Quilt Show - Online Quilt Auction

The online auction is open now!  A beautiful piece of modern quilting can be yours!  Our members have rolled up their sleeves and pushed their creativity to the limit in this show's auction - The Birthstone Challenge!  Participating guild members were challenged to design and create a one-of-a-kind mini quilt using only the color of their birthstone and a limited amount of neutral color.  Check out the awe-inspiring results and bid on your favorite!  Also included in the auction are a selection of other quilty, member-made items that you are sure to love!

Auction link:  NWAMQG Online Auction

The Amazing Dee Bushrod visits NWAMQG!!!

Our guild hosted a very special guest speaker this month!  The fantastically talented Dee Bushrod of Pixel Quilts came by to give a wonderful presentation at our monthly meeting.  She showcased many of her extraordinary quilts and quilt dresses, regaled us with delightful stories, and gave us a sneak peak at her upcoming endeavors!!  Dee also taught a workshop the following day in which members created a wall hanging of her most recent pattern Cherry Blossom!  

A Fun Time Out in Bentonville at Market @ Record

     Members had a blast this past Saturday showcasing the quilting talents of our guild!  Member volunteers proudly displayed our Raffle Quilt and Birthstone Challenge Mini Quilts so that Market patrons could admire and appreciate the art of modern quilting.  Members also sold raffle tickets, handed out postcards for our upcoming All Modern Quilt Show (April 19-20) and online auction, and had a fantastic time with our youth engagement activity!  This was most certainly the highlight of the entire morning!  Children had so much fun creating their very own quilt blocks using fun colored fabric shapes glued to a coloring sheet.  We will most definitely be using this activity again in future events!

Just look at all those happy faces on these cute little future quilters!

    A great big thank you to all of our amazing members for volunteering their time and talents to make this a very special outreach event for our guild!

Outreach Event February 17th: Market @ Record in Bentonville

 Come join us for a morning of fun!!  On Saturday, February 17th, from 9 am - noon we will be hanging out at the Market @ Record located at 104 SW A Street in Bentonville.  Do you have questions about modern quilting?  Our dedicated members will be on site to answer all your questions.  Have you ever seen modern quilting in real life?  If not, you will be able to feast your eyes on amazing, locally made examples of modern quilting!  On display will be our gorgeous Raffle Quilt and a selection of mini quilts that will be up for auction at our All Modern Quilt Show in April.  Raffle tickets will be available for purchase and only cost $5/ticket!  More information on our Raffle Quilt can be found on the Quilt Show page at the top menu.  

This Beautiful Raffle Quilt can be Yours!

Member made mini quilts will be on display 

        

So come by and say hello, buy some raffle tickets 😉, and shop all the local goodies from the Market booths!  Have littles to entertain? No problem!  We will also have a supervised youth activity!  We can't wait to see you there!!

NWAMQG 2024 Community Quilt!

 This year the QuiltCon 2024 Community Outreach Challenge issued a theme of symmetry and a set colorway as depicted below.  Participating groups could use any interpretation of symmetry they desired and could only incorporate colors from the designated selection (as few or as many as they wished).  

The NWAMQG Community Quilt Committee rolled up their sleeves and got to work!  The final design "aimed to capture the essence of our community here in Northwest Arkansas, where cycling currently plays a significant growing role in our local culture.  The Razorback Greenway serves as a unifying thread, spanning 40 miles and offering a tapestry of world-class arts, culture, and recreational opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds.  The wheels in the design symbolize rotational symmetry and mirror the unity found along the trail.  Each of the background blocks, showcasing a scrappy design, was skillfully crafted by our dedicated members."  Please admire the gorgeous quilting completed by member Sonja Koch which creates a beautiful texture resembling topographical elevation lines.  This lovely piece of NWA will proudly hang at QuiltCon 2024 in February!

