Saturday 24 December 2016

Happy Holidays!!

On behalf of the PEIMQG, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year. I hope everyone is enjoying this festive time with friends and family. And if you aren't or can't, I hope you are getting lots of sewing done. I am looking forward to what the new year has in store for the PEIMQG in its second year.


I would also like to thank all of our 2016 guest bloggers, who have contributed to make our blog awesome, interesting, and fun.




Sharon Baldwin- Textile Artist






See you in the New Year!!! We will be celebrating Canada's 150th birthday! 

Upcoming Events:

January 7, 2017 (TBC) Sew-In:  West Royalty Community Room Sobeys 

January 26, 2017 Meeting: West Royalty Community Room Sobeys (TBC)


Saturday 17 December 2016

December 2016 Tips, Tools and Techniques

For this month's Tips, Tools and Techniques, We have a book review from a fellow blogger and PEIMQG guild member grannycanquilt. Her blog is chock full of humor and wit. She also features what she calls Picto-Toots. Fun little tutorials with pictures to show everything you need to get the block done. Please check out her blog, it's alot of fun and very informative too. 


GRANNYcanQUILT

quilts, critters, family and other fabulousness
Our PEIMQG is attempting to build a library for members use and part of the responsibility that goes along with that, is to offer insight into the books available for loan.  Naturally this is a huge job and we are a very new Guild, so the other night our blog author, *Cathy* asked for volunteers to write a book review on one of the books in our library.  Since I have no personal self control at all, I took the plunge and agreed to give a report on one book on the list.
So here goes.
It was long long ago, and far far away in my Grade 12 literature class, when I last wrote a book review so it goes without saying that I completely forgot how to do it and a reminder was in order.   It turns out I am not the first to wonder about writing interesting and informative book reviews.  There are approximately 1.2 gazillion sites that will tell you how to go about it.  But for the most part, all agree with step one.
Introduce the Book… so with no further ado, please meet
ModBlock – Missouri Star Quilt Co.  – The Color Issue.  
Click here to go to the Missouri Star Quilt Co. (MSQC) website to get all details such as: place, publisher, publication date, edition, pages, special features, price etc.
I have to say right here at the get-go, this is not an old-fashioned beginning to end book written by one author, explaining the one technique that made him/her famous and then giving examples of his/her work; this is the first edition in a series of books by MSQC to feature some really well known and respected quiters/bloggers, talking about what they do best.
Are you a “new-ish” quilter? or perhaps you are new to the whole idea of “modern” quilting. Then, you, my friend, are the person who this book is written for.  Let me quote what ModBlock has to say
“There is a new found freedom that you feel when making a modern quilt.  You can follow the pattern or break free and choose you own design path.  There are no rules, just great ideas to help you get started….”
So, there are no quilt police, no rigid rules to follow, no right or wrong, no matchy-match monkey business.  Anything goes.  Sounds like a great place to start doesn’t it? (or alternatively, absolutely terrifying and the stuff of your worst nightmares…. but that’s a subject for another day and another book review)
The contributors in this edition are Molli Sparkles, Shea Henderson, Amy Ellis, Natalie Earnheart, Lisa Hirsch, Alexia Abegg, Vanessa Vargas Wilson and of course, Jennny Doan, founder of MSQC.  Each of them tackles a part of the quilt making process and explains what they think about and how they approach building a cohesive, modern block/quilt.
Themes discussed are tone/color play, colour placement,  improv piecing, twists on old-fashioned/traditional blocks, use of negative space and new and exciting tools of the trade.  There is even a section for someone who wants to really break out of their box and make a tote bag! Holy Heck Hermione!
Each chapter is presented by a contributor in his/her own words so you can get a really clear picture of how they interpret a particular aspect of quilt making and IMHO should make sense to even the newest newbie who ever picked up a rotary cutter. And bonus, there are tons of photos in every section.  Naturally each presenter provides great examples of projects and provides a pattern for you, should you be inclined to try out the technique.  All told, there are 10 great projects included in this book.
In terms of which author provided content that was most meaningful to me AND which project I want to try, there was absolutely no contest,  my favourite contributor was Natalie Earnheart.  I absolutely fell in love with her “Dapper Dan” quilt.  The section discusses “negative space” and how to make it interesting (which is something that I always struggle with).  It also touches on composition and making opportunities for interesting movement in quilt design (another thing which I grapple with every times I pick up my rotary cutter).  O yeah,  there are also templates involved in this pattern….Yikes.  So am I going to make this quilt…You betcha, but I’m gonna need help from my friends at PEIMQG to make it happen.
If you are a somewhat cautious or new “modern” quilt artisan, you will enjoy this book because it is simply written, with tons of great features such as supply lists for projects and tips to help guide you through construction 0f each project while making it as easy peasy as it naturally should be. The frosting on the cake are the great pictures (sorry folks, there no cake pics).
If you are a well established modern quilter, you will identify with the ideas presented and enjoy the opportunity to get a better perspective of what some of your favourite quilt designers/bloggers are doing.
In my opinion thats a win/win.

