Charity

June 2023 Meeting Recap

June 24, 2023 Charity Chair

We were so happy to meet up once again, after a two month pause for Easter and Mother’s Day. Below is a summary of our meeting and of things to come.

NEW MEETING START TIME!

Per a vote of the membership in attendance, we are going to start our monthly meetings at 11:30 am instead of 12 noon. This will allow for more time after our meetings conclude for sewing time! See you at 11:30am on July 9th.

Activities

Holiday Party – we have a new venue!

Our president Nancy has secured her community clubhouse for Sunday Dec. 3. Located in Carlsbad, not far from Quilt in a Day, it looks like a wonderful facility. Mark your calendars now!

SDMQG Retreat 2024

We have reserved our spot again for next year’s retreat. It will take place from May 30 – June 2, 2024 at Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center, Temecula. It is so much fun, and a great way to get to know your fellow members better. Pencil it on your calendar!

3rd Quarter Challenge

Janine announced that our third quarter challenge, due at the Sept 2023 meeting, will be “Americana” themed. Flexibility is huge – as Americana can be whatever YOU feel it is. It does not have to be red, white and blue. Also, it can range from a quilt to a wall hanging, a table runner, a clothing item, etc – whatever Americana item you made and wish to share.

Block of the Month

A group of interested members met after the regular meeting wrapped up to discuss a potential BOM. Janine is facilitating this large group, and will email updates and information as needed. It was agreed that everyone would come to the July meeting with a completed first block. The pattern can be found at https://bouldermqg.com/bom-2018/ or check out the Instagram hashtag for more inspiration.

Postcards, Scrappy blocks!

Our first and second quarter challenges resulted in many creative items, and we had excellent participation. We collected a lot of scrappy blocks for a charity quilt, and several participated in the postcard exchange. Good results all around!

Monthly Member Spotlight

Kristi Schmits was our June spotlight speaker, and she shared decades of her quilting results with us. She started out young – at age 12 – sewing clothing, and it just grew from there!

Charity 2023

Ronald McDonald House (January – April) – Update!

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego provides a “home-away-from-home” for families with children being treated for serious, often life-threatening conditions at local hospitals. In May we delivered 28 quilts for their patients. Thanks to all who donated a finished quilt or helped to finish up an in progress one from the guild stash.

If you missed this donation, fear not! We usually make at least two donations during the year, as we collect quilts throughout the year for this and the other organizations we support. All sizes of quilts are accepted for Ronald McDonald House.

Second Trimester: Just In Time (May – August) – My First Home Project

Our second trimester (May – August) focus is Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT) and their My First Home Project. JIT serves transitional youth, those 18-26, who are aging out of the foster care system. We support their My First Home Project, which helps to provide those everyday items that one needs to furnish a home, by providing throw and bed sized quilts.

JIT Group Quilt – Tunnel Blocks

For our group quilt this trimester, we will be making Tunnel Blocks using this tutorial from Stitched In Color. Blocks can be made at home using your own fabrics – all pre cut kits have been claimed. For these blocks, we will be sticking with the same gradient style as in the tutorial (dark center out to a light outside), but feel free to create your gradient between shades of the same color, within a set of colors, or between different colors. If you’re unsure if you have a gradient (or close to one), a great way to check your values is to take a picture of what you’re working on and then edit it to be in greyscale. A lot more fabrics are more of a medium tone than you realize!

General guidance for fabric colors is to stick to blender types of fabrics so that the overall color can be read and avoid fabrics that have multiple colors within one print. Blocks are due back by the August guild meeting (August 13) either in person or can be mailed back to Kristyn.

For the blocks, please follow the cutting/sewing directions on the blog post and use a standard 1/4″ seam allowance. Several people worked on these blocks during the guild retreat earlier this month, so we’re off to a good start already!

2024 QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge Quilt

The theme and palette have been announced for this year’s challenge quilt (check this link for all the details and specifics) and we have been challenged to create a quilt with symmetry with colors from the following palette:

As this is termed as a community project, we are working on this as a whole group (or with as many people that want to contribute). We discussed at the meeting if this is something we want to move forward with and the general consensus was that we want to create a quilt together.