New Board Takes Over on September 1st

 The following officers will take over their board positions on September 1st:

President - Brina Smith

Vice Presidents - Elizabeth Ray & Christina Lee

Treasurer - Sheena Johnson

Secretary - Tessa Davis

Thanks to the following committee members who will continue to serve:

Membership - Jeanie Allen
Charity Programs - Toni Fenton and Kathy Collins
Quilt Show Chair  - Tessa Davis
Social Media - Leeanna Walker
Retreat - Jeanie Allen

Vote to be held at the August Meeting

 The two-year term for officers is coming to an end.  We will vote on new officers at our August meeting on Tuesday, the 15th.  These new officers will take over  in September for a two year term, running from September 2023 through August 2025.

July Meeting Location

Southside Church of Christ will be having Vacation Bible School and using our regular meeting room on July 18th.  Our meeting will still be held at the church, but it will be in the back building/gym, where we have our All Modern Quilts show. 

Bind Your Own Business

 The March meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 21st at 6:00pm.  Doors will open at 5:30.  Several members will present on varying methods of binding or finishing a quilt.  Do you have a unique method, a tip or a trick that could be helpful to others?  There will be a sharing time at the end of the presentations.  Don't forget to bring your Show 'n Tell.  If you have a unique or interesting binding you would like to share, we would love to see it as well.

Birthstone Challenge 2023 Has Been Issued

 The auction for our All Modern Quilts Show 2024 will be comprised of the quilts made for the 2023 Birthstone Challenge.  Each quilt should be an original design, no kits or commercial patterns, although you may use a design element or inspiration from someone else.  Your challenge quilt should be between 12"-20" per side.  The following chart shows the approximate color for each month's birthstone.  A minimal amount of neutral color may be incorporated in your design.  Prints may be used that include other colors, but all fabric should read as your birth month's color.  Quilts must be finished, including the quilting and binding, by the October 17th meeting.

November Holiday Party

 Our November Holiday Party will be this coming Tuesday, November 15th @ 6:00 pm.  Please remember to bring your handmade gift for our exchange and a tasty treat for our potluck dinner.

Folded Ornaments Program

Updated to include handouts and links to tutorials: October's program will be on folded ornaments and will be presented by our own Melissa Belman and Christina Lee.  The ladies say they are more than happy for you to observe if you would like to make ornaments later at home.  However, for those that would like to follow along with the demonstration and leave with a couple of ornaments, please bring the following supplies.

If a few folks can bring irons/pressing mats and starch, we won't need them much but it helps the process!  And if anyone has hemostats, needle nose pliers, or tweezers (not a requirement either, but they are helpful).

Woven Star

- 2 or 4 different prints of fabric that meet the following sizes.  The larger stars are EASIER to make.

Star Sizes	Width	Length (can be approx)
tiny	2.5" wide	9" long
small	3" wide	11" long
medium	3.5" wide	13" long
large	4" wide	14" long

Handout

No Sew Quilted Ornaments

3 contrasting jelly roll strips OR

- 8 - 2.5" x 2.5" squares of ONE fabric

- 16 - 2.5" x 2.5" squares of TWO fabrics

Handout

Tutorial #1

Tutorial #2

All other supplies will be provided by the guild!

Education Stations at the September Meeting

 Our september meeting was a great success with 5 members sharing various tips and tricks for everyday and special projects:

Kathy Garringer discussed a machine binding technique that can give you perfectly sewn, mitered binding corners.  She got this tip from the Flourishing Palms Blog  If you weren't at the meeting read the tutorial and give this a try.  If you were at the meeting, this is the link in case you miss place your handout.

Melissa Belman had a great discussion on the use of zippers and zipper tape.  She introduced us all to the world of zipper tape and zipper pulls.  Take a look at her handout here.

Natalie McCrory talked with us about seam ripping, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  She had a lot of great tips about ways to approach ripping a seam so as not to distort your fabric, and had a great variety of tools to share with us. 

Jelyn Thomas shared a technique with us to make 4 flying geese blocks at a time.  She shared a formula so that you can calculate the starting sizes of your pieces no matter which size of geese you need.  You can also check out the Flying Geese Quilt Block Tutorial by Homemade Emily Jane on YouTube.

Sheila Kauffman had a fun gift or party idea for creating wine glass coasters. These are an easy way for each person to recognize their own wine glass if they set it down, and protects your furniture at the same time.