Randi Strunk of Bright-Side Photography was our guest speaker at today’s meeting and she gave us a lot of great information about getting better photos of our quilts.

Some of her tips were:

• Prepare your quilt before taking photos. You’ve put a lot of time and effort into this quilt, so take the best photos of it to remember it by, especially if you’re giving it away. Make sure it looks its best. Press if necessary, trim threads, de-lint.
• Take hanging apparatus with you to hang your quilt. You can use pant/skirt hangers, pins, clamps, clothespins or whatever else you can thing of.
• Outdoor natural light is always best no matter the season. Look for a place with “open shade”.
• Direct sunshine might not give your best overall quilt photo but it will highlight the texture of the quilting design … and any crinkles or wrinkles you would rather not feature.
• Dappled light (through trees) and shadows might not show up to your eye when taking photos, will definitely show up when you view the finished shots. That’s why it’s good to check the viewer on your camera when you’re taking photos.
• DO NOT USE FLASH!! Just try it without flash and with flash and you’ll see why.
• If you have a tripod, us it. The steadier you can be, the better. You can also set your camera somewhere stable and use the timer. Or make yourself a tripod by stabilizing yourself as best as possible. Brace your legs and tuck your elbows into your body.
• Take lots of photos! That increases your odds of getting a great one or more.
• Position your quilt in interesting locations and get photos of it crumpled up, rolled up, draped, and with the person who will be getting it … maybe with them wrapped up in it.
• Make sure something is in the photo with the quilt to provide scale. A pair of shoes, scissors, pins, a chair, a person, anything.
• Don’t forget to get detail shots. Close-ups of your work will show things in a way a whole quilt photo won’t. You’ll be glad to have close-ups.
• Get to know some of the options on your camera. Your digital camera and phone will already do a pretty amazing job of colour and light correcting but you can improve of that by using some of the various settings.
• Use the macro setting for close-ups.
• To get the type of photo that has a sharp image and a blurry background, try using the “aperture priority mode”, sometimes labeled as “A” or “AV” or “portrait mode”.
• Experiment with the various options. Take the same photo using the various options so you better know your camera.
• For editing your photos, Photoshop is great but costly and not easy to use. It’s for the serious photo editor. Photoshop Elements more basic, less expensive, and more user-friendly photo editor. Picasa has been a very good free program and very easy to use but it is no longer being supported and people are being asked to switch over to Google Photos (which has a lot of interesting features by the looks of thins, including editing features). Other good, free programs include Gimp, Irfinview, and PicMonkey.
• DON’T FORGET TO BACK-UP YOUR PHOTOS!! Just a few of the options are Flickr, Google Photos, Dropbox, the Cloud, and/ or a remote hard drive.

And one of the best suggestions I’ve heard … Randi reminds us to give the camera to someone else or use the self-timer and get some photos of yourself making quilts. While we might not like having our photos taken, photos of us making our quilts will be important to someone. Such a good suggestion.

Thanks, Randi, for such an informative and useful presentation!

And, with all this in mind … all members are invited to participate in our guild’s PHOTO CHALLENGE … a fun summer project! And yes, there will be prizes! Find all the details HERE!

Members have been making maple leaf blocks to contribute to #quiltsforfortmac. You can get all the details at the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild website. Darla will collect any from our guild at the end of June and send them in. You can click on the link above to find out where to send them if you want to send them yourself. They should be mailed by June 3o.

Sonya made this cute as a button little paper-pieced rainbow block to contribute to Donna’s “Mining for Rainbows” quilt project. If you’re inspired, Donna would love to have any 6″ (unfinished) blocks you can contribute for her project. The only requirement in addition to the size is that it should be your interpretation of “rainbow”.

Bev has kindly and thankfully agreed to be the lead on our QuiltCon 2017 Charity Quilt project. We’re excited to learn what we’re going to make!

Don’t forget our Sewcial Day on June 11th at Prairie Chicks in Warman!  If you didn’t get your name on the sign up sheet and you still want to come, send an email to SMQG.

BOOK/BLOG/BOLT

Some members shared with us some beautiful fabric!

Sonya brought these! Pretty colours from the Wink line  from Mod Basics 3 by Birch Organics. She also showed us the whole range of the beautiful Whisper line by Lizzy House. It’s been really difficult to get a sense of these from the online photos so to see them IRL is wonderful! Thanks, Sonya! They are so much more than just “whispery” in real life. There are some soft colourings as well as some glitter. The photos just don’t do them justice.

Sherry brought these beautiful linens (or linen-like) fabrics from her trip to India at Christmas. They are lovely!

BEE BLOCKS

Many bee blocks were made and turned in for Bee Round #1. For Bee #1 (1 block to be made) for Kelly who asked is planning to make a wonky bento box quilt …

For Bee #2 (2 blocks to made) for Sheila, who wants a “plus/cross” block in any size using low volume with a shot of colour …

Next month for Bee #2, Nicole’s inspiration block is a low-volume triangle with hits of red/navy/black with a charity quilt in mind for a teenage boy.  See details here.

