July 2022 Meeting Recap

Knoxville Modern Quilt Guild met for our July meeting on Saturday July 16th.

Upcoming Quilting Events

Quilt Alliance: Textile Talks

·      Wednesday, July 20, 2pm EST: Social, Cultural, and Political in Excellence in Fibers
·      Wednesday, July 27, 2pm EST: A Stitch in Time:  The Making of the Legacy Quilt
Register online at https://quiltalliance.org

 

Smokey Mountain Quilters Quilt Show

August 5 – 6 at the Knoxville Expo Center
Merikay Waldvogel will be doing quilt turning on 5th
Further info on the website: https://www.smokymtnquilters.com/quilt-show.html#/

Restoration House Charity Quilts

We have two quilts in work at the moment for Restoration House

2022 Quilt 3: OKC block 

Instructions are available here:

http://www.okcmqg.com/2013/04/april-block-of-month.html  

Please use the palettes shown above, and please use Kona white for the white block which a shown in the examples.

Blocks due at our August meeting. 

2022 Quilt 4: Bars Block

Instructions for the block can be found in this tutorial:

https://quilttherapy.com/?p=10594

Please use two solid colors (not white) from this palette:

Blocks for this one are due in September.

Look out for pictures of the finished quilts over the next few months.

2022 Block of the Month Quilt-along

Our sixth block in this Quilt-along is a Saw Tooth Star Block - see the previous post for instructions.

QuiltCon Outreach Quilt Challenge

We have our design, and the design committee have a piecing plan.  Watch out for details coming soon of a sew-in day to work on piecing the top of our quilt.

Quilted Coat mini 'Retreat'

Those who are interested in taking part, now is the time to get your pattern and choose your textile.  We are planning a Friday evening plus Saturday 'retreat' - more details in your inbox soon.

Show & Tell

Blair

Betty

Aimee

Leighanne

Elaine

Kelly (Showing the front and pieced back of her quilt)

Michelle's series of blocks that tell the story of a vacation

Kelsey

Erin

KMQG Block of the Month 2022: Block 6, Sawtooth Star

It's time for Block 6 in our Block of the Month Quilt-Along! We found this one posted by the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild as part of their 2018 Block of the Month series, and we love that it's so graphic and a perfect example of the "modern traditional" characteristic of modern quilting.

According to the Boulder MQG, the Sawtooth Star has been around since the late 1800s and is a very iconic, classic quilt block. The block uses squares, rectangles, single flying geese (FG) and half-square triangle (HST) units. This version uses two colors to create a simple divided variation.

This block is super fun and easy to put together. The instructions from the Boulder MQG can be found here: https://bouldermqg.com/2018/01/27/february-sawtooth-star/. The tutorial includes links for additional instructions on creating the HSTs and flying geese. You can also access a cheatsheet here. 

TIPS!

• It's super easy to make 3 blocks this time -- just multiply all the cutting instructions by 3! Make 3 identical blocks, and when they're finished, you can flip one or two of them around for the effect of opposite color placement without doing any extra work.
• The HSTs need to be trimmed down to 3.5-inch squares before you assemble the block. If you have any HST units left from your April Mod Square block, you can use them for this block.
• When sewing flying geese, it helps to sew just alongside the marked line (toward the corner you will cut off). That gives you a scant 1/4" seam allowance and helps ensure your geese aren't too small.
• The Add-a-Quarter ruler is helpful when trimming flying geese.

July/August 2021 Meeting Recap

 

Our July and August meetings were both in-person meetings held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church. It still seems like a bit of a novelty to see our members in person. 

Our member spotlights were Liz Upchurch in July and Heather Wilson in August. We appreciate Liz and Heather taking the time to answer questions and participate in this program. The member spotlight is a great way for us to get to know our fellow KMQG members better. 

 

The Smoky Mountain Quilters 40th Anniversary Ruby Jubilee Quilt Show was held July 30th and 31st. The KMQG sponsored the Modern Quilt category. Several of our members entered quilts in the show. It's always exciting to see friends' quilts in the wild!

The 2021 Modern Mini Quilt Challenge has been introduced! Architecture themed quilts (based on a photograph) are due at our October meeting.

The theme for the Community Outreach Quilt Challenge for QuiltCon 2022 is Angles. A committee has been working on a design and we will be having a sew day in September to assemble the quilt top. 

At our August meeting, Elizabeth Rea presented the next in our Elements of Modern Quilting Series, Use of Negative Space. Our next presentation in the series will be in October.

July Show and Tell

Elizabeth R

 

Caryn H

 

Rosalind W

 

Heather W

 

Jo H

 

Sandy R

 

Sarah E

 

Misty B

 

 

Christy C

August  Show and Tell

Jane D

Sandy R

Elizabeth R

Rosalind W

Emily D

Pat P

Jo H

The guild is always looking for volunteers for our Member Spotlight Feature and Featured Freebies presenters. If you are interested in participating in either of these please send a message to modknoxville@gmail.com

The next meeting is at 10:15am Saturday, September 18th, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Member Spotlight: Liz Upchurch🔦

The July Member Spotlight is focused on Liz Upchurch.🔦 

Keep reading to learn more about Liz.

How long have you been quilting?

4 years


Who or what inspired you to start quilting?

My grandmother had these really cool crazy quilts that I loved as a kid. The kind with lots of cool fabrics (velvet and silk etc) and fancy stitching. They seemed like they were from someone who had a very fancy life. I was very intrigued by them. Fast forward about 40 years and the last election happened four years ago, and I just needed some thing to escape I think into channel myself into a little bit. So I started quilting. And I really love modern and self made patterns.


Tell us about the first quilt you ever made.

Well the first quilt I made was actually many years ago and it was pretty much fabric cut into 5 inch squares and sewn back together. I didn’t actually quilt it I tied it off. And I think it was almost queen-size. And I think it kind of turned me off of quilting LOL.


What is your favorite quilt you’ve ever made?

My favorite is one that I gave my friend Mike and it is a pattern that I made up and it’s sort of a modern blocky tight pattern. He uses it every day and that makes me really happy.

What is your favorite sewing tool or notion?

Stiletto

Who is your favorite fabric designer?

Kona solids

What are your favorite colors to use in quilts?

Low volume

Describe your quilting style in one word.

Imperfect

What other hobbies do you have?

Backpack camping, gardening, dogs

Do you collect anything? (Other than quilting fabric, of course!) If so, what?

Hazel Village animals and clothing

What is your favorite movie?

Auntie Mame

What is your favorite book?

To Kill a Mockingbird

Who is your favorite author?

That’s hard. I like lots. Barbara Kingsolver is one.

Do you have a celebrity crush and who is it?

Gregory Peck

If you could have dinner with one legendary person, living or dead, who would you choose?

Dolly Parton

What is your favorite food?

Chocolate

Coffee or tea?

Coffee

Sweet or savory?

Sweet

If you were a dessert, what would you be and why?

Chocolate cupcake. Wonderful and just about the right size

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what five things would you want to have with you (not things you need to survive, but things you would want to have)?

My dog, kindle, sunglasses, fuzzy blanket, stretchy pants

What is your dream job?

Sheep farmer

Where is your dream vacation destination?

Scotland

Which is your favorite season?

Spring


If you won millions in the lottery and had to selfishly spend it on yourself, what would you treat yourself to?

House renovations

Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?

Both!!

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

About 18 months ago.

Would you rather be able to run at 100 miles per hour or fly at 10 miles per hour and why?

Run at 100. I think, because it would be faster.

Want to learn more about Liz? Find her on Instagram. Want more KMQG? We're on Insta too and would love to connect with you over there!