Sunday 11 December 2016

December 2016 Meeting/Potluck Party

This month's Sew-In and Meeting were combined into a festive Holiday Potluck, hosted at Heather J's lovely home. We had 17 members in attendance for a fun filled day of sewing and chatting and fun all mixed in.

Heather welcomed us to her home and offered congratulations to the group for reaching our 1st anniversary as the PEIMQG. We also had another reason to celebrate as it was Jean's Birthday!! Happy 39th? birthday?



We all admired our new PEIMQG banner, way to represent!!! Now we will be able to show our guild pride wherever and whenever.



We are still looking into possible space for our meetings, sew-ins and workshops, as we are quickly outgrowing our space at the Sobeys Community room.

We discussed amendments to our Bylaws and Policies, which were finalized as of the 10th of December 2016.

Our Executive for 2017 has been decided !!! All the above information can be found at the Members Only blog under the appropriate tabs here.


Liz discussed the 2017 Round Robin challenge for all the members who wish to participate. Information for this awesome challenge can be found here.

After the brief business portion of the day, we all got busy working on our varied quilty projects. 

Corinne was stitching away on her Christmas Table Runner, afterwards she worked on some adorable "Pug" mittens.



Lucinda Was working on her hand appliqued blocks and later spent some time on Queen Bee Blocks.



Dianne was working on Cathy's Queen Bee blocks and later worked on a binding and her hand stitched hexagons quilt.




Roberta was working on this super cute "Everything Baby" quilt. Here are the embroidered blocks almost ready for cutting.



Velda had these fabulous "Chic Picnic" blocks using her Quick Curve Ruler. Love seeing all the various patterns from sewkindofwonderful.



Heather C. and Lydia were finishing up their pillowsham challenge.




Jean was binding her "Pixie Dust" quilt. Love those Black, White and Reds.




Helen was working on her Quilt-as-you-go applique blocks. Her hand stitches are so teeny!!!



Susan had a binding as well, "Silly Monkeys" for her grandson. He will love it!



Cathy was binding her gigantic "Roll, Roll Cotton Boll" quilt. (She didn't get very far but a start is better than nothing, lol)



Linda completed a couple of the Bento box blocks for the charity quilt.  She was a whirlwind, moving between her machine and the iron, that we did not get a photo (yikes)!  

Heather J, Gail, Robin, Dawn and Liz didn't have projects to work on but enjoyed the day of conversation and camaraderie. 

For lunch we all took a break and filled our bellies with a smorgasbord of yummy morsels. Here is just a sampling of what was up for grabs. 



There were some fantastic desserts brought as well, but I was too busy eating them and forgot to take a picture (oops).






After we had our fill, it was time for some fun and games...

First we did our Pillow sham swap, I think everyone can agree that this was a huge success and a lot of fun, here are the results of our creativity:



Then we drew for our door prizes, we had a great assortment. A FQ bundle from Connecting Threads, a "Goody, Goody Binding Bag", made by our talented member Cathy, 2 different books and a pair of "Super Gripper" Scissors.





