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Registration

2022 Guild Membership Registration

Are you interested in joining the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild? We’d love to have you! Membership to the Modern Quilt Guild is included in your annual dues, which includes access to all the resources, webinars, and more on their website. Guild dues also go towards our various technology needs, guild programming, charity supplies, and more!

In order to register as a guild member:

1. Complete the 2022 registration form.  Both renewing members and new members need to complete the form. Our form changes slightly each year and we want to make sure we have the most up-to-date information from you.

2. Pay membership dues ($50, or $25 after July 1) online via Venmo (preferred) or via check (made out to San Diego Modern Quilt Guild) by mail or in person.  Details for submitting payment are provided when you submit your membership form.

Please note: to be a fully registered member of the San Diego MQG, you must submit both your registration form and dues payment.

All monthly meetings are currently held concurrently in person and virtually over Zoom.

Questions? Email the board at [email protected]

Charity, holiday party, Meeting Notes

November Guild Meeting

Our last official meeting of the year was held Sunday, November 14th at Quilt in a Day as well as via webinar on Zoom. For those who weren’t able to join us either in-person or virtually, here’s a recap of what we covered. 

2022 Membership

Information about renewing your membership in the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild will be emailed to members in January and we will be conducting a renewal campaign that month. If you are anxious to pay next year’s dues, hold tight for now. We will be ready for you in January! 

Dues will continue to be $50 for the year. Those dues go in-part to the Modern Quilt Guild and get you access to all of the membership resources including discounted admission to QuiltCon classes and lectures as well as webinars, patterns, and other quilting resources. The other portion of your dues remain with us. We use those funds to pay for programming, activities, raffle prizes, charity supplies and more! 

Election Nominations

We completed the nominations for the 2022 board and will hold the election at the holiday party on December 5th. The slate of nominees are as follows for each position:

President: Nancy Littlefield  

VP of Operations: Hadley Mendoza Miklos

VP of Activities: Janine Fulkerson

Secretary: Jen Collins

Treasurer: Kristyn Jansen

We understand that not everyone will be able to come to the holiday party, so we have emailed a link to an electronic ballot to all members (please see the email about the holiday party). Members should only use the electronic ballot if you will not be voting in person. Ballots must be received by midnight on December 4th to be counted in the election. 

Holiday Party

Additional information about our 2021 Holiday Party was provided. For a recap, the holiday party is being held Sunday, December 5th at 11:00am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens in Vista. We will have access to the inside and outside space (weather permitting). We will be ordering lunch from Panera. Water will be available but you are welcome to bring your own drinks. Please RSVP using the form that was emailed to members. On the form you can select your meal preference as well as indicate any dietary restrictions. We will accommodate those restrictions to the best of our ability. RSVPs are required by Thursday, December 2nd.

Activities will include a brown bag gift exchange (instead of the coordinated mini swap we have done in prior years), as well as two rounds of Left Right Center. We will also be selecting the winning ticket for this year’s opportunity quilt! 

Opportunity Quilt

Our 2021 QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilt is our Opportunity Quilt this year and we will be picking a winner for it at the Holiday Party (winner need not be present).

Opportunity quilt tickets are being sold to raise money for Feeding San Diego and to help support our 2022 Charity Special Project (supporting the Women’s Resource Center – more below). Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased online via Venmo (@sdmodernquiltguild). Please mention Opportunity Quilt in the note field. They can also be purchased via check at the Holiday Party. Checks can be made payable to: San Diego Modern Quilt Guild and should mention Opportunity Quilt in the memo. Checks can also be mailed to our treasurer (address in the holiday party email), but they must be received no later than December 4th to be considered for entry.

Non-members are also welcome to buy tickets for the Opportunity Quilt – please include your email if entering via Venmo, so that we have a way to contact you.

The quilt is approximately 68″x85″ and was longarm quilted by member Chris Broehmer of SweetPea Threads.

Please see the holiday party email for more details!


Charity

Kristyn provided an update on the coming year’s charity program resulting from the recently held Charity Committee Planning Meeting. The Charity Committee plans to continue with a trimester drive structure focusing on Ronald McDonald House at the beginning of the year and Just in Time for Foster Youth’s My First Home program for the 2nd trimester. Due to a change in our connection to the Riverside Medical Center’s Chemo Lounge, we are looking into a local option to support individuals going through cancer treatment for our third trimester. If you are aware of a cancer treatment center in San Diego that will take quilts donations (many don’t!), please let us know! We will also round out the year with donations to the Community Resource Center’s Holiday Baskets.