We are looking for possible designs or ideas that can be turned into a quilt design from the membership. As this is designed to be a group quilt, we need your input and help to make it happen. We’re hoping to have a design finalized and ready for the July meeting so that we can get working on the actual quilt. Designs and/or ideas need to be sent to Kristyn by June 26th so there’s time to discuss and share before the July meeting.

Help Needed!!!! – Tops available for quilting

The guild has a backlog of donated tops that are in need of quilters to turn them into finished quilts. Quilting does not need to be fancy and this is a great way to practice free motion quilting or getting used to a new long arm. Quilt tops of all sizes are available and we can provide batting, backing fabric, and/or binding fabric upon request. If you would like to help, please email the sdmqgcharity gmail or talk to Kristyn at a meeting.

Special Charity Opportunity – Gently Hugged

www.gentlyhugged.org

Our contact and point person for this charity is Shelly Hoffman, [email protected] This effort is providing blankets and quilts for babies in need via social workers and nurses. This organization hands out about 60 care packages a month. Dimensions maximum – 45” x 30”

No religious prints, sports prints, holidays, etc.

Again, please work this through Shelly Hoffman directly, and not through Kristyn.

Special Charity Opportunity – Cat Beds (Hadley Mendoza-Miklos)

We’ve donated 128 cat beds to date! Save your fabric scraps, batting, threads, and use all that debris as stuffing for much appreciated (by the cats) cat beds. Give our landfills a break, as well as the cats!

Coming Guild Events

Next Sew-In: Sunday, June 25th at Quilt in a Day – 11am-3:45pm

Next Meeting: Sunday, July 9th at 11:30am at Quilt in a Day (with Zoom viewing option). Stay after the meeting for sew-in time. *Please note the new start time*

Questions? – please email board at [email protected]

Written By: Dori Conboy

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity, Meeting Notes

January 2023 Guild Meeting Recap

January 19, 2023 Charity Chair

Our first meeting of the year was held on January 8th. If you weren’t able to join us or just need a reminder of all that was covered, here you go!

2023 Board

President: Nancy Littlefield

VP of Activities: Janine Fulkerson

VP of Operations: Michelle Hodgson

Treasurer: Candy Flory Barnes

Secretary: Dori Conboy

Membership Renewals!

If you have not renewed your membership for 2023, please do so as soon as you can. Be sure you return both your payment of $50 and your registration form so that we can complete your membership renewal properly with the MQG. Please also take a few minutes and provide us with your feedback so that the board can help make this guild the best it can be! Janine will be collating the results of the inputs, and will present them at our February meeting.

Activities

Holiday Party – new venue needed

After several years at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens in Vista, we are in need of a new venue for our December party. If you know of a possible location or have an idea, please let the board know as we want to secure something sooner than later. Thank you!

Scrappy Quilts – February meeting

Hadley Mendoza Miklos will be speaking with us at our February meeting about turning almost any pattern into a ‘scrappy’ quilt. She will be bringing some of her examples. Don’t miss this!

January 22nd Sew-in – Lanyards with Hadley Mendoza Miklos

Hadley will be leading us through a lanyard making mini workshop on Sunday, January 22 during our sew-in time. We will have hardware for your use but we recommend bringing your favorite scraps. This should be fun! Remember to bring your sewing machine too! The sew-in runs from 11-4 at Quilt in a Day.

June – Postcard swap

Janine our Activities VP will provide more details as we get closer, but start thinking about what your postcard quilt might be like. So many possibilities!

Monthly Member Spotlight

We are still seeking volunteers for 2023. Currently we have presenters for March and April, but other months are still open. We can accommodate all types of presentations and you are always welcome to share the spotlight with a friend! Please talk to Janine or email the board if you are interested in signing up for any spots this year!

January’s Member Spotlight featured our longtime member Susan Kephart! We so enjoyed hearing her quilting story and seeing her spectacular quilts.

Charity

Upcoming for 2023

The charity committee met recently and decided we are continuing the support for Ronald McDonald House, Just in Time for Foster Youth’s My First Home program, and the Moores Cancer Center. We do not currently have a year-long project set up.

