May, 25, 2021

The 15^th Zoom meeting was called to order by President Nancy Powell with 48 members attending. 

Heartbeat quilts – Contact Pat Silva for completed blocks to sew into quilts or to return finished quilts to deliver to the hospital.  Her email address is available in the Member directory on the Member page.

Raffle quilt – Raffle quilt winner this month is Lisa B.  Next month’s quilt is a blue bowtie pattern.  Buy tickets to win this beauty.

Kona Color of the Year Mini Quilt Challenge – The Kona mini quilts that have been given to Nancy will be exhibited in the Mattoon Outdoor Quilt Show in Lytle Park on June 12 from 10 AM to 6 PM. Mark your calendar and take a short trip to Mattoon to enjoy the quilts. Thanks Jamie W. for this opportunity. If you’re there when the show ends, you may pick up your quilt. Nancy will return all of the other quilts to Bloomington and make arrangements to get them back to their owners after the show!  See some of the entries on Facebook.

Poll 1 – BNMQG purchased “tickets” for all members to attend the All Star Virtual Sampler Platter on May 22 and 23. Did you attend 1 or more of All Star Virtual Sampler Platter classes?

                           Yes – 40% (17) No – 60% (26)

Breakout Rooms –

Question 1 – What ideas did you get about color or design from these sessions or others you’ve watched online?

Collage class, color theory, color wheel, use more than 1 value of a color, surface design, divide colors and progression of colors, and create secondary designs

Question 2 – With our minis, you’ve had the opportunity to do your own quilting.  What are your thoughts about ruler work. walking foot quilting, hand stitching, using decorative stitches, etc.?

We’ve done walking foot, painters’ tape to mark, decorative stitching, shashiko, ruler work, Peter Byrne gave people confidence in attacking quilting on their own, decorative stitches on binding, hand quilting, quilting on curves is more forgiving, perfectly imperfect, hand stitching is becoming more popular.

Question 3 – What topics would you like to learn more about and do you know a presenter you’d recommend?

Jodi Robinson, Big Stitch Quilting, Gudrun Erla, Susie Quilts, Pam Holland, collages with Laura Heine, thread painting with Joyce Hughes, Mel Beach, curves with Jen Carlton-Bailey, Carolina Oneto, ruler work with Angela Walters, Cindy Grisdela -improv, Cindy Stanfield, hands-on demos, textural work on quilts, Juli Smith, Jackie Gerling, Robin Ruth, Emily Taylor, Krista Hennebury, Libs Elliott, Man Sewing with Rob Appell

Take a Chance Challenge – Gary R. won the extra chance for May.  There will be 1 more optional month.  Those that have contributed all 8 months will have at least one entry in the drawing.  Everyone who enters in June’s optional challenge will automatically get an extra chance in the grand prize drawing.  The grand prize drawing will be held at the June meeting.  Next month’s optional challenge will be green and squares or rectangles.  View all the entries for the last 8 challenges.

VP Corner – Kathy Cook highlighted quilter, Heather Black, who will be our speaker in Aug. via Zoom. Check out her instagram.

June’s presenter – Maria Shell will be our speaker on June 22^nd.  Find out more about Maria Shell.  Guests can purchase a guest pass for $10.  A waitlist is available for her workshop on June 26. 

Show and Tell – enjoy these quilts on Facebook.

Retreat – Our retreat will be held Sept. 17 – 20.  This retreat was completely filled right after the May meeting.  To add your name to the waitlist, please use Sign up Genius.

Respectfully submitted, Paula M., BNMQG Secretary

April 27, 2021, 6:00 PM

The 14^th Zoom meeting was called to order by President Nancy Powell with 62 members, including 5 guests and the speaker were present.  Nancy shared pictures from QuiltFolk Magazine that featured pictures of quilts from members, a group picture of our guild and an article written by Nancy and VP Kathy Cook. 

Guest speaker was Charles Cameron who gave a presentation filled with tips on color placement in quilts.  There was a drawing for Charles’s pattern, Crooked Crosses, and Kelly Cummings won the pattern.  The link to his Etsy shop is below and includes a coupon for 25% off his Crooked Crosses pattern, good until May 15.

Nancy demonstrated how to add photos to the album for Show and Tell.  Get in the BNMQG Facebook group and go to More >Media (photos) >Albums.  Look for this month’s show and tell album and add pictures for show and tell. You can also send photos to Nancy via email or text before noon on the day of the meeting and she will add them to the album.

