Sunday, February 20, 2011

Happy Birthday HMQG!

I didn't get much in the way of sewing done this weekend.
But the weekend was not a loss...because Saturday was our monthly meeting of the Houston Modern Quilt Guild! And it was our first anniversary! Now, I am sad to say that I was not one of the founding members, I joined in April or May, but I think am not going too far in saying that I am part of the core group. The big news is that we are growing so that it is now uncomfortable to meet in member's homes! I will be a little sad to loose the cozy, bee-feeling of our small group, but it is exciting that we are gathering more and more members.
I especially enjoyed this meeting because....I got birthday presents! Last month it was decided that the way we would deal with birthdays would be that the person's whose birthday it was last would give a gift--something handmade, a bit of fabric and a bit of chocolate--to the person whose birthday is next. I thought this was a very clever idea--and not just because I would be the first to benefit! My gift-giver was Safieh. Saf has done and continues to do lots of swaps and I am always amazed by her creativity and sewing ability. She gave me a couple of fat quarters, this very cute pouch (even though it says "pens & pencils" I will use it for sewing things), and some real French chocolate! I also got a bonus gift from Amy--a second pouch with her famous tiny hexagons!

 birthday loot

The round and row robins continue, though many of them probably will soon be pulled as they are now big enough to be quilts. This time I brought home Fi's round. I've been looking forward to working on hers and have had fabric set aside for it for some time.

louis help

Our next group project is a charm square challenge. We are using Moda's Central Park by Kate Spain. Today (Sunday) I began pulling fabric--only half a yard!!!-- to use with it.

pippa help

Many of us brought along our red, white and blue wonky stars for Jen. I mentioned before that she has made many, many Quilts of Valor but, because of shoulder surgery was going to have trouble meeting her promised quota---HMQG to the rescue! See our work here.

I also pushed the dust mop around and though I didn't get to the vacuuming, I don't feel that the weekend was a loss!

5 comments:

Karamat said...

Love the kitty!! A little helper.

It seems like I spent all day sketching out ideas for my challenge piece... an idea would flash into my head and I'd just have to see if it would work with only one charm pack. No winning ideas yet :)

Bry said...

I think I have an idea for my challenge piece too! So excited!

Sad to lose the cozy feeling but I am hoping we still have that close knit bee feeling even when we do move into a bigger space because we are definitely getting too big for peoples homes!

Rachaeldaisy said...

I wish I could join your guild but I'm out of the area. it sounds like lots of fun. I can see that it's a shame to lose the cosy feeling but more members will have its benefits too. How thoughtful to give each other presents.

safieh said...

Wow, thank you for saying such nice things about me! I did suspect you would use the pouch for sewing supplies, but I thought "pens and pencils" was cuter than "sewing crap," which was all I could come up with!

amy and the bad cats said...

squeee! i just saw louis' black sock - too cute! and just so pippa doesn't feel left out, she's such a cute calico! i'm admiring more and more callies lately.