Dec 31, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month, Color Theory, Evening Meeting
The January evening meeting is:
Thursday, January 3 from 6 pm – 8:30 pm
Alfalfa’s Market
785 E South Boulder Rd
Louisville, CO 80027
Laura L. and Rebecca will be presenting on Color Theory. We will be discussing the fundamentals of color theory, color harmonies, and color context, and talking more about the 2019 Boulder MQG Color Study BOM.
If you have a color wheel, please bring it. It will be useful for following along and some exercises we have planned.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the 2018 BoulderMQG BOM! We’ve seen so many amazing variations of the blocks and are excited to see some finished quilts! If you missed it, Laura L. put together a great post with final layout options.
As you finish up your blocks, make sure you’re still using the hashtag #bouldermqgbom18 and tagging us @bouldermqg when posting your blocks on Instagram!
There’s still time to sign up for the 2019 UFO challenge, we’ve extended the registration deadline.
Signups for the 2019 Round Robin are open now through January 27. You can find the rules and sign up in the Member Area.
We hope all of you have a great New Year and we’ll see you at the meeting Thursday!
Dec 30, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month, 2019 Block of the Month, Color Theory
We had so much fun with our 2018 BoulderMQG Block of the Month challenge last year that we decided to run another monthly make challenge this year! There will be some differences between last year and this year. Last year, every month we put out a new block tutorial with instructions for cutting and sewing a 12” block. You can still find all the 2018 monthly tutorials on the blog, here. This year, we will be putting out prompts for fabric selection based on our 2019 theme, color theory.
Some of the questions we hear repeatedly are; how do you select the best colors for a quilt, and how do you pick the right fabrics for a quilt? Each month on the blog you will get a brief lesson relating to the color study of the month. You will then select the fabrics that relate to the prompt to use in your monthly block. Instead of providing a block construction tutorial each month, we want you to select the same block to make every month that can support the change in fabrics based on the prompt.
THE BLOCKS
You will want to pick a block that has between 6-10 changeable components, and an element (center or background fabric) that remains the same for every month. This will tie the quilt together at the end of the year. Some great blocks that would work are, sawtooth star, wonky star, 9-patch, string blocks, log cabin or courthouse steps variation, pineapple, flying geese circle, or a variety of other paper pieced blocks. You could even piece an improv block (or section of your quilt if you’re not a block quilter) each month following the prompt. We really want you to make this quilt your own by selecting a block as simple or as complex as you think you will have time to make each month. We do recommend that you make 12”-15” finished blocks to end up with a lap size quilt. Adjust your block size accordingly if you wish to have a smaller or larger quilt when the project is complete.
Here are some great block options:
Sawtooth Star Tutorial from Diary of a Quilter – Various sizes from 4″ – 20″
Log Cabin Tutorial from The Seasoned Homemaker – 12.5″ block
Churn Dash Tutorial from The Seasoned Homemaker – 12.5″ block
Circle of Geese Pattern by Piece by Number – 12″ block
Wonky Cross Tutorial from The Crafty Mummy – 10″ block
THE QUILT
To give you an idea of what your 2019 BoulderMQG Block of the Month Color Study quilt might look like, we’ve provided some digital versions with some of the suggested blocks. (Our sewn sample quilt was made from 9-patch blocks mostly from Hoffman Indah Batiks and Michael Miller Couture Cotton, with Kona white sashing.)
THE FABRIC
As far as fabric goes, we suggest that you have at least a fat eighth each of no less than 12 different colors in true hue; red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, and red-violet. And you need at least 3-8 fabrics to represent value, and 3-6 to represent neutrals. Plus any background fabric that will remain the same in each block or be used during final assembly of your quilt.
You don’t have to use solid fabrics, but we do advise that you pick a true hue of each color. A hue is a color in it’s true saturated form. You may also want to add tints and shades (lighter or darker, but not gray tones/less saturated colors) of several of the colors. If you are working with prints, not solids, you could pull a couple prints of each color. Of course, exact amounts of fabric are dependent on the block you select and the size of quilt you want to end up with. Here are some fabric pull samples to give you an idea of what to look for in your stash.
