• May 2016 Meeting Recap

    May 6, 2016

    The SBAMQG continues to have an awesome and creative 2016, as shown by this week’s meeting at Hart’s Fabrics in Santa Cruz, CA. President Chelsea Hard couldn’t be with us but VP Pam Rocco did a great job of filling in for her. We had five visitors joining in on the fun this week. We love our visitors and we especially love our new members!

    Our introduction segment for this year’s meetings has been a big hit. It is a nice way to meet each other, since our group is growing larger by the month, and it is also a great way for every member to participate in the meeting. This week, we took turns naming our favorite personalities in the quilt world. Some of the names on our list are very well known: Our #1 quilter is Jacquie Gering and our #1 fabric designer is Kaffe Fassett. But the real education happened with the list of lesser-known names. These are the up-and-comers I am excited to check out as soon as I get a chance!

    Next up, SBAMQG member, and free-motion quilting extraordinaire, Laura Ryle, gave a terrific FMQ demonstration. Laura has tons of personal experience with FMQ and has taken many workshops on the subject, so she was happy to share her knowledge, tips, and advice. Her work is lovely and I know many of us were inspired to give FMQ a try!

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    Laura shows a sample of her FMQ:

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    After regular guild business including announcements about sew days, charity projects, workshops, and the retreat, we got down to the thing we do best – Sew and Tell.  Enjoy:

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    Our 1/4-Log Cabin quilt tops are already starting to arrive!

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    VP Pam brought a spectacular collection, as usual.

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    Mickey shared her 1st place QuiltCon ribbon and the 2016 Chicago International Quilt Festival program featuring her quilt.

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    Mickey also brought two beautiful new finishes.

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    Carole shows off her smaller new works.

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    Susan has discovered jelly roll race quilts.

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    Laura shows off a gorgeous two-sided beauty.

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    Amber showed her stunning embroidered tote. Wow!

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    Karen and Pamela got in on the action.

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    And Mary shared a recent vintage acquisition.

    Please come join us in June!

    (photo credit Karen Foster)

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  • Pam Rocco Workshop

    April 29, 2016

    How lucky are we at the SBAMQG to have the incomparable Pam Rocco as a member, friend, and guild Vice President? We definitely know how lucky we are and we make use of her experience, knowledge, and wonderful energy every way we can. Last week, for instance, we enjoyed a workshop with Pam in which she taught us how to make her famous 1/4-Log Cabin quilt. As many readers know, Pam writes a monthly column for Quilter’s Newsletter magazine. (Her writing is entertaining and her quilts are outstanding!) This particular quilt, which was featured in a recent QN issue, has proven to be quite popular and you can read about it and get a free pattern here: Quilter’s Newsletter.

    As for our workshop, it was a great way to spend a rainy day and we had so much fun!

    Pam instructs her eager students:

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    The SBAMQG always appreciates a good trunk show (this is just a peek):

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    Here we are, hard at work:

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    Elaine works super fast:

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    Here’s some early progress. It appears that many of us were inspired by Pam’s blue and green quilt:

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    But quite a few of us had other ideas too:

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    It will be exciting to see what we come up with. Thank you Pam – it was so much fun!

    (photo credit Karen Foster, Chelsea Hard, Renee Tallman)

     

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  • April 2016 Meeting Recap

    April 8, 2016

    This week, the fantastic Hart’s Fabric in Santa Cruz, CA, again hosted the SBAMQG for our monthly meeting, and it was another good one. We started off with a fun walking foot quilting demonstration by our VP, Pam Rocco. Pam showed us all the secrets and tips she learned from Jacquie Gering’s Craftsy workshop and it was super informative. Here’s Pam hard at work and a sample of her walking foot quilting:

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    Next, President Chelsea Hard initiated a group discussion about batting. We talked about our favorite batting brands and fiber contents, we shared our personal pros and cons in regards to batting, and we got many questions answered on the topic. Most importantly, we were inspired to try new things. It seems that wool batting is extremely popular with this group of quilters. Who knew?