For Bee #1, Heather has asked for strips (not blocks) of triangles. Any size, wonky, straight, tall and skinny, short and wide, using low-volume with pops of colour. Here is her inspiration strip. See details here.

SHOW & TELL

Lots of beautiful hand-mades to see!

Darla made this two beautiful bags. She called on some experienced zipper sewers for some suggestions.

Jen made these three sewing kits for some young girls she is close to and who are moving. They are adorable and full of sewing supplies suited to their ages and interests.

Jen is making this soft-toned quilt for her Mom. Jen and her Mom have made quilts for everyone in their families … all the nieces and nephews but nobody has made a quilt for Jen’s Mom. So Jen is on it. She chose fabrics and colours she feels will compliment her Mom’s home and tastes. She will most certainly LOVE it, Jen!

Patti made a sweet little patchwork case for her iPad.

What’s not to love about Sonya’s Tula Pink tuffet?! So cute and colourful!

Several of our guild members are also members of a birthday club. Those in our guild combined their talents to make this pretty quilt for a member from somewhere else.

Kelly has a niece who LOVES Dr. Who, so she is going to go gaga over this computer bag Kelly made for her!

Sherry made a cover for her sewing machine! SWEET!!

She also made this little quilt and then …

… she made this GIANT quilt top that will be for her bed. Now on to the quilting!

Sherry’s been busy! She also made this beach bag just in time for such great weather!

Barbara made this amazing gift for her grandson using his hockey jerseys! She included a Sharks jersey, his favourite team! He will LOVE this!

While Heather gave her finished zigzag baby quilt away before the meeting, here are a couple of photos.

I couldn’t resist this final shot of Sonya’s tuffet and her stack of Whisper fabrics! I want to live at Sonya’s house!

** Note: The rainbow divider bars are details from Tara’s rainbow log cabin quilt.

What an exciting meeting we had today! So much going on and even some new faces! Settle in for a photo and information rich post!

Our co-chairs, Darla and Nicole, recapped the March meeting and made some announcements.

For those participating in the Riley Blake Challenge, the fabric finally arrived (much later than anticipated leaving only a month to meet the challenge deadline). The fabric will be distributed but there will no requirement to meet the deadline given the late arrival of the fabric.

If you are interested in road-tripping with other members to the Regina quilt show on Saturday, May 7, please email before May 1. The general plan is to leave around 9:00 a.m., have lunch in Regina, spend some time at the show followed by a little bit of shopping at some Regina fabric shops, and then back to Saskatoon … probably in time for dinner. Nicole is putting together a fun scavenger hunt for those who are going.

If you want to attend the Sewcial Day at Prairie Chicks in Warman on June 11 (9:30 to 5:30) and haven’t already signed up, please send Sheila an email.

Denyse brought the following announcement to the group:

N Jefferson Ltd, a wholesaler who provides notions to Century Textiles in Saskatoon, has announced a contest! Entrants must submit a mini quilt made with the theme “The Roaring 20’s”. Quilts will be judged on creativity and originality of design. First prize is $500 notions credit from Century Textiles,  second prize is $300 notions credit from Century Textiles, and 3rd prize is $200 notions credit from Century Textiles

• Quilts must have been completed between March 31 and June 30, 2016.
• Quilt size: no smaller than 12″ x 12″ and no larger than 24″ x 36″.
• Quilts may be quilted by hand, machine, or both.
• Quilts must be submitted via hi-res photo by Century Textiles

See the contest poster front here and the details here.

Heather circulated brochures and forms for those interested in submitting quilts for the Handmade Showcase at the Saskatoon Exhibition in August. If you are interested and need more information, please email Heather.

Donna, a new member who, in addition to being a quilter is also an engineer, has requested 6″ rainbow blocks that will be made into a quilt that will be drawn for at a conference in the fall with proceeds going to a yet to be chosen organization that supports women and children. She welcomes 6″ rainbow blocks (any interpretation of a rainbow) from anyone, not just our guild members. Please email Donna if you have any questions or would like to get some blocks to her. Feel free to use prints and/or solids.

Monika Kinner-Whalen, an embroidery artist, “Unravelled the Mysteries of Thread” for our members today. So interesting! She talked about different thread weights and their purpose and she talked about different types of threads … cotton, polyester, rayon, silk, etc. She talked about how thread is made and explained what “mercerized” and “double gassed” means and why it matters. She dispelled some of the myths many of us have about cotton vs polyester threads and encouraged us to experiment. There was a lot of useful information. Take a look at Monika’s website, My Sweet Prairie, and see the amazing thread painting she does!

Monika showed us her own very sweet little baby blanket. She re-discovered it a few years ago. It was quite shredded and falling apart so she carefully washed it, rebacked and rebinded it, and then put a layer of tulle over the front (to prevent further deterioration of the cottons that were falling apart) and used embellishing stitches over the whole thing. She then made a label to honour the woman, now gone, who made it for her. The little quilt now hangs on a wall in her home. What a great way to preserve something so dear.

