Anyone can join us tonight as we stitch in the park!  Bring your hand work and lawn chair.  We will meet at the Band Shell at 5:30 and then stitch until dusk.  
​Hope to see you there. 

You can also follow Clinton Modern Creative Facebook page and on Instagram. 
From now until Canada Day the cost for shipping your order under $100 is only $1.50 and free shipping on orders over $100.

Please give a big welcome to Clinton Modern Creative, thanks again for sponsoring our blog! Darla hopes to inspire you to grow your stash and make the things you love with the fabrics, patterns and notions that you love. 

London Modern Quilt Guild Meeting June 2017
The first hottest day of the year found the LMQG members enjoying fellowship and exploring colour and minimalist quilting methods.
Joan ably led our meeting today. Highlights:

• A few spots are available to register for the July fabric dyeing workshop with Doris Lovadina-Lee.  Check here for details.  Michealanne let us know that The Marsh Store carries PDF (prepared for dyeing) fabric.
• Everyone was encouraged to pick four fabrics from the Michael Miller collection for their “Friends Forever” blocks.  From these four fabrics, create a 6 ½” square block.  These will be collected at our October meeting.  The blocks will be put together into quilts to create a rainbow of colour, and after QuiltCon 2018 will be donated to Quilts for Kids.  More info here.
• QuiltCon 2018 show catalog is now available!  Check that out here.  The 2018 show is Feb 22-25, 2018, in Pasadena CA.  The 2018 faculty for the conference is once again very impressive, featuring Carolyn Friedlander.  Libs Elliott is teaching too!
• Maria gave us a preview of the August meeting – how to print our own fabric.  Most of the supplies will be provided but bring your own fabric.  For those wanting to explore this further, Curry’s Artist Materials store has stamping tools available. 
• The Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a Creative Webinar June 14 at 9 pm EST on Fabric Design for Quilters: A Crash Course.  Check it out to get your creative mojo flowing!
• Brenda brought in assorted items that had been in a friend’s mom’s stash, looking for ideas on how to get these items out to the community.
• Veronica let us know that the LMQG library books now all have a pocket at the back with that book’s lending card.  When you take a book out, fill out the card and file it in the file box.  Be sure to check out the tools that are available in the lending library too!
• Michealanne announced her new business venture – “Stache Fabric & Notions”!  This is an online modern fabric store, and she is expecting to be ready start shipping soon!  As well as the online store, she already has a FaceBook presence - facebook.com/stachefabric.  Michealanne noted her gratitude for the mentoring and support of Shirley in her new venture.  The LMQG is happy to have Stache Fabrics & Notions as a new sponsor!
• Limberlost outreach update – the LMQG works with the Limberlost community – a program of the London Chaplaincy, providing the Tuesday Stitching Time.  From 1 pm – 3 pm on Tuesdays, LMQG volunteers work with community members teaching sewing skills.  Everyone is welcome to join these sessions – they are in a summer hiatus now and begin again in September.  They are currently looking for new blades for their rotary cutters, and solid fabrics.  Jan shared that she has a rotary cutter sharpener that she’s had for about three years that works really well. 
• Joan noted that Victoria’s Quilts has a chapter in Woodstock/Oxford now.  This organization delivers quilts to people living with cancer, right across Canada.  They started in Ottawa, delivering 16 quilts in 1999.  In 2016, 6,562 quilts were delivered.  They are happy to receive donations and volunteers.
• June 22 will be our first stitching in Victoria Park.  Bring a lawn chair and some hand work and we meet at the band shell at 5:30.  

Sheila showed one of her first quilts made with a jelly roll which sure speeds up any fabric cutting that needs to be done!

• What a fabulous and inspiring show & share!  I don’t know about you, but it can be intimidating to bring your creation for everyone to ‘inspect’.  I worry about all the things that are not so perfect about my quilts.  It is really wonderful to realize that what people really see is your creativity.  I find so much inspiration from the work of my fellow quilters!  I love hearing the stories behind the quilts, and admire their courage in sharing their work.

​

Once again it was a busy meeting full of inspiration!  Thanks to Linda for writing our blog post this month.
Remember there is no regular meeting in July as it is our dyeing workshop- we still have spaces available so sign up and learn a new creative skill!
And hope to see everyone at Victoria Park on the 22nd.

