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Monday 23 November 2020

December/January Block of the Month: Winter Webs

Here are the directions for the OMQG January Block of the Month draw. This one is a really great scrap buster that should produce a lovely winter-themed quilt - a perfect fit for our cold nights, but not so "seasonal" that it looks out of place in the other months of the year.




Note that for this month, one triangle unit = one block. The photo above is actually 4 blocks placed together.

Fabric requirements (this will make two blocks): 

  • - 8.5" x 8.5" square of solid white or low volume white fabric
  • - Varying lengths of fabric strips, from 1.5" to 2.5" wide

Strip colours should remind you of an ice storm: 

  • - blue (light blue all the way through to navy)
  • - black
  • - grey
  • - white
  • - cream

Solids or prints, whatever works (you should all have guessed this by now!). Here's what I started with:



BLOCK INSTRUCTIONS:

The actual name for this block is called a spiderweb, and there are a lot of online tutorials on how to make them. The measurements are a bit different, but feel free to consult this video from Art Gallery Fabrics for the basic design steps if you're feeling lost. (I followed along with it for my first block when I was putting this tutorial together.)

Note that all seam allowances are 1/4"

Cut your 8.5" x 8.5" white square in half on the diagonal, producing two (isosceles, if you want to get technical) triangles as below:



For each triangle: 

Fold the two side points of the triangle together and finger press to find the centre line of your triangle. 

Make two small marks at the bottom of the triangle, 1/4" from each side of the centre line.

Make two small marks on the two top sides of the triangle, 5.5" between from each point:  

Use a pencil or marker to draw a line between your marks on each half of the triangle:


Now for the fun part - it's time to add your strips! 

Place your first strip right sides together, on top of the triangle, aligning the edge of your first strip with your drawn line. All strips should be slightly longer than the white fabric triangle underneath:

  

Stitch the first strip down on the triangle with a 1/4" seam. Press the first strip out.


HOT TIP: 

For all strips after the first one, fold the point of the triangle under so that you are NOT stitching the rest of the strips down onto the point of fabric triangle (you're going to cut off the extra white fabric once you've done all your strips, so this part should "hang free" after the first strip. It's not complicated, but it took me a couple tries to remember to fold under the point of the triangle, so I'm just giving you the heads up to have your seam ripper ready in case you forget. You've been warned. :)


Align the long edge of your second strip with the unsewn edge of the first strip and stitch (right sides together). Continue with this process (each strip will be slightly shorter than the last one as you move out toward the point of the triangle) until you have connected enough strips to completely cover the first white triangle point. 

Repeat the above process with the other point of your white triangle:


Once you have added all your strips to both points of the triangle, press your strips away from each seam (I suppose that a person could have been pressing each seam as they sewed it, but I'm a little lazy and didn't want to get up and do that each time. I didn't see a big difference with waiting until all the strips were sewn together, but this is totally just a personal preference - whatever works!).


Turn your triangle over on your cutting mat and trim off the extra fabric from each side, using the white triangle as your guide:

 


For the last step, fold back each strip section and trim the white triangle underneath (this is why you had to fold under the white triangle when you were doing your strips!): 

 


And that's all there is to it! TA-DA!!!


And here's the "spiderweb" effect that this block produces when there are 8 of them all together!











Monday 26 October 2020

November Block of the Month - Modern Christmas Trees



This month's Block of the Month pattern is Modern Christmas Trees. This pattern is borrowed from Amy Smart (@diaryofaquilter). She's an OG modern quilt blogger (12 years of blogging! Over 100 tutorials! 66,000 Instagram followers!) and her work is a great mix of technical skill, great style, and fun.

Our guild did this block for a November BOM a few years ago when Jenn McMillan was the BOM coordinator (I didn't win) and I figured that we could all use another shot at such a great holiday quilt!

Here's the link to Amy's block tutorial (and also directions for how to finish the quilt when you win all the blocks! So helpful!): 

https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2015/12/modern-christmas-tree-quilt-block.html

Colours for this month are what I'm calling "Christmas plus" or "Modern Christmas." So we've got the classic red-green-white trio, but we can also explore other aspects of that colour combination (grey, light green, pink, fuschia, etc.). Feel free to also throw in some turquoise (my favourite!), light blue, maybe even a purple here or there! Whatever feels like a modern interpretation of "holiday" to you! You can use solids and prints, and don't feel like you have to use exclusively Christmas-themed fabrics. Let's stretch ourselves and see what happens!

Amy's tutorial is set up to make these blocks two at a time, so maybe we'll have enough blocks for two draws???

Feel free to share a photo of your blocks on social media. The hashtag to use is #ottmqgBOM. I'm excited to see our little forest in November!


Monday 28 September 2020

October 2020 Block of the Month - Chunky Plus Blocks

OMQG October 2020 Block of the Month

Chunky Plus Blocks


(psssst! #ottmqgBOM is our hashtag if you want to share your blocks on social media!)