Ronald McDonald House (January – April)

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego provides a “home-away-from-home” for families with children being treated for serious, often life-threatening conditions at local hospitals. We will be supporting them by donating quilts for their Welcome Bags that every family receives as well as donating quilts for other needs as they arise at the House. We will be accepting all sizes of quilts for this trimester’s project.

Group Quilt: Black and White/Solid Plus

For our group quilts this trimester, we will be making these nine patch blocks using solids and black and white prints. If you’d like to participate, you will have the option of making blocks from your stash or to pick up a kit at a meeting (or mailed to you upon request). Block kits or those sewn from your stash are due back by the March guild meeting.

Blocks are made up of:
4 – 3.5” solid squares (all the same color)
5 – 3.5” B/W squares (all same ground color, as shown in the photo)
Sew with 1⁄4” seam allowance, blocks should be 9.5” unfinished

Arrange squares in a nine patch with the solids in the corners and the B/W prints in the center plus. Sew and press as desired.

QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge Project: Color Shift

Our quilt is now complete and has been quilted by member Judy LaVine. Moonglow will be on display at QuiltCon.

Year-long Women’s Resource Center Project

Women’s Resource Center – The call was put out for 33 bed or large size throw quilts to cover all 33 beds of the center’s emergency shelter, and our final number supplied was 46!!!! We cannot thank everyone enough who participated in this drive in all capacities. We could not have achieved this without you! Look for a wrap up post about this to be shared soon!

Tops available for quilting

The guild has a backlog of donated tops that are in need of quilters to turn them into finished quilts. Again, quilting does not need to be fancy and this is a great way to practice free motion quilting or getting used to a new long arm. Quilt tops of all sizes are available and we can provide batting, backing fabric, and/or binding fabric upon request. If you would like to help, please email the sdmqgcharity gmail or talk to Kristyn at a meeting.

Special Charity opportunity – Gently Hugged

www.gentlyhugged.org

Our contact and point person for this charity is Shelly Hoffman, [email protected]

This effort is providing blankets and quilts for babies in need via social workers and nurses. This organization hands out about 60 care packages a month.

Dimensions maximum – 45” x 30”

No religious prints, sports prints, holidays, etc.

Again, please work this through Shelly Hoffman directly, and not through Kristyn.

QuiltCon 2023

QuiltCon is being held in Atlanta, GA on February 23-26, 2023. Kristyn (who is the QuiltCon volunteer manager) gave us some information about the volunteer opportunities available to all. Shifts are as little as 2 hours, but you get some big perks if you can be a Super Volunteer (16 hours over the course of the entire event). Sign up here!

Coming Guild Events

Next Sew-In: Sunday, January 22nd at Quilt in a Day – 11am-4pm

Next Meeting: Sunday, February 12th at 12:00 pm at Quilt in a Day (with Zoom viewing option). Stay after the meeting for sew-in time. No sign-ups required.

Written By: Dori Conboy

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity, Meeting Notes

October 2022 Meeting Recap

October 14, 2022 Charity Chair

We held our October meeting on Sunday, October 9th. Here’s the short and sweet version of what we covered:

Elections!!

Elections are being held electronically and have been emailed to all members. Please cast your ballot today. No one volunteered for the Secretary position. However, because this is a mandatory position, Janine has offered to switch to the Secretary position instead of VP of Activities if someone else doesn’t volunteer. If you are interested in serving as the board Secretary for 2023 (which at a minimum is responsible for taking notes at the board and general meetings), please email the board as soon as possible. Otherwise, the board will do its best with the volunteers who have already stepped up to help the guild next year.

Activities

Scrap Swap

Our annual scrap swap will be held directly after the November meeting. Bring anything you want to share with your fellow guildmates.

4th Quarter Challenge: Gifts!

Our current challenge is to share what you are making for holiday gifts this year. This can be anything you are currently making and plan to give this holiday season – it does not need to be holiday themed! Please share your gift making projects at the November meeting for a chance to win a prize!

Holiday Party

Our 2022 holiday party will be held on December 4th at 11:30 at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens in Vista. There will be lunch (RSVP requests will go out after the November meeting), games and we will be drawing for this year’s opportunity quilt! We will also be hosting a brown bag swap of a handmade item. If you make something, you take something! More details to come!