​Here is a reminder for our June Meeting that will be held June 10, 2017!
Here is our agenda:

• Volunteers needed:
  • Artisans Open house- September 16th 11am - 4pm need a few quilts to display and people to man the table and talk about our guild.
  • Executive Positions for 2018
  • Quilt raffle for Artisans London
• There are sill spots left for the  Fabric Dyeing Workshop, July 8, 2017. More information can be found here.   Note: There will be no regular meeting in July! 
• LMQG Logo Challenge Blocks - Due August. More information can be found here.
• Michael Miller Friendship Blocks - Fabric to be handed out. 6 ½” block due October.
• MQG Updates - 2018 QuiltCon catalogue online for classes, fabric challenges etc. Member Registration opens June 26, 2017.
• Stitch in the Park - June 22nd at 5:30pm, Victoria Park.  Bring a project and a lawnchair.   July & August dates to be announced.
• Preview of August Meeting - Print your Own Fabrics.  Maria to review supplies required.
• Show & Share
• We will have a open sew-in until 4pm that day.  Bring a project and stay for the afternoon!

Earlier this year, one of our members Linda, headed up our guild's participation in the Great Canadian Quilting Bee for the CQA Quilt Canada show in June.
Each month more and more blocks were brought in to the meetings for Linda to collect.
These are some of the blocks.

Thanks to all our members for all your hard work making blocks!

​And here are 4 quilt tops that have been put together with our blocks.

The stipulation from CQA was each block needed to include one piece of the required Canada fabric, so look closely and see if you can find all the special fabric.
Once quilted and bound, these quilts will be donated to the Ronald McDonald charity for families using their facilities while a family member in in the hospital.  
A BIG thank you to Linda for organizing and keeping track of our members and all the blocks and for completing the quilt tops!

After arriving at the Artisans Centre to find it flooded, the City was quick and found us a replacement venue and we were able to have our meeting after all!

We discussed the regular guild monthly business and then Pat explained the Moda Palette Builder she learned about at Quiltcon.    This is a website where you upload a photo and then the specific colours are selected and you can then find Moda fabrics that coordinate with the photo, as well as Aurifil Threads and Hex Values. 
​At QuiltCon, Brigitte Heiland was the Zen Chic designer that was explaining the Palette Builder. 
Here are Pat's notes:

Next, Sonia was presenting how to take a traditional block and make it modern. 
Blocks can be made modern by changing the fabrics, the scale, cropping the blocks just to name a few ways.
Here are some photos of what our members did by taking a traditional block and then using magazines- cut shapes to make more modern blocks.  The first photos show how Sonia's example was just to switch the fabrics from traditional to modern solids. 

One of our members Brenda, made the paper block and then took the lesson one step further and made a mini quilt at home!  This is the great thing about our guild, we learn skills and ideas at each meeting, and you can go home and then practice what you learned and make a quilt!

Thanks Sonia and Pat for excellent presentations!  
Next month in June, please bring a bunch of solid fabric scraps, a glue stick, scissors and some paper to glue to for the lesson on Colour Theory.  As well as bring a few larger fabric scraps that all coordinate with each other, and  3-5 larger pieces of neutral fabrics for the Improv lesson.

Here is Jan's Riley Blake Creative Rockstar David Bowie inspired quilt.
​

And Linda's Bridge Over Troubled Waters Riley Blake challenge entry. 

​See everyone in June!

Here is a reminder for our May Meeting that will be held May 13, 2017!
Here is our agenda:

• Volunteers needed:
  • To sew iron covers -all supplies provided
  • Artisans Open house- September 16th 11-4 need a few quilts to display and people to man the table and talk about our guild.
  • Quilt raffle for Artisans London
• Sign Up for Fabric Dyeing Workshop, July 8, 2017. More information can be found here.   
• Bring Slab Blocks for the Great Canadian Quilting Bee held by the CQA. More information can be found by clicking here.  This is the last month that they can be donated via LMQGC.
• LMQG Logo Challenge Blocks - Due August. More information can be found here.
• There are lots of Quilt Shows coming up!   You can find out more by clicking on our Community Quilting Events Page.
• If you created a quilt for the MQG Riley Blake Challenge, please bring it to share with the group.
• Update about our Canada 150 Quilt - Display Locations.
• Michael Miller Friendship Blocks - Fabric to be handed out.
• "LMQG Canada" Private Facebook group has been set up for Members ONLY to communicate with each other.  You can find the group here. (You will need a Facebook Account)
• MQG Updates
• Show & Share
• We will have a open sew-in until 4pm that day.  Bring a project and stay for the afternoon!

