As you can see below, there were lots of happy faces at our October Zoom meeting this past Saturday!  It looks like we will be meeting this way for the foreseeable future.  The executive will keep everyone posted. 

Linda chaired our meeting and announced several vacancies on the guild executive, including Vice President, Treasurer, Correspondence/Artisan Rep and someone to help with Social events.  By the end of the meeting, Rachel volunteered to take on the position of treasurer!  Only three more volunteers needed! Please let Linda or Michaelanne know if your are interested in one of these positions.

Suzanne Paquette is our November speaker and workshop leader.  Suzanne lives in Montreal and is the author of "Modern Memory Quilts".  The trunk show will be on Friday, November 13th at 7pm on Zoom.  Please register with Cinthia if you would like to attend.  There is no charge for members of our guild for the trunk show but the guest fee is $10.  per person. 

On Saturday, November 14th, Suzanne will be leading a workshop, "Modern Memory Mini".  You must have a copy of her book for the workshop.  The workshop runs from 10 am to 4 pm on Zoom and costs $50.00. You can e-transfer your registration fee to paymentslmqgcanada@gmail.com. Don't forget to let Cinthia know you are coming.  Details will be sent to all people registered for the workshop by email. 

Our regular November and December Guild meetings will take place on Zoom on November 7th and December 5th, starting at noon.  We hope to have more information soon about our plans for 2021 and there will be show and share at both meetings!  Please send pictures of your finished quilts to Linda so they can be added to the slide show. 

Several members participated in a Zoom class with Krista Hennebury "Speed Dating with Improv" in September.  We are all looking forward to seeing their finished projects at a future meeting.  If you attended this class, and need a little support to finish your quilt, the guild will be hosting a Zoom sew in on October 27th from 10-2.  All workshop attendees will receive more information by email.  The picture below shows Kristyn's blocks. 

Our next Hand Sew Happy Hour from Home will take place on Wednesday, October 28th from 5-8pm.  Watch your inbox for information on how to join in. 

The HST BOM final layout has been posted in the resources section at the top of our website.  We look forward to seeing everyone's finished quilts.  

The guild will be hosting another BOM for 2021.  Stay tuned for details at an upcoming meeting. 

In the meantime, the Twilight Quilt Guild in Norfolk County is hosting a Modern BOM.  The original pattern was released by the Knoxville MQG in 2012 and they have given permission for others to use the pattern.  This BOM started in September and the instructions for the blocks will be posted on their blog.  

If you have a book out from the guild library, you will be receiving an email with information on how to return it.  

There was lots of wonderful show and share at our meeting.  You can click on each photo below for a larger view of each quilt. 

Many thanks to Sheila for her informative presentation about navigating the MQG website.  A copy of Sheila's presentation is under the resources tab at the top of our webpage. 

​Until next month, happy sewing!

Our August meeting was held on August 8th with Linda keeping us on track and leading an interesting presentation on Interleave Quilts.  Jan gave us some tips on making masks, and told us about our upcoming program for the Fall. 
In September, Krista H.  from Poppyprint will be teaching a workshop "Speed Dating with Improv". Please let Cinthia know if you would like to sign up.  The information can be found below. 

Our October meeting lands on Thanksgiving weekend.  We will have our regular meeting on Zoom. 

In November, Suzanne Paquette will be teaching a workshop on Modern Memory Quilts. 

Plans for the December meeting are still in progress. If you have any ideas, please get in touch with Linda or Michaelanne.

Our Weekly Wednesday virtual sew-ins will continue until the end of August from 10am-2pm.  A link to the zoom meeting has been e-mailed to all members. 

Hand Sew Happy Hour has also gone virtual and the next one will be on August 26th from 5-8pm.  A link for this will be emailed to all members. 

Several Members have signed up for QuiltCon Together, including virtual workshops and speakers.  Check your emails from the MQG for more information about how to submit a quilt to the quilt show. 

Our HST BOM only has one more block pattern and the final layout to go.  The last block pattern will be released in September.  Linda and Michaelanne already have some ideas for a Block of the Month quilt for 2021.

Have you sent/received your fabric postcard yet from our swap?  The deadline for mailing your postcard is August 15th. 

Show and Share is always a highlight of our meetings!  Linda made a slide show of the pictures that members sent to her of their projects.

Don't forget to share your Works in Progress (WIPs) and finished quilts on our Members page on Facebook. 

​Linda taught us all how to make an Interleave Quilt for our program this month. Here are examples of quilts that she has made using this technique. 

A copy of Linda's Power Point Presentation is available under the Resources tab at the top of this webpage. Already, several members have made their own versions of this fun technique.