Monthly Member Spotlight

We had the pleasure of learning more about the quilting journey of our new-er member, Kelly Crittle! We are SO glad her love for modern quilting has blossomed and we are excited to see what else is to come!

Next month, we will be featuring Dori Conboy and we are seeking members to share their work for the January to March 2023 meetings. Please talk to Janine or email the board if you are interested in signing up for any spots next year!

Charity

Current Charity Drive

We are currently in the middle of our third trimester drive of 2022 (September – December) supporting the Moore’s Cancer Center. We are asking for lap and throw-sized quilts (at least 50×60” or larger). Block kits have all been handed out for the group quilt project and are due back at the November meeting.

Year-long Women’s Resource Center Project

27 of the 33 goal quilts have already been turned in and 4 more were turned in at the October meeting! Quilts are due at the November meeting unless you have already made other arrangements with Kristyn.

Charity Planning Meeting

Kristyn has tentatively scheduled the charity planning meeting for Saturday, November 5th. An email will go out to those who have participated in the past, as well as to anyone who indicated they were interested in helping with the charity program in their membership questionnaire. Final meeting date and time will be based on those who respond to that email.

QuiltCon Community Outreach Challenge Project: Color Shift

At the October sew-in (October 23th from 11-4 at Quilt in a Day) we will be working on assembling the quilt top. Please come if you would like to help. No sign-ups required. If you have any block packets, please return to Kristyn as soon as possible. We also need a quilter to quilt this project. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Please let Kristyn know if you would like to do the quilting.

Tops available for quilting

The guild has a backlog of donated tops that are in need of quilters to turn them into finished quilts. Again, quilting does not need to be fancy and this is a great way to practice free motion quilting or getting used to a new long arm. Quilt tops of all sizes are available and we can provide batting, backing fabric, and/pr binding fabric upon request. If you would like to help, please email the sdmqgcharity gmail or talk to Kristyn at a meeting.

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

Special Guest: Sandra Chandler

We hosted Sandra for an inspiring trunk show and lecture about denim quilts. She showed us her beautiful work and let us know that she will be teaching at the upcoming Stitches West event in Pasadena in November as well as Road to California in January. She will be giving two lectures at Quiltcon in Atlanta in February. Be sure to check her out!!

Sew and Tell

October’s Sew and Tell was beautiful! A couple spotlight projects included:

The lovely finished group quilt benefiting the WRC project shared by Laurie M.:

Our guest, Fran’s fabulous bearpaw thrift shop shirt quilt:

Connie’s beautiful square quilt she is making as a gift:

Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember:

Next Sew-In: Sunday, October 23rd from 11-4 at Quilt in a Day – No sign-ups required!

Next Meeting: Sunday, November 13th at 12:00 pm at Quilt in a Day (with Zoom viewing option) with Scrap Swap! Stay after the meeting for sew-in time. No sign-ups required.

Holiday Party: Sunday, December 4th at 11:30am at the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens, lunch will be provided.

Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity

QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilts: A Look Back

February 11, 2022February 11, 2022 Charity Chair

As we get ready for QuiltCon next week, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at the previous Community Outreach/Charity Challenge quilts that the guild has created over the years. We’ve participated every year that the challenge/QuiltCon has happened and there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make these quilts happen. For some of the older quilts, we don’t have as much information, but have tried to share as much as we could to tell about these quilts.

We’re looking forward to revealing more about this year’s quilt, once the show opens, but take a look at the quilts we’ve created for prior challenges.

2021 – Twists and Turns

Theme: Curves

In this unpredictable year of together apart, our members were challenged to create blocks of the same size using curved piecing and to use any technique that they would like to achieve the curved element in their block. They were not given any direction beyond “include at least one curved element.”

We did not know what these blocks would look like or how they would work together with such a broad prompt, but they came together to create flow and movement throughout the quilt. Though we’re not physically together to create, we’re many voices still able to make connection with a shared purpose.

2021 Community Outreach Quilt – “Twists and Turns”

We wrote more about this quilt and the process behind it on a blog post last year – check it out for more details about the quilt.

