Stitches in Bloom

Quilters from all over Oregon and southern Washington state represented at the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show last weekend, filling up the garden's exhibition hall with nearly 200 quilts. The Studio Art Quilt Associates also debuted their special exhibit called "Oregon: State of Diversity II". I spent a few hours at the show, here's what I found interesting.

In the modern category: 

"Bamboo" by Helen Gabriel, Woodburn, quilted by Patricia Bates

"Heather Ross Improv" by Lara Giles, Oak Grove

close-up, "Heather Ross Improv" by Lara Giles, Oak Grove

"Pinkescent" by Lisa Jorgensen, Silverton, quilted by Loretta Orsborn

"I Love Paris" by Dawn White, Portland, quilted by Melissa Hoffman

close-up, "I Love Paris" by Dawn White, Portland, quilted by Melissa Hoffman

"Half Square Triangle" by Ellen Hemment, Rhodendron, quilted by Dennis Dries

"Tequila Sunrise" by Cherly Jordan, Corvallis

a little bit of political quilting:

"Obama Orange" by Theresa Valentine, Corvalis

close-up, "Obama Orange" by Theresa Valentine, Corvalis

and amazing art quilts from SAQA:

"Falling Water" by Carol Heist, Silverton

close-up "Falling Water" by Carol Heist, Silverton

"Aspen Storm Watch" by Gerrie Congdon, Portland

"Sentinel" by Kathy Blondell, Portland

"Fire" by Diane English, Eugene

January Meeting

  Our first meeting of the year! We had quite a turn out with a lot of new faces. Thank you all for joining us I hope you had fun. 

  Our new president Susan led the meeting thanking our previous board and introducing the new one, we'll tell you a little more about us later. One more time thank you Christina President, Michelle Vice President, Rachel Treasure, Katie Secretary, and Megan Programs. It was a fun year and we appreciate all the time and energy you put into the Guild!
 Susan also acknowledged all of the guild members that contributed to Quilts for Quakes. Quilts for Quakes sent 30 quilts to Japan, raised $2825 directly for Mercy Corps, plus $660 via the Craft Party at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in June. Thank you for all the fabric donations, sewing, and quilting!  The final few quilts will be going to Bradley-Angle House, in two waves as the last volunteers finish them. We will be posting a little more about Bradley-Angle House soon.

Our ten minute tute this month was all about making your own name tag. After seeing all of the beautiful ones at the Sewing Summit this year we thought it would be fun for our guild to make their own. This is my name tag I made for the Summit.

  Mine was made by sewing scraps together for the boarder and stamping my name and website in the center with archival ink. My tip is stamp before you sew so if you have any smudges (like I do) you don't have to start over. Instead of adding binding, I chose to layer my front and back with batting, right sides together, sew, and then turn right side out. If you'd like to do binding on your name tag this is a great tutorial by Kerry of verykerryberry for making single binding for small projects. 

 Here's a few name tags from the Sewing Summit. You can see the variety in style and size aren't they fun! 

  At next months meeting we will have a mixer to share everyone's name tags. If you missed this months meeting we do have pin backs for you to use but in the meantime you can use a good ole safety pin or make a lanyard like Angela did above. 

  Now onto Show and Tell we had a lot of beautiful quilts this month! But really, I think we always do, so I might be biased. 

 Paula Wessells Garden Auction quilt, garden designed by Kindergarten students and Paula's first time doing applique. 

Also by Paula her Do Good Stitches Word Quilt top.

Kelly Cole brought her Retro Bento quilt. Kelly used vintage fabrics for this.

Jolene Knight had a few to share. First made with Christy Cuzza this lattice quilt with scalloped edge. 

Jolene's Big Scrap Quilt

and Modern Log Cabin Baby boy quilt. 
Sorry Jolene I'm missing one of your photos.

Rachel Kerley shared her example from a quilting demo she and Cherri did at Modern Domestic for the shop's new quilting frame.

Rachel also shared this Triangle Quilt she made using fellow member Jill's TabSlot templates. 

She also showed this top she made using the scraps. One or both of these will be going to the Children's Relief Nursery.

Kate Sharaf's Drunkards Path quilt top. Kate has been doing a quilt along for this on her blog.

Anne Matlak's River Quilt a beautiful log cabin.

 Amorette's Art Gallery Improv Quilt which is a charity quilt and she had a lot of fun with the improv blocks.

 Christina Cameli's Double Disappearing Nine Patch quilt top. 

Also, her first Spoonflower fabric design of Selvages on Steroids!

Cherri Langley also brought in some Spoonflower fabric First Color Chart which is a copy of the first commercially designed color chart from 1680 fabric by Peagreengirl.

 Linda Nussbaum shared two quilts this month I-Spy for Henry who was just born in December and

 this Love Summertime Stars quilt top pattern by Fig Tree Quilts.

 Aly Good's La Tortuga Quilt. Look closely, you'll be able to see that the turtle shell is three dimensional and there's lovely quilting detail.

Jen Carlton-Bailly shared her Quilted Weekender Bag. Congratulations to Jen the new Social Media Coordinator for the Modern Quilt Guild!

 Alexandra Kloch shared her quick and easy snugly blanket that's backed with Minky.

Also, Ale brought this mini snowflake quilt.

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A few of our members are teaching classes in the upcoming weeks:

At Modern Domestic 

Elizabeth Hartman: Skill Building Quilt Blocks (individual classes)

January 21     Half-square triangles

January 28     Spiderweb

February 1      Dresden plate

Daniela Caine: Sewing with Japanese Patterns - February 6

At Pendleton Woolen Mills

Daniela           
January 28      Figgy’s Jacket class - 

Susan Beal     

January 28      Scrap class (sunglasses case + draft snake) 

Michelle Freedman 

January 29      Adjustable Dog Coat 

February 5      Wine Bottle Cozy + Coasters

February 12    Michelle tote bag 

One more item to announce and then I'm done I promise. Our next All Day Sew will be on February 4th at Fabric Depot so mark your calendars! We'll have more details for you soon.

Pétra

It's a New Year!

Come join us! 

* Petra will be demonstrating and showing examples of beautiful name tags are a snap to make

* Fun new mixer

* Don't forget to bring something to share!

Here's a few bits of information that we thought you'd enjoy:
 * The International Quilt Festival will feature a special exhibit The Modern Quilt Guild Showcase. They are calling for submissions! Please click here for more info. Can't wait to see what everyone contributes!

* We'd love to announce at the meetings and feature on the blog upcoming quilting/sewing classes and events. If you are teaching a class or know of any occuring. Please email portlandmodernquiltguild@gmail.com  to let us know!