New for next year, we will be holding a year-long quilt drive to support the Women’s Resource Center’s emergency shelter. Our goal is to provide quilts for the 33 beds in the shelter. More specific details will be provided in the future, but we will be asking for large throw to twin sized quilts in a specific color scheme so that they will coordinate at the facility. We are also going to be helping people pair up or team up to work on quilts. This will be a great way to meet other guild members, share tasks, and get more quilts completed!

Finally, going forward we are planning to offer two opportunity quilt fundraisers during the year to raise money to support other local organizations financially where quilt donations are not feasible. One will be a more traditional opportunity quilt, like the one we are holding right now and the other will be a different kind of event. We will provide more information on that event next year.

Current Charity Drive

Riverside Medical Center’s Chemo Lounge (September – December)

We support the Chemo Lounge by providing quilts for patients to use during their treatment at the center. Patients are able to keep the quilt they have chosen after their treatment.

Our focus for this trimester is on lap/throw sized quilts – approximately 50″ x 60″ or larger. Please feel free to bring in any final donations to the holiday party. 

Kristyn also collected the blocks for this year’s group quilts. If you are interested in helping assemble, quilt or bind either of the two quilts we are making together, please let Kristyn know by emailing [email protected].

We also finished collecting potholders for our year-long potholder drive. Together we were able to donate more than 200 potholders to support the Community Resource Center and their Holiday Baskets program. Many quilts and other handmade items were donated, including 66 baby quilts from Jill L. and a large assortment of bags from Lauren M. 

As we reach the end of the year, we wanted to take a moment to thank each and EVERY member who contributed in any way to the charity program this year. We know that everyone’s bandwidth and resources are different. Whether small or large, we appreciate you and your contribution.

Finally, keep tagging your charity makes (in-progress or finished objects) with #sdmqgcharity on Instagram so everyone can see your contribution!


Scrap Swap

Following the meeting we held the annual scrap swap! If you haven’t been to one before, it is a great opportunity to pass long your scraps that you are done with and freshen your scraps with new-to-you gems! It’s always a lot of fun and this year was no exception! 


Sew and Tell

As usual, we had a lovely and colorful show and tell full of quilts, bags and other makes! 

A couple projects include Jill’s happy version of the Tiny Town quilt from Pen + Paper Patterns:

Barbara showed off her whimsical kaleidoscope quilt she completed with her sewing circle.

Kenza showed off her gorgeous QuiltCon submission (quilted by member Chris of SweetPea Threads).

Finally, Jen shared one of the completed group quilts that the guild made for the Ronald McDonald House drive earlier this year! 


Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Holiday Party: Sunday, December 5th at 11:00am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens. Lunch will be provided. RSVP by December 2nd!.

Next Sew-In: Instead of our regular meeting, we will be holding a special sew-in on Sunday, December 12th at 11:00 at Quilt in a Day – we have a capacity limit for this event, so look for a sign up email closer to the date of the sew in. Please Note: There will be no regular 4th Sunday sew-in on December 26th.

Next Guild Meeting: Sunday, January 9th at 12:00 at Quilt in a Day to be followed by a handwork stitch and sew. No sewing machines please due to capacity constraints. Masks required.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity, Meeting Notes

October Meeting Recap

Our October meeting was held Sunday, October 10th at Quilt in a Day as well as via webinar on Zoom. For those who weren’t able to join us either in-person or virtually, here’s a recap of what we covered. 

Election Update

Our most important agenda item was the 2022 elections. Hadley made a rousing and encouraging speech about joining next year’s board. We hadn’t yet heard from anyone interested in the two open positions of President and VP Activities, so we decided to postpone nominations and hold a zoom meeting this month for anyone interested in either position, wanting to ask questions or explore ways they can support the guild. We will reconvene at the November meeting for nominations and bump the election to December to ensure there is enough time for members to make thoughtful decisions. If you are interested and want to know more about either open position, please email the board at sdmqgboard at gmail.com


Activities!

Holiday Party

Our 2021 Holiday Party is being held Sunday, December 5th at 11:00am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens in Vista. In order to accommodate “all things pandemic” we will be catering the party. We will offer seating inside, but members are welcome to bring a quilt and eat out on the lawn (weather permitting). 

We will be doing a brown bag exchange instead of the coordinated mini swap. You can bring any make (mini quilt, bag, etc.) and you will swap with another member to bring home a lovely gift in exchange. We will also be playing Left Right Center. More details to come!

An RSVP, requesting dietary restrictions, will be requested in November, following the November meeting.


Charity

Current Charity Drive

Riverside Medical Center’s Chemo Lounge (September – December)

We support the Chemo Lounge by providing quilts for patients to use during their treatment at the center. Patients are able to keep the quilt they have chosen after their treatment.

Our focus for this trimester is on lap/throw sized quilts – approximately 50″ x 60″ or larger.