For your reference, more information about Interleave Quilts can be found at https://lorrie.cranor.org/blog/2014/01/19/how-to-make-an-interleave-quilt/

Thanks, Linda, for sharing this technique with us! 

Presented by the Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon is the largest modern quilting show of its kind. 
Each year, thousands of attendees come to see over nearly 600 modern quilts on display, including 400 juried in from MQG members around the world. This brand new online version of QuiltCon will still feature a juried quilt show as well as top notch workshops and lectures. The five day event will include live lectures, panels, and tours, as well as on-demand workshops and many opportunities for socialization.

The interactive schedule can be found here: QuiltCon Feb. 2021 

Check your inboxes for the link to our June meeting via the Zoom app.

We will continue our meetings virtually until we are able to get back to our Community Centre.  Thanks for understanding.

PS:  The June HST Block of the Month block is now available under the Resources tab.  We would love to see whatever blocks you have made since out last meeting at our Zoom meeting tomorrow. 

Kristin will be leading a learning session about free motion quilting on your domestic sewing machine.  Please have some paper and a pencil handy so that you can sketch along with Kristin as she shows us some quilting designs. 

As the City of London Community Centres are still closed, as well as our SEW-cial Distancing, we will not be having a meeting on April 11th.  

Further updates on meetings and workshops will come when we have them.
​Thanks for understanding.

Your blog editor was not able to be at the March meeting so Karen and Nora were the photographers and sent me the pictures.  I had a conversation on the phone with Karen earlier this week to make sure I was categorizing the pictures properly, so let me know if we have made any mistakes and I will correct them. 

Several members are taking part in our HST BOM and brought in their blocks to show at the meeting.  Lots of variety in sizes of blocks and the fabrics being used.  It will be fun to see how all these blocks go together at the end of the year. 

Our vendor of the month was the Quilt Kitchen from Exeter.  As you can see, several members did a little stash enhancement!

Jan lead a discussion about scale.  The backs of our Old East Village quilts for families who lost their homes in last summer's explosion will be made using large scale blocks.  

There was time after the break to work on our quilt tops again.  We will continue to work on these quilts at future meetings. 

Show and tell included Modern Guild "Make a Mini, Make a Friend" Swap quilts that members received from other modern quilters from around the world at QuiltCon in Austin, TX in February.  Jan showed her QuiltCon magazine. 

Our members are prolific and the show and tell portion of the meeting showcases our efforts!

Since our March meeting, our world has changed...we are all practicing social distancing and frequent hand washing to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus. Our meeting place is closed and we will not be able to meet in person for a while. Please check the blog, instagram and Facebook for updates regarding future at home activities, challenges and updates.  Our next show and tell will be wonderful, with all of the sewing we have been doing while spending more time at home. 

The April and May blocks for the HST BOM are under the Resources tab at the top of the blog.  Keep sewing!   Stay safe and healthy!

Cinthia and Brenda greeted us at the welcome table for our February meeting of the London Modern Quilt Guild.    Cinthia was signing members up for future workshops and Brenda was taking care of checking people in and renewing memberships.  Thanks for welcoming everyone with a smile!

Brenda from Among Brenda's Quilts and Bags was our vendor for February and several members did a little retail therapy at the meeting. 

Our HST BOM (Half Square Triangle Block of the Month) is underway.  It's interesting to see all of the fabrics that everyone is using for their blocks.  The instructions for February's blocks (2 of them!) are in the sidebar.  If you bring your block to the meeting, your name will be put in the hat for a chance to win a fat quarter.

These mini quilts were made for the Modern Quilt Guild "Make a Mini, Make a Friend" swap.  Members could sign up to exhange mini quilts with other Modern Guild Members from around the world and could send the quilts by mail if they were not going to QuiltCon 2020 in Austin, TX, or exchange them in person at QuiltCon.  Gail has already received her Frank Lloyd Wright inspired mini from her partner in Texas.  This is a great way to meet another modern quilter and to challenge ourselves to make something "outside our box".  We hope to see some of the quilts received by our members at our next meeting. 

At Show and Share, Veronica displayed her finished quilt from the Libs Elliott workshop in November 2019.  There were memory quilts, bags and quilts of all sizes to admire.  Thanks for your inspiration!

During our program time, Gail taught the masking tape method of alternate grid construction of a quilt.  Everyone had brought several improv blocks which were made at our last meeting and the members were divided into three groups to plan and begin construction of the quilts.  These quilts will be given to the three families in East London whose homes  were destroyed by an explosion last summer.  By the end of the meeting, the quilt tops were coming together.  There will be more time at our next meeting to complete the tops and work on the backings for the quilts. 