Pictured: Indah Batiks, Cotton & Steel, low volume, and basic blenders.
We are excited about providing the opportunity for BoulderMQG members and friends to sharpen their fabric selection skills and brush up on color theory! Join along and post your blocks each month using the hashtag #bouldermqgcolorstudy19
Dec 12, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month
If you have been participating in our 2018 Block of the Month, you have finally made it to the end. Congratulations! Thank you for playing along. We’ve really enjoyed seeing everyone make each block their own by color choices and fabric selection.
Now that you have 12 blocks, it’s time to figure out how to put them together. Just as each person selects their own fabrics for the blocks, we would love to see unique ways of assembling your BOM sampler quilts. Therefore, we are not providing any instructions or measurements for assembling your blocks into a quilt. Instead, we are providing some examples of ways to consider laying out your quilt.
We’re pretty sure you have seen the 2018 Block of the Month sample quilt that was assembled before the year began. You are welcome to use this as inspiration for your final quilt assembly. However, we are not providing any yardage requirements or cutting instructions. Please also consider using one of the many other ways to assemble your final quilt layout.
We have put together a few examples of our favorites to show you here using the blocks from this year’s tutorials. Unless you want a small baby quilt, you will need to add a significant amount of background fabric, 2-3 yards, to your quilt layout. You can find more ideas and inspirations on our Block of the Month Pinterest board, under the “Sampler Layout Ideas” section. Please be sure to check that out, even just for color placement and fabric inspiration.
First, we are showing some layouts that offer an opportunity to use multiple background fabrics and little negative space without making more blocks. By assembling the blocks in rows with background stripes, you can use fabrics that appear in your blocks to pull the quilt together. You could also take a more regular approach to your layout and construct square-in-square blocks. We have shown this option in a checker pattern, but you could also make it scrappy.
Next, we are showing several ways to use negative space with your BOM blocks. Each of these layouts gives a very modern feeling. Two of these layouts use multiple background fabrics to create stripes. The effect can be bold or subtle.
Last, we are showing a way to layout your blocks considering an alternative grid. The first example uses both an alternative grid and negative space to create an interesting block layout. The last example turns the blocks on point to create an alternative grid and also uses multiple background fabrics to create a stripe effect.
However you end up assembling your quilt, we are sure it will turn out wonderful! Please continue to share your quilt progress on Instagram with the hashtag #bouldermqgbom18. We want to see final layouts, re-made blocks, catch up blocks, and finished quilts! All of the tutorials will still be available on the blog. Thank you again to everyone who participated in our 2018 Block of the Month challenge, you have filled our year with inspiration and purpose.
Dec 6, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month, Tutorial
We’ve finally made it! After completing this block you will have 12 blocks that will finish at 12” each. Congratulations on making it to the end. Next week we will have our final post on assembling your BOM quilt!
Our December block is a nice and easy block featuring HST units. Please reference our paired HST tutorial for detailed instructions.
We recommend using 5 fabrics.
Step 1
Cut pieces from your chosen fabrics.
Fabric A – White:
(8) 4” squares for HST units
Fabric B:
(2) 4” squares for HST units
Fabric C:
(2) 4” squares for HST units
Fabric D:
(2) 4” squares for HST units
Fabric E:
(2) 4” squares for HST units
Units needed for December block:
(4) 3.5” A/B HST units
(4) 3.5” A/C HST units
(4) 3.5” A/D HST units
(4) 3.5” A/E HST units
Step 2
Assemble (2) pairs each of A/B, A/C, A/D, and A/E HST units. Trim to 3.5”.
Reference our paired HST tutorial for detailed instructions.
Step 3
Arrange block layout.
Step 4
Assemble block in rows or quadrants. This is a standard 16-patch construction.
Step 5
Trim block to 12.5” square.
Boulder MQG members can download a PDF of the pattern in the member area.
Play along with us and make sure you share your blocks so we can see your progress! On Instagram use #bouldermqgbom18 and tag us @bouldermqg On Facebook share your blocks on the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild page.We may even share your blocks on our blog, Facebook, or Instagram!