2020 – Welcome

Theme: Text

With member input, we decided on using the word “Welcome”, and it’s similar phrasing, in languages spoken in San Diego County. We researched the languages spoken here and came up with a list that members could choose from, as well as providing an option to help paper piece letters, patterned by Colleen Molen, to spell out “Welcome” and “Bienvenidos”. Members who sewed blocks for the languages were given fabric kits and instructed to create their block in any style that worked best for that particular language, as one method was not best suited for all languages. Blocks were created with various types of applique, pieced letters, embroidery, and even raised felt dots to create Braille letters.

The quilt top was assembled at a guild sew in with member assistance and input to the layout. Once complete, it was handed off to member Chris Broehmer for quilting and then back to our Charity Coordinator Kristyn Jansen for finishing and photographing before it needed to be mailed off.

This quilt was featured in the 2020 QuiltCon Magazine and even found at the entrance to the exhibit hall in Austin at the QuiltCon event.

2020 Community Outreach Quilt – “Welcome”

Text from our quilt statement:

San Diego is a culturally diverse community. The San Diego Modern Quilt Guild wanted our quilt to reflect our dynamic San Diego community as well as highlight our vital role as a border city. We have a strong cross-border relationship with Mexico and our city is known as a welcoming new home to residents who join us through the refugee and asylee process each year. We know that diversity makes us stronger and wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the people that make San Diego such a wonderful place to live.

Our goal each year is for our Quiltcon Charity Challenge submission to be a collaborative project within our guild. We decided on the idea of the quilt as a committee and brain stormed early layout ideas. More than 32 members contributed to the piecing of the quilt. Final layout was decided as it was being assembled based on active feedback of guild members. We are very proud of this quilt and it wouldn’t be the same without the participation of so many of our guild members.

2019 – Float On

Theme: Small Piecing

Drawing inspiration from ocean waves, member Kristyn Jansen designed the overall look of the quilt. We asked guild members to create a block to contribute to the all over design in varying color pairings. The blocks were then grouped by color pairs and improv pieced together to create the look of ocean waves. The quilting was done by member Chris Broehmer, which added dimension, as well as movement throughout the quilt. The additional details she added also helped to bring out the overall vision for the quilt.

Members provided input on ideas for the quilt and then the overall look was designed by coordinator Kristyn Jansen. Members were given fabric kits of different color pairings. Quilt layout was worked on at guild sew-ins with member input and then final sewing of the sections was done separately.

2019 Community Outreach Quilt – “Float On”

2018 – Fragmental

Theme: Modern Traditionalism

Inspired by tangram puzzles, we used half-square triangles as our design starting point and then manipulated the size and relationship of each half-square triangle in order to create different shapes. Our design also moves away from true tangram puzzles, in which all pieces touch in some fashion to create a specific shape. The shape manipulation serves to provide interest and movement throughout the quilt. Blocks were produced by members in advance, based on the initial quilt drawing, and then assembled during a guild sew-in. SDMQG member Carrie Hanson (Gotcha Covered Quilting) took the design a step further with her quilting, which adds a secondary layer of movement to the finished quilt.

This quilt was designed by Kristyn Jansen. The overall design was broken up into sections and members sewed up their chosen section of the quilt. The finished quilt was one of the featured quilts on the lecture hall stage at QuiltCon 2018.

2018 Charity Challenge Quilt – “Fragmental”

2017 – Breaking Out

Theme: Scale

The San Diego MQG wanted to explore how scale could impact movement within a design. Inspired by colorful nine-patch quilts frequently seen, we decided to use a tweaked nine-patch as our base for experimenting with scale, resulting in rectangle 2×3 blocks instead of square blocks. Blocks were produced in advance, but final design and layout were done collaboratively during a guild sew-in. SDMQG member Gotcha Covered Quilting (Carrie Hanson) did an amazing job adding another layer of movement and texture with her quilting.

2017 Charity Challenge Quilt – “Breaking Out”

Jen Collins, who spearheaded this quilt, wrote all about it for the MQG blog. More about the process of this quilt and some additional photos can be found here:

QuiltCon Charity Quilt Spotlight: “Breaking Out” by the San Diego MQG

2016

Theme: Improv with Intent

For this quilt, members made improv slab blocks using the color palette plus white and grey. This quilt was quilted by Nancy Littlefield.