Nominations Committee – the slate of officers for 2021-2022 officers is still open for others to toss their hats into the ring.  So far, these people have volunteered to run:  Pres – Lisa Baermann, VP – Nancy Powell, Treasurer – Karen Goloff, and Secretary – Paula Meiner.

Heart beat quilts – Hospitals are now accepting quilts again.  There are about 7-10 kits that need to be sewn together.

May All Star Virtual Sampler Platter -May 22-23 from 2-5 PM.  BNMQG has purchased a guild pass for this event.  Members got a PDF attached to the April Newsletter with some information.  Members will get a schedule of all classes that are being offered.  Each of the 18 presenters will have 15 minutes and will have a handout for each.  When BNMQG gets their link for those 2 days, notification will be sent out. 

Membership – Thanks to all members who have updated their information for the membership records.  9 members still need to update information for the records.

Quilt raffle – This month’s winning raffle ticket belonged to Lisa B.  The new quilt is up and tickets are available.

Horizon Mini Quilt Challenge – It’s NOT TOO LATE to join the challenge! The deadline is the May 25^th meeting.  Please consider making a mini because there will be a BNMQG special exhibit at the Mattoon Arts Council Outdoor Quilt Show.  I’m hoping we can get at least 30-40 quilts (20” x 20”) from our 84 members!  Think of them as a big quilt block! We have opportunities to exhibit these at other events as well.

Send your Intent to Exhibit form for the Mattoon show to Jamie W. by May 15.  Contact Nancy to get the quilt with the quilt show label attached with a binder clip (no pins) to her by the May meeting.  She will get them to Jamie Willis to be put in the quilt show.  These will be shown at the Mattoon Outdoor Quilt Show in Lytle Park on June 12 from 10 am – 6 pm. 

The April Meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 27 at 6pm CST. We are excited to welcome our guest speaker Charles Cameron, an engineer by day and a quilter anytime else! This presentation is free to members. Guest tickets are available for purchase.

“As an engineer, I approach color selection and placement in my quilts in a very methodical way.

In this talk we’ll discuss several strategies for selecting fabric colors and their placement when planning your quilt to add interest and depth.  I promise there aren’t any quizzes or mathematical equations!

I’ll share 7 quilts that I’ve made, both from purchased patterns and my own design and the approach for selecting colors to achieve optimum results.

This lecture is intended for both beginner and advanced quilters who are interested in becoming more adventurous with color or who struggle with selecting colors for quilt patterns or within their own work.”
-Charles

Follow Charles

• on Instagram @feltlikesweets
• on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FeltLikeSweets/

March 23, 2021 6:00pm

The 13^th Zoom meeting was called to order by President Nancy Powell with 44 members, including 2 new members and 10 guests present.  Nancy opened with a few brief announcements.  She then introduced the speaker for the evening, Laura Loewen.  Laura gave a presentation of how to stage quilts for photos and edit pictures taken on a cell phone followed by a question and answer period.  One photo editing app that she recommended was lightroom.  Laura Loewen’s Instagram:  @quiltfortco
website: https://quiltfortcompany.com/ 

Nancy reported on an update on Violet Protest from last July’s meeting with Ann Morton.

Membership – Noemi, membership chair, is asking for everyone to update their contact information.  She is sending out an email and asks that we reply back as soon as possible so she can get current information of every member.

Quilt Raffle – Betty W. drew this month’s raffle winner and it was Jamie W. Nancy showed next month’s raffle quilt.  Get your tickets. 

BNMQG Accuquilt Loan Library – Nancy demonstrated how we could loan and borrow dies from our online library.   The link to the Accuquilt loan library can be found on the member page of the website.

Maria Shell workshop – There was a reminder for the signup for Maria Shell’s workshop on June 26.  The workshop is $50 and there are only 15 slots available for our guild.  Join the waitlist if the workshop is sold out.  When signing up, don’t use the Chicago PayPal button or pay for the lecture.  The lecture is free to BNMQG members and guest tickets are available to nonmembers for $10.  Workshop and lecture tickets are available here.

Continue reading →

BNMQG Meeting
February 23, 2021
6:00 P.M.

Quilt raffle tickets
Tech Tuesday signups

The 12^th Zoom meeting was called to order by President Nancy Powell with 47 members and 1 guest present.  Nancy opened with a thanks to all of the members who virtually went to QuiltCon and for participating and sharing their information. 

Quilt Raffle – Betty Woodruff has been doing a lot of behind the scenes with tickets for the raffle.  The first quilt raffle recipient was drawn and it was Barb B.  The March quilt will be the brown log cabin.

