Generally speaking I think we should establish a few things about the monthly Block Lotto. I’ve been looking at what other guilds do and here’s what I’ve come up with.

– monthly instructions will be for a 12 1/2” unfinished block. Exceptions will be for smaller blocks that when sewn together will finish at 12” I.e. (4) 6 1/2” or (2) 6 1/2” x 12 1/2”. (My reason behind the large block is that when you win you will have something substantial to create a top)

– one block = one entry except in the case where you need multiples to make a 12 1/2” block I.e. (2) 6 1/2” x 12 1/2” or (4) 6 1/2” and then (2) 6 1/2” x 12 1/2” = one entry and (4) 6 1/2” = one entry.

– you are encouraged to make as many as you like every month but at least one.

-if you are unable to attend the meeting when blocks are due, please make arrangements to get them to someone or to bring them the following month.

– once you win, we should expect to see your completed quilt top or quilt within 6 months to a year.

– in fairness to all of the participants, once you win you will be expected to continue participating; however, you won’t be eligible to win again until the following year.

Have fun and enjoy the process!! Brooke and I will be alternating months to come up with blocks. If you have an idea for us by all means email me or Brooke and we’ll be sure to include it. My goal is to present you with fun blocks with a modern aesthetic and maybe some new or alternative techniques for us to try. I have been scouring the MQG website and their “block study” segments and you can expect to see me taking full advantage of these freebies. I strongly encourage everyone to get on the MQG website and take advantage of the resources and webinars, these are free to you with your membership and there is a wealth of information on there. If you’re having difficulty navigating their website, reach out to Brandy for guidance.

Happy sewing!!

The Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild is always looking for ways to serve our community and in keeping with that we collaborated with member Julia, owner of Old Spool Sewing Studio, in a day of sewing for others this past Saturday, March 26th. Julia recruited young sewists and together with our members we made over forty zipper pouches for The Village NJ, a closet for foster families to “shop” for all of their needs located in Point Pleasant NJ. We also collected travel size toiletries to fill the pouches from members, the young students and the community and in the end were able to donate a huge tub to Jackie from The Village along with a monetary donation from Julia. It was a wonderful day of sewing, we were so impressed with the skills of the young people and I’m not sure who had more fun, them or us! Thank you to everyone who participated!!

A few finished pouches, we were so impressed with these kids!!

The Jersey Shore MQG in collaboration with Julia of Old Spool Sewing Studio will be holding a sew for others day on March 26th. We will be assisting Julia’s young sewing enthusiasts in constructing zipper pouches which will be filled with trial size toiletries and donated to the Village NJ in Point Pleasant, a closet for foster families.

https://oldspoolnj.com/events/kids-sew-for-others-day-ages-9-1215-115pm-copy/

A quick virtual hiatus and we were back in person in February, yay! It was a fabulous meeting, so much fun!! Seeing everyone’s UFOs and their stories and reasons why they’re not finished was really entertaining. But we’re gonna get them done, after all there’s some $$ on the line.

We’ve got some fun new things happening in the coming months. Block lottos, fabric challenges, sew-ins and bag making. I’m particularly excited for the sew-in with Julia’s students, making toiletry bags for a local organization. That will be a fun day and for a good cause. We’ve also got everyone making blocks for our donation quilt for the next “smart home” recipient of Team Shamrock/Tunnel to Towers. And Brandy received quite a few blocks for the donation quilt she’s making for a family who lost their home and pets in a fire.

Now that Pam and Julia schooled us in using a serger maybe we can all get together and take a garment making class. That would be fun!

And now the parade of projects.

Two of Natalie’s UFOs that she’s ready to finish.

Plans are in place for two more Community Outreach projects, as well as group Sew-Ins and instructional programs. Things are looking up for the JSMQG.

What a whirlwind the last few months of 2021 have been for the Jersey Shore MQG, we have seen our membership nearly double and counting and we’ve been gifted a new, fabulous meeting space by Julia of Old Spool Sewing Studio in Brielle NJ. As a token of our appreciation, we secretly sewed some mini quilts and presented them to Julia at the meeting. Each one is so unique! Stop by the studio and you can see them for yourself adorning the walls at Old Spool.

Deb H gave us some kits last month to make holiday/seasonal placemats as a community Outreach project, using up some donated fabric. I collected 32 placemats at the meeting!! More on that after the donation is made.

We also celebrated the season together with yummy treats as we watched the parade of Show and Tell projects.

And that’s a wrap for December and 2021.

Our second meeting in our new space was less business and lots of fun. We met some more new friends and added new members to the guild which is so awesome. I predicted that post quarantine of this dreadful pandemic we would see a resurgence in the sewing/quilting arts after people dusted off their sewing machines to make masks and thought this is kind of fun, and the JSMQG is realizing exactly this as we are close to doubling our membership pre-pandemic!! I could not be happier!

We have lots in the works in the way of Community Outreach. Deb H put together kits for us to make seasonal placemats for donation, completed projects are due back at the December meeting. The return of Monthly Programs is exciting. In December we will talk about batting and the different varieties and uses. Everyone is encouraged to bring a sample of their favorite and I have gotten sample packs from Quilters Dream to pass out and talk about. There may be a door prize too! We currently have programs scheduled through May, think about what else you’d like to see in a program and what you would like to host one on. Two member lead bag making workshops are scheduled now for early next year and we’ll be doing those at a Saturday Sew-In.

A few reminders for next month: 1. bring your completed placemats, 2. A sample of your favorite batting, 3. Your go to place for free patterns and tutorials and 20 copies of one them to share/swap. 4. A treat or dessert to share for our holiday get together, and 5. Some show and tell.

And now some show and tell from this month, see you all in December!!