Sunday, January 28, 2018

Warm and Cool Charm Swap

As mentioned at the January meeting, we will be hosting a charm (5" fabric square) swap at the March meeting. If you are participating in the swap, you will bring 2 charms (1 warm, 1 cool) for each other participant (We will have a final count at the February meeting). As participant, you will be leaving with a varied stack of charms, half warm colours and half cool colours! Sign up for the swap here!

Colour theory is something that sounds a bit scary at first. What it does is help explain and sort colours by using a colour wheel. The colour wheel can also be used to choice a colour scheme!




There are a bunch of different website and apps out there to help you choose or create different colour palettes, such as Adobe Color, Canva and Paletton Wikipedia's entry about warm versus cool colours:

The distinction between "warm" and "cool" colors has been important since at least the late 18th century.[2] The contrast, as traced by etymologies in the Oxford English Dictionary, seems related to the observed contrast in landscape light, between the "warm" colors associated with daylight or sunset, and the "cool" colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are often said to be hues from red through yellow, browns and tans included; cool colors are often said to be the hues from blue green through blue violet, most grays included. There is historical disagreement about the colors that anchor the polarity, but 19th-century sources put the peak contrast between red orange and greenish blue.Color theory has described perceptual and psychological effects to this contrast. Warm colors are said to advance or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede; used in interior design or fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer, while cool colors calm and relax. Most of these effects, to the extent they are real, can be attributed to the higher saturation and lighter value of warm pigments in contrast to cool pigments. Thus, brown is a dark, unsaturated warm color that few people think of as visually active or psychologically arousing.

Pinterest can be a bit misleading (saw a bunch of pins that had warm and cool a bit mixed up...) But I did create a board with a few good visual explanations and some effective uses for warm and cool fabrics.

Sign up for the swap here The deadline for signing up is February 13. We will do a "last call" at the February meeting!

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Sew-In reminder

Just a quick reminder... our Sew-In is this coming Saturday, January 27th from 10am to 4pm.

Image courtesy of The Spruce

Remember we are back at the CRCS St-Zotique for the sew-ins. We should be in room 215, but please check the board at the entrance to be sure. Bring along your project and whatever you need to work on it, as well as a lunch or snack. We will have coffee, tea and hot chocolate available... please bring your travel mug if you'd like to partake.

For anyone interested in helping, we will be starting to put together quilt tops for the charity project. You just need to bring your sewing machine (or hand sewing toolkit if you prefer), some thread, and everything else will be provided.

See you on Saturday. :)

Sunday, January 14, 2018

January 2018 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes

January 2018 Mtl MQG Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2018 at 7pm SouthWest Mission, Verdun, QC


Introductions and Welcome

Business:
  • Sew-ins are back at CRCS St Zotique in St. Henri 
    • Sew in Jan 27 10:00-16:00 - Debby will do a demo of walking foot attachment as a quilting tool.
  • Next meeting Feb 13th at the Verdun SouthWest Mission as usual

  • Quilting week/semaine de la courtepointe at Club Tissue January 21 – 28.
    • There should be lectures and quilt products featured but we do not have a lot of info yet, we will share it on social media when we do.

  • Twist Festival in August
    • We have been approached by the Twist Festival to see if we would be willing to display some modern quilts at the next installment of the festival in August 2018. Space is limited, they have room for approximately 6 quilts, and due to the way they would be hung, the quilts would need to be lap size (approximately 54"x54") or larger. If you think you would be interested, please let us know.

Skillbuilder 2017-18 - Flying Geese blocks by Nathalie Forget

The Flying Geese is an easily recognizable simple block that consist of a large triangle (the goose), flanked by two smaller contrasting triangles (the sky). The traditional blocks are usually twice as wide as they are tall.


A similar block can also be created using HST blocks. The Flying Geese block can be substituted by two HST blocks sewn together in a mirror image to form the goose.


The block is a versatile one that is often incorporated in other traditional blocks (e.g. Louisiana block) or is the foundation piece for other traditional blocks (e.g. Dutchman Puzzle block).


