Another Modern Quilt Group!

two weeks ago i went to my first Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild meeting.


i uploaded my photos the next morning, but it's taken me forever to get around to blogging about it. i've been lacking motivation for the past few weeks, for pretty much everything. i usually have a flare up in the fall, what with weather changes, the start of the rainy season, etc, and i think it's just that. there's a limit to the meds i can take that will actually work, as i'm sure anyone with fibro will tell you, and they don't hold up to west coast weather all that well. and i've been so freaking tired lately! i sit down at the computer to write a blog post and 5 minutes later i realize that i need a nap, as i can barely keep my eyes open. or i sit down at the computer and realize exactly how crappy i'm feeling, and need to rest. one or the other.

but back to the FVMQG, before i decide to have another nap!

the FVMQG started a few months after the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. it's coordinated by Cynthia and Lysa, who came to VMQG meetings at the beginning. (or at least, Cynthia did. i don't know if Lysa did. don't quote me on that!) they decided that it was too far for them to commute back and forth, so they started up a guild out in the valley. they're a bit less formal than VMQG, and have a bit different demographic, and they seem to have a lot of fun! up until this month's meeting they've been meeting on the 3rd thursday of every month, the same night as the VMQG. now that they've changed locations to accomodate their expanding size, they were also able to change their meeting night - which means that i can go to their meetings now!

their september meeting was their anniversary meeting, a few months after VMQG's anniversary, so it was a super fun meeting to attend.

there were tons of door prizes, enough for everyone there, plus extras!


show and tell was awesome, though i do have to say - VMQG is so much better trained for photo taking! we're all used to standing still, the FVMQG group needs to learn that too!

i did manage to get pictures of a couple gorgeous tops though -

i love that Kat's quilt is a rectangle in a square, instead of the usual square in a square. it just adds a teensy bit of variety, and looks fabulous.


i really really love the colours in this quilt... yumm!

there was SO MUCH FOOD. i should have taken a picture. it was pretty freaking amazing!

i won a couple of fabulous prizes, one in a "raffle" like game, and one as a door prize.


i won Amy Ellis' book, Modern Basics, full of cute quilt patterns, and i didn't actually win this amazing mugrug by Cynthia, but the lovely person sitting next to me did, and she traded me! wasn't that super sweet? i won a magazine that i already had, which was no biggie, i just figured it would be a door prize for VMQG's next meeting! but the woman beside me asked if she could look at it, and i told her she could have it if she wanted, no worries at all, but she didn't want to just take it, so she offered to swap. i totally got the better deal, that mugrug's going on my wall!

also, look-it the hella cute cupcakes that Lysa made. so CUTE!

Lysa's the who faciliates the meetings, but different people in the guild organize different things, so various folks chatted about the quilt-a-long that they're doing, an interguild swap between FVMQG and VMQG, an overnight retreat in january, and monthly fq swaps that will start next month.



you should go check out the FVMQG's flickr photostream, because Carol takes way better photos than i do!

and then there was the bunting! i wish i'd made more of an effort to take pictures of all the buntings, because they were all so different, and very cool. there was one that was all cupcakes, one that was all junk food on the other, one that had really cool rickrack, and of course, the awesome bunting that i won! (the fabric on the far right is a spoonflower design by Cynthia!)



and this was my bunting! i really like how it turned out. i sort of used this tutorial, but really, it's bunting. not all that hard! i changed the sizes a bit, and made my centre flag patchwork.



the fabric is cute, it's all sewing themed, but because it's a light colour, you could see the print when you put them back to back, so i added a thin layer of white to line them.



here's half of it, in action at the meeting. it was too long to fit it all in the photo.



i've thought a bit about being in two guilds, because i haven't run across anyone else online who's in more than one modern guild. but you know, i HAVE run across people, both online and in person, who are in a modern guild and in a more traditional guild. so really, what's the difference? I did think about joining a traditional guild in my area, but i was more than a little offput when i went to their quilt show and was asked to leave beause i answered my cell phone (never mind the groups of women standing around, blocking quilts while they chatted away!). Really? it was so rude! that obviously wasn't the only reason why i didn't check out their guild meetings, but that attitude definitely didn't help.

when you add that in with the stories i hear from members of traditional guilds about how much the modern quilt guilds are disliked, my own experiences of having people complain about "those modern quilters" to me (once by the teacher of a class i was taking!), some of the comments i've heard from other quilters in the more traditional quilt shop near my house, and the fact that their meetings are held in a senior's centre, i'm not feeling particularly welcome! not to mention that apparently traditional guilds are very stinky, quite literally. i've definitely noticed a tendancy amoung women of a certain age range to wear excessive perfume with little regard to others, so i can see how a meeting with a large group of women primarily within that age bracket would be horrendous! (someone was telling me last month that her guild tried to set up a scent-free policy, and people were outraged!)

so yeah, i'm not that interested in joining a more traditional guild, at least not at this time. i'm joining a second guild not because i don't like VMQG, because i do, i love our guild, but because it will afford me the opportunity to meet more quilters on my side of the bridges, and will let me participate in a different way than i do with VMQG, where i'm on the exec, and will open up even more challenges and inspiration and swaps. isn't that why anyone joins more than one guild, regardless of modern or traditional?

i'm just going to appreciate the fact that i'm lucky enough to have TWO modern quilt guilds in my area and enjoy!