On to the goodies- there’s a lot to review this month!

We have a lot of exciting stuff in store coming up over the next few months, and we’re starting with our BIG Spring Cleaning Destash event at the April meeting! We’d like to give you the chance to clean up your sewing room, sweep away the dust on old craft supplies, share crafty/sewing/quilting books or magazines, and share some crafty goodies with other members of our guild who might be able to use them.

What is it that they say, “One quilter’s trash is another quilter’s treasure!”

Everyone who brings something can participate. You should bring at least a small grocery bag full of stuff so everyone contributes a fair amount of items to destash. Everything will be placed on tables and we’ll let everyone grab what they want on the count of 3! Sharpen those elbows ladies!

Those who don’t contribute can help themselves after everyone who did contribute is done if they want.

Anything sewing or quilting related:

- fabrics of any kind

- patterns

- crafty/sewing/quilting magazine & books

- notions

- packaged bags of scraps with pieces at least 2″x2″ (put them in a ziploc or small bag)

Plus any miscellaneous craft supplies you’d like to destash, for example:

beads, felt, paper, scrapbooky stuff, yarn, crafting tools, etc. etc.

Keep in mind though we do not want a bunch of garbage leftover at the end- we want anything that’s left to be usable and to be donated to a local thrift store or any other guild or group that can use it.

- Garbage/small loose scraps of fabric/batting

- used, damaged, stained, or worn fabric unless it’s vintage and still usable

- anything you wouldn’t want yourself- as in you’d throw it away rather than donate it

Anything leftover will go to the thrift store/charity/MCC quilt groups

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The Creative Stitches Show was amazing wasn’t it! We were so honoured to have been a part of it! We got lots of new interest in our guild and lots of great feedback and new contacts to share over the coming months. Big huge thank you’s to everyone who volunteered to help out at the booth:

And thanks to everyone in our guild for their support and excitement- I think we all had a blast sharing our guild and showing off our modern quilts! Whether you were there in person or just in spirit, we are so glad to have you as a part of our guild & THANK YOU!!

And we hope everyone who swapped their mugrugs with the VMQG had fun- we’d love to see what you got so please feel free to bring your mugrug to the April meeting to show off!

The Colour Palette Challenge officially starts this month, as always participation is optional. If you’re joining in, bring your chosen palette and fabrics to show & tell,  we wanna see what you’re going to do! We’d like to see finished projects, at least to quilt top stage, ready for June’s meeting.

Keep in mind you do not have to follow the example pattern, but it’s a fun way to play with colour using simple blocks of colour too. Have fun & maybe even try a new colour palette you’ve never tried before!

The Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a Spring SEW-IN  Saturday, April 21st from 11:00am until 5pm at the University of the Fraser Valley Campus in Abbotsford. We will be in room B121 (just down the hall from the cafeteria).

If you’re looking for some social sewing time then treat yourself to an open sewing time with other quilters / sewers to work on your own projects in a blissful atmosphere of quilting and chatting! We supply the tables and chairs, irons, cutting mats, and tea or coffee. Donations of treats are always welcomed!

WHAT TO BRING: You need to bring your machine, projects, extension cord, power bar, tools, and lunch/dinner. Please feel free to bring a friend! There is something very satisfying about spending an afternoon in a room full of whirring sewing machines and other creative people. We are extending this invitation to all of our guild members, other guilds and sewers/quilters in the valley and lower mainland!

There is a $5 drop-in fee for this SEW-IN. The room booked is large, bright, sunny with lots of windows.  Also there is  a nominal fee for parking at the University of the Fraser Valley; $2 for 4 hours.

Please contact Darlene (darlene.rosner@ufv.ca) to register or with any questions.

The HouseTop quilt is an easy introduction to freedom piecing, its a good

way to find out if improvisational piecing is for you. Its a great template upon

which to experiment with colour relationships and design basics like line, shape and repetition.

We have an awesome workshop coming up with the amazing Barb Mortell, Saturday July 7, 2012. The workshop info can be found here: http://www.fvmodernquilt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Workshop_BarbMortell-July-7-2012.pdf (3 page pdf) and if you’re interested in registering, we’ll be starting official signups at the April meeting. We do have a pre-signup list of people from our guild and the VMQG who are interested and we’d like those who are interested to register as soon as possible to secure their spots,  final registrations will be first come first served after that. The cost is $40 which will be non-refundable. If you have any questions, please contact Cynthia: cynthia@greencouchdesigns.com

We’d  like to recognize our hardworking volunteers who help us keep the meetings and events running smoothly, and who help plan and prepare for meetings in advance. Big thank you’s to everyone who has been so wonderfully volunteering their time and efforts to help us make our guild the happy, positive, and inspiring place it is!

Did you catch all that- phew!!

So, the official April meeting agenda:

Doors open at 6:45

7:00 Meeting start- Lysa with news recap

Show & Tell

Break

DeStash n’ Grab!

Meeting end, doorprizes and group photo

Hope to see you there!

Cynthia & Lysa