What an awesome January meeting we had.
There were a lot of upcoming events and topics covered in our opening discussion, including:
- IQF Drunkard’s Path Challenge – deadline for submission to IQF is February 12 – check {this} blog post for more information.
- IQF Mod Squad Challenge – deadline for submission to IQF is February 12 – check {this} blog post for more information
- Block of the month for 2016! We’re going to be hosting a Medallion B.O.M. quilt along, inspired by Seattle Modern Quilt Guild‘s 2015 quilt along. More information on this is to follow in another upcoming blog post – keep your eyes peeled!
- CMQG Guild pin cushion exchange! Sign up and more information is {here} in this blog post!
- Upcoming meeting topics and workshop events, which are listed on this {page here}, and more specific information to follow including times, dates, and sign-ups – watch the blog for this.
You can access our Pinterest page by clicking the Pinterest Icon in our sidebar to the right and this will re-direct you to our Pinterest page. As well, you can search Pinterest for Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. Our Pinterest URL is https://www.pinterest.com/chicagomodernqg/Sue Ryan
How long have you been quilting?
Since 2002.
For you, what is the hardest part of quilting?
Technical aspects of sewing!
What is your favorite part of making a quilt?
Building it! Making decisions as the quilt is evolving on the wall!
How would you describe your style?
Liberated/improvisational/unafraid/colorful.
For you, what is the most important quilt you’ve ever made?
The first one, because it proved I could do it! I didn’t know how to sew or make quilts. I was learning from books: Singer’s The Quilter’s Bible and Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quilting. Every step was tentative…I had no idea how to use a rotary cutter!!!? Every single part was new and I didn’t have someone helping me! I was excited about the fabric!
Anything else you want to share?
I am so grateful for my friends in guild for their generosity, acceptance, and encouragement! It motivates me, and I know if I went to anyone with a quilting question or problem, I’d get the help I
needed!
Dani Miller
How long have you been quilting?
7 Years
For you, what is the hardest part of quilting?
The design work. Once I have the design I find everything pretty relaxing, but trying to be creative in my designs is really challenging for me.
What is your favorite part of making a quilt?
Binding! I love sewing the binding down on a quilt.
How would you describe your style?
Logical. I like designs that are mathematical, have lots of geometry, and definitive lines. I am not likely to ever make an art quilt!
For you, what is the most important quilt you’ve ever made?
I made a super simple flannel patchwork quilt for a family friend who was undergoing treatment for brain cancer. I was so surprised to hear how much he cherished the quilt, and how much use it was getting. He has since passed, but I have his thank you card, written in shaky handwriting, on my studio wall as a reminder both of him and the comfort that quilting can bring to others.
Check out Dani on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/knitty34/
http://www.kscdesigns.com/
Emily Handley
How long have you been quilting?
I started quilting when I was 10. I can’t remember a time when crafts and sewing were not a part of my life. As a small child I would sit on my grandmother’s lap with my hands on top of hers while she sewed. Later I learned to use her machine on my own using scraps of just about anything from old clothing to upholstery fabric.
For you, what is the hardest part of quilting?
I am a bit of a perfectionist and I find the hardest part of quilting to be knowing when to let something slide. I have to tell myself that no one else will ever notice. I agonize about the little things too much.
What is your favorite part of making a quilt?
I love the design process. As a child I would sit with tangrams and graph paper figuring out my next project. I was not allowed to go to the fabric store or buy anything until the design was completed with yardage requirements and a cutting strategy. The design training I received in architecture school built on that passion and gave me more powerful tools to realize my ideas.
How would you describe your style?
I strive for clean graphic compositions. I explore the space between digital design and fabrication, and traditional modes of making.
For you, what is the most important quilt you’ve ever made?
My ROYGBIV Hexagradient quilt is probably the most important quilt I have ever made. It forced me to change the way I approached designing quilts and my workflow. It pushed me to move beyond my comfort zone and required me to utilize different tools to achieve the result I wanted. I work a lot smarter now.
Check out Emily on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/handleyemily/
Emily Lang
How long have you been quilting?