2015

Theme: Alternate Gridwork

Members were instructed to take a bag of strips in the designated colors and sew a 40” column between 4” and 10” wide with the strips sewn at an angle, starting and ending with white or grey. They could also include their own fabrics if they were “almost solid” and one of the colors.

2013

For the very first QuiltCon, each participating guild was given the QuiltCon color palette the freedom to make a twin sized quilt however we wanted. The finished quilts were all donated to a local Austin organization. We had members make blocks of their choosing and we ended up with enough blocks for two quilts!

Written and Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity, Meeting, Meeting Notes

January Meeting Recap

January 15, 2022 Charity Chair

Oh wow! Our January meeting was FULL of good quilty inspiration! The board decided to pivot back to Zoom due to the latest changes in the pandemic. The last thing we wanted was to start everyone’s year off as a super spreader event! So we met on Zoom on Sunday, January 9th. For anyone who wasn’t able to join us, below is a summary of what we covered.

2022 Membership

Registration for 2022 membership in the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild is live and a link to the registration page was emailed to all existing members with the January newsletter. You can also access that link by clicking here. Dues are due as soon as possible but no later than the end of February. If we haven’t heard from you in February, you will likely get a call from Hadley to make sure your membership doesn’t lapse if your intention is to renew. If your circumstances have changed and you already know you won’t be renewing your membership, please send us an email (at the sdmqgboard gmail) so we can update our records.

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!

Our 2022 Board

In case you missed it, our shiny new 2022 board is comprised of:

President: Nancy Littlefield

VP of Operations: Hadley Mendoza Miklos

VP of Activities: Janine Fulkerson

Secretary: Jen Collins

Treasurer: Kristyn Jansen

(And Charity Coordinator)

QuiltCon Updates

We wanted to make sure everyone read the email that came from the MQG on Jan 3, 2022 related to safety protocols that will be in place due to the pandemic. Key information is:

QuiltCon is happening, but with increased protocols.
Workshop attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination or negative PCR test results, taken within 72 hours of workshop date/time. Check email for link to upload your vaccination card before going to Phoenix
This year only, cancellations until January 21st for 35% refund. Check email for the link.
NOTE: for a fee, you can transfer your workshop to another member. Refer to QuiltCon guidelines for more info.
General safety protocols are in place for the whole venue, but only the workshops require proof of vaccine.

QuiltCon will continue to be an ongoing conversation through the February meeting. For those going to Phoenix, we will be arranging a get together one night during the show. More details to come.

Activities

1st Quarter Challenge: Increased Learning

Between now and March, challenge yourself to learn or try something new. It can be anything that adds to your quilting journey that you can share with the group:

Something you learned in class
New color patterns
Read an article or view an instructional video
Challenge yourself to try something you have been avoiding

Whether you find something on your own or while at QuiltCon, bring your new found knowledge/project and share it in March. Participants are eligible for prizes.

Monthly Member Spotlight

We would like to feature YOU at a future meeting! Whether you are a new quilter or an experienced quilter we all have our story to tell. Share your quilting journey so we can get to know you better.

All presentation styles can be accommodated- from free form with show and tell to a powerpoint presentation with pictures and anywhere in between. Nervous to do it alone- pick a friend to present with you. And yes your pet pictures are welcome 🙂 Want more info or to sign up, please email Janine at the sdmqgboard gmail.

Speaking of Member Spotlight, our new President, Nancy was our first presentation for 2022. Nancy dazzled us with her amazing quilting history. She shared so many beautifully inspiring pictures, projects and tips. A few of her gorgeous quilts are included below.

Charity

Current Charity Drive

For the first trimester of 2022 (January – April) we are supporting the Ronald McDonald House. Kristyn gave us the great news that we were able to donate more than 60 quilts to Ronald McDonald House as part of our 2021 drive.

To jump start our 2022 drive, she gave us a preview of this trimester’s group quilt block kits. Using some cute Elizabeth Hartman fabrics that were donated, we will be making these super fast Slash and Dash blocks. These will be alternated to make a pinwheel design.

