january meeting recap.

Our first meeting of the year was a great one! Jessica Alexandrakis came to share her improv-style of quilting and to teach us some reverse-applique!

Jessica shared how her quilts evolve throughout her creation process. Many times the quilts she sets out to make fizzle out, and those works get incorporated into new, even better projects! She encouraged us to play, explore and not be afraid to think outside the "rules" of traditional quilting.

Holding a quilt made with Japanese fabrics, combining an earlier "fan" quilt with two sailboat blocks.

Here, she used those same fabrics and incorporated some more of the leftover fans into her border.

A quilt made for her sister, which incorporated many scraps of fabric from previous projects.

Scrappy bear paws, using blocks collected from a sewing bee swap.

Trying out an idea gleaned from a book: 16-patch blocks on point as a border for her scrappy spiderwebs.

A modern sampler created for her latest book Get Started Quilting.

A wonky star/house top quilt made with Good Neighbors fabric by Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts.

Quilt for Lexi, using her own fabric.

At the end of the lecture we all had a chance to try our hand at reverse appliqué. There was no time for show and share, so make sure to bring all of your finished projects back to the next meeting!

A few reminders:

• The Sewcial - due to scheduling conflicts (and the SNOW), our Sewcial has been rescheduled to Sunday, January 31 from 12-4 at Pieceful Quilting. More details to follow.

• February Meeting -  The February meeting will be held on February 23rd (one week later than usual) because of the winter break at most schools. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Sewcial next weekend. In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy the snow day!

hello, 2016!

Happy New Year! Did you have a fantastic holiday? We sure hope so! And we also hope that with the new year comes new opportunities for all of us to make, create, and challenge ourselves in new and exciting ways! Cheers to 2016!

Now, down to business! We have a great meeting planned for Tuesday, January 19th:

• Guest speaker Jessica Alexandrakis will be back with a lecture she's developing specifically for us! The topic will be appliqué, particularly reverse appliqué and free hand/improv appliqué. It should be really interesting! Jess also has a new book, Get Started Quilting: The Complete Beginner Guide. If you'd like to keep up with Jess and her sewing adventures, you can check out her blog Life Under Quilts.

• Block of the Month

• Show and Share

• De-stash Basket Raffle

Looking forward to seeing everyone for our first meeting of the new year!

december meeting.

The next LIMOD meeting will be on Tuesday, December 15! That means there's only one week left to make your holiday swap gift! If you're like me, this month has flown by, and it's time to get to work! Here's what's on the agenda for the December meeting:

• Pincushion Swap - bring a made-by-you pincushion wrapped and ready to go to the lucky member that selects your package!

• Left, Right, Center - the game was a hit at the October meeting, so we're bringing it back for another round. Bring your fat quarters (you will need three) in red, green or white to play! 

• Block of the Month - Carol will demonstrate the next block in our skill-builder series.

• Show and Share - show us what you've been making - before you wrap it up and give it away!

• Holiday Goodies - don't forget to bring a snack to share. It isn't a party unless there's fabric and food! 

• Destash Raffle - another great basket will be up for grabs!

Can't wait to see you all on the 15th!

november meeting recap.

Hello, Hello! How's everybody doing? Still basking in the glow of all of those Pearl Bracelet bundles?? Me too! If you weren't able to join us for the November meeting, here's what you missed:

We started the meeting by getting right down to business with our guest speaker, Mr. Giuseppe Ribaudo (more affectionately known as Giucy Giuce on Instagram). Giuseppe shared some of his greatest hits. Feast your eyes on these rainbow-ed beauties -- all in color order, of course!

In the Throne Room Quilt (pattern from Rebecca Bryan's book Modern Rainbow)

What Shade Are You? Quilt

And the back. . .

Up Quilt (made for fall quilt market with Alison Glass Handcrafted Fabrics -- also on the cover of Generation Q magazine!)

Up quilt: close up

Up Quilt (Back)

Medallion Quilt using Alison Glass Handcrafted

And the Back

Marcelle Medallion

Marcelle Medallion up close and personal (though the photo doesn't do it justice!)

And, last but not least, Giuseppe shared a quilt that he had received back from the longarmer (the uber-talented Karlee Porter) that very morning. They plan to submit the quilt for entry to Quilt Con, and you can now view the finished quilt HERE.

After Giuseppe's presentation, he generously gifted all of the members with bundles of Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets! Woo hoo!

Thank you, Andover, and thank you, Giuseppe!

Giuseppe chatting with members

Next up, Carol reviewed the directions for this month's block of the month.

Finally, we had show and share, where Karen wowed us with all of the quilts she made using two-inch squares -- all to prevent the thread in her machine from getting tangled when she starts her stitch!

 . . . another. . .

 and another!

 Julie shared some early *coordinating* holiday gifts:

 Karen shared a clever plus quilt made using the versatile nine patch:

 And Judy shared her cleverly constructed quilt using hexagons.

It was another great meeting! Thanks to all who came out to support our guild!

november meeting: guest speaker!

Please join us for the November meeting 

with special guest speaker Giuseppe Ribaudo (a.k.a. Giucy Giuce)!

Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ribaudo

BIO: Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) learned to sew from his grandmother at a young age. Passionate about color and textiles, he began quilting in 2008. His love of the craft turned into an obsession when he moved to Chicago in 2012 and began using Instagram to connect with other quilters. Giuseppe has been featured on numerous quilting podcasts and in various magazines. In 2015, he began working for Andover Fabrics in the marketing department, and became a member of the Modern Quilt Guild. Giuseppe resides in Queens, New York and is hard at work on some secret projects that he hopes to share in the coming year. 

If you are interested in learning more about Giuseppe, here are a few links that I found to pique your interest:

- A guest post on the Andover Fabrics Blog (before he worked there!)

- An article from Generation Q about his Up Quilt for last year's quilt market

- A guest post for Imagine Gnats on his Goosed Up Tote

- An interview on Crafty Planner's podcast. Take a listen!

We really hope you can join us for the meeting, and -- as always -- guests are welcome, so feel free to bring a friend! If you need a refresher, our guest policy can be found here.

Also this month:

• Show & Share. We encourage members to bring projects made with Andover Fabrics.  Examples of Andover designers include Alison Glass and Lizzy House. A complete list of Andover collections can be found here, and include the Downton Abbey collection (and so many others you will recognize!).

• Carol will share the details for the next block in our skill-builder Block of the Month.

• Have you thought about your pincushion for our December swap? Just a reminder that our swap will take place at the December 15th meeting, and you have to bring a pincushion to be able to play!

• Last, but not least, don't forget about our Destash Raffle! It's a great way to bulk up your own stash and support LIMOD at the same time! 

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 17th!

october meeting recap.

Hello, Ladies! The October meeting was a lot of fun, and if you were unable to make it, here's what you missed:

(p.s. - sorry in advance for the quality of the photos. I used my phone because I forgot my camera!)

We started the meeting off with a demonstration from Carol on how to paper piece the next block in our Block of the Month, called Chevrons. Link to the block can be found here.

And here are the September blocks (Woven) shared by members: 

Next, a few members that were unable to attend the September meeting exchanged items from the Improv Scrap Swap Challenge:

Mary received this adorable tote from Karen:

Karen received this awesome artist's portfolio from Deb (picture does not do it justice):

And Irene received her finished mini-quilt from Madelyn:

Awesome job ladies!!

Next we had show and share, where members either shared a finished project or asked for help on a project that's been a "witch" to finish:

First, Mary shared these adorable tunics made by Laurie:

Stella shared this beautiful finish:

And asked for help with this "witch" -- symmetry required:

Karen shared this table runner and some awesome placemats:

And Suzi made this adorable baby quilt. She is a big fan of the quilting method used by Very Kerry Berry, and if you are interested in downloading the template, you can find it here

Marie shared her finished block of the month from last year:

And asked for help with this "witch" for her music-loving brother:

Pictures cannot do justice to the Kaffe fabrics used in this quilt by Lorraine:

Judy shared this cute little mini:

And this purse insert by Lazy Girl Designs:

And Irene finished the show and share -- with an actual witch!

Next, we had a lot of fun, playing Left, Right, Center. We had three groups of five, and in the end, the winners were:

IRENE

LORRAINE:

and JANET!

Congratulations, Ladies!

After that fun, we had a discussion of our favorite sewing books. It was great to learn about some new quilty inspiration and hear the stories of how these books became favorites of our members.  If you are interested in the names of books shared, they are as follows:

Tula Pink, Tula Pink's City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks

Victoria Findlay Wolfe, 15 Minutes of Play

Love, Quilting and Patchwork, Pro Guide to Quilting Magazine (UK)

Anna Graham (Noodlehead), Handmade Style

Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison, Sunday Morning Quilts: 16 Modern Scrap Projects. . .

Sherri Lynn Wood, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guild to Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously

Jessica Alexandrakis, Quilting on the Go.

Great discussion, ladies, and we are hoping to incorporate more of these discussions into meetings in the future!

And last but not least, the winner of our De-stash Basket was. . . Marie Barker!

Phew! That was a jam-packed meeting! Check back here at the beginning of the month to see what's in store for the November meeting. (Hint: it's a guest speaker -- and you are not going to want to miss it!)

October Meeting

Happy October! We have a lot of fun things planned for the October meeting, and hope that you will join us! This month's meeting will be held at Pieceful Quilting at 7pm on Tuesday, October 20th.  Come early if you'd like to shop, because the registers will be open late just for us!

Here's what we've got planned for the evening:

• Left, Right, Center - Bring three fat quarters of modern, quality fabric in black, white, or black & white to play. You could go home with a great addition to your stash!

• Show and Share OR Project That's a "Witch" - Bring your recent finishes to share OR, in the spirit of Halloween, bring a project that has just been a Witch to complete (other months known as a UFO). Ask the group for suggestions on how to get past whatever issues are plaguing you, or let us help you decide if it's time to throw this one into the cauldron.

• Discussion - Your favorite quilting book. Please bring a copy of your favorite book to the meeting to share. 

• Block of the Month: Carol will explain the next month's block, and don't forget to bring your September blocks to share!

• Sign-up for our December Pincushion Swap: more details to follow.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!