January 2020 Meeting Reminder Newsletter

submitted by Nancy P., President

Welcome to BNMQG 2020! – next meeting January 28, 2020
Now that the holidays are over, your handmade gifts have been given and are now being enjoyed. This is a perfect time to get a fresh start on new projects, stay warm, finish some unfinished projects, and get some designing and quilting done. I’d love to be able to say that one of my goals is to not buy more fabric, but I already broke that goal. Do you feel like I do that there are so many beautiful colors and fabrics and that they would be just perfect for my next project? So I altered my goal to be to use more fabrics and finish more projects. What are your 2020 goals for your quilting/sewing?

BNMQG Swap
Hope you’re getting to know your Swap partner. Continue to communicate in person, by phone, or by email. Share design and color ideas to complement your chosen fat quarter. Remember that your completed products will be exchanged at the February Guild meeting. Contact Pat Messinger if you have any questions, her contact info is on the Members page.

Australian Tree Blocks
As you have heard, Australia is being devastated by fires. Animals are losing their lives and habitats. People have lost their lives and homes. As I prepare to leave for Australia, I will be taking some tree quilt blocks to the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild in New South Wales. Below is the post. If you get some done by Jan 23 and can get them to me, I’ll put them in my suitcase and carry them with me. If not, Leslie Swearinger has offered to get them at the guild meeting and take them with her to QuiltCon where someone will be collecting them and sending them off to Australia. Blocks are to be a generous 12.5” square, have a tree theme, low volume/white/pale grey background. Thank you BNMQG quilters!

2020 Kona Color of the Year Mini Quilt Challenge
Signup will start at the January meeting. To join the challenge, bring a $1 to sign up. If you would like a 6″ x 20” piece of Enchanted, it is free when you signup for the challenge.

Notes on COLOR
The holidays, the announcement of Enchantment as the Kona color of the year, and Pantone’s Classic Blue 19-4052 as its color of the year for 2020 have me thinking about color palettes for my quilts. Color is always a challenge for me. So, I thought I’d share resources that I found that might be interesting to play with. They are color generators. Many of the color palette generators even allow you to enter a photo or picture to pull the colors from. Do you have a favorite photo? There is a great overview with links to 19 color palette generators online. This can be found at:

https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/color-palette-generators

If you are an avid app user on your phone and want to have access to a color palette generator while fabric shopping, check Google Play for android apps or the App Store for ios apps – there are some apps there that can give you access to a portable color generator. Hope there is one you’ll love to use.

A little heads up…. The February and April quilt guild meetings will have a focus on color in different ways. You don’t want to miss them.

Membership: Contact information for guild members is available on the blog in the Member only area.

Heart Beat Sit and Sew
BNMQG is on track to reach our goal of 30 quilts for babies in the NICU. Another Sit and Sew is being planned for a Saturday in February. Date will be announced at the January meeting. So get your sewing machines ready to sew! Design night will be during our March meeting.

Modern Mini Showcase: BNMQG is getting ready to have our own traveling Modern Mini Showcase as an educational opportunity to teach people about modern quilting. The guild has purchased two adjustable 6-10 foot quilt racks to use for our showcases. PLEASE consider loaning us your mini quilts for some upcoming shows – your tiger lily, splash, other 20” square modern minis, and the 2020 Kona Enchanted Color challenge quilts if you finish them early. The quilts in our showcase WILL NOT be judged or eligible for Quilt Show Ribbons. They WILL get some new audiences! We will need your quilts no later than our February meeting. Bring them to the January meeting or the February meeting. Give them to Kathy Cook or Nancy Powell. Our first Modern Showcase will be a part of the Clinton Salt Creek Patchmaker’s Quilt Show at Little Galilee Camp in Clinton on March 27 and March 28. This year’s theme is a Vision of Colors.

Guild led workshops
This year we will have 2 or 3 guild led workshops – one in April, one in July, and one still to be scheduled.

The April 4^th workshop – After a lot of interest, I will give one on the Free Wheeling Circle Quilt by Gyleen Fitzgerald. This is a really fun and fast quilt to make so start pulling your solids or fabrics that read like solids. The cost: $35 for the workshop (funds going to the guild and pays for your pattern). Here are some variations- with or without a border, with or without sashing, with or without fusible bias tape, and layout of your own design. Signups start at the January meeting.

The July workshop will be to make a compass bag in a class given by Pat Messinger. More information will be available when the details are firmed up.

