Jan’s fabrics are so special because she not only designs the collections, she also produces it all herself and uses only organic cotton, so you can feel eco-conscious about your hoarding tendencies.  (At least it makes me feel better about mine!)  She puts such an amazing amount of work and care  into her products!

As for the parameters of this challenge – we decided to just make something wonderful!  I can’t wait to see what we come up with.  Perhaps the earliest examples of the challenge fabric will make an appearance at the Stitch Modern show, but the big show and tell for the challenge will be held during the February EBMQ meeting.  (Remember, our meetings are always the last Tuesday of the month and are currently being held at New Pieces Quilt Shop.)

To thank Daisy Janie for donating the fabric, please remember to blog, Tweet, Facebook, Flickr, and TELL everyone about what you’re making!  You are also encouraged to upload photos to the EBMQ Facebook page and Flickr. 

*If you missed the November meeting, but are interested in taking part in the challenge, I have a wee bit of fabric left.  Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!

The Stitch Modern Show will be open to the public from February 1- 12, 2012, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from 12 noon – 3pm with a special opening reception on Saturday, February 4, from 6:30-8:30 pm, at the Piedmont Center for the Arts, located in Piedmont, CA.  For a sneak preview see the Stitch Modern Quilt Show on Flickr.

• Feb 4: 6:30pm-8:30pm  Saturday Opening Reception

• Feb 8: 6pm  What is Modern Quilting? Public Conversation

• Feb 12: 12:30pm-2:30pm  Family Event: Make Your Own Quilt Square Ages 4+

Click to see more photos from the show!

Press Release

Kim put all the blocks given by guild members together in such a cute way, and Kristen did such a great job (and on such a tight deadline!) with the quilt label.  I (Stacey) did the quilting, but really, that was the easy part!

Ben's quilt label

Great job guys…but keep up that creative, giving spirit.  There are some other tummies around the table that have been getting a bit bigger…and not just because of the Christmas chocolates and macaroons (thanks, Allison and Birgit for the treats!).  New projects are in the works!

Ellen's fabric bonanza from Cathy Heck Studio

Ellen came and gave out stacks and stacks of samples from her new fabric lines, Jumpin’ Monkeys (flannel) and Emma (quilting cotton).  There were lots of ooohs and aaahhs.  The cheater panel with the monkeys is the best!  What a great way to make up a quick baby gift.

Kristen's stack of fabric

Kristen also brought in a bunch of give-away fabric.  Which was quickly devoured.  I think I only got one piece of that!

Well, I guess that’s okay, because the lovely and generous Jan DiCintio from Daisy Janie is sending us some wonderful organic fabrics for our next challenge!  Sadly, the box was sitting in the UPS warehouse in San Pablo, and didn’t make it to the meeting this month, but never fear!  We’ve figured out a distribution method and I’ll be writing a separate blog post all about our next challenge in about a week.

We're busy reading Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts from Lark Publishing

We also shared the new book that Lark Publishing so generously donated to our fledgeling EBMQ library.  Thank you, Lark Books!  It’s called Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts, and perhaps someone will use it to make doll quilts for East Bay Modern’s first quilt show, Stitch Modern.

Did you just read that?  EAST BAY MODERN QUILT GUILD IS DOING A QUILT SHOW!  Thanks to the massive efforts of Birgit and Sharona, this show is going to happen!  The show will be called Stitch Modern, and held at the Piedmont Center for the Arts from February 1-12, 2012. If you are interested in submitting a quilt, you must be a member of the East Bay Modern or Bay Modern Quilt Guilds.  Entry fee is $25 and the deadline is Jan. 5th.  In order to gain access to the entry form, ask to join the Stitch Modern Flickr Group.  This will be the central location for all things Stitch Modern!  Questions?  You can e-mail me for more info: eastbaymodern(at)gmail.com.

We will have another blog post with all the details about the show and all the festivities around it in mid-January.

The January meeting will be held at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in order to install the show.  Remember, there is no December meeting – Happy Holidays!

If you’d like to see more photos from the November meeting, head over to Flickr to check out how fun the meeting was and see just how talented our members are!

East Bay Modern Quilt Guild November 2012 Meeting

Shades of Grey, Organic Cotton from Daisy Janie

There won’t be any restrictions for you on this challenge.  We all know you won’t follow the rules anyway! If you want to participate, you MUST attend the Nov. 29th (2011) meeting to pick up your fabric.  More details can be found on our Events page on Facebook (you don’t have to be a Facebooker or a fan to see the details).

So, get busy designers!  The fabric will be in your hands soon!  And thank you so much, Jan!

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet and just hit the high points of the meeting.  That way, I might actually this finished!  To see more, check out the photos over on Flickr.*

• The big news is that EBMQ is having our first quilt show!  The show will be held in Piedmont during the first 2 weeks of February.   This will mean that we won’t get to be post-holiday lazy and we WILL need to do some WORK during January.  Entries are on a first come, first placed basis.  So, if you want to enter, come to the November meeting with a checkbook!  For more details, stay tuned here and to the EBMQ Facebook page.  Thanks to Birgit for taking so much initiative here!
• For those of you Flickr users who aren’t already members, East Bay Modern has a group, so join up!  There’s also groups for our past challenges, Habitat and Robert Kaufman solids.
• There seems to be some difficulty for people interested in coming to our meetings as to how to find out when they will be held.  The answer is that they are always on the last Tuesday of the month and Sharona, the owner of New Pieces Quilt Shop, generously lets us use the class-room at the back of her store.  Thanks, Sharona!  Meetings start at 6:15 and go on until about 8:30 or 9.  You can always find out about the next meeting by checking under the “Events” section on the Facebook page.  (You can see this page, even if you’re not a Facebook member or user.)
• If you’re interested in learning how to do long arm quilting, you can now take a class over at California Quilt Machines (8705 Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove, California, 95624, 855-685-2645).  Alison is going to try it out and report back…unless I beat her to it!  They don’t have a web page yet, but they do have a fax machine.  (Did you hear the sarcasm there?)
• The Quilter’s Quest Bay Area shop hop is on.  Don’t you need more fabric?  I know I do!  Get more info here: http://www.newpieces.com/classes-detail.php?ID=209&mth=2.