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    Special guest Michelle Mattson from the Rebele Family Shelter attended tonight to say thank-you to the guild for donating our 2015 QuiltCon charity quilt to them. She told us that it will be displayed proudly in a public area of the shelter after an upcoming remodel. Hopefully our work will bring cheer to the shelter.

    Other news included the introduction of the colors and guidelines for the 2017 QuiltCon charity quilt. Treasurer Gabrielle Robles announced two exciting workshops with some very esteemed quilters: Latifah Saafir is coming in June for an exclusive bias tape workshop and Sherri Lynn Wood is coming in November for an improv workshop. You won’t want to miss these opportunities so get signed up soon! Our friends in the East Bay Modern Quilters group are having their annual Stitch Modern show starting this weekend and it sounds really fun. Lastly, time is running out to reserve your spot for our fall retreat. Don’t miss out!

    Sew and Tell this month was a visual smorgasbord featuring lots of modern, along with some traditional and art quilting items. Here you go:

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    Karen showed her mini quilting bee beauties.

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    Tami and Laura showed their minis as well.

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    Speaking of Sherri Lynn Wood and Latifah Saafir, Tami and Gabrielle shared finished works inspired by those talented ladies.

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    More eye candy!

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    Merydith is known for quilt backs that are as beautiful as the fronts.

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    As is Gabrielle!

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    Sheila’s fabulous color and some polyester!

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    Susan showed some classics.

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    And art quilts came for a visit as well.

    See you in May!

    (photo credit Karen Foster)

     

     

     

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  • SBAMQG Has A Local Showing

    March 22, 2016

    February was a busy month of quilt shows for the SBAMQG. QuiltCon West was in Pasadena, February 18-21. Just a week later, the Pajaro Valley Quilt Association, which is a large traditional quilt guild here in Santa Cruz, had their annual show at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. As they have done in the past, the PVQA graciously invited us to have our own exhibit within their show. We put together a striking display showing a nice variety of our work and did a lot to educate the public on modern quilting.

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    We showed off some of the small quilts we made for our modern quilting design element challenge. Shown above (clockwise from upper left) are challenge quilts by Renee Tallman, Laura Ryle, Lori Green, and Karen Foster.

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    Pam Rocco’s challenge quilt, Merydith Fox’s quilt from Pam’s Stacked Bricks workshop, and Pam’s quilt from our Much Ado About Nothing workshop with Tina Michalik.

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    Two chair-themed challenge quilts by Pam Rocco, and Merydith Fox’s quilt made from assorted Freddie Moran workshop blocks.

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    Two of Renee Tallman’s updated orange peel quilts, along with challenge quilts by Gene Ratcliffe, Elaine Hebard, and Pamela Stein.

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    Lynne Nostrant’s Fair Isle quilt, along with Jeannie Land’s challenge quilt, and Pam Rocco’s deconstructed courthouse steps.

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    Two challenge quilts by Lynne Nostrant, and Renee Tallman’s scrappy drunkard’s path.

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    Two examples of Pam Rocco’s wonderful improv.

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    A pair of Modern Amish by Mickey Beebe.

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    Several SBAMQG members also had quilts scattered around the main show and I was able to get pictures of a few of those as well. Here are two churn dash variations by Mickey Beebe, including a Judges Choice ribbon winner for Churn Dash Boogie-Woogie!

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    Karen Foster’s Amish Lattice and Perspective.

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    Gene Ratcliffe’s Amish-inspired Bars/Extreme Values, and Laura Ryle’s Chicken Marsala.

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    Carole Rossi showed two beautiful improv designs: Winter Abstract and On The Fulcrum.

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    Libby Ernst’s Churned Up, and Lori Green’s Home Sweet Home were both colorful and sophisticated.

    Thank you to the PVQA for again including us in their show. All in all, it was a wonderful February of quilt shows for the SBAMQG, but there’s no time to waste. There’s always another show on the horizon, so let’s get quilting!

    (photo credit Renee Tallman)

     

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