Nov 2, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month, Tutorial
Our November block is a quick and easy Zigzag Path. This block uses a single center square and HST units. Please reference our paired HST tutorial for detailed instructions.
We recommend using at least 3 fabrics. If you need help planning out your colors, you can download a coloring sheet for the whole quilt here.
Step 1
Cut pieces from your chosen fabrics.
Fabric A (white):
(3) 5” squares for HST units
Fabric B (yellow):
(3) 5” squares for HST units
Fabric C (pink):
(2) 5” squares for HST units
(1) 4.5” square
Units needed for Zigzag Path block:
(2) 4.5” A/C HST units
(2) 4.5” B/C HST units
(4) 4.5” A/B HST units
(1) C 4.5” square
Step 2
Assemble (1) pair A/C, (1) pair B/C, and (2) pairs A/B HST units from 5” squares. Trim to 4.5”.
Reference paired HST tutorial for detailed instructions.
Step 3
Arrange block layout.
Step 4
Assemble block in rows. This is a standard 9-patch construction.
Step 5
Trim block to 12.5” square.
Play along with us and make sure you share your blocks so we can see your progress! On Instagram use #bouldermqgbom18 and tag us @bouldermqg On Facebook share your blocks on the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild page.We may even share your blocks on our blog, Facebook, or Instagram!
Oct 25, 2018 | 2018 Block of the Month, Evening Meeting, Events, UFOs
The November evening meeting is:
Thursday, November 1 from 6 pm – 8:30 pm
Alfalfa’s Market
785 E South Boulder Rd
Louisville, CO 80027
Earlier in the year we provided a UFO sheet to track the those abandoned projects that you needed to get back on track. As is often the case with UFOs, this challenge lost some of it’s steam as the year got busier. But we haven’t given up on finishing some of those UFOs and that’s going to be the focus of our November meeting.
In 2019 we will be continuing the UFO challenge with a new determination, Tracy will be leading the efforts and keeping us all (me included!) on track.
There will be a brief UFO presentation, but this is mostly going to be a group effort to help brainstorm and problem solve how to finish those projects that just keep plaguing you. Look through your UFOs and find those ones that are really causing you problems. The one that you don’t even like to talk about because you’re embarrassed and it keeps you up at night. We will help figure out just what to do next and come up with a plan of attack to finally get those projects finished in 2019!
And if you have any projects that you ended up changing course and finishing them differently than you originally intended, we’d love you to bring those for show and tell!
At the November evening meeting we will also have signups for a variety of roles and presentations for next year. We have an amazingly talented group of members and we’d love to have you share some of your knowledge and skills with the rest of the guild! If you aren’t going to be at the meeting but would like to contribute to the blog or present at a meeting, please email info@bouldermqg.com and let us know!
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
“An Exploration in Sustainable Modern Quilting” had a successful opening reception and is open to view Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm until December 14 at the Albert A. Bartlett Science Communication Center. It’s located at 4001 Discovery Dr, Boulder, CO 80303. Parking information is available here.
The October block is a fun sawtooth star variation that comes together quickly.
Use the hashtag #bouldermqgbom18 and tag us @bouldermqg when posting your blocks on Instagram!
The 2018 Round Robin resulted in some amazing quilt tops. And due to the interest, there will be another Round Robin starting in February! Signups are open now through January 27, you can find the rules and sign up in the Member Area.
The Community Outreach Committee has prepared quilt kits filled with fabric that was donated to our guild for members to take home and sew at their leisure. Each kit contains all the fabric and batting needed to complete a quilt. However, members are free to choose what they want to sew, i.e. piece a top and or a backing, sandwich a quilt and/or quilt it, prepare binding and/or sew it on, or do all the steps. If you are interesting in completing one, please contact Monique or Barb.
Open sew is Sunday, November 18 from 9am-4pm. Please RSVP to ensure you have a space. The December 6 evening meeting will be a holiday party at Monique’s house in Longmont. We will be doing a handmade ornament exchange, more details soon.
