Category Archive Blog

Ready for a fun Mini Swap?!

Our friends with the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild have invited us to join them in a mini swap. This will be a great way to make new friends with our Vegas counterparts. The theme for this mini swap is Rainbow. Each SLMQG participant will make a mini for a LVMQG participant and vice versa.

We (the SLMQG participants) will be turning in minis at the October 17th meeting, where board members will ship in one package down to the LVMQG board. We will receive the minis from the LVMQG and handout during our November 17th meeting. If you can’t make one or both of those meetings but still want to participate, don’t worry…you still can. We can work out alternative drop offs and pick ups with you.

Here’s all the information you need for the Las Vegas + Salt Lake Mini Swap:

Mini Swap Timeline and Important Dates:

Deadline to sign up – July 14th
Deadline to post mosaic on Instagram – August 1st
Deadline to finish mini – October 17th (bring to October meeting)
You will be receive your mini at the November meeting – November 17th

How to Sign Up

Please comment yes and include your instagram username on a post in our private facebook group for members only.

Mini Quilt Swap Guidelines:

• This will be a secret swap, so Sally Seamstress from SLMQG will make a quilt for Nancy Notions from LVMQG who will in turn make a quilt for Teresa Thimble from SLMQG, and so on.
• This swap will be open to Salt Lake MQG members of all skill levels – as long as you can make a mini quilt, you can join!
• RAINBOW is the theme.
• Read this post on swap etiquette for some guidelines.
• When you sign up, we’ll ask you for your Instagram username so that the person making you a package can find out what you like.
• Post an Instagram mosaic to show off some of your favorite quilt styles.
• Please keep the deadline (October 17th) in mind when you sign up. We are giving plenty of time, so you have no excuse to be late!
• The size is up to you, but the max on any given side should be no larger than 20”.
• Swap extras are not required, but are not banned either. It is entirely up to you.
• Please package your mini (and any extras, if including) with your name and the name of the recipient clearly marked.
• Please post pictures on Instagram when you receive your quilt swap package.
• HAVE FUN!

DID YOU SEE THIS?

Have you seen the June Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month? It’s called Diamond in the Rough by our very own Christine Ricks. Click here for the block and paper piecing lessons.

To top it off, Christine also designed the June Quilt of the Month called Halfervecent! Click here for pattern details. SLMQG member Barbie Mills (The Quilting Mill) did all the amazing quilting. Check out her instagram feed here for more pictures.

Thank you to everyone who came out last month and helped us stitch up some charity quilt blocks! We managed to sew together one quilt top from previously completed blocks and sew together more than a dozen scrappy trip blocks.

Stitchin’ Up a Sweat!

If you missed out or want to make more, we will have fabric strip sets ready to sew together at our next Saturday Sew (July 8th) or you can make them on your own and bring to a future meeting (see below for more information on how to make the blocks).

We also had a fun show and tell.

Don’t forget – next month we have our annual fabric dyeing event on Saturday July 29th, which will replace our typical July meeting. That means NO meeting Thursday, July 20th. Instead, mark your calendars for Saturday, July 29th. More details to come on our Facebook events page.

CHARITY BLOCKS
We have the perfect charity block solution to destash your stash – Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks! These blocks whip up in no time and each block only requires 6 – 2.5″ x 16″ strips of fabric. Follow this tutorial here. Quick Note: We’d like our blocks to have a solid black or dark gray center strip (which is the brown strip in the tutorial block).

UPCOMING EVENTS

Next Guild Meeting – Saturday, July 29^th Annual Fabric Dyeing. More details soon on our Facebook events page.

Next Saturday Sew Day – Saturday, July 8^th from 10-3pm at Pine Needles (1100 W 7800 S #29, West Jordan, UT 84088). We will have charity strip blocks ready for you to sew, or bring a UFO, start something new, and get inspired!

Las Vegas MQG + SLMQG Mini Swap – Early fall. Let us know if you would like to participate.

2017 SLMQG Retreat – It’s going to happen this year! Mark your calendar: September 14-16, 2017, Bear Lake. The retreat is open to all SLMQG members. Join us for a stitchin-fun time! Click here for more information and to sign up.

Next up in our Member Spotlight series, meet Jaime Casselbury! Jaime always brings a smile and a fresh edge to our quilty community. Read on to get up close and personal with Jaime. 

Jaime Casselbury, Quilty Stats:
Instagram handle: jmzblond
Favorite quilty trend (obsession): Rainbows
Favorite color: Rainbows

Q: How did you get started quilting?

A: I got started sewing with my grandmother. She made the old-fashioned tied quilts. I only sewed clothes for my Barbies back then, but that led to costumes and pieced quilts. My tastes didn’t jive with the traditional fabrics and settings and that led me to the modern world.

Q: Favorite sewing notion?

A: Wonder clips! I don’t think I can make a project without them and am loving that they come in a rainbow of colors now.

Q: What’s on your design wall?

 Q: What do you stitch with?

 Q: Favorite quilty trend?

A: My favorite quilts trend would have to be rainbows. Is that a trend? I love them!

 Q: Favorite quilty personality?

A: Angela Walters! She is amazing on air and fantastic in person.

Q: Any quilty techniques you want to learn or try out?

A: I recently taught myself to thread baste hexies. Doesn’t sound like much but I’ve used glue since the beginning and it’s much more time consuming to go needle+thread. I’m looking to tackle the Violet Craft EPP Lion next.

Q: What are some of your favorite projects you finished?

Q: Do you retreat?

A: First retreat was the first Sewtopia here in SLC. That’s where I met peeps from the SLMQG (!!!!!) and I’ve been to every one since.