I’ve been quilting for about 8 years. I’ve been sewing since I was a child.
For you, what is the hardest part of quilting?
Having the time to sit down and sew for a span of 3-5 hours. Enough time to get into the zone and flow.
What is your favorite part of making a quilt?
The flow. Finding flow. (Csikszentmihalyi) Getting in the project so deep that the rest of the world falls away. Making decisions in the moment. Just enough challenge to keep my interest and keep me present. Math. It’s like doodling that has a use (doodles are stuck on a paper, quilts are warm). I love all the parts: design, cutting, piecing, basting, quilting, binding.
How would you describe your style?
Free, changing, emerging. I love precision and free piecing. I love executing a plan… yet the unplanned sewing makes my heart sing. I think my style is a curious balance between planned and unplanned. I love writing a pattern and then sewing it, and I love sewing something and then mathing it out to write instructions for what I did (which was unplanned). I don’t think we really know our style except for in retrospect. It is always emerging, changing, forming. I allow myself the freedom to not be tied to any one technique / style / etc. I sew quilts that I want to sew.
For you, what is the most important quilt you’ve ever made?
Modern Robin. Friendship. Learning to work with different colors. Using a limited color scheme. Growing. Sharing. Learning. Friendship. My Modern Robin quilt is a project I worked on with Emily Bruzzini a few years back. Although this quilt still remains unfinished, it has been the most important quilt. Emily and I each started with a center block, and then swapped projects each month, adding a border to the projects. So half the work on my quilt is my own, and half was done by Emily. The plan-as-you-go process was great, but much more this project helped me overcome a sense of wandering that I’d had for a long time. Moving to a new city as an adult, I had had a hard time finding real friends – through Chicago MQG and through Em and I’s Modern Robin project I finally felt like I had found real friendships again. And on top of that I was left with a fantastic quilt! The reason it isn’t finished is that I’d really like to have it custom long-armed, and I’m afraid to relinquish control of this last step!
Check out Emily on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/mommysnaptime/
http://mommysnaptime.blogspot.com/
Sarah Shulman
How long have you been quilting?
I started sewing clothing at 10 or 11 years old. My mother taught me so much more than I learned in home economics. I made forays into quilting in the 80’s and 90’s, especially after going to the quilt show in Paducah several times with friends who quilted. I made a few small quilts in that time before starting up again in earnest about 10 years ago after discovering blogs and the modern quilting movement.
For you, what is the hardest part of quilting?
Making decisions. About everthing. The story of my life. I need a second opinion about color and fabric choices, layout choices, quilting choices My sweet dog Rosie is no help though, and she’s often the only one around.
What is your favorite part of making a quilt?
1. Playing with fabric, especially piecing and watching a quilt come together on the design wall. I love that moment when it really looks like what you imagined!
2. Giving the quilt to someone I love.
How would you describe your style?
1. Try all the things. Make things to try a new technique or pattern or build my skills. I love everything from the precision of paper piecing to improvisation, though I need to learn to let go to get better at that. If I don’t like something I don’t have to do it again. Which leads to…
2. Do what you like. I’ll use a pattern or not. I’ll use a single line of fabric or not. I’ll join a sew along or swap if I feel like it. I prewash my fabric because I like to. Do what you want. I’m not judgmental.
3. Make things for people I love and give away most of the things I make. I make what fits the style or personality of those who receive my quilts, so I don’t always have a signature style. And I’m okay with that because I love giving quilts.
For you, what is the most important quilt you’ve ever made?
The most important quilt category, because there isn’t just one, would be quilts I’ve made for comfort and healing. In the last few years there have been many of them, and I know they’ve been important and special for the recipients.
Anything else you want to share?
The Chicago MQG has made a huge difference in my work and my life. I know I wouldn’t be the quilter I am today without the support and inspiration of this group. My family is very encouraging and understanding. As my daughter says, I’m a poster child for people with hobbies in their fifties.
Check out Sarah on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/srhshlmn/
A very special thank you to all of our trunk show participants, they all did such a great job presenting and were very inspiring!
– written by Erin D. and Holly H.