The Saskatoon MQG gathered on January 28 for a productive sew day at Home Inn & Suites in Stonebridge. To kick off the meeting, we engaged in an ice breaker discussing “What do you like least about quilting?” Common challenges included tasks like burying threads, dealing with bindings, stitch ripping, sandwiching the quilts, setting up temporary sewing spaces in condos, piecing together backing fabrics, the frustration of being on a roll and having to stop, searching for fabrics, accepting imperfections, the need for organization, squaring up blocks, cutting fabric, the fear of fabrics bleeding, matching up points in pinwheels, pressing of full quilt tops, and the presence of languishing UFOs. This serves as great inspiration for future education topics. Perhaps we can explore solutions to alleviate some of these common quilting hurdels.

Anne demonstrated how to use an Accuquilt Go Cutter and dies. Personally, I’ve set my sights on creating a tumbler quilt and see how the machine will make that smoother. Then Laura took the floor to present a number of challenges for our guild to try. Rest assured, participation in these challenges is entirely voluntary. We selected “Scrappy Words” which will continue to November. We encourage you to show the progress of your projects through the year . The concept, borrowed from Victoria Modern Guild, challenges us to make a quilt using scraps and revolves around our own chosen word of the year.

Anyone interested may also participate in the Ugly Fabric Challenge that will run from February to April. If interested, bring a fat quarter of your ugly fabric in a plastic Ziplock baggie with your name written on the front of it next meeting. You will go home with someone else’s ugly fabric and the challenge is to create something using that fabric and fabrics of your own. Be creative such as making a pouch, a mini quit, a bag, a casserole cover, a journal cover, a hot pad or whatever. At the end of the challenge, wrap it up, bring it back and present it to the original owner.

So much eye candy this month. See some of this in the photos.

The next sew day at Home Inn & Suites is February 25. We are now taking reservations for the retreat on March 23 and 24. And membership fees are due by February 29 as we have a waiting list to join our guild. Happy sewing!

The Saskatoon MQG met on November 26 for a sew day at Home Inn & Suites in Stonebridge. We started the meeting with the ice breaker of “What kind of chair do you use for sewing?” This was inspired by Roxanne’s wobble cushion (balance disc). I know I am going to buy one to see if this strengthens my core muscles while sewing. I fear that I may fall off my chair though.

We held our annual elections. I will finish out my final year as co-chair with Anne, Margaret will continue as treasurer, and Sherry will continue in the social role. Plus!!!! Roxanne will take over education, Laura will lead swaps and challenges, Bonnie will do the retreat, and Nancy will help with these posts. Thanks everyone!

Wanda from Serendipity Quilts was a guest today. Since the 1990’s, this group has donated approximately 350 quilts per year throughout Saskatoon. They require a new leader, people to sew, donations of fabric and batting, donated quilt tops, help piecing quilt tops with fabric packages they can provide, quilting services, and sewing of bindings. If you are looking to volunteer in any way, please reach out to saskatoonmqg@gmail.com and we will connect you to this group.

Laura did a very inspirational talk about improv quilting. She shared how her impatience for following patterns turned into a love of improv quilting. Her style is abstract, geometric and minimalist, and she likes to use solids. She pieces both quilt fronts and backs so both sides looked great. And she has experimented with quilting rulers too. A few quilters in improv are: Josef Albers, Sherri Lynn Wood, Nicholas Ball, and Cindy Grisdela. A design wall is a must for quilters as these designs may take some thinking and playing with. She encouraged us to try on-line resources such as the 30 day improv quilt-a-long with Shannon Fraser and Broadcloth studios. Check out #30DaysOfImprovQAL on instagram. Or just search on “improv” and so many resources will appear. A colour wheel can be a huge help. Also, try to get rid of using rulers except for squaring up your final projects. Other sources of inspiration can be multi-colour prints, tiles, and so on. There are no mistakes. Don’t be afraid to play an if you don’t like what you make, walk away and think on it, or just cut it up and keep playing!

Next we did our share around the circle. Patterns included Scrappy Trip around the World, Diamonds by Krista Moser, Busy Bee by Laura Heine and Crooked Christmas Tree paper piecing by Jittery Wings. Sadly Linda’s white bag got cut off in the photo. It is made with shelf liner from Dollarama! What a great suggestion.

There are only 2 weeks until we meet for our sew day and holiday party. This will be a sew day at Home Inn & Suites too. It is optional to participate in the gift exchange that will happen at 1 p.m. Please bring sweets to share at 1 p.m. too. There will be no formal meeting, just holiday fun!