Take a Chance Challenge – The February winner for the extra drawing was Marge Ehlers.  The challenge next month will be blue and hexagons. 

Kona Color Challenge – There will be a $1 registration fee collected when the challenges are turned in.  The rules for the challenge are:  wall hanging should finish up at 20” x 20” and have the Horizon color on the front.  A question was asked about using either a facing or binding and Kathy Cook explained and showed a faced wall hanging. Either binding or facing is acceptable. Details are available in the Member Area on this website.
All members are welcome to take part in this Challenge. Due Date for the Challenge: May BNMQG meeting.

Tech Tuesday – March 9 will be the next Tech Tuesday and it will be about EQ and applique

Poll 1   Would you be interested in a Tech Tuesday that includes one or more?
42%    1. Website tour and member area
24%    2. How to sign up for getting notifications of new posts
18%     3. Linking BNMQG calendar to your existing Google calendar
18%     4. Join BNMQG on Facebook and possible EQ group
33%     5. All of the above

*Poll 2    If we can find someone to give a Tech Tuesday on Cricut Cutting or Scan and Cut machines, would you be interested in attending?
15%     1.  I have a Cricut and want to learn more about using it
13%     2.  I have a Scan and Cut and want to learn more about using it
20%     3.  I don’t own one but an interested in learning more
53%     4.  Not at this time

*If you know of someone who could run a Tech Tuesday on cutting machines, please contact Nancy P.

Sew Days  On 2/6, there were 15 members who attended.  Our next Sew Day is Saturday, March 6.

Peter Byrne’s Workshop:  16 have signed up and there are 4 seats open as of the meeting. Workshop dates: (2 day workshop)  May 15 and 16 from 9 A.M. – 1 P.M. each day
Cost: $55 for members and $65 for nonmembers if seats are still available on March 1 

Maria Shell Workshop*:  sign up will open on March 22 for Maria Shell Workshop 
Workshop date: June 26
Cost: $50
*Our guild only gets 15 slots so sign up early

QuiltCon highlights We had a slide show of award winners.  There were many attendees who shared quilts from the show and of their personal experiences in classes. The slides are available as a PDF in the member area of this website.

Next month 

Cathy H.’s daughter, Laura Loewen will be giving the presentation of how to use your phone to take better quilt pictures. Quilt Photography in Your Pocket. Don’t have a ‘fancy’ camera but still want quality quilt photos? Learn the best tips and tricks for taking quilt photos on your iPhone. Discover where and when to take photos, how to edit, get app recommendations and demonstrations on how to get the most from your cell phone photos. All guild members welcome. Laura is the current MQG Modern Monthly photographer and has practiced photography professionally for over 10 years. Guest tickets are available for non-members for $5.50

Meeting was adjourned,
Respectfully submitted,
Paula Meiner

Meeting Recap for the January 26, 2021 Meeting of BNMQG

This meeting started even before the actual meeting.  We enjoyed an impromptu lesson on wool thread and darning by Laura Coia (SewVeryEasy on YouTube) who was attending our meeting as a friend of our speaker Peter Byrne.

There were 54 members and 4 guests in attendance.

Nancy started the meeting by giving an update on the Quiltfolk magazine article, thanking 25 members for participating in the photo session in cold January temps, thanking Kelly C. and Mark C. for the embroidery and Kathy C. for our very special BNMQG masks. Photos were shared and it was announced that the BNMQG article will be in the April/Illinois issue of Quiltfolk.

Peter Byrne was our speaker from Toronto, Canada.  Peter’s quilt titled ‘Starring You’ won Best in Show and my quilt titled ‘Cityscape” won Best Machine Quilting Frameless.  Twenty two quilts were shared along with his techniques of hover quilting and overlay quilting.  Good news for members who were unable to attend last night, Peter gave us permission to record his presentation and share it in our password protected member area here on our website for 2 weeks but then it will be gone forever!

New members – Kelly H., Bev D., Heather B., and Sandra M. were welcomed.  We’re so happy that you’ve joined us.

SEW Days have be scheduled via zoom.  Mark your calendars for these Saturdays Feb. 6 and March 6 from 10 am – 2 pm.  The zoom invite will be emailed to all members the week of the Sew Day– no need to sign up in advance.

