Sign ups are now open for our annual Christmas swap!

It's that time of year again!  Welcome to sign ups for our annual Christmas swap.

We're keeping it small again this year to avoid any extra stress at this busy time of the year.  We've chosen to swap a covered notebook! 

Cindy has kindly allowed us to use her tutorial  and you can find it here on our tutorials page or directly on Cindy's blog @ Fluffy Sheep Quilting here!

It could be a blank sketchbook for your swap partner to save all those quilt ideas, a lined notebook to list all the lovley projects we want to make or a 2017 diary to plan and keep track of big events!  Whatever size notebook you have, Cindy's tutorial is flexible and adaptable. 

To sign up please fill in this form!  I love the Christmas swap and we always make such lovely things.  The postal date is 19th December so it will have time to arrive for those in between days, after Christmas and before New years.

This swap is limited to MQI members resident in Ireland so as to avoid any issues with post at this busy postal time of year.  Sign up close Friday 11th and partners will be assigned over the weekend.  I hope you will join us for our 4th Christmas swap!
-Ruth

Reminder

Morning Modern Quilters Ireland!  Just a reminder that your mug rug should be posted next Monday latest 21st December!

Here is a sneak peek at some in progess and finished shared on our Flickr page:

 

Looking forward to doing a round up of all after the Christmas.  If anyone is having trouble with the deadline please drop me a line as soon as you can. 

Hope all the Christmas preparation is going well and the last of those Bee blocks are underway.  We will be opening sign ups for Modern Irish Bee 2016 tomorrow and will take the first 12 sign ups for next years Bee!
-Ruth

Christmas swap - the small one!

Morning all, this year in brainstorming ideas for the annual MQI Christmas swap, Anna and I decided that after the brilliant Tote bag summer swap we'd keep things small for Christmas and do a no-pressure, quick and fun project.

You might have noticed there has been a lot of mini-mini quilts on social media lately and teeny tiny piecing!  So this year we are keeping the swap small to a mug rug & a bar of chocolate.

Remember the kit-kat logo - Take a break, have a kit kat !  Well that's the theme this year.  After all the Christmas madness is over, treat yourself to a cuppa or a hot chocolate and enjoy a moment!

To keep things simple, there will be no need for an inspiration mosaic, just make a mug-rug or a mini-mini quilt based on the idea of taking a break!  Partners will be assigned randomly so it will still be a secret swap.  You won't know who is making for you and we hope it will add to the surprise when opening your swap item!

Mug Rugs have no fixed size but are typically 6" x 9".  A mini/mini is 4" to 6" so whatever works best for your idea!  Please include a treat like a choccy bar and optional this year (though I really love collecting these!) is a handmade decoration for the the Christmas tree. 

The sign up form is here.  I hope you will join us again - I love the Christmas swap and we always make such lovely things.  The postal date is 18th December so it will have time to arrive for those in between days, after Christmas and before New years.

This swap is limited to MQI members resident in Ireland so as to avoid any issues with post at this busy postal time of year.  Sign up close this Friday and partners will be assigned over the weekend.  I hope you will join us for our 3rd Christmas swap!

Summer Swap Show & Tell

Our summer swap was a great success. We've been making tote bags for each other and it's been tons of fun watching the photos appear on Flickr and Instagram and the happy thank you messages showing how generous our group has been with time spent on making and adding in some fun extras too!

Thanks everyone who took part, all bags have been shipped and I am delighted  we had such a great swap!  Remember send in your ideas for our annual Christmas swap which will be announced after Halloween!

In the meantime, hope everyone enjoys their tote bags (I'm using mine already!).  Thank you all who took part and made this an easy going, creative and successful swap!
-Ruth

Show & Tell - Christmas swap

Well, I think we can say we have had another really successful Christmas swap this year!  As you know, we were making cushions for each other and there has been lots of eye candy shared on Instagram and Flickr.

Compilation from #mqichristmasswap and Flickr group

Amazing how they all are so different from one another!  For my part, all I can say is thank you Helen, you are some woman for managing to get both dogs and penguins (my fave's) into a Christmas cushion and next year I want quilting lessons from Tomomi!  Beautiful work by all I think you will agree!

So thank you ladies for taking part and thank you to Fiona for being a great swap mama and organising us all so well!  More great swaps next year I hope.  Happy Christmas everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!
 -Ruth

PS:  In case you missed it on our Facebook page, we have 5 members taking the Skill Builder Block of the Month 2015 with Alyssa @ Pile O'Fabric so we qualify for a group discount.  If anyone else is interested in purchasing the BOM to make this gorgeous quilt, please contact me for the discount code!