Chemo Lounge Group Quilt Project

Jen has assembled kits for this trimester’s group project – we are making these gradient log cabin blocks that radiate from a darker color out to light. Each kit will contain fabric to make two blocks. Blocks can be a straight log cabin or feel free to make it a bit wonky like in the photo below.

All kits have now been handed out and are due back to Kristyn by the November meeting. If you won’t be able to turn your blocks back in-person, please email Kristyn to make arrangements to mail them to her: [email protected]

Keep tagging your blocks #sdmqgcharity on Instagram so everyone can see your contribution!

Community Resource Center’s Holiday Baskets Program (Beginning of December)

In addition to the potholders that we have made throughout the year, we also support the Community Resource Center and their Holiday Baskets program by donating quilts of all types and sizes at the end of the year. This program helps to support families in need and allows them to select from a variety of goods such as food, clothing, blankets, toys, and more. Potholders and quilts for this drive need to be donated no later than the November 14th guild meeting.

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. If you’re interested in helping us out with quilting, send an email! We have lots of quilt tops that are in need of quilting and we need your help to get those quilted up for donation. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.


Sew and Tell

As usual, our members didn’t let us down with another beautiful assortment of makes. 

Laurie M. showed off her super cute version of the Ghost Quilt from Then Came June and Pen + Paper Patterns.

Suzanne brought another of her amazing 100% hand pieced and hand quilted masterpieces. This time a beautiful temperature quilt.

And Jenny H. showed off the recent foundation paper pieced pattern test she completed for  Sarah Pitcher! An Octopus, of course!!


Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Guild Meeting: Sunday, November 14th at 12:00 at Quilt in a Day to be followed by a handwork stitch and sew. No sewing machines please due to capacity constraints. Masks required.

Next Sew-In: Sunday, November 28th at 11:00 at Quilt in a Day – we have a capacity limit for this event, so look for a sign up email closer to the date of the sew in.

Holiday Party: Sunday, December 5th at 11:00am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens. Lunch will be provided. RSVP will be requested in November (watch your email!).


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

September Meeting Recap

Our September meeting found us back and in-person at Quilt in a Day! Even though the group was small, it was so nice to see those of you who could come. 

We were also able to offer a Zoom viewing option for those who were not able to come in person. We know there is a need to offer a remote viewing option and we hope to continue to be able to do this. Going forward, we will send out a Zoom webinar link for the meeting along with the newsletter so those viewing from home will have the meeting link in advance. Unfortunately there are a lot of technical logistics involved and we need some help. Right now, the board is not able to both hold the in-person meeting as well as moderate the online webinar version of the meeting. If you can help with either equipment or your time, please let the board know as soon as possible. We want to make the at-home viewing option the best it can be!

For those who weren’t able to join us either in-person or virtually, here’s a recap of what we covered. 

Activities!

We are hosting an in-person workshop with Laura Loewen of Quilt Fort Co.! The Ruler Free Finger Paints workshop will be held Saturday, October 16th at Quilt in a Day from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The cost is $80 for members which includes workshop and lunch. Members can register here. If we don’t fill all spaces with members, we will open it at $100 to non-members on September 20th.

3rd Quarter Challenge – Zero Waste

We wrapped up the 3rd quarter challenge: Zero Waste Quilting! We had several members share their zero waste projects in person and several showed off their scrap saving ideas on instagram using the hashtag #sdmqgzerowaste. Be sure to check out the hashtag! All of the original information about the challenge and Zero Waste quilting can be read here

Holiday Party

Our 2021 Holiday Party is being held Sunday, December 5th at 11:00am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens in Vista. In order to accommodate “all things pandemic” we will be catering the party. We will offer seating inside, but members are welcome to bring a quilt and eat out on the lawn (weather permitting). 

We will be doing a brown bag exchange instead of the coordinated mini swap. You can bring any make (mini quilt, bag, etc.) and you will swap with another member to bring home a lovely gift in exchange. We will also be playing Left Right Center. More details to come!

An RSVP will be requested in November.

Election Update

If you are interested in participating on the board next year, please let us know by the October meeting. We will be holding the official nominations in October and the election in November. The position of Vice President Activities will need to be filled and while the rest of the existing board is willing to continue for another term, we welcome anyone else who is interested in any of the available positions. 

Participating on the board is both rewarding and fun!


Charity

Current Charity Drive

Riverside Medical Center’s Chemo Lounge (September – December)

We support the Chemo Lounge by providing quilts for patients to use during their treatment at the center. Patients are able to keep the quilt they have chosen after their treatment.

Our focus for this trimester is on lap/throw sized quilts – approximately 50″ x 60″ or larger.

Chemo Lounge Group Quilt Project

Jen has assembled kits for this trimester’s group project – we are making these gradient log cabin blocks that radiate from a darker color out to light. Each kit will contain fabric to make two blocks. Blocks can be a straight log cabin or feel free to make it a bit wonky like in the photo below.

