First Meetings...are a blast!

You may recall back in January I shared how one of my local sewing friends and I were laying plans to start up a local modern quilt guild. Well, we held our first meeting last week and it was a total blast! Who knew meeting up with other like-minded modern quilters would evoke so-much-laughter!

Discussions ran the gamut of whether it really matters if points get cut off and seams don't exactly match up  {in other words...how OCD are you} to whether or not steam should be used when ironing. We had lively pantomime demonstrations for emphasis! 

There were eight ladies in attendance with a wide range of experience levels and quilt preferences. It should prove to be a group rich with diversity :o) We all agreed our Number 1 reason for seeking out a group is sharing our quilts with others who appreciate the time and effort put into the work even if personal tastes differ.

We had a time for Show & Tell and saw a wide range of beautiful quilts! To my fellow Faith Circle members...should you be asking yourself, "Why does Debbie still have the Row Quilt?" I kept it just long enough to show it to the new quilt group and it went out in the mail right after that :o)



It really was a great evening and I can say we are all looking forward to meeting again in March where we will be learning various techniques for flying geese blocks...I can hardly wait!

Exciting Big News...

Okay, okay...it's really little news, but may grow into something big :o)

For quite a while now I've been mulling over joining a quilt guild. Here, where I live, in the heart of Civil War country, modern quilting is really not the vogue. There are several traditional guilds in the area with lovely quilters which I am not opposed to joining. However, most of them meet on weekdays during the hours when I'm at school (I'm a teacher) so that makes involvement with them pretty much impossible. There is a modern quilt guild that meets about an hour+ from where I live (big Shout Out to the NOVA Modern Quilt Guild!) who is just now officially joining The Modern Quilt Guild...Exciting! But, distance can become an issue. 

I've so enjoyed getting involved in the online quilting community and finding my little niche through flickr, instagram, and do. Good Stitches.  But, I would love to get to know some quilters in my own community and enjoy some face-to-face camaraderie. So...here's where the exciting news comes in! 

Yesterday I was talking to my friend, Kelley, owner of The Scrappy Apple quilt shop and we discussed trying to begin a guild for local modern quilters! We are aiming for an inaugural meeting the third Thursday in February. I'll keep you posted!!

Now, since no blog post should be without picture, I'll include my latest picture of the Faith Circle Row Quilt for do. Good Stitches. 

I just finished free motion quilting it in a meander stitch. I am happy to say I actually enjoyed free motion quilting this quilt! Hooray!! It's taken several quilts for me to reach this comfort level and I'm so happy to get to this point in my skills! Next up is some hand stitching around the word "hope" with yellow #8 perle cotton. After that just the binding is left.

Happy stitching!