June is just whizzing by but earlier this month we had the best outdoor meeting/get together at Brandys home. The weather turned out to be perfect, she was worried, I wasn’t, and it was just a beautiful night! I always say the business portion will be quick but to be honest our guild has almost doubled in size post pandemic and our group is so eager to participate in new challenges and projects that all the business seems to go on forever. But that is a good thing!

Business aside, we had a really fun game of “Pass the Presents”, the ugly fabric version and everyone went home with someone else’s “ugly” fabric and the challenge to make something out of it for our July meeting! I’m super excited to see what everyone comes up with. Newbie, Brooke completed hers the next day practically, can’t wait to see what she did. Julia had a game of sewing room bingo we all played and lucky June went home with a gift certificate to Julia’s shop, Old Spool Sewing! There was also a Mug Rug Swap for anyone who wanted to participate and that was fun too!

Helen had volunteered to take on the Quilt Con Community Outreach challenge quilt and she was able to tell us all her plan for the quilt and will be passing out fabric packages at our July meeting. It’s gonna be a beauty! Thanks Helen!

Deb Hunter gave us a little trunk show of her art quilt pieces to give us some inspiration for our own upcoming challenge. Interesting to see how she was inspired by things on trips she’s taken across the country and also right here on the Jersey Shore and used fabric bits to recreate them. Newer member, Mary Ellen, is going to give us some insight into how she creates those fantastic art pieces of hers at a meeting as well. So much talent in our little group!

Lots of show and tell and good food! A lot of food!! And the chance to relax outdoors and get to know our newer members better. Many, many thanks to Brandy for hosting us in her huge, gorgeous backyard, so huge we almost lost Brooke but that’s a story we’ll save for July!

And a finished beauty from Mary Jane!

See you all in July, happy summer sewing!!

Block lottos, donations, swaps, ideas oh my!! Another jam packed meeting full of great content and ideas for the future. Plans are currently in the works for a group picnic and swap, a new block lotto with a bonus block for a community outreach quilt, an art quilt mini challenge, and a committee formed for the Quilt Con community outreach project. Phew! I need a nap!!

Eileen made this Noodlehead Range Backpack, with fabrics she picked up at Old Spool as well as the pattern. It’s on display at the shop in case you’d like to make one too!

Just a few short months ago I asked the group if they’d be interested in either a Queen Bee or a Block Lotto. The consensus was for a block lotto. New, and very enthusiastic, member Brooke has taken on this challenge of coming up with a block every month and she’s doing a fabulous job! She is taking full advantage of the MQG website Block Study feature, as well as researching and coming up with some more traditional blocks. In April we made some scrappy double plus blocks and this month a traditional sailboat!

This has quickly become a really fun part of our monthly meetings. Congratulations to Mary Ellen on winning this bevy of boats and the JSMQG for our newest member Brooke, a most welcome addition to our group!!!

At long last our Maker’s Day quilt is in its forever home, wrapping its owner in the best kind of hug, a Quilty hug!

The quilt that began its journey as our guild participating in the Makers Day festivities of 2019 in the Monmouth County Library Headquarters where 86 children designed “quilt” blocks with construction paper pieces and our members subsequently took those blocks and recreated them in fabric, is finally home! I had the pleasure of presenting it to Brian Sullivan at a Boy Scout event honoring him. Brian served in the Army from 1987-1990 and was called back in 1991 for Operation Desert Storm, where his unit became stranded in the desert outside Kuwait and was not rescued until after the ground war was over. Brian continued serving back at home in a leadership role in the Boy Scouts of Monmouth County and currently volunteers at a local hospital as part of a Veterans organization. A fitting recipient for a quilt crafted by youth in his home county, Brian was very grateful and moved. He was eager to get home and look at the binder filled with information about how the entire process came about.

This was a long time in the making and the gifting. No one would have predicted that a global pandemic would literally shut the world down when this idea we had was formulated. We went into Makers Day looking to garner interest in quilting from both the youth and the community, as membership in our own guild was waning. While we didn’t exactly accomplish that at Makers Day, the pandemic, in an odd way, managed to increase our membership as the community was locked down and an interest in sewing and quilting was born out of mask making! Go figure!

Many thanks to each and every member who participated in this project. Special thanks to Deb Hunter, whose brainchild this was and who worked out every minute detail right down to the chronicle she created to accompany the quilt.

And that’s a quilt wrap!

On a side note, after I gave my little speech about the guild, our community involvement and this quilt, the quilt was presented to Brian. He unfolded it and held it up for everyone to see and my six year old great nephew, who is part of the Boy Scout troop, shouted out “I give that an A+!!!” Thanks for the affirmation Jackson!

Another fun meeting for the Jersey Shore MQG. Brooke was kind enough to volunteer to put together our blocks for the quilt we are donating to the latest smart home recipient of Team Shamrock/Tunnel to Towers. Eileen quilted it on her longarm using an edge to edge design called “bayside”. We were striving for a low key beachy/serene vibe and I think we’ve nailed it but you decide.

It will be on its way to its new home next week!

Last month, I suggested we have a monthly block lotto and it was well received. Our first one was this month. We all made ‘double plus’ blocks, scrappy version and the winner, Rosemary C took home 32 blocks!!! Just fabulous! Stick around for next months sailboat version

Sherre gave us some good advice about squaring your quilt, the proper way to add borders, and assembling a backing. She also gave us some insight into how to prepare your quilts for a longarmer There were some very enlightening moments for us in this monthly program.

Eileen inquired if anyone would care to join her in making some quilt blocks to send off to a shop owner in Germany who is assembling quilts for displaced children from Ukraine. Also very well received and she will be collecting them at the May meeting. Any 12 1/2” block in blue and yellow, the Ukrainian flag colors.

We have a sew-in on the 23rd which will be a free sew, work on whatever you like! This is a good opportunity to just come and hang out and get to spend some quality time with your fellow members. And shop, of course!!

Here’s a little show and tell for your viewing pleasure. Happy sewing!

Sherre had a few finishes from a virtual retreat she attended with GE Designs!

Take note of our mini quilts hanging in the studio, which were gifts for our lovely host Julia, a token of our appreciation for sharing her welcoming space with us, we are so grateful.

Back to our regularly scheduled sewing, see you next month!!

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!!