We still have kits available – they can be picked up in person at either the September sew-in (on Sunday the 26th) or at the October meeting or by mail if you aren’t able to make the in person events. Please send Kristyn an email if you would like blocks mailed to you and indicate the amount of kits you would like to sew: [email protected] Blocks are due back no later than the November meeting and can be returned at a guild meeting/sew in or mailed back to Kristyn.

Community Resource Center’s Holiday Baskets Program (Beginning of December)

In addition to the potholders that we have made throughout the year, we also support the Community Resource Center and their Holiday Baskets program by donating quilts of all types and sizes at the end of the year. This program helps to support families in need and allows them to select from a variety of goods such as food, clothing, blankets, toys, and more. Quilts for this drive need to be donated no later than the November 14th guild meeting – date subject to change once we hear more specifics for this year’s event.

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. If you’re interested in helping us out with quilting, send an email! We have lots of quilt tops that are in need of quilting and we need your help to get those quilted up for donation. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.


Sew and Tell

Not only did we get to see some AMAZING finishes in-person, a couple of our members had some exciting news to share about their projects. 

Kristi Schmits’ beautiful quilt (which was a reimagined version of a quilt her grandmother made) has been published in the November/December issue of McCall’s Quilting. Look for her quilt called Frosty Flakes at your favorite place to pick up quilting magazines!

Corinne Pitcher’s gorgeous pandemic all-stash double wedding ring quilt has been included in the new book Quarantine Quilts: Creativity in the Midst of Chaos being released at the end of this month.

And Michelle F. delighted us with her version of the Parallel Universe Mystery Quilt co-hosted by guild-friend, Latifah Saafir.


Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Sew-In: Sunday, September 26th at 11:00 at Quilt in a Day – we have a capacity limit for this event, so look for a sign up email closer to the date of the sew in.

Next Guild Meeting: Sunday, October 10th at 12:00 at Quilt in a Day to be followed by a handwork stitch and sew. No sewing machines, please due to capacity constraints.

Ruler Free Finger Paints workshop: Saturday, October 16th from 11:00 to 4:00 at Quilt in a Day. Registration required.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

August Meeting Recap

We had a great August meeting. Here’s what you missed if you weren’t able to join us. 

We are still planning our first in-person meeting in September. However, because of the ever-changing conditions of the pandemic, we will pivot back to online, if needed. If we are able to meet in-person, we will do so following any current CDC guidelines and Quilt in a Day store policies. At the moment masks are required regardless of vaccination status. Please note that in-person meetings will begin an hour later at 12:00pm. 

Activities!

Timna Tarr returned for a virtual Q&A session. We discussed map plans and she shared so many wonderful examples of her maps and how to implement them. You are still welcome to take her online Map Making with Fabrics online course directly with Timna. You can take the course at your convenience (currently a course purchase gives you access to the course through June 30, 2022) and she welcomes questions both within the online platform as well as over email. 

We are also excited to announce an in-person workshop with Laura Loewen of Quilt Fort Co.! The Ruler Free Finger Paints workshop will be held Saturday, October 16th at Quilt in a Day from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The cost is $80 for members which includes workshop and lunch. Members can register here. If we don’t fill all spaces with members, we will open it at $100 to non-members in September.

3rd Quarter Challenge – Zero Waste

Our 3rd quarter challenge: Zero Waste Quilting is going strong! We are challenging you through September to use something that you used to throw in the trash in a productive way. You can use your materials however you would like, whether you make art, start a new project, repurpose materials or start a “hiding place”. Remember to use the hashtag #sdmqgzerowaste so we can see what you are working on! Please see our dedicated blog post for more information and additional resources on Zero Waste Quilting here. If you share what you made or are working on during the September meeting, you will be eligible for prizes!


Charity

We are currently supporting Just in Time (JIT) for Foster Youth’s My First Home Program for our 2nd trimester’s charity drive, which ends in August. JIT helps transition 18-26 year olds who live in San Diego County and have spent time in the foster system. We support their My First Home project, which helps to supply items for an individual’s first home. For this trimester, we will be accepting throw and bed sized quilts, approximately 50”x60” and larger.

Kristyn has designed a beautiful group project for our guild JIT donation. All of the block packets have been returned and are being sewn into tops. Interested in helping quilt one of the group projects or one of the quilt tops in our charity closet? Please email [email protected] We always need help at this stage of the process, so if you have bandwidth to help, we would love it! Beginners welcome!

