Program reminder - February 22, 2016 !!

Upcoming program reminder, for next Monday, February 22,2016. Be sure to join us and be a life long learner!!  You will be able to brush up or learn a new twist on techniques you may already know or dabble your feet in a new technique you've always been drawn to at our February program:

School House Techniques

5 groups will rotate for 12 minute sessions

1. Barb Schippa - Hand Applique 101

2. Mary Voss - Half square triangles 

3. Kathy Mueller - Flying geese

4. Barb Bredemeier - Binding and more

5. Kris Kennedy - Twice as nice clever cutting techniques

Check in and social time begins at 6:30, the program begins at 7:00. Bring a friend that loves to quilt, and something for SHOW & TELL.

AND......as always in west Michigan in winter, watch the blog and Facebook in case we have classic lake effect weather. Our board watches this very close in order to keep our members safe.  

Happy quilting!!

Barb Schippa

BRQG Secretary

Sew-in and 2016 UFO program

President Pat Navis opened the meeting at 6:05 with the following business:

Pat reminded everyone that our February program is School House Techniques

5 groups will rotate for 12 minute sessions

1. Barb Schippa - Hand Applique 101

2. Mary Voss - Half square triangles 

3. Kathy Mueller - Flying geese

4. Barb Bredemeier - Binding and more

5. Kris Kennedy - Twice as nice clever cutting techniques 

April/Ann Lovelace program and workshop will be held in the lodge. All 24 spaces are now filled!

Kathy will provide start time and supply list at our February program

“Red & White” challenge quilts due – We have 2 size and style categories: Small – anything below a total of 216” total (outside dimension) and Large – anything above 216” total (outside dimension)

The two style categories remain the same – Traditional and Art/Modern, so you can enter 4 quilts, a small and large Traditional style, and a small and large Art/Modern.  Entry forms and challenge requirements are available tonight, as well as emailed to all members. For now…….get quilting!

OTHER:

Janet Haines volunteered to be webmaster. The position will be added as a board member. Barb Schippa nominated her and Kathy Mueller seconded the nomination, with the group voting for.  Welcome Janet, and thank you for volunteering your expertise.

Pat announced future program will have refreshments, and ask for volunteers, such as bees, or individuals

Carmen Smith volunteered for February

Name tags can be purchased for $12, or you can make your own.

Tulip Time Quilt Show forms are available.                                                                       

No drawing for door prizes this month as it’s a regular sew in night.

Kathy asked each UFO participant to sign up if 1) we were exchanging our project or 2) committing to finish them. Either way, we need to complete the project by October 2016. Kathy will advise details for the unveiling later. Meanwhile, each person showed their project and told a little background about it…..their initial inspiration, what they liked, or…..why they stopped and never finished. We could all relate to unfinished projects, and so many of them were SO CLOSE!!  Here’s a snippet of our humble beginnings.  Can’t wait to see what these 5 brave souls do with their swapped projects! Sorry for the blur, but you ask a quilter holding fabric to stand still, and its not going to happen!

Pat adjourned the program around 7:15 and we continued with our informal sew in time

Monday, January 25, 2016 Program Reminder!!

REMINDER OF OUR NEXT PROGRAM:

When - Monday, January 25, 2016 6:00 - 9:00 PM 

Where - The lodge at Beechwood Church

Program - combined Sew-In (bring your sewing) and postponed December 28 program (bring your UFO's for a new challenge)

Additional reminders for January 25 -

......renew your annual BRQG membership if you haven't already

......sign up for the April 25 Ann Loveless workshop 

......pick up your Red and White challenge entry forms and rules 

NOTE - be sure to watch Facebook, the blog and your email for weather alerts or closings

Quilt Surface Design Symposium 2016

Attention fellow quilters! The 2016 Quilt Surface Design Symposium is sponsoring 4 sessions beginning May 30 thru June 12, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. Classes will be held at the Columbus College of Art and Design, adjacent to the Columbus Museum of Art and a quick drive to the Short North Arts District, the hub of Columbus art and social scene.  Classes will be taught by globally known teachers, in art quilting, surface design, hand and machine sewing, composition, color theory, embroidery, fabric dyeing, multimedia and much more.

Classes are open to all skill levels. Artists interested in textile arts and related media gather from around the globe in a creative atmosphere of intensive learning in a supportive and sharing environment.  If you’d like to push the boundaries of textile craft and fine arts, these classes may be for you! For more information, complete class list and registration information check out www.qsds.com .