Tech Tuesdays

• February 9^th – Carole Fay will be presenting Poly Draw with Electric Quilt at 11 am and again at 6 pm.  sign-up  (seats are filling up fast!)
• We’re looking for a person who would be willing to do a Cricut basics class on a Tech Tuesday.  Please let me know if you are interested.  Sessions are approximately 45-60 minutes long and we’ll take care of the signup and the zoom.
• Would you like to suggest a topic for a Tech Tuesday or share a topic in a Tech Tuesday, send Nancy P a text or email! 🙂

QuiltCon Planning zoom is on Thursday, Feb 11 at 6 pm. sign-up

• If you don’t mind sharing your QuiltCon registration schedule, please send it to Nancy via email to help organize and focus the planning meeting.  To check and/or modify your QuiltCon schedule, visit the registration page.
• If you haven’t signed up for QuiltCon, the registration site is now open again. 

Newsletters, starting in February, will now be posted as a PDF file in a Newsletter tab on the website, in the BNMQG group, and emailed to you.  Please read them for important information.  Make sure the device you want to read the newsletter on will open a PDF

Raffle:  We have 7 quilts to raffle and they have been posted on our website.  Purchase tickets for Quilt #1 now.  These 7 quilts are homemade family quilts that were donated by a member of our community.  Proceeds from the raffle will be used for BNMQG Charity projects. Please share this information with your friends and social media.  There is a post to share in Facebook on the Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild page.

Take a Chance Challenge:  January projects were shared and Noemi B. won the extra entry into the final drawing this month.  The Roll for next month was #6 – PURPLE and #2 – Circles or parts of circles, wonky or not.

The Kona Color 2021 Mini Quilt Challenge rules and entry form were attached to an earlier email but they are now available in the Member area of the website under current projects.  Some of the Kona Horizon fabric (approx. 6”x20”) was handed out to members at the Quiltfolk photo shoot and more is available from Betty W.  You could do a drive by and pick up a piece of Kona Horizon fabricor if that is just not possible, contact Betty and she is willing to mail you a piece.

Show and Tell:  If you have Show and Tell in the future, please go to Facebook and find the current month’s Show and Tell photo album and add your photos.  Not a FaceBook user?  Not a problem, just email the photos to Nancy Powell or another member on Facebook and ask them to add them to the current month’s album.  Please limit yourself to 1 or 2 shares per meeting. 

This is the beginning of an exciting 2021 for BNMQG, so put the meetings on your calendar, plan to participate and think about joining a planning committee or run for an office in August.  Sandy Sanders and Debbie Phillips are on the Nominating committee.  You may be hearing from them, and please consider letting them know if you’re interested in an office.  You will have plenty of support if you volunteer.

Coming up:  In February, celebrate modern quilting and QuiltCon 2021 and in March, learn more about taking Quilt Photography with your cell phone with Laura Loewen from Colorado. 

The meeting was adjourned. 
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy P. (substitute seretary)

LINKS

Peter’s contact info:
Email: petersquilts@gmail.com   
Instagram:  @petersquilts & @hoverquilting. 
Facebook:  Peter Byrne
Website: www.peterbquilts.com

Tech Tuesday:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054fa9ad29a6f58-bnmqg3
QuiltCon planning meeting:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054fa9ad29a6f58-quiltcon
Raffle Quilts:   https://bnmqg.org/bnmqg-quilt-raffle/
Kona Challenge:  https://bnmqg.org/  and go to the member area

“Behind the Seams” with Peter Byrne.  

Hello quilters, my name is Peter Byrne. I am an international award-winning, published modern quilter and teacher with a deep passion for innovation and design. My strength is maintaining a fresh approach to quilting, with original designs and technical mastery.  

My goal is innovation, my passion is creativity and I am thrilled to have opportunities to share new techniques within the quilting community. While attending QuiltCon 2020, my quilt titled ‘Starring You’ won Best in Show and my quilt titled ‘Cityscape” won Best Machine Quilting Frameless.

After 30 years working as a stylist and salon owner I retired, and then had the time to explore new creative outlets. I started making quilt in 2009 and to further my quilting experience, in 2017 I joined the Toronto Modern Quilting Guild and when I walked into that first guild meeting, I had never quilted a quilt.  

It was at this time, I became a full time student of the craft and 2 years later, I designed and made Starring You. I’m very excited to share my quilts, dreams and ambitions with you and look forward to meeting you at my Trunk Show! 

Sincerely, Peter Byrne. 

Here are all the places you can find me!  

• Email: petersquilts@gmail.com   
• Instagram @petersquilts & @hoverquilting. 
• You can find me on Facebook under Peter Byrne
• I invite you to check out my website at www.peterbquilts.com

As always, Peter’s presentation is free to all BNMQG Members.  Guest tickets are available via PayPal here.