Kristyn also gave an update on our QuiltCon 2022 Community Outreach Challenge project. The FPP packets have all been handed out but if you are interested in helping with background blocks, please send Kristyn an email! We are going to keep our design a secret from public eyes for now, but it’s an ‘explosive’ idea using these striking challenge colors:

 

As a reminder, blocks for the QuiltCon Challenge quilt are due back at the September meeting either in person or can be mailed to the address on your block instructions.

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.


Sew and Tell

As usual, we got to see some beautiful work from our members during the August Sew and Tell. Judy L showed us her map work in progress:

Angela D. shared her thoughtful and touching memory quilt:

And Karen J. showed off her collage project using the famous “Military Gold” thread:

Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Guild Meeting: Sunday, September 12th at 12:00 at Quilt in a Day to be followed by a handwork stitch and sew. No sewing machines, please due to capacity constraints. Please note the time change.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

July Meeting Recap

We hope you were able to join us for our July meeting, but if you missed it, here’s a quick overview. 

First and foremost, we are pleased to announce our return to in-person activities at Quilt in a Day! While our August meeting will still be held on Zoom, we will be holding the July and August Sew-Ins in-person! Because there is a capacity limit for the time being, we are holding sign-ups and spots will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis with a wait list. Our first in-person meeting will be in September. More details to come!


Current Workshop Opportunity

Timna Tarr joined us for our meeting and stayed to give us her fabulous virtual Flying Colors Trunk Show. Her work is a beautiful mix of color and spans a really diverse range of styles and methodologies. Please check out her work if you are not already familiar with her.

Now all members are invited to take Timna’s Map Making with Fabrics online course directly with Timna. You will be able to take the course at your convenience (currently a course purchase gives you access to the course through June 30, 2022) and we will reconvene with Timna for a virtual Q&A session on Sunday, August 8, 2021 after the August business meeting. You are welcome to attend the Q&A session whether you finished your map project, are looking for ideas, or just want to hear more about it. She said that it is a great time to brainstorm for ideas, so there’s no pressure to have your project finished by next month. To register for the Map Making with Fabrics class, please visit Timna’s website via the link above. The cost is $35 for the course. Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions!  


3rd Quarter Challenge – Zero Waste

Jen C. introduced us to our 3rd quarter challenge: Zero Waste Quilting! We are challenging you over the next two months to use something that you used to throw in the trash in a productive way. You can use your materials however you would like, whether you make art, start a new project, repurpose materials or start a “hiding place”. Jen shared some ideas on how to get started, stay organized and things we can try. Please see our dedicated blog post for more information and additional resources on Zero Waste Quilting here.


Charity

We are currently supporting Just in Time (JIT) for Foster Youth’s My First Home Program for our 2nd trimester’s charity drive. JIT helps transition 18-26 year olds who live in San Diego County and have spent time in the foster system. We support their My First Home project, which helps to supply items for an individual’s first home. For this trimester, we will be accepting throw and bed sized quilts, approximately 50”x60” and larger.

Kristyn has designed a beautiful group project for our guild JIT donation. All the packets have been sewn up and returned and we are getting ready to sew them into quilt tops. Interested in helping quilt one of the group projects or one of our donated quilt tops? Please email [email protected] We always need help at this stage of the process, so if you have bandwidth to help, we would love it! Beginners welcome!

Kristyn also showed off the design for the Quiltcon 2022 Community Outreach Challenge. We are going to keep our design a secret from public eyes for now, but it’s an ‘explosive’ idea using these striking challenge colors:  

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.


Sew and Tell

Our members brought an incredible collection of gorgeous projects to show off for this month’s Sew and Tell. I think we can all relate to the sentiments behind Lauren M’s Lockdown quilt using Sarah Fielke book “Stitch your Story”:

Dori C. shared her beautifully modified The Avenue quilt by Louise Papas.

And Susan K. cut into her long hoarded Innocent Crush fabric to create this incredible Disoriented Geese quilt!


Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Guild Meeting: Sunday, August 8th at 11 on Zoom to be followed by the Timna Tarr maps Q&A session (all are welcome to stay!).

Next Sew-In: Sunday, August 22nd at 11:00 at Quilt in a Day – we have a capacity limit for this event, so look for a sign up email closer to the date of the sew in.

Zoom links will always be sent via email.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

Zero Waste Quilting – 3rd Quarter Challenge

Our third quarter challenge is all about Zero Waste Quilting!

What is Zero Waste Quilting? It is the concept of using your quilting waste and byproducts rather than throwing them in the trash. Examples of Zero Waste Materials include:

  1. project leftovers (batting scraps, binding triangles, “snippets”)
  2. trash (thread clippings, fabric bits that can’t be sewn, stained/damaged fabric)
  3. packaging materials (cardboard backings, plastic bags, ribbons)
  4. reclaimed materials (clothing, linens, mattress pads)

Using these materials can be accomplished in so many ways! Your challenge from now until the September meeting is to use something that you personally used to put in the trash in a productive way. Some ideas include:

  • making art
  • starting a new quilt project
  • upcycle your material waste
  • use reclaimed materials
  • hide it in plain sight

Share what you did at the September meeting to be eligible for prizes! Be sure to tag your project with #sdmqgzerowaste so we can all follow along!


