Inspiration of the Week - Circular Edge

Hello KCMQGers! We are starting up our Inspiration of the Week posts again. Look for them on Tuesday mornings.

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For our first Inspiration of 2013, we'd like to share with you this Circular Edge quilt.

photo used with permission

Circles can appear daunting, but Faith of Fresh Lemons has a "shortcut"! She used her Sizzix die cutter to cut all her circles out in Laura Gunn's new fabric line, Edges. She then fused them to her neutral squares, which are all Free Spirit Designer solids.

photo used with permission

We think this is a fabulous and colorful mini quilt that would look stunning on any wall! Read more about Faith's process in making this mini quilt here and here.

Thanks for sharing, Faith!

To Boston With Love

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild has organized a collaborative effort to show Boston that quilters across the world care about the people of their city during a very stressful time. A special Memorial Day exhibit of banners created from flags donated from around the world will send them a message of peace and hope.

The Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild members are invited to participate by creating one or more flags following the tutorial and guidelines offered here. If you are seeking inspiration for your flag, you'll find many examples here. We'll collect flags at the May 9th guild meeting and mail them tied together in one package. Monica Vega, our Charity Chairperson, will also accept flags until May 15 if you can't make it to the meeting on May 9th. Please email the guild if you need her contact information.

The flags come together very quickly. Remember to read all of the information offered in VMQG's post regarding the color palette, dimensions, and construction details before you get started. Thank you for being part of this show of support for Boston!

2012 Fall Day Retreat

Members of the KCMQG had a getaway in November for a full day of sewing and socializing. We drove south of the city to Bucyrus, Kansas and enjoyed sewing in a big and bright space with lots of room to spread out our quilts and supplies. It was great to have tables and floor space to work on design, do some basting, and get feedback from other guild members.

Many of us arrived at 9:00 and quickly set up our stations. People got busy very quickly and it wasn't long before we had some finishes happening!

It was so interesting to walk around and see what everyone was working on. There were QuiltCon challenges, Christmas gifts, UFOs, projects from new books, online tutorials, pincushions, ruffle foot demonstrations, projects from the Denyse Schmidt workshops, clothes for kiddos, English Paper Piecing demonstrations and new notions. Lots of great blocks, patterns and beautiful fabric were all over the room.

We had a wonderful catered lunch and dinner so we didn't even have to leave the building. (A few of us did sneak away to the nearby Louisburg Cider Mill.)

One of the wonderful things about having a full day of sewing was that even though some of us had to leave early or come a bit later, there was still plenty of time to visit and sew.

The thing I loved most was getting to know some of the guild members a bit better and having a chance to catch up with friends.

I've said it before and I just have to say it again: We have such an incredible guild filled with such awesome, friendly, helpful, funny, talented people! It was a treat to be able to spend the day with everyone who could come and I hope the members that couldn't make it will get to come to the next one.

We are so lucky to have so many chances to get together at guild meetings, workshops, Sewing Sat/Sun, weekend retreats and this was just one more opportunity sew with friends. We had such a wonderful time and hope to offer this type of getaway again in the future!

Enjoy a few more pics of our day!

There are more chances to get together and sew in the new year so watch for those announcements at meetings, in email updates and right here on the blog!

Modern Quilt Relish and a pincushion swap

Our November 8 guild meeting will feature the Modern Quilt Relish ladies, Jill and Marny! If you aren't familiar with them, check out their website. You'll see their new modern quilting book, Picnic, as well as the patterns they sell in their shop. Jill and Marny will be speaking about design principles they use in modern quilts. They will also have patterns available for purchase.

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Also happening at the November meeting: The Pincushion Swap! We are swapping with several other modern guilds in the nation. Because it's such a coordinated swap, we cannot accept late items. Please come prepared with your completed pincushion if you want to participate. The swap committee will have tags ready for you to fill out and pin to your item.

Including KCMQG, these guilds are participating in the swap: Austin, Bay Area, Boston, Indianapolis, North Virginia, Vancouver and Wichita. In December, you'll have a pincushion made by someone in these guilds!

Swap Rules:

• Nothing can be breakable
• Your pincushion should be made in a modern aesthetic

Look here and here for pincushion inspiration and tutorials.


We'll see you in November!

Did you get to see Denyse speak or take one of her workshops? Wasn't it SO MUCH FUN?? A huge thanks to Denyse for coming to visit our guild, and a huge thanks to all our fabulous members who made this event so special!

Photo by Under the Evening Star

Photo by Under the Evening Star

Photo by Shea Henderson

Photo by Shea Henderson

Photo by nikiblueeyes