Block Assembly

There are many methods for assembling the block and many tutorials available online. Below is a summary of criteria I found for five methods available. This should help you select the most suitable method for your projects. I also include cutting guidelines for the two most commonly used methods and links to tutorials for all of them.

Method 1 - Single Block Construction

  • Traditional method 
  • Can use small fabric scraps with this method 
  • Suitable for directional fabric use and fussy cutting 
  • Best if small number of blocks is required i.e. less than four identical blocks 
  • Some waste of fabric 
  • Good for making improv/wonky versions
Click to enlarge

See the first method of "Flying Geese - Make 'em fast - two methods" by Connecting Threads.

There is a tutorial for a modern wonky version of Method 1 entitled "Modern Monday - Block 18" by Jenifer Dick of 42 Quilts.


Method 2 - Four Unit No Waste Method
  • Newer and most commonly used method 
  • Yields four identical blocks 
  • Cannot make use of small fabric scraps 
  • Can only be used with non-directional fabrics. Not suitable for fussy cutting 
  • Best if a large number of blocks is required i.e. more than four or multiples of four identical blocks required 
  • No waste of fabric
Click to enlarge

Scroll down to the favorite quick method that yields 4 flying geese blocks with no waste of of "Flying Geese - Make 'em fast - two methods" by Connecting Threads.

There are excellent simple diagrams for Method 1 and 2 available in the "Super Simple Flying Geese Quilt Tutorial" by Suzy Quilts.


Method 3 - Four Unit Some Waste Method
  • Similar to Method 2 but with less up-front cutting
  • Helpful if you're not confident in your precision with your 1/4" seams
  • Cannot make use of small fabric scraps
  • Can only be used with non-directional fabrics. Not suitable for fussy cutting
  • Best if a large number of blocks is required i.e. more than four or multiples of four identical blocks required
  • Small amount of waste but more than for Method 2
See Method Three of "Flying Geese - Make 'em fast - two more methods" by Connecting Threads .


Method 4 - Dimensional One Seam (Folded Pocket or 3-D Method)
  • Fastest method to sew
  • Creates a dimensional effect that may be desirable for your design
  • Can use small fabric scraps for the sky
  • Most waste of fabric (double thickness of the goose)
  • The crispness of the point can be difficult to achieve with the double thickness of the goose fabric.
  • The double layer goose may also make the quilting more challenging
Scroll down to Method Four - Dimensional One Seam Flying Geese of "Flying Geese - Make 'em fast - two more methods" by Connecting Threads .


Method 5 - Paper Pieced Method

  • Used for precision for perfect points for traditional blocks
  • Used for curved or wonky setting of the geese
  • Can use small fabric scraps with this method

Flying Geese ~ Perfect Points” by Fresh Lemons Quilts (including downloadable templates)

"Drafting Your Own Paper Pieced Pattern ... Wonky Flying Geese Tutorial" by Why Not Sew

"Release the Geese" by Sarah Bond, Quilt Maker, PhillyMQG

I also include below links to a couple of interesting tutorials for HST Versions:

"Scrap Bin Geese block tutorial" by A Bright Corner.

HST Challenge - Block Two - Dutchman's Puzzle/Wild Goose Chase” by Premium Precuts.


Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

The following design components may be used and combined to give the quilt a more modern esthetic.
Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

For more examples and for inspiration, please refer to my Flying Geese Pinterest board.

We would love to see what you make, so please share your blocks on Facebook or Instagram, and feel free to tag us and use the hashtags: #mtlmqgskills or #mtlmqgskillbuilder

Sunday, January 07, 2018

Meeting reminder

The holiday sugar high is wearing off and the arctic deep freeze is thankfully easing a bit, just in time to venture outside for our January meeting!


Our meeting is Tuesday January 9th at 7pm in our usual space, the SouthWest Mission Verdun at the corner of Rue Melrose and Rue de Verdun.

We will be announcing our next swap and Nathalie will be presenting the next skillbuilder block, Flying Geese. We will have lots of time for Show and Tell, so feel free to bring the project you've been working on to avoid going out in the cold, or even the awesome quilty item you got as a gift over the holidays.

We will have fresh coffee available so if you'd like to partake, please bring your reusable mug. :) See you on Tuesday!