But why do we do this? If you were lucky enough to be able to follow Sherri Lynn Wood’s artist in residency with Recology, you got a first hand look at what ends up in the dump: EVERYTHING. For four months Sherri Lynn had to source 99% of her materials from the San Francisco dump. She was able to create a fabulous range of quilts and art from what she recovered from the dump, many of which were featured at Quiltcon Nashville in 2019. You can read more about the work that resulted from her residency here, view photos here, and learn more about recology here.  

Another reason to use all of your materials is that you paid good money for them. Fabric is $10 a yard whether it is a 10 inch piece or a half yard. By using all of your materials, you get more value from the materials you purchased.


So how does someone get started? One of the first things you can do is to audit your waste and see what you actually throw away. By monitoring your trash for a while, you can see what is available and start thinking of ideas for how to use them.

Also think about what kind of quilter you are and the types of projects you like to work on. Use that information as a starting point. Do you like to make art? Turn your trash into an art piece. It doesn’t have to be a quilt! But it can be.

Getting organized is a great way to manage your scrap materials for easy use. By keeping them contained, easy to find and in order, you are more likely to use them. Processing your scraps instead of leaving them in bags or boxes allows you to see what you have. Meg of Tea & Brie put together this great flow chart to help you figure out what scrap management process might work best for you.

Meg also wrote a great blog post about scrap processing that you can read on her website here.

By organizing your materials and keeping like-things together, you can easily see when it is time to stop collecting and time to start making! Use simple storage solutions (plastic bins, cute boxes) or reclaimed containers (zippered plastic bags, shoe boxes) to keep like-things together. Jen C. shared her “Easter basket method” for corralling string scraps for twine. 


Another great way to use up scraps is to start a dedicated scrap project. A leaders and enders project is an efficient way to use your scraps while you work on other projects. Jen C. uses binding triangles to sew half square triangles as an ongoing leaders and enders project and harvested fabric for an English Paper Piecing project from weird curve scraps. 


Using reclaimed materials from around your house is also a great way to make something functional out of something you were ready to throw away. Got an old stained blanket? Turn it into the batting for your next quilt. Have a perfectly good blanket that you were ready to donate to Goodwill? Use it as your batting AND backing for a quilt. Quilting with old clothes is another way to use fabric that might eventually end up in the landfill. An old mattress pad protector, a ripped pair of jeans and backing scraps were pieced and quilted into this dog bed for little Penny.


Finally, you don’t have to use everything generated from your quilting but that doesn’t mean it has to go in the trash. That stuff you just want out? It may be exactly what someone else is looking for! Trade with them or use our members’ facebook group to find a resource for your scrap trash. Finally, look to your local community to see if someone is looking for what you have to offer.

Want to be inspired and learn more about Zero Waste? Check out the following instagram accounts:

@recologyair

@sherrilynnwood

@zerowastedaniel

@zakfoster.quilts

@heidi.parkes 

And listen to the Sustainable Sewing chats on YouTube about Repurposing and Zero Waste.

Share what you did at the September meeting to be eligible for prizes! Be sure to tag your project with #sdmqgzerowaste so we can all follow along! We can’t wait to see what you work on!


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

June Meeting Recap

Summer has started off with a bang! We had a great June meeting despite being without our fearless leader. If you couldn’t join us, here’s what we covered. 

Coming Events

We are offering a special trunk show and course event with Timna Tarr. She will be giving her virtual Flying Colors Trunk Show on Sunday, July 11, 2021 after the business meeting. Timna will introduce us to her beautiful work, including her map quilts! Members are then invited to take Timna’s Map Making with Fabrics online course directly with Timna. You will be able to take the course at your convenience. We will reconvene with Timna for a virtual Q&A session on Sunday, August 8, 2021 after the business meeting. Feel free to join if you have specific questions, plan to take the class, or just want to listen in. To register for the Map Making with Fabrics class, please visit Timna’s website via the link above. The cost is $35 for the course. The trunk show and Q&A sessions are free to members. Guests can join us for $5 (please Venmo the guest fee to @sdmodernquiltguild). Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions!  


2nd Quarter Challenge – Nine Patch

We wrapped up the 2nd quarter challenge by seeing some lovely examples of nine-patch blocks and nine-patch variations. One beautiful example was Angela D.’s beautiful nine-patch leaders and enders project:

Jen C. worked on a scrappy bear paw quilting bee project:

And Kenza C. showed us quite a few lovely blocks from an on-going project, including these:


Charity

Kristyn gave us an exciting update that we have donated 33 quilts to the Ronald McDonald House so far this year (with another donation coming soon)! You guys are amazing and we couldn’t help this many kids without your generous support. THANK YOU!