Block kits can be picked up in person at the January sew-in on the 23rd (even if you will not be attending the sew-in) OR please email Kristyn at the sdmqgcharity gmail to make other arrangements. The completed blocks are due back by the March meeting.

Year-long Special Project: Women’s Resource Center

We will be holding a year-long quilt drive to support the Women’s Resource Center’s emergency shelter. The Women’s Resource Center helps to serve women and children who have been victims of domestic abuse and/or sexual assault. Our goal is to provide quilts for all of the 33 beds in the shelter. We are asking for twin sized or large throw quilts in the color scheme below so that they will coordinate at the facility.

Details of the project have been emailed out to members and are in a blog post, but this long-term project is a great way to meet other guild members by joining a team! If you would like our help getting matched up to a group, please complete the form 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]

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

Sew and Tell

You guys have been busy and knocked it out of the park with your amazing quilts and projects! A few highlights are included below.

Chris B. showed off her completed Violet Craft Wolf quilt that she gifted to her wolf-loving daughter:

Dori C. showed off her completed Finger Paints quilt that she started during the workshop we hosted with Laura Loewen in October last year.

And Meghan D. blew us away with her serendipitous masterpiece (Paws All Around by Mary Go Round Quilts).

Finally, Jen C. shared the completed group quilt that the guild made for the Riverside Chemo Lounge drive in 2020 (better late than never!!).

Coming Guild Events

Finally, here are some dates and events to remember.

Next Sew-In: Sunday, January 23rd at 11:00 am at Quilt in a Day – watch for registration email

Next Meeting: Sunday, February 13th at 12:00 pm at Quilt in a Day. If anything changes and we end up back on Zoom for the February meeting, we will notify membership by email before the meeting.

QuiltCon: February 16-20 in Phoenix, AZ

Written By: Jen Collins

Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity

Charity Year Long Project: Women’s Resource Center

January 13, 2022 Charity Chair

Our year long charity project this year, will support The Women’s Resource Center, which is located in Oceanside. The Women’s Resource Center helps to serve women and children who have been victims of domestic abuse and/or sexual assault. Our year long project is to support their emergency shelter and provide large throw and twin sized quilts to furnish their 33 beds. These quilts will stay at the center and be used by anyone staying there.

Since the quilts will be staying in use at the center, they have asked us to make the quilts in a cohesive color palette of blues, aqua/turquoise, and grey. White/very low volume is also ok. Please keep fabrics in this color scheme and do not add a print that has a lot of another color that is outside of the color scheme.

Due to the large scale nature of this project, we can only accept finished quilts from individuals and teams. As this project is a great opportunity to work with others in the guild (and reach our goal of 33 quilts), we will help match people up with a group/team in your geographic area so that you can work together to complete quilts for this drive. This is a great time to get to know some of your fellow guild members! This is also an opportunity for you and a friend to team up and work on a quilt together!

We will facilitate the grouping of the teams and check in every once in a while, but once created, the teams will need to be self-sufficient and will be responsible for communication amongst themselves and all of their quilt making logistics. Teams can organize their quilt project or projects in any way agreeable to the members. Some examples include:

Each person can take on one task (piecer, baster, quilter, binder). These jobs could rotate or be repeated if the group wants to make more than one quilt.
The group could function like a bee throughout the year with each member organizing one quilt project. The bee members help make the blocks for the top, but the rest of the quilt is completed by the queen bee in any manner they choose. If quilting isn’t your thing, the group could pool resources for long-arming (assuming we cannot help match you with an available long armer in the guild).

Remember this is a long term project, so while there is certainly no obligation to contribute to more than one quilt, you may find that you have time given the group effort. In planning your group project(s), we encourage everyone not to overextend yourselves. One finished quilt is better than 3 partial quilts.

Some things to note:

Quilts can be made from any desired pattern. If you would like some suggestions, please ask!
Large Throw Quilts should be at least 60″ square
Twin Sized quilts should be 65″x85″ or larger
Finished quilts for this project are due no later than the November guild meeting.
Supplies are on hand for batting/backing (and additional ones can be purchased) – Some of the funds we raised from our Opportunity Quilt at the end of the year are set aside for this specific purpose, so I’m happy to provide them for you.
There are a limited amount of fabrics available for quilt tops, but I can provide some as a jumping off point if requested.