2014 Christmas Swap - sign-ups open!

After the huge success of last year's Christmas swap, and with lots of requests for another, we are delighted to open up sign ups for another Christmas themed swap. This time around we are making a Christmas cushion!

Ruth's picks for Christmas Cushion Swap

1. Christmas Ornament Pillow, 2. Winter pillow for Julianna (1), 3. CIMG9075, 4. Pillow-cover, 5. ChevronPillows - QuiltDetail, 6. Rear of my christmas pillow, 7. Aqua and pink christmas pillow, 8. Christmas Gifts, 9. Christmas FussySquares sewn together, 10. Christmas Snowflake ...a better photo and a little QAL, 11. Christmas pillow front, 12. paper pieced Christmas pillow, 13. Savvy Seasons pillow cover, 14. patchwork pillow cover, 15. pillow cover - christmas, 16. Christmas pillow

This year's swap will be for a modern Christmas themed cushion size 18" x 18" to facilitate the standard Ikea cushion insert. You'll also be making a small Christmas decoration for your partner, e.g. something suitable to hang on a Christmas tree.  For inspiration check out last years swap items on our Flickr group Modern Irish Quilters Swap.

This is open to all sewing levels and is a beginner friendly swap.  This week's blog post showed how to create a mosaic like mine above to give your partner an idea of what you would like to receive.  Next week's post will include instructions on how to make a simple envelope back cushion with the dimensions needed for this swap.  Swaps are a lot of fun and some require prior participation to be accepted.  Now is your chance to get one under your belt and if you have not made a quilted cushion before,  take it from me they a little bit addictive and are great fun to make!

Sign ups will be open until next Friday, 31st October, and partners will be assigned by Friday 7th November latest. You'll then have 4 weeks to make your items for your swap partner, and posting dates will be 8th-10th December.

This swap is open to members of Modern Quilters Ireland residing in Ireland. If you are not currently a member, and want to join up (membership is free) please find the information and link to the registration form here or email us at mqgireland@gmail.com
 

So I hope to see you over in the flickr group where you'll find the sign up thread open and more detailed instructions there. Will you be joining?  Last year was a lot of fun and we hope for more of the same this year!

-Ruth

How Virtual Swaps Work!

In advance of our Christmas swap – yes we are having another one! – I thought I’d put up a post on how virtual swaps work and how to create a mosaic of likes to help your partner make you an item you would like to receive.

This year’s swap sign up will open on Friday. For anyone who hasn’t taken part in a swap before they are brilliant fun and this is open to members of Modern Quilters Ireland residing in Ireland. Apologies to our members abroad, Christmas being a busy postal time we are limiting this swap to Ireland residents only. We do have more swaps planned for next year.

If you are not currently a member, and want to join up (membership is free) please find the information and link to the registration form here.

Our virtual swaps are secret swaps so you will not know who will be making your swap item for you. On the sign up form, there are spaces to fill in to give your partner an idea of what you like. For example you may love Heather Ross prints or Tula Pink’s mad animal prints, you may hate Christmas wreaths and holly but love snowmen, reindeers and Santa. Try and give your partner an idea of the style or colour you like to ensure you don’t get something you don’t like in the swap! Likewise try and keep your partner’s likes in mind as you are making your swap item and gift them what they would like rather than what you want to receive!

As this is a beginner friendly swap all skill levels are welcome. We will try and match skill level but be generous we were all beginners once! If you sign up and something happens that prevents you from completing your item let us know. Life happens, (kids get sick and give the flu to the whole house! ) and we may have to call on a swap angel to make sure your assigned swap partner isn’t left in the lurch. It happened to me on a Halloween sewing swap and the organiser felt so bad, I felt sorry for her as well!

With a secret swap you are allowed stalk your partner online! Yes this sounds creepy but it is the only time I can think of that its ok to be a stalker and look at your swap partners instagram, Flickr, or blog without them figuring out you are their assigned partner. So please when you get your partners details don’t suddenly start following them on social media – wait until your swap item is in the post! Part of the fun is keeping it secret and having the surprise when you receive your parcel in the post too!

1. Winter Baubles, 2. From Belair to Yosemite, 3. Tablerunner Progress, 4. Minimalist trees Modern Christmas Table Runner, 5. brrr christmas table runner, 6. Table Runner for the SHG Table Runner and Wall Hanging Swap, 7. Christmas table runner, 8. Christmas Fabric Bee- Finally!, 9. Holiday Table Runner, 10. Snowman Table Runner, 11. Christmas table runner, 12. Christmas table runner finished!, 13. Christmas Wonky Star Table Runner 1 Detail 2, 14. Nutcracker Sweets Table Runner, 15. Finished Christmas table runner, 16. Funky Christmas Table Runner

To participate in the swap you are required to make a mosaic of items you like, to help your partner out. The easiest way to do this is on Flickr. If you do a search on Flickr say for a Table Runner (last years swap), you can mark the items you like as a favourite by hovering over the photo and clicking on the star symbol. To make a mosaic a 3x3 grid or a 4x4 grid is usually good so you would need to star 9 or 16 items.

