrics this year for our members only F.A.R.T. (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip) This is a great opportunity to shop with friends, see the latest fabric collections and enhance your stash. You can shop until you drop from 12pm to 6 pm. This is a members only meeting.

We will not be having our evening meeting at the Community Center this month.

Join us this month for an Open Sew where Debbie will be presenting her binding workshop (she has some great techniques). Bring what ever sewing or crafty project strikes your fancy. Or come and relax and visit with your quilty friends.

Michele will be presenting her flower workshop which was originally scheduled for May at this months meeting.

For this meeting workshop you will need the following:

Pieces of fabric (silks, lightweight cottons) in sizes 4” to 10” squares or larger. Solids and prints are both good for the flower. (I will bring some silks for people to try as well if they don’t have any.) It's great to have some contrasting colors for the under petal.

Green fabric for leaves. Solid textured looking prints. Linen and silk also work nicely.

Heat n Bond by Thermo web (the 1 yard package is more than enough) Michele will bring extra.

Wool pressing mat if you have one (I have a dozen small 4” square ones I can bring for folks to use)

Mini iron if you have one ( the guild has some and Michele will bring extra)

A pen or seam ripper with a rounded end to mold the petals while hot

Fabric glue (like fabric-tac)

Marking pencil/pen, scissors and hand sewing needle and thread, straight pins

A handful of poly or wool stuffing

Michele will provide paper templates for everyone to cut out.

Details to follow in May

We will be making the Jewel of the Sea Pillow from the PillowPop book by Heather Bostic. We have used this book for a prior project so many of you may already have a copy. This is a great addition to your sewing library and we anticipate using it for future meetings.

Pillow finished size 16 1/2” x 16 1/2”

For quick reference here is a list of supplies:

A variety of 15 assorted prints at least 10" long.
Solid fabric - 1 yard for center strips, boarders, backing and binding.
Muslin (or equivalent) 1 yard for pillow top lining and backing lining.
Batting - 19" x 19"
Printer paper or paper piecing paper - 4 pieces 6" x 6"
Gluestick

Our Geese Migration Sew Along wrap up has been moved to our March meeting. We hope to see the many amazing finished projects!!

We will be awarding the 2021 UFO Challenge Awards at this months meeting as well. Please bring your completed UFO’s to the meeting for the viewers choice selection.