Q: What are your favorite non-quilt projects to make?

A: Outside of quilts I love making bags. I’ve made lots of pouches and a few harder bags, including the infamous Weekender by Amy Butler.

Saturday Sew was a fun and productive day. Pine Needles quilt shop has such a wonderful space for creating. Mark your calendars – our next Saturday Sew is July 8th. Join us for fun, laughter, and stitching fun.

May was our annual guild Mini Swap. Thanks to everyone who made it and participated.

The May Quilt of the Month, free for Modern Quilt Guild members, L is For… by Sarah Ruiz. Click here for instructions.

CHARITY BLOCKS
We have the perfect charity block solution to destash your stash – Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks! These blocks whip up in no time and each block only requires 6 – 2.5″ x 16″ strips of fabric. Follow this tutorial here. Quick Note: We’d like our blocks to have a solid black or dark gray center strip (which is the brown strip in the tutorial block).

UPCOMING EVENTS

Next Guild Meeting – Thursday, June 15^th from 7-9pm at the Handi Quilter building (501 N 400 W, North Salt Lake, UT 84054). Charity Sew Night: Looking to use up some of your stash? Bring your scraps and sewing machines and help us sew up some blocks for our charity quilts.

Next Saturday Sew Day – Saturday, July 8^th from 10-3pm at Pine Needles (1100 W 7800 S #29, West Jordan, UT 84088).

Las Vegas MQG + SLMQG Mini Swap – this summer/early fall. Let us know if you would like to participate.

2017 SLMQG Retreat – It’s going to happen this year! Mark your calendar: September 14-16, 2017, Bear Lake. The retreat is open to all SLMQG members. Join us for a stitch fun time! Click here for more information and to sign up.

We’re launching a new blog post series, Member Spotlight, to get to know each other better and share quilty inspiration. To get us started, we caught up with JaNean Frandsen, a staple in the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild. 

JaNean Frandsen, Quilty Stats:
Instagram handle: janeanfrandsen
Quilty experience: 9 years
Favorite block (obsession): Swoon
Favorite color: Purple

Q: How did you get started quilting?

A: I started quilting in 2008, after I saw a Fons and Porter episode with a quilt I actually liked. My grandmother quilted, but she was very traditional and most of the designs/fabric she liked didn’t appeal to me. After I saw that episode I found modern quilting, and fell in love with it. I haven’t looked back since. I originally thought it would be a way for me to give meaningful gifts inexpensively (HA!), but I have since learned my lesson.

Q: What are your favorite quilts you’ve done?

A: My favorite quilt I have ever made changes all the time. Here are a few of my favorites though. Swoon is probably my all-time favorite quilt block. I have made 6 swoon quilts!

Q: How many quilts have you started? Finished?

A: I am a lousy record keeper. From the top of my head I have gifted 12 quilts, made 15 that we still own, and at least 12 mini quilts. I’m sure there are more, but I don’t remember them all. I have a lot of works in progress, probably 6 quilts cut out and ready to go, 1 lifetime project, and 3 finished quilt tops that need to be quilted. I LOVE choosing fabric for a project and cutting it out, so I always have to have lots of projects cut out. I used to just sew one project at a time, but I sometimes need a break from something so I have to have multiple things ready to go so I don’t get too bored.

Q: What do you love most about quilting?

A: My very favorite part of quilting is pulling fabric and cutting out patterns. I also love hand binding and pulling freshly laundered quilts from the dryer. Mostly I just love the whole thing. I love sewing it all together, points that match (they make me giggle), and seeing fabric transform into usable art. I DETEST basting. I wish that part did itself, and that step is why I usually send out my quilts to be quilted elsewhere. I also usually make BIG quilts, so I don’t usually quilt them myself unless they are smaller.

Q: You started an Etsy shop, tell us about it.

A: I started Modern Studio Fabrics in October of 2014 and originally wanted to make coordinated bundles for people in any cut they wanted. That didn’t take off like I hoped, so last May I changed my focus to Basics. I wanted to be the shop you thought of when you needed the perfect background fabric, linen, or cross weave/shot cotton. It has been so much fun to help out customers and make their quilts something special.

I have some news though, and you might as well be the first to know. I will be closing up shop at the end of the summer. I’m in a different phase of life at the moment and the shop doesn’t fit into my new plans, so I will be letting it go. I will miss helping people get just the right fabric (and getting new fabric for myself!), but it’s time for me to move on to other ventures. The good news is I will be having several sales over the next few months to reduce my inventory, so there will be lots of good deals to go around

Q: When did you join the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild?

A: I can’t remember exactly when I joined SLMQG, but I believe it was either late 2012 or early 2013. I joined the board as historian in 2014, and I moved to treasurer in 2015 and this will be my third year in that position. I have LOVED guild so much. Our monthly meetings have inspired me to become a better quilter, to push myself and work harder to improve my skills. I love having a deadline every month to work for so I can show my work to the rest of the guild. The people are incredible and I have learned so much from everyone, about quilting and life in general. I adore my quilting friends. I don’t think there is a more kind and generous group of people anywhere.

Q: Any quilty techniques you want to learn or try out?

A: As far as techniques, I am trying to do more curved piecing this year as well as working with templates. Most of the time I learn as I go when I try out new patterns. I have only attended a few classes, so I am mostly self-taught. I have no patience when it comes to waiting to learn something, so if I want to do something, I figure it out. I am hoping to increase my design skills in the future as well. I change or modify almost every pattern I come across, and it would be fun to improve my skill set so I can make my own patterns and designs.

Q: Are you brave enough to show us a picture of your quilting space?

A: Sure thing