Over the next few months our members that attended Quiltcon 2017 will be demonstrating some of the skills they learned.

This month we will have 2 Members sharing what they learned at Quiltcon.

1) Sonia will talk about how to take traditional blocks and make them modern. Please bring a glue stick and scissors.

2)Pat will also demonstrate the Moda Palette Builder that she was learning more about at QuiltCon. 

London Potters Guild sale on Saturday at the TVDSB at Dundas and Highbury- stop by after our meeting!

For those that don't know what our guild does for our outreach program- this post is for you!
​
Some of our guild members and members from other London guilds meet each Tuesday to teach sewing and quilting skills to some women in the Limberlost Social Housing community.  
Over the past few years, the students have learned how to hand stitch, make mug rugs, placemats and quilts. 
We are so fortunate that we have wonderful quilters that have donated supplies and money to stock our supplies!  Most of the ladies all have sewing machines in their homes now, in addition to the sewing machines they use every week in class.  And we have a stash of fabric that is amazing!  Thanks again for our generous donations.

Here are some photos from last week. 

Our sewing room has been renovated to give more room and has a fresh coat of paint!  Look at everyone working hard on their projects!  And a big thank you to all the volunteers that share their skills with the women.  If you have some free time, and wish to help out, let us know.  Even if you can only stop by from time to time, it would be lovely to have you.  We meet from Sept. to June once a week on Tuesday, come see how much fun we have!

Come join us for our first Hand Sew Happy Hour at Anderson's Brewery at 1030 Elias Street in London.

Anderson's is just across the road from where our new location will be in September- the Boyle Community Centre, so this is a nice introduction to the neighbourhood!

Bring a friend, and you can also bring in some snacks and any non- alcoholic drinks you would like.  We will have some peanuts and pretzels because they go so well with beer! 

Once you are inside Anderson's, grab a beer and go up the stairs, we will have a table where we will be working on our handwork.  See you Thursday. 

Doris is coming to the London Modern Quilt Guild in July to teach us how to hand dye fabric.  

Here is some info about a quilt exhibit in Toronto that includes her work. 

Sewing Connections by Quilts on the Wall
 
From June 2nd to June 29th Quilts on the Wall is pleased to present “Connections”, a celebration of sewn art, in the auditorium of the S. Walter Stewart Public Library, 170 Memorial Park Avenue, Toronto.  The exhibit is open to the public during regular library hours: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:30 p.m.  – 5:00 p.m.; admission is free.  Free parking is available in the lot adjacent to the library.  To get to the library on the TTC take the (70A) O’Connor bus northbound from Coxwell Subway Station.
Join the artists at the opening reception of the exhibit on Friday, June 9th 2017, from 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.   Light refreshments will be served. 
Quilts on the Wall are: Catherine Clarke, Helen Garland and Doris Lovadina-Lee.  The group was formed in 2015.  This is their first joint exhibit, presenting art quilts based on the theme “Connections”. 
Catherine Clarke is an experienced quilter and member of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild (TMQG) and Yorkshire Rose Quilters’ Guild of Toronto (YRQGT).  She explores new expressions of quilting traditions. The theme allowed Catherine to pursue the emergence of secondary patterns through colour placement and simple graphic designs that express our connections to ideas and language.
Helen Garland is a member of the YRQGT.  She started making quilts as a serious art form 8 years ago creating complex-pieced designs representing the world around us.  For this exhibit Helen investigated the ‘perception’ of connectedness.
Doris Lovadina-Lee has been an avid quilter for 15 years and is a member of the TMQG and YRQGT.  Doris hand-dyes much of the fabric used in her more recent quilts and enjoys exploring traditional quilt block forms over the course of a series.  She used “Connections” to focus on mosaic pieces that reference the past while looking toward the pixilation found in digital formats.
See examples of the artists’ work on Instagram feeds: Catherine @lilyandherbrother, Helen @piece_by_piece, and Doris @lovadina.lee. 
Questions should be directed to: Helen Garland at helengarland56@gmail.com.
Hope to see you there! 

This is a photo of Doris and her 6 art quilts titled Crossing Borders as well as the larger quilt titled Atmosphere.  These quilts were on display at The Hungerford.

We are very lucky to have Doris share her expertise with our guild!  Can't wait for July.  We have a few spaces available for this workshop- click HERE to read more information.  Anyone can attend this workshop, not just London MQG members.