We are currently supporting Just in Time (JIT) for Foster Youth’s My First Home Program for our 2nd trimester’s charity drive. JIT helps transition 18-26 year olds who live in San Diego County and have spent time in the foster system. We support their My First Home project, which helps to supply items for an individual’s first home. For this trimester, we will be accepting throw and bed sized quilts, approximately 50”x60” and larger.

Kristyn has designed a beautiful group project for our guild JIT donation. Packets have been distributed and due back to Kristyn the week of the July meeting (no later than July 16th). Please email [email protected] if you have any questions!

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.

Sew and Tell

Our members brought an incredible collection of gorgeous projects to show off for this month’s Sew and Tell. Highlights included Meghan D.’s striking version of the Flame Seeker pattern by Lillyella Stitchery:

Suzanne A. has outdone herself with her colorful assortment of potholders for our potholder drive:

And Connie S. is working on this lovely Plaidish (tutorial by Kitchen Table Quilting) as a donation quilt for the JIT drive!

Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Sew-in: Sunday, June 27th from 11-1 on Zoom!

Next guild meeting: Sunday, July 11th at 11 on Zoom to be followed by the Timna Tarr trunk show.

Zoom links will always be sent via email.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

April Meeting Recap

The April meeting was a great one! We announced several upcoming events, including some virtual trunk shows. If you couldn’t make the meeting, this is what you missed…

National Quilting Month

We wrapped up our celebration of National Quilting Month and gave away some great prizes to those who participated. Be sure to check out the #SDMQGcelebratesNQM hashtag on instagram for great inspiration from our members.  

Membership and Swag Pins

Please email [email protected] if you need your two membership pins or to purchase one or both of our adorable SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both.

Coming Events

We will be hosting a virtual trunk show with Erica Jackman of Kitchen Table Quilting on Friday, May 21, 2021 at 6:30pm on zoom. This event is free to members but we do ask that you register by May 17th so that we know you are coming. If you’re not a current guild member, you can join us by registering and paying the $5 fee via Venmo. You can register here: Trunk Show Registration

We are also offering a special trunk show and course event with Timna Tarr. She will be giving her Flying Colors Trunk Show on Sunday, July 11, 2021 after the business meeting. We will then invite members to take Timna’s Map Making with Fabrics online course directly with Timna. Members will be able to take the course at their convenience. We will reconvene with Timna for a Q&A session on Sunday, August 8, 2021 after the business meeting. Please register for the Map Making with Fabrics class directly with Timna. The cost is $35 for the course. The trunk show and Q&A sessions are free to members. 

And finally, the annual SDMQG retreat is on!! The Vina de Lestonnac Retreat center is reopening in June and we will be the first retreat back! The retreat will run Thursday through Sunday, June 3-6th and Saturday sewers will be welcome on the 5th. All of our spaces for retreat have been filled!


2nd Quarter Challenge – Nine Patch

The 2nd quarter challenge will run April through June. Members are invited to create anything that incorporates a nine patch. The project can be anything, quilt, bag, clothing. The only rule is that it has to have at least one nine patch included. No need to finish it by June. Anyone who participates in the challenge will be entered into a drawing for fabulous prizes! Tag your creations #sdmqgninepatch so we can see what you are working on!

Sue provided some great inspiration photos, including the Even-Steven Pattern by Kitchen Table Quilting!


Charity

We are wrapping up the first trimester’s (January – April) quilt drive supporting the Ronald McDonald House. All three group quilt tops have been assembled and are in the process of being quilted! Thank you to everyone who made blocks, pieced the tops and volunteered to quilt them.

Kristyn also shared the exciting news that due to the value of the quilts our guild donated to the Ronald McDonald House last year, we are being honored as a Hearts and Hands member of the 2021 Giving Circles Program! The San Diego Modern Quilt Guild will be listed on the donor wall that appears in the San Diego Ronald McDonald House. We are so thankful for the generosity of our members. With your help, we have been able to make an impact on so many families. Whether you contributed to last year’s group quilt project or donated your own finished quilt, you made a difference and you are amazing. THANK YOU.

If you weren’t able to make it to the Charity meetup this past Saturday and have quilts to donate, please email Kristyn at [email protected] to make arrangements. We also have several tops that are in need of quilting if you’d like to help out with that task – backing and batting will be provided as well as fabric for binding if needed.

