Wednesday, May 25, 2016

may meeting recap.

Hi, everyone! Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful, warm (sunny!) weather! We had a great May meeting with guest speaker Melanie Tuazon.

If you weren't able to join us, here's what you missed:

Melanie shared her quilting journey with us -- from her very first quilt to her stunning award winners. She encouraged us to be AWESOME by going for it and not letting our fears get in the way of trying new things and making great quilts.

Melanie gave us a slide show that told us about her personal story and shared all of the quilts that she's made over the years -- including the ones she no longer has in her possession because they were gifted to others. Following the slideshow, she gave us a trunk show, which you can see pics from below.

[Sorry for the angle on the photos, they don't necessarily do her quilts justice (but that's all the more reason to go and check out her website!)].

Melanie's version of Carolyn Friedlander's "Aerial":

Her very first quilt:

East-West Quilt, a pattern she wrote for Cloud9, which can be found on the Cloud9 website:

Her family's christmas quilt:

A quilt she made for her husband with lyrics from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs:

(and the back -- we all loved the backing fabric!)

Peek, which hung at Quiltcon 2015:

Green Peek (pattern available on Etsy):


(and the back - a detail shot shows just how much quilting went into this quilt):

First Position, a mini quilt inspired by her ballet bag as a child:


A detail of the back shows the hand quilting:

Momentum, a pattern in QuiltCon Magazine 2016


Rally, February Quilt of the Month for the Modern Quilt Guild


and last but not least, Retro Wave.


Next up, we had show and tell!

Judy shared this gorgeous and LARGE quilt that she made by expanding the pattern:

 And here's a not-so-great shot of her Sturbridge Rail Fence Quilt, but you can see it looking lovely on her blog, here:

Irene shared this cute square-shaped table runner:

Teri shared this finished quilt-top:

And this finished quilt that she made for her son's graduation from college:


And finally, we shared the results from our initial challenge!

Irene's "B" made from her mother's scarves:

 Karen's double wine-bag (with her own initials on it):

 Lorraine's "L", which will grace her sewing room door:

And Carol's cute "C" tote:

Great job, everyone! And a special thanks to Melanie for coming out! Thanks for an enjoyable talk and trunk show!



Monday, May 2, 2016

may meeting announcement.

Hello, Everyone!

Photo courtesy of Melanie Tuazon


Happy May! We have a fantastic meeting planned for you this month! Guest Speaker, Melanie Tuazon will be here!

Photo courtesy of Melanie Tuazon

You may be more familiar with Melanie by her IG handle @MelintheAttic. You will definitely recognize her work, especially her quilt Flounce, which took 1st Place in the Modern Traditionalism category at QuiltCon 2016!

Photo courtesy of Melanie Tuazon

Melanie will share the story of her quilting life, from a time when she had disdain for anything “crafty” to her career as a quilt designer, teacher, and ribbon-winner. She will talk about her mental and aesthetic approach to quilting, as well as major milestones, including showing quilts at Quiltcon 2015 and 2016, designing samples for Cloud9 Fabrics, and publishing patterns in magazines. 
You do not want to miss this meeting!

As time permits, we will also be:

- sharing the results of our monogram/logo challenge

- show and share, and

- the destash raffle.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Pieceful Quilting on Tuesday, May 17th!