May Monthly Meeting

This past month we decided to mix things up a bit and take a road trip to The Door Mouse in Bettsville, OH. Cheryl suggested this visit back in January and the only thing holding us back was snow!

We had a wonderful trip there and back and were greeted by many guests who wanted to check out the guild.

We all came early so we could fit in a bit of shopping! There are thousands of bolts (I've heard rumors the number is close to 15,000) filling this barn to its rafters!

Fancy some green fabric? The ground floor of the shop is organized by color and manufacturer.

The top half of the shop (where these photos were taken) have children's fabrics, holiday fabrics, and tons and tons of flannels.

They cut what you want. Want a fat 1/8th? No problem, and better yet you are not charged a premium for smaller cuts.

Once we finished shopping - or were forced to due to time constraints :) we got down to business. First Alice showed us her blocks she was sending to the Boston MQG for their "Quilts for Boston" event.

Jenn also made a block and a flag for Vancouver's "To Boston with Love" flag event.

One of the many visitors that joined us brought in her lovely art quilt she is working on. I do like the crinkly sparkly material she used for seaweed.

Karen brought in her finished quilt top! Lucinda, one of our members helped Karen with this labor of love project. I'm so proud to see the top done and can't wait for it to be quilted! And like most of us - she dived right into a queen size quilt as her first quilt!

Mary Lee brought in some of her beautiful hand dyed fabric to show the group! Many members have been wanting to try hand dyeing and Mary Lee has graciously offered to show us :) We will be meeting at her house on the 22nd of June. More details will be posted on the blog closer to the date.

She also showed off two of her modern mini's. These two pieces were challenges from another guild (but fit perfectly with our group too!). The challenge for the top picture is to start on one side and piece towards the opposite side.

The challenge for this mini was to start in the middle and piece to the outside. Fabulous job!

Guild members asked Cheryl to show us a quilt she is working on for the shop. She brought out this lovely top to show us. Perfect for a beginner or experienced quilter!

She also showed off her beautiful bicycle quilt. I'm partial to the print and think she did a great job incorporating bits of solid red into her piece. She has named this "Uptown, downtown, and Around the Square". (I do hope I got that right, sorry if not Cheryl!!)

May 2013 Meeting Notes

May 16, 2013

Well we had a great meeting at The Door Mouse. If you've never been there it's worth a trip just to see 15,000 bolts of fabric under one roof! Cheryl invited several Door Mouse customers so we had a large meeting!

Present: Lucinda, Cheryl, Jennifer, Alice, Mary Lee, Karen, Carol
Visitors: Many Door Mouse customers and friends!

Old Business 

Art Spark Challenge:

• Remember our first drawing for prizes will be on July 1st! To be eligible for prizes make sure to post a WIP picture in this Flickr group. Meanwhile, remember to post inspiration pictures in the Flickr group. If you need assistance doing so you can send your pictures/questions to mqgnwohio [at] gmail [dot] com.

New Business

Fabric Dying:

• Mary Lee has offered to teach us how to dye fabric at her house.
• She will supply the dye and we are supposed to bring white cotton fabric and our own lunch.  There will be additional items we will need for the day (and most likely some money for the dye) and we will present the details on the blog closer to the date.
• To know how many people to expect please email Lucinda at her email or at mqgnwohio [at] gmail [dot] com as soon as you know you are planning on coming.

Improv Sew-In:

• Plan is mid-August. Date, time, and location TBD. 
• Each participant would some fabrics -- either some we love or some we hate -- and it will all go in to a bag. The bag gets passed around and you will select a piece of fabric each time it goes around and use them in a block. As Alice put it, "You can throw it out if you hate it" or we could put them together to make a charity quilt.

Show ‘n Tell:

• Art Spark – Cheryl, Carol, and Lucinda brought their inspiration pieces in to show the group
• For Boston – Jenn brought in a flag and quilt block; Alice brought two quilt blocks for the Boston and Vancouver MQGs
• Cheryl, Karen, and Mary Lee shared other quilty projects to the group.

Important Dates:

• June 20th – 6:00 PM, next meeting of NWO MQG at Grounds for Thought in Bowling Green.
• June 22nd –  9:30 AM, Mary Lee's House for fabric dying

May Member Meeting Reminder

Hi everyone - it's almost that time again! Our next meeting is this coming Thursday, May 16, at 6:00 pm at The Door Mouse in Bettsville. Feel free to arrive early to do some shopping :)

Address: 5047 Fostoria-Fremont Road, Kansas, OH

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I believe they have thousands and thousands (maybe slight exaggeration) of bolts of fabrics and assorted quilty crafty needful items!

For the meeting:

Art Spark Challenge: bring your inspiration photo, ideas, or WIPs if you would like to share them

For Boston: don't forget to bring any blocks and flags you have completed

Sew-ins:
- Any interest in a summer sew-in? If so, bring in ideas on projects and dates
- Members have expressed an interest in a September improv sew-in. If interested, again bring in dates that would work for you.

Show 'n Tell

Looking forward to seeing everyone Thursday evening!

What We've Been Up To

A few weeks ago members of the guild visited the Toledo Museum of Art to find their Art Spark inspiration. We had a wonderful afternoon visiting all sections of the museum.

Since we are a modern guild most of us focused on the modern section of the museum. We are blessed to have such a wonderful museum of art so close to us!

Lac Laronge IV - Frank Stella, 1969, Acrylic polymer on raw canvas

Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Gray - Piet Mondrian, 1922, Oil on canvas

After checking out the main portion of the art museum we headed across the street to the glass pavillion. For those of you who didn't know, Toledo is considered the "Glass City". And with this distinction comes a beautiful collection of glass pieces showcased at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Inspiration can come from anything, right! The below piece says to me, "How about some inprov piecing in a variety of colors?"

Wide Eyed Wink - Tom McGlauchlin, 1994, Glass: blown, with enamel, pastel, and colored pencil

Anyone up for some curved piecing? Or maybe just straight piecing using the colors as inspiration. The possibilities are endless!

Mosaic Glass: Striped Bowl - Roman, 1st Century BCE/1st Century CE, Mosaic glass technique