She showed us how the polyester fabrics in the quilt have maintained their colour whereas the cotton fabrics have not only lost colour but some have all but disappeared. In the detail below, the 2nd block down is (was) cotton and the only thing left of it are some threads hanging on the edges. What you’re seeing is the batting!

Sheila announced details about a new guild activity! A BEE! We’ve never done one within our guild before. It should be fun! A sign-up sheet was passed around and Sheila will organize us all into hives, assign a Queen to each month and then the fun will begin. All details, once we have them, will be made available on the website under what will be a new “BEE” page. Watch for it.

Sheila showed us what will be her starter block for her bee. Blacks, whites, greys, with a hit of a colour.

Some members brought some BOOKS and BOLTS to share with the group.

Flo brought two books about free-motion quilting that she has been using to further expand her skills. “Free-Motion Machine Quilting” by Don Linn is, according to Flo, very good for FMQ beginners. Now that Flo is well beyond a beginner, she is particularly inspired by the book “Quilting Wide Open Spaces” by Judi Madsen. Flo is going to make one of the quilts in her book and then quilt each block as instructed by Judy. By the time she’s done, Flo will have mastered a lot of new FMQ designs! Other members confirmed that if you have a chance to do a workshop with Judi Madsen, it’s well worth it.

Lisa showed us a stack fat quarters she recently picked up on Massdrop … “because her husband liked them”! They are a Cloud 9 organic fabric: “Moody Blues” by Geninne, an artist from New Mexico perhaps best known for her painted birds. So pretty!

Sonya, too, had some beautiful fabric to show! Believe me, the photo doesn’t do them justice. The softness of some of them in particular is amazing! Buttery! They are, left to right …

• Kokka double gauze
• Andover purple chambray
• Striped linen (not sure of the details)
• Nani Iro double gauze
• Cotton and Steel rayon
• Cotton and Steel cotton lawn
• Liberty cotton lawn

Sheila and Heather both brought the magazine, “Make It! Patchwork (Summer 2016)“, which has several interesting projects in it. If you follow the above link, you’ll see photos of all the project in the issue. Heather also brought the magazine “Weekend Quilting, 2016“, with some nice projects in it, too. Heather bought both of hers at London Drugs and Sheila bought hers at Indigo. If you would like to borrow either of these magazines, please contact Heather.

And now, Show and Tell!

Sheila showed our Charity Quilt, which recently came back from being shown at QuiltCon in Pasadena. It will next be shown at the Regina quilt show and at the Saskatoon Exhibition’s Saskatchewan Art Showcase before making its way to Ronald MacDonald House where it will be given to someone who needs it.

Tarra showed us the sweet cover she made for her Quilter’s Diary. There are zippers and pockets and Tarra explained what she learned while making this and what she would do differently next time. The pattern includes sizes for different kinds of notebooks. Of course, that’s a “Tarra-made” dress she’s wearing!

Barbara showed us a quilt she recently made using a pattern in the book, “Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe“. Barbara’s favourite part is the free motion quilting and this quilt left lots of room for showcasing her quilting. She likes to make a matching pillow for her quilts.

Flo had two quilts to show. First her chevron quilt, which she said came together quite easily … until she decided to use some of the leftovers in a diagonal across the back. She said it was a real headache to figure out but it does look great.

Flo’s 2nd quilt is one she’s been working on for quite a while. She had decided that applique would be something she could do easily while she travels, which she does a lot of. And here is the result! Appliqued daffodil AND her first try at quilting fmq feathers! They look great, Flo!

Sheila made this vibrant paper-pieced butterfly and set in on an angle. It’s a gift that will be gone before our next meeting so this was our only opportunity to see it.

Heather showed a zig-zag baby quilt top that she recently finished. It’s a little large for a baby quilt, but that’s just what happened. She very bravely chose NOT to trim her HSTs and, tada, it all came together perfectly much to her surprise! She pieced the back just in time for the meeting. The baby is due any day, so she hopes to get the quilting done within the next week or two. Since it will, hopefully, be finished and delivered before the next meeting, she thought best to show what there is of it now.

Sonya made a beautiful new dress! Love the fireflies and the trim on the pockets! Adorable!

Patti (left) has been busy making a variety of bags. She made several sweet lined drawstring bags and a very cute and springy little purse!

Nicole made this mini very effectively using ombre fabric.

Sheila recently had a birthday and was gifted with some special things from members of the “birthday club”. She went gaga over these quiltish napkins and over the divided baskets Darla made using a Noodlehead pattern. Darla found the canvas for the outside of the baskets at Century Textiles in Saskatoon. There are so many other goodies Sheila got from the “birthday club” group! How fun! Happy birthday, Sheila!

And here we all are! What a great meeting!

Log cabin Quilt detail divider bar by Tarra