See some of what LSMQG members have been up to!

Before the meeting, we enjoyed socializing and shopping at the swap/yard sale tables set up in the studio and in the hallway.  Many people found new treasures to take home with them.  Mary S. brought some of her home-made maple syrup and offered it for sale as well.  Pancakes, anyone?

First up after the welcome was our Simple Simon topic of the month.  Claudia’s presentation on solids included a showing of her recent solids purchases and a take-home sample pack of swatches for each member in attendance.  She selected white solids from several fabric lines for us and it was interesting to see and feel the differences.  A good suggestion was made:  label the solids in your stash.  It is very difficult to figure out later if you don’t, and if you want to buy more it will certainly make that easier.  One way is to use a marker and write in the selvedge.

Next was a brief recap of last month’s sew-in and reminders about upcoming events. 
Barn quilt day will be led by Claudia on April 22nd beginning at 10:00 AM at Harrison Community Center.  Although the sign-up day has passed, there have been some cancellations, so do check with her if you are interested.  For those who are attending please bring with you a blow dryer for speeding up the drying process, extension cord, painting clothes (not a messy project but just to be safe) and food to share for the potluck lunch.    

Guild entries for the Riley Blake challenge are due at the May meeting on May 11th.  Just as a reminder, fabrics were given to those who requested them with the national signup a few months ago.  The entries must be quilted, and must use fabrics from the Riley Blake “Creative Rockstar” collection. 

If you are entering your items in the national challenge, entries are due April 30th.  Details on how to enter your item can be found athttps://community.themodernquiltguild.com/resources/riley-blake-creative-rockstar-fabric-challenge-spring-2017.

During May’s meeting, members who wish to participate in the August Mini Challenge, will draw a color chip and a shape to incorporate in creating your mini challenge piece.  The color drawn and the shape drawn must be incorporated into design.  There seems to be some interest in making this a swap, though we had not planned it that way originally.  We can discuss this further.   

Refreshments were provided by Alane.  Thank you Alane!  After break we continued with shared tips. Mary S. shared a tip on folding fabric and prewashing fabric. Alane shared a silicone pressing tool she had discovered. 

The meeting concluded with show and tell.  As always the lovely works shared and good conversation that took place made for a wellspring of inspiration for the next month. 

See you at our May meeting, Thursday May 11th, 2017 at Karen McTavish’s Studio!

Crocuses, Tulips, Anemone and Daffodils, oh my!  While mother nature may be crafting her Spring quilt of many colors, we have a colorful meeting planned for Thursday, April 13th at Karen McTavish’s Quilt Studio.

LSMQG Sale/Swap
A big part of the season is Spring Cleaning! We are hoping you’ve been going through your Sewing and Crafting supplies to find treasures to Swap or Sell with your guild mates.  Bring your rediscovered sewing or craft items to sell or swap to Thursday’s meeting for our first LSMQG Sale and Swap!

For those who are selling items please have them marked clearly with your name and the price.  (make sure it’s tagged with something that won’t fall off) 

Claudia will be our cashier.  Those who have sold items will see Claudia at the end of the night to collect your bouquet of bucks!

Please bring greenery (CASH) for buying the treasures you find!  (Cash sales only!)

If you plan on bringing items and have not yet indicated via the member’s only Facebook page, please do so as soon as possible.  This will help us know how many tables to set up.  If you don’t ‘do’ Facebook, you can email lakesuperiormqg@gmail.com to let us know you plan to bring items to sell or swap.

One last blossom about the Sale/Swap…….ALL  items must go back HOME at the end of the night. 
 
Simple Simon Quilt a Long
The April theme is quilting with Solids.  If you want to review the blog post in advance it can be found at http://www.simplesimonandco.com/2017/04/modern-quilt-along-solid-colors-with-jessica-schunke.html/. 

Claudia has put together an interactive presentation about the various solids in the marketplace.  You won’t want to miss this!

As you remember, March’s theme was Bold Prints.  If you made something over the past month that features Bold Prints, please bring it and share it with the guild.

Ten Minute Tips/Now What Should I Do?
As announced in the March meeting we want to set aside time in each meeting where members can share their Ah-Ha! moments.  Your Ah-Ha could be a new fabric line, technique, tool, blog post, quilting/sewing book…. You name it!

Ever get to a certain part of making something and you are just not sure what to do next?  It may need just one more color, or you’re not sure how it should be quilted, or you have a lay out but you’re not convinced it looks ‘just right’ so you ask yourself, ‘now what should I do?’. 

Let your guild partners help!  Bring your WIP to the meeting, share with us your ‘hmmmmmmm?’ moment so we can all inspire each other!

If you have a tip or WIP that you’d like to share, there will be a sign-up sheet by the front door.
 
Show and Tell
To close the meeting we move on to the prettiest of April flowers.  These flowers make all the Spring flowers just jump out of their beds. 

What flowers are those, you ask?  Why, Show and Tell of course!  Bring your quilts and other handmade items to spread the fragrance of Spring beauty and fresh quilty goodness to all!


See you on April 13th, from 6:00 to 8:00 at Karen McTavish’s Quilting Studio (1831 E 8th Street)
p.s. Remember to bring your hand made name tag to win a FABULOUS door prize!