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.

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/

https://www.dinkydoo.com/

Sharon Baldwin- Textile Artist

http://lethargiclass.blogspot.ca/

http://bumbleknit.blogspot.ca/

http://colorgirlquilts.com/

http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/

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)

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

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!  

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.

PEIMQG November 2016 meeting

Our little Island has been having some beautiful weather so far this fall, no lasting snow as of yet. With the holiday season approaching and our first PEIMQG anniversary looming, 20 members were in attendance. 

Heather J. opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.

We started the evening with Velda receiving her Queen Bee blocks from her beemates. These awesome blocks were altered slightly from the tutorial found at the MSQC found here. You can find Velda's version on her blog.

Queen Bee for November is Susan and she chose another block from MSQC. The Disappearing Pinwheel arrows block tutorial can be found here. Please bring the completed blocks to the January meeting.

Liz passed around a sign-up sheet for the next round of Queen Bees starting January 2017.

 She also proposed a Round Robin for the following year. Details for this to follow at the December Meeting portion of our Potluck party.

The FQ swap for November is an easy one. Your choice of ANY Modern Fabric. FQ's to measure 18x22. 6 members signed up for the November swap, please bring your FQ's in a plastic bag with your name on it to the January meeting. Here are the FQ's I received from the October FQ swap:

 Book, Blog, and Fabric

This month for Book, Blog and Fabric, Velda presented the Book called Quilt Lovely by Jen Kingwell. This fantastic book was found at the Confederation Court Public library and Velda shared that this book has something for everyone Definitely check this book out. (It will next be available in 3 weeks, although there may be a waiting list, lol)

For Blog Velda searched High and Low for someone a wee bit different and a whole lot saucy - the Bitchy Stitcher. The following excerpt was taken from Velda's blog. To see her entire post, please go here . "This is a blog that’s laugh-out-loud funny, cynical, and edgy; and inside every snarky post Megan Doherty makes, there is a nugget of something very insightful, which is always a bonus for me…be warned though, this blog is NOT always ladylike…you will find the “f” word, along with other very creative and descriptive words.  You’ve been warned."~Velda

For Fabric, Velda shared some gorgeous Alexander Henry prints and a bundle of Riley Blake's Zombie Love.

Next Up Susan had several proposal's for upcoming group activities:

The PEIMQG banner... Susan has requested help from 2 other members in the designing and planning stage of creating our PEIMQG banner. This will be a great way to show our PEIMQG pride and potentially attract attention and future members. Please contact Susan via email or the FB page if you would like to help plan/design our banner.

Charity Quilts -

Dianne was unable to attend the meeting this month but wrote a lovely email expressing the desire for the guild to donate quilts/ duffle bags to foster children of PEI. We have a quilt project in the works, but may be considering future projects as well. Thank you Dianne for researching and putting forth this charitable endeavour for the guild to consider.

QOV

Susan proposed a Quilts of Valor project and members signed up to make blocks. For those who committed to making blocks, please bring them to the January meeting. This is the Bento Box pattern one tutorial can be found here.

150th challenge for 2017 - CQA Great Canadian Beeblocks -

Several Blocks for this challenge were brought in to the meeting tonight. Aren't they fantastic? Of course Heather J and Susan are still looking for more.  Please read the details of this challenge here and bring any completed blocks to Heather J. or Susan as soon as possible.

Anderson House Charity Quilt -

One of the charity projects the guild undertook was an Improv string quilt. Each member participating created an Improv string block. During our May Sew-In, Lucinda assembled the blocks into the completed top, which was quilted by Colleen and bound by Heather J. 

This evening the PEIMQG was pleased to present the Quilt to Dayna from Anderson House. Anderson house is one of PEI's largest Not for Profit organisations. If you are interested in contributing to Anderson House, please check out their current Needs List. Their next fund raising event is their 5th annual Sweetheart Dinner held at Red Shores Feb18th. Please contact them for further details admin@fvps.ca.

Next up we discussed the PEIMQG bylaws and some suggested changes were proposed. Updated versions will be emailed to members. Policies will be discussed at a future meeting.

Our Sew-In for December 10th, will take place at Heather J's house. This will be a Pot-Luck Sew-in/Meeting day. She asks that people please bring folding chairs if they have any. There will be a few fun things taking place throughout the day. 

We are holding a raffle for several fantastic items. Tickets will be $2 each or 3 for $5. Proceeds will go to the PEIMQG.

Also for those who wish to play, Left, Right, and Center: a fun game, and a chance to take home some fabric!!! Please bring in ten 5" squares to participate (who knows you might just win them all!!).

Liz put forth the following swap for the Christmas Sew In/Pot Luck Gift Exchange:

We will make a cushion cover, min size 14” but can be whatever size bigger, but of course make sure it can be used on a standard pillow form.  You can use any fabric colours/theme you want. Your cushion cover will come in a Brown Bag (so no one can see it). If you bring one, you get to pick one.  Please also pin a note on it to say what size pillow form it will need so the quilter receiving it can easily pick a form up to display your lovely creation.  This is to be fun, so be creative.  You don’t have to take part, so no pressure if you choose not to do one. 

Last month Heather J. discussed Shot Cottons, and requested that members bring in any of their projects using them.

Here is Heather J. sharing her quilt :

And Robin sharing a similar pattern, with a bonus she constructed with her precious leftover scraps.

Jean showed us this vibrant beauty with a smattering of shot cottons in just the right places. (Here Heather J. points to one of these little gems).

 Show and Share :

For Show and Share Roberta brought this cute baby quilt made from a panel and some of her stash:

and she was commissioned to make 2 of these "Letters from Heaven" quilts.

here is the back 

Robin brought in her "Sister's Choice" quilt( love these warm spicy colors)

and her "Twisted Friendship" star Quilt

Janice had these adorable "Black Birds" potholders, a favorite of mine from SewFreshQuilts .

Linda turned a so-so quilt into a stunner by changing her original design for this quilt into this Scrappy Rainbow quilt top.

She also shared a great technique for getting a little more width from your fabrics for backing (stay tuned for the December Tips, Tools, and Techniques, for info on how to achieve these results.)

Lucinda shared her free pattern "Poinsettia" table topper from Sew Kind Of Wonderful.

And one of  her backgrounds for 2 baby boy quilts:

and some blocks she is working on for another table topper.

Susan shared her tumbling blocks quilt top

and her "Churn Dash" top made from orphan blocks leftover from another quilt project.

She also shared her quirky "Mussel" pillowcases. Just a few from the many she has made in recent weeks.

Liz and Cathy V. shared their Goody, Goody Binding Bags, they made when they got together for a fun day with Corrine at Blueberry Cove. ( If anyone is interested, I would consider leading a Sew-In day dedicated to making these.)

What a great Meeting. Lots of things being discussed and planned, the future looks bright for the PEIMQG in 2017.

Future Events:

December 10: PEIMQG Potluck Meeting/Sew-In (9-4pm) Heather J's House.