Looking ahead, we will be supporting Just in Time (JIT) for Foster Youth’s My First Home Program for our 2nd trimester’s charity drive. JIT helps transition 18-26 year olds who live in San Diego County and have spent time in the foster system. We support their My First Home project, which helps to supply items for an individual’s first home. For this trimester, we will be accepting throw and bed sized quilts, approximately 50”x60” and larger.

Kristyn has designed a beautiful group project for our guild JIT donation. Packets will be available in May and due back to Kristyn the week of the July meeting (no later than July 16th). Please email [email protected] to request a block kit or kits!

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Sew and Tell

As always, we saw a beautiful range of projects from our members, including the following:

Karen J. has been working on the Project Quilting Challenges and her creation for the ‘Ab Intra’ (from within) theme was this beautiful Broderie perse collage wall hanging depicting her inner child!

Margaret R. shared this stunning “My Favorite Color is Moda” quilt top in such a springy colorway. Lovely!

Finally, Hadley got all of us inspired to sew quilted coats with her fabulous Tamarack Jacket!


Coming Virtual Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. 

Next Sew-in: Sunday, April 25 from 11-1 on Zoom!

*No May meeting* We will not be having a May business meeting, as our meeting falls on Mother’s Day. Instead, we’ll be having a special sew-in instead: Sunday, May 9th from 11-1 on Zoom!

Zoom links will always be sent via email.


Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Meeting Notes

March Meeting Recap

If you didn’t spring forward and missed our March meeting, here’s what you missed!

QuiltCon Together 

We took a few moments to discuss what we liked about this year’s virtual QuiltCon Together and the variety of opportunities that the virtual format offered. We appreciated the hard work that the Modern Quilt Guild mothership put into pivoting from an in-person event to a virtual one. It took a lot of work behind the scenes and we are so thankful we still had an amazing event this year despite the pandemic. Also, if you didn’t already see it, be sure to check out your beautiful work in our finished Community Outreach Challenge quilt! Kristyn wrote up a great blog post here.

National Quilting Month

Our celebration of National Quilting Month is going strong! Throughout March, be sure to post on Instagram about the things that have inspired you from Quiltcon Together (including classes, lectures, gallery quilts, new techniques or products, or social media posts). Hint – you didn’t have to attend the event to be inspired by it! All entries with the #SDMQGcelebratesNQM will earn you a chance for prizes during the April meeting! 


Membership Pins

Hadley reminded everyone of the two membership pins you get when you become a member.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or haven’t received your pins. 

We also currently have available for purchase these cute SDMQG spirit pins for $6/each or $10/both. 

Please email [email protected] if you would like to purchase.


Postcard Swap

The postcard swap wrapped up and we had a chance to see amazing examples of the happy mail that were delivered to the members who participated. Including, this super cheerful postcard made by Pam S.

And this one made by Kenza C.


A Little Bit of Math

Colleen gave us a great overview about how to modify the size of a quilt block by breaking it down to its components and how to run the basic calculations. Watch the blog for a separate post with the information from her presentation!


Charity

This trimester (January – April) we are supporting the Ronald McDonald House. All of the blocks have been returned and are now in the process of being sewn together into quilt tops. We always need help at this stage of the group quilt process, so if you are ever able to help finish up one of these quilts, be sure to let Kristyn know! As a reminder, you can read about our current group project here.

Members – Mark your calendars! On Saturday, April 17th at 11:00 we will be hosting a special socially distant/COVID-safe lawn meetup at Carrie’s house to drop off and pick up charity supplies, plus FREE FABRIC! If you have a charity quilt in your possession, this is a great time to get it finished ahead of the meetup so you can turn it in. Details will be provided in the April Newsletter and meeting.

As a reminder we are also holding an ongoing potholder drive this year to support the Community Resource Center’s Holiday Baskets program. This is a great time to use up orphan blocks! You can read more about this project, suggested materials and see Sue’s pdf tutorial here.

Finally, have a quilt that doesn’t fit with this trimester’s drive? No worries! All of your beautiful and generous guilt donations are always welcome. Any charity questions or requests for supplies can be sent to Kristyn at [email protected]


Sew and Tell

As always, we saw a beautiful range of projects from our members, including the following:

Sandi S. finished her beautiful Lizzy House Meadow quilt with a little help from her friends.

And Nancy B. has started quilting her own quilts! Look at this beautiful chevron quilt she made for a friend with more than 40 rows of echo quilting. Go Nancy!

And Kristi S. showed off this spectacular steampunk quilt for her son, a take on Gears by Man Sewing. That’s one lucky kid!

Coming Virtual Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember. Check your email for the Zoom meeting links!

March Sew-in, March 28th from 11:00am to 1:00pm Pacific Time

Our next guild meeting, Sunday, April 11th at 11:00am Pacific Time


Written by: Jen Collins

Posted by: Kristyn Jansen