QuiltCon

Did you enter a quilt into QuiltCon? Let us know if it got accepted for the show so we don’t miss it! Kathy Cook had 3 quilts accepted to this year’s show! Congratulations Kathy!
Volunteer at QuiltCon 2020 Volunteering is a great way to fully experience QuiltCon, meet new people, and have fun! Whether you have 2 hours or 20 to pitch in, we would love your help! https://www.quiltcon.com/volunteer?mc_cid=238b19b5e4&mc_eid=13d4aae610

The Modern Quilt Guild

Please log in to https://www.themodernquiltguild.com/ to make sure your email and contact info are correct so that you don’t miss important emails and information.
MQG10th Anniversary Limited Edition Pin – Snag yourself a limited edition commemorative pin that beautifully illustrates how we piece fabrics together, as the pin itself is two separate pieces that fit beautifully together to make a full quilt block. https://shop.themodernquiltguild.com/collections/new/products/mqg-10th-anniversary-limited-edition-pin?mc_cid=238b19b5e4&mc_eid=13d4aae610
Then & Now: MQGCo-founder Alissa Haight Carlton Talks Modern Quilting – Login to the site and see the story at: https://community.themodernquiltguild.com/node/7673?mc_cid=238b19b5e4

Tech communications:
Please log in to https://www.themodernquiltguild.com/ to make sure your email and contact info are correct so that you don’t miss important emails and information.

Website/Blog – Have you received for your new password for our website/blog (https://bnmqg.wordpress.com/)? If not, first please check your spam and trash. You’ll need this if you want access to the Member Only area on this site. If you cannot find the email, contact Lisa B.

In the member area, please check the list of members and double check that your contact info is correct. If you need to correct your information, please send an email to: BNMQG@hotmail.com and put Attn Cathie in the subject area. Thanks.

Have you joined BNMQG on Facebook? BNMQG is a NEW closed GROUP to members only and just started this year. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BNMQG/ . Request to join the group, answer two questions, and you’ll be approved to become a member of this page. You will be able to download files from this page for newsletters, workshop instructions, renewal forms, etc. This was not possible on our Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild (which is a PAGE). The group is different from the other Facebook page where anyone can see posts on that page and files aren’t allowed to be shared – https://www.facebook.com/Bloomington-Normal-Modern-Quilt-Guild-469886799702183/

For your calendar:

January 28, 2020 – Divide and Improvise with Kathy Cook,

Sign up starts for the Kona Mini Quilt Challenge
Sign up for the April 4 Free Wheeling Circle Quilt workshop (Nancy Powell will be the workshop leader) $35 for the workshop (and this includes the pattern)

February 25 – Square it Up: An Exercise in Color and Design with Nancy Powell

Swap projects due
Sign up for Kona Mini Quilt Challenge
Early bird signup for Rebecca Bryan’s workshop on May 16 and get $5 off the workshop
April 4 Free Wheeling Circle Quilt workshop (Nancy Powell will be the workshop leader) $35 (pattern is included)

March 24 –Heart Beat Quilt Design Night with Pat Silva

Early bird signup for Rebecca Bryan’s workshop on May 16 and get $5 off the workshop (after the March meeting, registration will be opened to non-members)
Sign up for the April 4 Free Wheeling Circle Quilt workshop (Nancy Powell will be the workshop leader)

April 4 – Free Wheeling Circle Quilt Workshop 9am – 4 pm

April 28 – Color Workshop with Leslie Swearinger

Signup for Rebecca Bryan’s workshop May 16 if there are spots available (after the March meeting the registrations are open to non-members.

May 15 – Rebecca Bryan Trunk show (free to members, $10 for guests)

May 16 – Rebecca Bryan Workshop (early bird signup in February, open to non-members after the March meeting)

June (all month) – our ENCHANTED mini quilt challenge showcase at Scouts Café in downtown Bloomington

June 30 –BNMQG Social – stay tuned for a surprise! NOTE: new date because of a conflict with church activities

JULY date TBA – Saturday Bag workshop date to be announced

JULY 28 – Guild Meeting

August 25 – Guild Meeting

BNMQG 2020 Retreat – Dates: September 25-28 since Columbus Day weekend was not available. So pencil it in for next year!

Happy New Year. 2020 promises to be another great year for Modern Quilting. Sorry I’ll miss you at the January meeting but you’re in great hands and you’ll have a great program from Kathy Cook. See you in February.