Tag: Charity

Charity, Meeting Notes

January 2023 Guild Meeting Recap

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

QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilts: A Look Back

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.

2016 Charity Challenge Quilt

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.

2015 Charity Challenge Quilt

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

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

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

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

Meeting Notes

September Meeting Recap

Charity Chair

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

Charity

2021 QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilt

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”

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.

Quilt Details
Quilt Back and Facing Detail

Written and posted by: Kristyn Jansen

Charity

Charity: Bow Tie Blocks and Potholder Challenge

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-HoldersDownload

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

Charity

QuiltCon 2021 Group Quilt

Charity Chair

The 2021 QuiltCon Community Outreach (formerly charity) Quilt has been planned and was announced at this past Sunday’s guild meeting. If you missed the initial post from the MQG, this year’s theme is curves. The chosen color palette is in blues and oranges and the following is the palette we have chosen to use for our quilt:

We are asking members to make 9″ unfinished blocks (a little larger is ok as those can be trimmed down) that contain at least one curved element in the block. You can use any technique to make the block: pieced/template, improv, applique, ect. The block can be machine or hand sewn, depending on your preference or technique choice. Here are a few examples:

If you want to join in, but maybe haven’t sewn curves before (or need a refresher) or aren’t sure where to start, make sure to sign into your Member Account on The Modern Quilt Guild site and click on the “For MQG Members” tab. Under that tab is a link that says “Patterns, Webinars, & Articles” and there are some great webinar videos on curve sewing.

How to Get Involved:

  • We have block fabric kits available for members to sew up. Each kit will make two blocks that are 9″ unfinished.
  • You must commit to sewing and returning the blocks by the week of the October meeting – week of October 11th.
  • Limited amount of kits are available, so if you’re interested, let us know as soon as possible!

If you’re interested in sewing up some blocks for this group project, please email Kristyn at [email protected] – let her know that you’re interested in sewing up a kit and include your address so that she can mail the block kit off to you. Other questions about this project or any other charity questions can be sent to her as well.

Charity

Just In Time (JIT) Group Charity Blocks – Improv Triangles

Charity Chair

Our charity program year is broken up into trimester projects and as we’re currently into the second trimester of the year, it’s time to present our JIT My First Home group project.

We typically provide fabric and kits for members to take, sew up, and return to our Charity Coordinator Kristyn, but seeing as we’re all sewing at home for the time being, we’re asking for this group project that you use fabric from your stash for these blocks. If you are in need of fabric in this color palette, please email Kristyn at [email protected] to make arrangements.

A little about the JIT My First Home Project:

JIT is an organization that helps support those in San Diego County, ages 18 – 26, and is for anyone that has ever spent time in the foster care system. They provide various services to these individuals to help them break the cycle of foster care, become self-sufficient, and build a secure future.

We support the My First Home project, which helps to set up a first apartment and furnish that apartment for each individual. Our focus for this trimester is on throw and bed sized quilts. Quilts should be 50″ x 60″ or larger.

Our block for this trimester is an Improv Triangle block. You can create these blocks using various methods, but here’s a quick and easy way that makes two blocks at once.

First, here’s our color palette of blues, aqua/teal, greens, and yellows with light greys and low volume. Feel free to use any type of fabrics, solids or prints, as long as they fit in within this color range.

Blues, aqua/teals, greens, yellows
Light greys and low volume

Next, you’ll want to cut two pieces of fabric that are the same size and layer them on top of one another. The two pieces can be any two colors from the color palette.

These pieces can be a square or rectangular, just make sure they’re the same size. They can be any size you’d like to make – want to make large 12″ blocks or small 4″ blocks, go for it! The triangle you cut from the fabric can also be any size – make it tall and narrow, or short and wide, or anything in between.

Once you have your two pieces layered, you’ll be making two angled cuts on your fabric. The first should be cut from top to bottom on one side, then slide that to the side so that you don’t cut into those pieces with your second cut. Make the second cut on the opposite side so that you have the other side of your triangle.

Swap your center triangle on each block so that you have the background in one fabric and the triangle of the second.

Sew up your block using a 1/4″ seam, press your seams to the side, and then trim any bits that over hang the edges. (For reference, these blocks are approximately 5.5″x6.5″)

We’ll be sewing these blocks through August, which is the end of our trimester. When you’ve completed your blocks, please email Kristyn at [email protected] to make arrangements for either pick up or to mail them to her. Any other questions about this project or any of our other charity efforts can also be emailed to Kristyn.