If you’re interested in working on a quilt as part of a team, please fill out this form. The deadline to fill out the form is February 10th, so that teams can be made by the February meeting. Every effort will be made to group people as closely by their geographic location, but it all depends on who signs up to be on a team.

If you’re a longarmer or someone who would be interested in volunteering your time to quilt for individuals/teams who are in need of that skill, please send Kristyn an email and let her know how many quilts you could potentially take on.

We’re looking forward to seeing all the wonderful quilts that will be made for this charity effort and if you have any questions, please let Kristyn know by emailing her at [email protected]

In case you’re in need of some inspiration for your quilt or want some examples of types of fabrics to use:

Blocks on left: by Kristyn
Blocks on right: by Hadley

Written and Posted By: Kristyn Jansen

Charity, holiday party, Meeting Notes

November Guild Meeting

November 28, 2021November 28, 2021 Charity Chair

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

November 8, 2021 Charity Chair

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

Charity

2021 QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilt

February 25, 2021 Charity Chair

As QuiltCon Together has now officially come to a close, we thought we’d share our finished Community Outreach (formerly known as Charity) Quilt with everyone!

This year’s quilt presented a unique situation as we have all been apart due to the pandemic. So, with that in mind, we gave our members a very broad framework in which to make their blocks – minimum 9″ blocks with at least one curve and makers could use as many or as few of the included fabrics. Blocks could be created using any technique that the maker wanted to use. Chosen fabrics were cut, put into 2 block kits, and then mailed out to members who wanted to participate.

Blocks were made by 26 guild members and were all mailed back to our charity coordinator Kristyn Jansen who trimmed them all to the same size. They were then arranged and assembled into the quilt top by Jen Collins, Colleen Molen, and Kristyn at a distanced sew day. We then handed off the quilt to member Chris Broehmer who longarm quilted it for us. It then went back to Kristyn to be trimmed, faced, and then photographed for submission.

San Diego MQG 2021 QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilt (Front)

Quilt Statement:

San Diego Modern Quilt Guild – “Twists and Turns”

Written and posted by: Kristyn Jansen

Charity

Charity: Bow Tie Blocks and Potholder Challenge

January 16, 2021 Charity Chair

Bow Tie Blocks

For our first trimester, we will be taking quilt donations of all sizes for the Ronald McDonald House. As part of this trimester’s project, we will also be assembling group quilts made from blocks made by guild members. We have quilt block kits available for members – we will mail them out to you and then you will send them back once completed.

Our block for this trimester’s project is a Bow Tie Block, which are based on a tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew. Each kit is made up of two blocks – one with a solid background and one with a print background.

Instructions for the blocks will be included in the kits. Blocks are due back to Kristyn by the March 14th guild meeting. We still have about 10 block kits left – if you’re interested in sewing some blocks, please email Kristyn at [email protected] with your name and number of kits.

Potholder Challenge

We sent a small donation of potholders to the Holiday Baskets program at the end of the year and they were thrilled to receive them and asked if we would send more for the upcoming year.

We’re challenging you to make a potholder to donate to this program – we have purchased the InsulBright batting that is needed for the potholders and can provide that for you. This will be a ongoing project for this year, as the potholders will not be donated until the end of the year, so join in at any point in the year!

We are asking for potholders that are around 9″ or so – we will be sending out 10″ squares of InsulBright material. This project is perfect for any orphan blocks that you might have lying around!

Not sure how to make a potholder? We’ve got a couple helpful links and our own Sue Bouchard has put together a quick tutorial for you as well, which will be available below.

Potholder Layers:

Top
InsulBright
Cotton Batting (100%)
Back

Note: Please make sure to use natural fibers (cotton/linen) as polyester will melt.

Potholder Resources:

All-About-Pot-Holders Download

Potholder With Hand Pocket

Patchwork Rounded Corner Potholder

If you’re interested in participating in this potholder challenge project and are in need of InsulBright, please email Kristyn at [email protected] and include the amount of InsulBright squares you would like. Any other questions about this project can also be emailed to Kristyn.

Posted and Written by: Kristyn Jansen