BAMQG Meeting

It was a good meeting last Saturday. Friend Julie and I had signed up for a design class with Joe Cunningham, but it was cancelled at the last minute. I didn’t really see any advertising for it and I wish they had let me know sooner so I could have rounded up people. The effect of that cancellation was that I got to attend the BAMQG meeting. I was really sad that I was going to miss it and was really wanting to be in 2 places at once.

Mike gave us a tour of one section of the MQG. The goal is to get us more familiar with the benefits of that site since our BAMQG membership includes an MQG membership.

Karen, the 2015 Challenge Coordinator, gave us a small lecture on “What is Modern?”. Stop with the eye rolling! It was interesting and a little off the beaten track. She took some principles of ‘modern quilting’ and showed us these elements in modern quilts as well as ‘non-modern’ quilts, including quilts from the 1980s and 1990s as well as vintage quilts. It was a cool presentation! Some of the elements she included were:

  • Improv
  • Pictorial
  • Graphic
  • Negative Space
  • Bright Colors
  • Alternative Grid (drop an element to mess up symmetry, space elements oddly, irregular spacing between element, etc)
  • I added in Text during the discussion.

The result of this fabulous presentation is a challenge quilt due in July (??) using an alternative grid.

Charity presented two completed quilts and a new charity block. You can download the  Stair step piecing directions (PDF) or go to the guild website and look at the directions.

Hawaiian Donation Quilts
Hawaiian Donation Quilts

Some of the Hawaiian quilts are finished. Angela handed out binding and talked about the quilts. I think she got some other people who couldn’t attend the Sew Day to take some pieces and parts and finish them.

I got a colorful binding, though Gerre tells me the quilting is still in process. No problem. I am still working on the binding for the Pink T quilt, though I am nearly done.

Joy-Lily is the Swaps Coordinator and the first swap will be in April. We are each to bring a quilt book with which we have finished and trade with someone else for one. In the future, there will be a ‘Sew As You Go” bag swap.

Upcoming events:

  • Amish Exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles ends 2/28/2015
  • Manteca Quilt Show, March 7-8, 2015
  • SCVQA Show-March 14-15, 2015
  • Playcrafts has a challenge going using the Pantone Color of the Year, Marsala
Binding Bee
Binding Bee

After the meeting ended, a bunch of us sat around finishing up the binding of the guild’s opportunity quilt. The quilt is a monster, but it is also an amazing monster.

Ruth designed it and it is a very unique design that will be appealing to modern quilters, at the very least. Marci Gore designed the quilting and stitched it out on her computerized longarm.

There was some discussion about what the guild would do if we were asked for a pattern. There is a lot of creativity in the guild so I suggested created a pattern and posting it on Craftsy. There are a lot of steps before we can do that, not the least of which is get our nonprofit status finalized, but it is in the idea hopper.

2014 BAMQG Opportunity Quilt
2014 BAMQG Opportunity Quilt

The first opportunity to buy raffle tickets will be at the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association Show. It was fun. People would walk up and comment that it was just like an old fashioned quilting bee.

The next Sew Day will be at The Intrepid Thread, which will be dangerous. 😉