Dawn won the FQ bundle, Robin won the binding bag, Lucinda and Velda won a book each and Dianne won the Super Gripper scissors. Congrats to the lucky winners!

Next up was Left, Right, and Center. A fun group game where the winner takes all!!! The competition was fierce, but in the end Dianne won the jackpot and went home with 140 charm squares. 









A fun filled day was had by all. Thank you Heather J for graciously hosting. It was nice to get together before the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy new year as we celebrate Canada's 150th!  We hope to see everyone for the January Sew-In!  

Saturday 3 December 2016

Guest Blogger December 2016

This Month's guest blogger is someone I have been following for years. I first came to know her from the modabakeshop and the many quilt projects she posted for them. It didn't take long for me to follow her personal blog Happy Quilting. She is a very busy woman and I am so happy she joined us here at the PEIMQG blog as our guest. 





Hi, I am Melissa Corry and I love to quilt!!! 


 I started quilting as a hobby in 2005 but since starting my blog, Happy Quilting, in 2010 my hobby has turned into a passion.  This passion for quilting has lead me on an amazing path that has allowed me to share my creativity in designing my own quilts and projects that I share as tutorials, published works, a pattern line, and even a book, Irish Chain Quilts. 


 I love designing and finds inspiration in just about everything and anything.  My sweet family , my husband and our five children, live in Cedar City, Utah.  To see more of my daily quilting adventures check out my blog Happy Quilting. (www.happyquiltingmelissa.com)


 Q & A:

1.      What do you love about  (Modern) quilting?

I love that Modern Quilting allows me to step out of my creative comfort zone and to create with absolutely no rules. 

2.      Where do you draw inspiration?

I truly find inspiration everywhere.  There are of course beautiful manmade inspiration, like amazing tile work or stunning architecture, which inspired my Moroccan Lullaby Quilt. 


 And Nature is always a wonderful source for inspiration as well, like the day I saw a windmill with some brilliant clouds behind it that inspired my Corkscrew quilt. 


  And sometimes, you even find inspiration in totally random places, like seeing a cool shaped lamp in a home goods store that was the inspiration behind my In Your Neighborhood quilt. 


 You can truly be inspired by just about anything, anywhere, and at any time, if you are just watching out for it ;)

3.      What are you currently working on? (Can we have a sneak peek?)

I am actually just finishing a huge 4 quilt Secret Sewing project that sadly, I can’t show a sneak peek of.  But now that I have that off the table, I am wanting to get back to a few WIP’s that I had to put aside for the deadline, including finishing up my Summer Solstice quilt-a-long quilt that I hosted on my blog this summer


 and my Crossroads Quilt Along that was hosted by Fat Quarter Shop this year. 

4.      Solids or Prints?

That is a tuff question.  I love the look of an all solids quilt, and have made quite a few, my favorite being my Off Kilter quilt (which I happen to have a free tutorial for at my blog ;) 


  but I guess I would have to say prints, as I tend to grab those first ;)

5.      Precuts or Stash?

Can you say both if your precuts are part of your stash ;)   I love, love, love to use precuts!!!  I love all of the variety they provide and the prints and colors are always just so pretty!!!  I won’t mention how many precuts I have stashed :)

6.      Favorite Tool/Trick you can’t live without?

I love to design with some of the basic piecing units like flying geese and half square triangles . . . so my favorite Trick is the No Waste Flying Geese method and my favorite tool is my HST Bloc Loc rulers. 

7.      What’s your Favorite Blog and/or Designer?

Oh my goodness, that is like choosing a favorite star.  I have a list of blogs that I love to follow on the side of my blog, and at least 25 designers that I follow on instagram,  I suppose those would be my favorites ;) 

8.      What’s one thing we should know about you?

I really am happy when quilting.  I am often asked, especially when the deadlines get crazy and the computer work gets stacked up, if I still love doing all of this quilting, and I am so incredibly happy that I can always answer yes.  I just am truly, happy quilting!!!



Thank you so much Melissa, for being this month's Guest Blogger. I am looking forward to seeing those secret sewing projects, you mentioned.