NYC Metro Mod Guild, June meeting

My Saturday Stitches program at the Rockville Center Library is on hiatus til the fall (check the events tab for October dates and a possible book signing in September), so I got to go to the NYC Metro Modern Guild meeting in Manhattan yesterday.

Wow, oh, wow.  I missed those quilters.  So much inspiration and laughter, and two full tables overflowing with free fabric (whoever thought of the swap table, omg, thankyou.  I made out with probably forty 1.5" snippits and crumbs.  Where I will use them, who knows, but they made me enormously happy).  Gotham Quilts also had a whole wall with fabric and patterns for sale and seeing as I don't live near any modern quilt shops, it was the first time that I've seen much of the newest fabrics all over Instagram in person.  I snapped up some Lizzy House Natural History prints.  I'd like for the tiny green dinosaurs to make it into Jack's big boy quilt, but I don't have much time to work on it now, so I hope by recording that note here, I'll remember when the time comes.

Here's a bit of show and tell, there will be more more (and more details) over on the guild's blog:

 Here's Bernadette and Lisa holding up the guild's group EPP project.  They started this in February 2014 (during my EPP workshop) and they've been cursing me ever since.  Hey guys, I told you it was an addiction...

Here's Karen and her big star quilt (long armed by Rachael Dorr) that I nearly spilled coffee on before show and tell.. thankfully it was protected in plastic.  Sorry again, Karen.

This absolutely awesome R2D2 quilt was made by Jackie.  The patter was in a magazine, but I didn't catch which one.  I'm sure the info will be on the guild blog.

 I brought my big taupe spiderweb as my show and tell and Jackie took this pic of me.  I tried to keep it quick because there were so many people on the show and tell list, but I could talk about this quilt for days.  In fact, I probably will.  It needs it's own blog post, that's for sure.

It was really cool to get into the city and get to enjoy a meeting.  I hadn't been to one since the fall.  I forgot how inspiring it is to actually be in the same room with quilters and their quilts.  Instagram is great, but now I see it's missing something.  I spent the last year focused on my own projects, first the book and then book-recovery sewing (finishing the spiderweb was a huge part of that for me).  I think I'm ready to re-enter quilting society.  I've missed my tribe.

And on that note, I have decided to revive the Monday Morning EPP linky party starting tomorrow.  If you've got some EPP you're working on, quick, take a picture and link up with us!  (flickr and instagram links are welcome.  Full blog posts are always nice too..)

Virginia Getaway

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to see some friends in northern Virginia.  I eluded to it in my Monday post, and sure enough, we got caught in a snowstorm.  It was great to see our friends, and a quick shout out on Instagram pointed me in the direction of Finch Sewing Studio in Leesburg.  Eleni and I hopped in the car (leaving the kids with the husbands) and stopped by just as the snow started to fall.

The owner, Nicole, was very friendly (You can read her blog here, or follow her on IG-- @finchsewingstudio) and her shop is just adorable.  It has such a great atmosphere, I don't think my photos could capture how happy it feels just to be inside.

 It was great to go in with Eleni, who has been asking me to make a quilt for her wall for a few months now.  She isn't a quilter, and it was helpful to be able to talk about fabric, pattern, and design using the examples in the shop to get a better feel of what she likes and doesn't like.  I'm still thinking of what I might make..

I treated myself to some modern fabrics (bought in person, not online!  it was so nice!), and a few notions.  I finally got a hera marker, can't wait to put that to use.

We also discussed the possibility of my coming down for an event/signing/epp demo some time later in the summer.  I really hope we're able to make that happen.  I have so many online friends in the DC Modern guild that I'd really like to meet in person.  I'll let you know what we sort out.