For October’s Block of the Month we’re making 12.5” x 12.5” chunky plus blocks. These are very simple to make and they’re great for batch-sewing so you can make a few at a time!

Background colour is low volume scrappy (white, grey, cream, solids or prints), and the Plus colour is single-colour scrappy (solids or prints), maker’s choice!


Cutting Instructions:

Scrappy Low Volume Background:

Size

How Many?

2.5” x 4.5” strips

4

4.5” x 4.5” squares

4

Scrappy Plus Fabric (any colour!):

Size

How Many?

2.5” x 4.5” strips

4

4.5” x 4.5” squares

1

 

Directions:

Stitch together 4 background and 4 coloured fabric strips along the long side of each strip using a 1/4” seam allowance. Press towards the darker fabric. You will now have 4 finished 4.5” x 4.5” squares.

 


Arrange the blocks into a 3x3 grid as shown above and sew it all together. Tip: you can nest your seams by pressing the top and bottom row in, and then pressing the seams for the middle row out.

Your completed block should measure 12.5” x 12.5".

Saturday 26 September 2020

OMQG Block of the Month Lives On!

Hi everyone! Leslie Stobbart here with a bit of Block of the Month/Block Lotto logistics for the upcoming OMQG season.

In the Beforetimes, we would all meet up at the Kanata Recreation Centre for our monthly guild meetings and folks would bring their block of the month entries, and then we'd do the draw (we might hug each other and share food and stand closely in a large group indoors), and then the winner would take their blocks home right away. Well, things are going to be a bit different this year. But we have a plan!

Here's how the draws will work:

  • I will introduce the next month's block during our monthly online meetings. 
  • Instructions will be posted on the OMQG blog on the day of the meeting.
  • The blocks won't be complicated (I kind of feel like life is complicated enough as it is these days?) and you will have the month to make as many as you like. Post about them on social media if you want to share your progress (hashtag is #ottmqgBOM) 
  • "Bring" your completed blocks to the monthly zoom meeting and I'll take notes on everyone's entries and will do the draw live during the meeting. 
  • One block is one draw entry, and the winner gets all the blocks! 
  • Instant quilt!

BUT THEN HOW DOES THE WINNER ACTUALLY GET THE BLOCKS IF WE'RE NOT MEETING IN PERSON???

Ah yes. Good point.

So here's where we've gotten creative. 

We've identified a few members' houses (one is east, one is south, one is central, one is west - actual addresses will be shared at our monthly meetings or via email) where you will be able to drop your completed blocks off in the week following the meeting.

You can also just pop them into an envelope and mail them to me if that's easier for you - I love getting mail!

Once everyone has dropped off their blocks, I'll zip around one evening after my kids are in bed to collect all the blocks from the drop off points.

Then, I'll deliver all the blocks to the winner's house. If the winner is rural, I'll probably just mail the blocks to you (see note above about my love for getting mail). But if you're in the city somewhere, I'll swing by your place to drop them off. Cool, hey? It's a bit more legwork, but I think it'll be worth it!

Anyway, we'll see how it all goes for September's meeting, and we can always tweak the process for October if it's a total mess. :)

Looking forward to seeing everyone at our first meeting on Monday!

Tuesday 1 September 2020

September BOM

We are excited to have Leslie leading our BOM this year!

Spooky Houses                 


For our first meeting of the 2020-2021 OMQG season, we're going to make a Halloween quilt! This has been on my quilting to-do list forever, and the timing is just right to get something done for this Halloween this year.


We'll follow Allison Harris's tutorial for her "Stay Home" block from her excellent, long-running blog, Cluck Cluck Sew. This quilting blog was my first real introduction to modern, fresh quilting design and I still go back to Allison's work all the time! And house blocks seem like a good kick-off to our At Home OMQG meetings, too!

The link to Allison's free tutorial for 7.5" x 8.5" unfinished blocks (and the whole quilt!) is here: https://cluckclucksew.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Stay-Home-Quilt-Pattern.pdf

Instructions for block assembly are on p. 4 of this pattern.

Our colours are as follows:
- Houses: Halloween colours, prints or solids (such as orange, purple, grey, green, white, or Halloween prints)
- Background: Black, or black with white; prints or solids - it's your choice!





You can find a printable version of the instructions here

Monday 27 July 2020

Research Request: Crafting in Canada during the Covid-19 Pandemic

We, the board of the Ottawa Modern Quilt Guild, are passing on a message from researchers at the University of Regina:


We are Dr. Cory Kulczycki and Dr. Rebecca Genoe and we are researchers at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies.


The focus of the research is on crafting in Canada during the COVID-19 social and physical distancing time.


To participate you must to be 18 years of age or older and residing in Canada. Your participation will involve answering questions on an online survey; estimated time to complete is 15 to 20 minutes.


Your participation is completely voluntary and if you choose not to participate it will not impact your relationship with the researchers or the University of Regina. Due to the survey design we will not know who has or has not completed the survey.