*I apologize if I forgot or got your name wrong – that’s what happens when I wait a couple weeks before typing up the notes!  I promise to try to do better next month.

See you in November!

Dear Habitat:

It is a fight to the end. You may think you’re sassy and hip, and I rise to your challenge. Tame your wild prints, I will. This is NOT over yet.

Your nemesis, KTseams

(apologies for the terrible flash photo)

WIP "Double X"

Ah, I love accomplishment.  Well, I had nothing accomplished for this meeting, but many others did.  You can see they’re wonderful handiwork over on Flickr.  Please leave comments and tag yourself if you’d like!

East Bay Modern Quilt Guild September 2011

What was discussed:

• The East Bay Modern Library – oh yeah, we didn’t discuss it during the meeting, but Margaret has agreed to take it on, so if you have any books you’d like to donate to the group, pile them on her!  (Just kidding, please, don’t scare her away!)
• A possible new challenge fabric collection coming our way….stay tuned!
• Interest in a combined EBMQ and Bay Modern retreat?  YES!  (Hear that, Adrianne?  BTW – we missed you!)
• Modern Quilt show?  Birgit’s working on it!  Info will be posted on the Facebook page as it happens!
• Quilter’s Quest Shop Hop
• Pinterest.  Know it? Love it.
• Deanna shared some thread knowledge learned from her quilting class with Jill Schumacher:  60 weight on top, 50 weight on the bottom, and silk if you want it to look gorgeous!  Also, use dissolving thread to do trapunto.
• Quilt-as-you-go: Dan’s using the methods described on The Quilted Edge. (Her blog is awesome, check it out!)

That’s it until next time!  Last Tuesday of the month!

East Bay Modern Quilt Guild Meeting, August 2011

We had a lot of new faces this month.  I apologize again for my bad note-taking if I get your names wrong in the pictures.  Please leave a comment to correct me!  Also, if you’re a Flickr user, please feel free to tag yourself and your work in the photos.

Lots of people brought in their finished or almost finished Jay McCarroll Habitat challenge projects.  There were also some Robert Kaufman Charm Square quilts shown.  Some amazing work, people!

A couple of other points raised at the meeting:

• For newbies: The best place to find information and interact with other East Bay Modern members in-between meetings is on the Facebook page.  The blog features posts by members and meeting notes as well as a super map of all the fabric stores in the Bay Area, but it’s on the Facebook page that all the day to day chatter happens.
• East Bay Modern Lending Library – one of our newer members, Danielle, has donated some books for us.  Anyone interested in making donations/heading up the library?
• What’s a Thangle?
• C&T/Stash Publishing – some great books!
• Karrie showed us her quilt for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative and lots of folks were interested in making their own.  Here’s what you can do!
• Just Announced!  Modern Quilts at the International Quilt Festival! Let’s see how many East Bay Modern quilts we can get into the show!

I am fairly new to quilting. By this I mean I have not grown up with a needle and thread in my hand, but learned to sew and quilt in 2007 at the age of 28. I was taught by traditional quilters who loved to tell me the endless rules of quilting. These rules included border sizes, color and fabric choices, and that one should never use anything but cotton or God help you. To be fair, I learned a lot from these women and still seek their advice. I also began to seek out alternative ways to quilt and groups who would encourage this type of behavior.

In my search I came across I modern quilt guilds and was introduced to modern quilting. After reading several blogs and looking though several resources I believe there is a definition for modern quilts. Much like modern art, modern quilting throws out the rules. Bold prints, exclusive use of solids, geometric patterns, negative space, and borderless quilts are all elements that I commonly see in modern quilts. Modern quilters have a different perspective and do not mind experimenting.

Modern quilts have many inspirations from the past. The quilts of Gee’s Bend are brought p often and for good reason. The quilts of Gee’s Bend are amazing in their use of recycled fabric and bold patterns. They also have unusual fabric combinations that turn off a traditional quilter. These women were modern quilters before there were modern quilters.

The Amish communities also were a big inspiration for modern quilters. The Amish use primarily solid fabric and create fantastic geometric blocks. Traditional quilters favor calico or small prints and find solids to be too flat.

What I like best about the movement is the acceptance to anyone. The guild I belong to is a very diverse group of people from all backgrounds. Some enjoy traditional quilting. Others have more of an art quilt background. Others have been stretching the limits of what fabric can do in order to create really amazing pieces. Everyone gets along!

Please take a moment to check out the other submissions and of course the winner, Kathy Loomis, whose essay made me love the modern movement even more!

Anyway, it’s not a pity party, but rather a puzzle that I can’t quite piece together.  Anybody a good garment fitter?  I made my second toile, but can’t figure out how to make this last fitting work and translate it to a new pattern for my dress bodice.  Needless to say, I’m not experienced, so I guess I might be making 3 or 4 muslins before I get this right.  In the meantime, I have the needies – for this book.  It’s new, from Collette Patterns called The Collette Sewing Handbook and it looks informative and beautiful all wrapped into one.  Did I mention there is a time limit on this project…?  Aaaaaack – counting down a few more weeks, getting my butt in gear, here we go!  (Maybe I need a backup plan?)