The February Meeting of the London Modern Quilt Guild is this Saturday at the Boyle Community Centre from noon to 5pm.  After our business meeting, we will be using the improv blocks we all made at our last meeting to create three quilt tops. There will be another round robin education/demonstration session about different ways of doing this using alternate grid.  After that, each of the three groups will work on putting their blocks together with background material which will be provided at the meeting.

Here is a checklist of what you need to bring to the meeting:

The improv blocks you made at the last meeting or at home
Your sewing machine and sewing kit
Brown or neutral thread 
Green painter's tape
Cutting mat, rulers, rotary cutter
Paper and pencil

Membership renewals for 2020 can be completed online or at our meeting.  Payment can be made by e-transfer, cheque/cash, debit card or credit card on the Square, or PayPal.  (note that the fees for credit card or PayPal are much higher than paying by the other methods)

Our Vendor of the month is Among Brenda's Quilts and Bags.  Cash, Debit and Credit payments can be taken for purchases. 

We have members who are allergic to peanuts/nuts and scented products.  Please avoid these items when packing and getting ready for our meetings.  Thanks!

If you would like to sign up for the Moonrise Workshop  on Saturday, May 9, 2020, please be prepared to pay the $85 registration fee.  

Instructions for our BOM project were in the February Newsletter that all members received by email this week.  Bring in your finished blocks to show Karen at the meeting and your name will be entered in a draw for a prize!  I managed to get my blocks finished...here they are:  (I decided to use two prints--others may choose to uses solids or a solid and a print--it's your quilt, your choice!)

Don't forget your finished projects for show and share--it is always a highlight at each meeting to see what our members have been making since the last meeting. 

​See you on Saturday!

The following was written by Brenda Miller, owner of Among Brenda's Quilts and Bags in Strathroy.  Thanks for being one of our sponsors, Brenda!

Among Brenda’s Quilts and Bags has been around since 2007 when I began designing quilts and bags for sale locally when I was the ‘designer in residence’ at The Marsh Store in Coldstream, ON.  From there things got entirely out of hand.  As an vendor at Quilt Market I was exposed to fabric manufacturer Hoffmann California Fabrics and worked with them to design free downloadable patterns for their website. Many gorgeous quilts resulted which got me noticed in the greater quilting community.  After being accepted as a designer by three large distributors in Canada and the US things really got busy.  

My patterns have been published in numerous magazines and currently I’m working with Northcott Fabrics to produce my patterns using their gorgeous fabrics.  Watch for two this spring - the Storage Solutions Bucket Bag and The Bevy Bag. It’s been a busy few years, and as of 2020 I have created over 100 patterns.  In 2014 and again in 2015 I was invited by the Chinese Government to help them introduce quilting to China where it’s virtually unknown. I represented Canada at a huge trade-show in the fabric capital of Shaoxing near Shanghai.  There I met with quilting representatives from Taiwan, Japan, China, Australia, the USA and other countries.  I lectured on quilting in Canada at the local university, taught basic technique classes to high school teachers who were introducing quilting as art in the school system and I had my own quilting show.  It was a whirlwind but a good one. 

My grandmother Marie used to say that there's nothing like a trip to expand one’s horizons.  After China anything seemed possible.  I think that’s why I took my business out of my home studio to our location for the new ABQ Sewing Studio (Home of Among Brenda’s Quilts) located at 77 Thomas St. in Strathroy, ON.  Like most of my other ventures, the seed that started this latest journey, was a tender one.  My thought was that it would be great to have more space to design, to teach, to film videos and to hold my overflowing stock of bag zippers (they are part of my bag making line).  With my brother Ralph’s help, we took a dark, dank, dilapidated rental and transformed it into the bright and exciting quilting shop we have today.  

Coming from a family that believes that hard work pays off has also fuelled the fire behind this latest venture.  I opened the door anticipating having a studio and teaching location for my business, and after two years of being open things changed.  We have expanded to carry many bolts of fabric (I’m told I have a great eye for fabric), a robust selection of threads and a huge wall of notions.  My vision of a large, bright teaching space has not altered with these changes.  We love our classes and offer a wide and exciting assortment.  Anything from hand quilting basics for the slow stitching crowd, garment sewing for the fashion minded, bag making for my peeps and classes for quilts and other quilted items hosted by a variety of fine teachers.  My thought was, there are so many things you can do with fabric and thread, so why limit yourself to one type of project?  The sky’s the limit to creativity. 

In support of this belief and as a former Baby Lock Ambassador in Canada we became a Baby Lock sewing machine retailer last January.  The Baby Lock motto is 'For the Love of Sewing’.   That’s what we are all about, from the patterns I design, the classes we host to the sewing machines we sell.  It’s all supported by a network of great people like our loyal and new customers, our terrific staff and by the love and support of family.  

Thanks to you all for being my inspiration!  

Our hours are Tues - Sat. 10 am - 4pm.