If you agree to volunteer you will be asked to review the study information letter and complete the survey available at

https://uregina.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d1dOUZLG5X5EtmJ?fbclid=IwAR2wCHv2k03Gw37QbZW1zdaNmPTJao8d5qxI7NlrB21IqYFwwaxuEM_sAwY


Please feel free to share this email with any members of your group and crafters you think would be interested in sharing their experiences.


If you have any questions about the study, please free to contact the principle investigator, Dr. Cory Kulczycki at (306-585-4841) or (cory.kulczycki@uregina.ca), the co-investigator, Dr. Rebecca Genoe at (306-5854781 or (rebecca.genoe@uregina.ca). This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Research Ethics Board of at the University of Regina. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Office of the Chair of the Research Ethics Board at (306) 585-4775.

 

Thank you,

Cory Kulczycki and Rebecca Genoe


Dr. Cory Kulczycki
Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies
University of Regina
Regina, SK, CANADA
S4S 0A2
 
phone: 306-585-4841
fax: 306-585-4854

Tuesday 26 May 2020

June Block of the Month:

Bias Tape Love

I hope you are as excited as I am to try the bias tape techniques we learned at our May meeting with Latifah Saafir. Since Ali loves love, our block of the month is to make a 10.5" block with a heart on it, trimmed in bias tape. The heart and bias tape can be any fabric. The bias tape can be any thickness. Lets face it, we all love love!

#bomAliLovesLove #igaveitatry #ottmqg #ottmqgBOM #AliAlsoLovesTacos

Friday 8 May 2020

Get Ready! Get Set....


SEW!!

Are you ready for our Quarantine-19 Quilt Challenge?
We are getting together (in spirit) for a charity quilt drive.

details are here

If you are looking for some inspiration we suggest checking out the Ruby Star Society  on Instagram for a fantastic free jelly roll pattern (Ruby Star Society)

While jelly roll quilts usually make quilts about a 50" x 60" and Bruno at Roger Nielson house said the most practical sizes are 42x62in and 45x62in, we can use quilts up to a twin size.

Want to do a traditional jelly roll race quilt but not sure where to start - check out this YouTube video by Missouri Star Quilt Company : video

Happy sewing! Don't forget to share your progress with us on Instagram.

#ottmqgcharitychallenge #ottmqg

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Block of the Month for May

Mashup!

So what you have to do:

Take two different blocks and MASH THEM UP!

Make the blocks finish at 10” (so your unfinished block is 10.5”)


Use Primary Colours
 




for example (except, use primary colours):

hashtags: #BOMMashup #igaveitatry #OTTMQGBOM

Tuesday 31 March 2020

A Great Opportunity to Serve or Health Care Workers!

Wearing face masks all day wears on the ears.  There have been requests from nurses in the ICU of the Ottawa hospital for scrub caps or headbands with large buttons on them. Instead of wearing their face masks on their ears, they can loop them over the buttons.

Hey Presto, much more comfortable.

This is a call out to the Ottawa Modern quilt guilt to put your skills and fabric stash to work to serve those who serve us so faithfully in this difficult time.

There are two possible patterns:


and here is the head band pattern link

The caps and headbands can be mailed to or dropped off with
Leanne. Send her an email at leannebeking@gmail.com to get instructions.

Friday 27 March 2020

March meeting is cancelled

Due to to covid-19 and social distancing policies, The Kanata Rec center has closed its doors for the rest of March.  We will resume our meetings when social risks have lowered.

Keep on quilting!  We will make sure there is extra time for Sew and Tell at the next meeting!

Friday 28 February 2020

March Block of the Month

Lists

Rather that receiving instructions this month, you are given inspiration! We want you to make blocks representative of lists - any lists. the background should be low volume white or grey but the subject matter can be any colours or patterns you like. Please make blocks 6" or 12" wide but of any length. This is going to be interesting!

Postcard Challenge for March

Scale

A postcard is already small so it should be an interesting challenge to give an impression of scale.  Can't wait to see what people come up with!


Judging Tips


At our Feb 2020 meeting, we enjoyed a quick presentation by a member about what she learned from a quilt judging course at the CQA show in June 2019.  You can find the notes here.

Wednesday 5 February 2020

Friday 31 January 2020

Colourplay Block of the Month

Balloon Dog

playing with transparency


Transparency is created by using a darker fabric in the region where two objects overlap. Ideally, this darker fabric is a mixture of the hues of the overlapping objects.

Someone will win a clutch of these super cute balloons. Have Fun!

Please choose a fucshia, bright yellow or cyan for the balloon colours.

Please use a baby blue background.

You can find the instructions here.

You can find the templates here.

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Postcard challenge for Jan is:

                                               Minimal

                             


“Made with an extreme economy of means and reduced to the essentials of geometric abstraction” - Guggenheim

Ombre Pinwheel of Charm - BOM


for January, we continue to play with shades and tints of a single colour.  Make some lovely pinwheel modern blocks.

you can find the instructions here