If you are interested in sharing rides or rooms, post your request on our Big Red Quilters Guild Facebook page.

Program cancellation!!!!!!!

Note - tonight's meeting has been cancelled due to the weather advisory.  The program has been postponed until Monday, January 25, when we will combine our year end UFO's Program with our normally scheduled SEW-IN at the Lodge at Beechwood Church.  The lodge will open at 6:00 PM that evening.  Hope to see you then!

Meanwhile....... stay in, stay warm, stay safe.....and keep quilting!

Barb Schippa
BRQG Secretary

Ann Loveless, 2 time ArtPrize Winning Quilter is coming!

Ann Loveless Is Coming in April...........

At the Dec. 28 meeting, members of the Big Red Quilters Guild will have their first opportunity to sign up for our April workshop with Ann Loveless. Ann is the two-time winner of Art Prize with her wonderful landscape quilts. We are so excited to bring her to our guild.

Ann will be lecturing to our guild the evening of April 25, 2016. During that day she will be teaching a class on Impressionistic Art Quilts. We will work from a photograph (hers or ours) and make a 14”X18” quilt by cutting and layering fabrics under polyester tulle. Cost for members is $50.00 and for nonmembers $60.00. There is a limit of 24 participants. Members will have first priority until after our February 22, 2016 meeting. A waiting list of nonmembers will be kept. Payment is due by Feb.22 by members and upon acceptance into the class by non-members and members registering after Feb.22.

Snowbirds, and other members unable to attend the Dec. 28th meeting, may register by sending the form below and payment to Kathy Mueller, 1732 Red Stem Drive, Holland, MI 49424.

Name_________________________________________________________

Tel.________________________ 

E-mail__________________________________

Member________ Non-member_______ Paid____________________

Upcoming Meetings

February 22 2016 – Techniques Carnival Skilled members of our own guild will be teaching a variety of quilting skills. Each presenter will be at a small table and members will circulate to learn each skill.

April 25, 2016 – Ann Loveless class and lecture!!!!!!! Sign up begins this month

June 27, 2016 – The Big Reveal of the Red and White Quilt Challenge Keep working on those quilts!!!.

Please mark these dates on your calendar and remember to bring a friend.

Join us for our YEAR END Celebration

....Monday, December 28th, Big Red Quilters Guild meeting at Beechwood Reformed Church.

NOTE CHANGES IN START TIME:

    6:30 - 7:00 PM Social time

    7:00 PM Program begins

Membership renewal was due in October, if you haven't done so already.

The hubbub of Christmas will be over and we’ll still have 3 days left till New Year’s Eve. So let’s get together for a relaxing evening of friendship and fun. No need to dress up, unless you must wear that silly holiday sweater one more time. So come in your sweats or jeans or even in your warm jammies, if you want. We’ll be our own entertainment for this evening, so we hope everyone comes prepared to participate. If you don’t participate, then you are in charge of applause.

In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, we ask each quilter to bring one or two UFO quilts that they commit to getting finished this year. You know you all have at least one. It’s that quilt that gave you trouble, the one that frustrated you, the one that was set aside when a cuter quilt came along, the one that you didn’t have enough fabric to finish. Your project must be more than just a collection of fabric. There must be evidence of both cutting and sewing. You should include the fabrics you have set aside for the project but do not have to add enough material to finish if your planning has not gotten that far.

It’s time to get that UFO out from under the bed or in the bottom of the closet. Bring it to the meeting and tell us about it. Don’t be embarrassed, every quilter has made a disaster; at least you recognize yours. We’ll be laughing with you, not at you. You’ll have a chance to decide to finish your quilt or… hear the drum beat here…trade it for another member’s UFO quilt.

If you trade away your quilt, there are no strings attached. The new owner may slash and dice, dye or bleach, print over, rip and resew. She can add or remove fabric and finish her new quilt any way she wishes. We will take “before” pictures of each quilt with its new and old owners. We’ll use those pictures on the night we reveal the new and improved project.

The due date is up in the air. It will be after the June meeting which is set aside for the reveal of the “Red and White Challenge.” We plan for a speaker in either August or October. The “Return of the UFO’s” will take place on the alternate night.

If there are any members who want to participate in the UFO project but cannot make the Dec. meeting you may send a project along with a friend. Or you can contact me (Kathy Mueller 399-4685). If you send a project, you must be willing to accept a trade we choose for you.