Then go to Big Huge Labs mosaic maker here and click on the number of columns and rows you want, click on Flickr faves and add in your Flickr name. Click create and a mosaic will be created automatically for you. If you have blanks in your mosaic it is because the person who owns that photo has opted out of allowing big huge labs to do this. You can remove that particular photo from your faves or leave the one blank in your mosaic if you wish.

Big huge labs automatically creates a legend with links to the original photos that you can copy and paste into your photo description when you upload your mosaic to Flickr. It is important to respect other peoples images even if they are shared freely on Flickr and Pintrest. Always give credit where credit is due!

If you want to manually create your own mosaic rather than Flickr faves, click on individually on the mosaic maker screen. Find an image you like and right click on it, then click on copy link location. Paste this into the url box and Big Huge Labs will pull this photo in and keep the link information to create a legend for you automatically.

Save your mosaic and upload to the Flickr group Modern Irish Quilters Swap. When the swap partners are assigned you will get a link to your partners mosaic and she yours. As you are making please share in progress photos and participate in the Flickr group by commenting on other’s shared work. If you are posting photos to Instagram please use the hash tag #modernirishquilters so we can find your photos and follow along. This is a way for us to get to know each other better, have some fun and receive a lovely item in time for Christmas.

Pincushion in progress

Don't forget to upload a photo of the item received and thank your swap partner!

Table runner I received from Sarah last year - thank you!

So get ready! Please join us on Friday when sign ups open on Flickr!

-Ruth

Scrappy Pincushion Swap - a little update

It seems like there are lots of people interested in our Scrappy Pincushion swap, which is fantastic news. We have a great little group over on Flickr. But I know that a couple of people haven't had a minute to do the signups, and obviously we'd love to give as many people as possible a chance to join.

Happily, we're not under too much time pressure on this one, so I'm extending the signup deadline to Monday evening 26th August to give everyone a little more time :-) If you've been sitting on the fence, please do join us, it won't take too much time, and it will be FUN!

To join in, just add your name to the sign up list in the Flickr group, and fill out this form so we have your details to give your swap partner. If you're not a member of MQGI, please take 2 minutes to join us by filling out the registration form here.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://modernquiltguildireland.blogspot.ie/" title="The Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland"><img src="http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j433/FairyFaceDesigns/763dc9fb-e9da-4662-8e0d-98424cbe79d2.jpg" alt="The Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Oh - and I made a button, if anyone wants it for their blog :-)

Announcing the MQG Ireland Scrappy Pincushion Swap!

I'm totally thrilled to announce that the MQG Ireland Scrappy Pincushion Swap is now open for sign ups!

Not been in a swap before? Come find out what you've been missing! Details are in the Modern Irish Quilters Swap group.


The swap signups are open until Saturday 24th August, and partners will be assigned the following week. Posting dates are 23rd-25th September.

So plenty of time to make a little pincushion and have a bit of fun too!

The swap is open to MQG Ireland members resident in Ireland. If you are not a member, but are a modern quilter living in Ireland and want to take part, please join us - we have lots of plans for the coming year and this is only the first fun event! You'll find the registration form here.

So - are you in?

Mini Quilt Swap

Did you send off your mini quilt to Atlanta?  Did you get one in return?  There are such gorgeous quilts floating their way back and forth across the Atlantic.  I want to be sure we can all see each and every one of them.

If you have a blog, please link up your posts when you write about the mini quilt you sent to Atlanta or the mini quilt you received in the post.  If you do not have a blog, please just email photos with the names of the creator to me (fluffysheepquilting at gmail dot com) and I'll add them onto this post.  This way we all get to join in the fun!

Thanks so much!

Mini-Quilt Swap with the Atlanta MQG

SIGN UP NOW! 

We have the fabulous opportunity to participate in a mini-quilt swap with the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild.  This is a great chance for Irish modern quilters to hop on the international scene and show off our creativity. Jump on board!


To learn more about the Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild, you can view their brand new website that has TONS of information on their activities.  Go on...have a peek....we'll wait for you to come back.

Right.  Are you all excited to sign up?  Well head (back?) over to the Atlanta MQG website and complete the registration form.  Be sure to have a look at the rules and guidelines below before registering:

• Mini-quilts should be between 12" x 12" and 18" x 18".  While participants are encouraged to give input on their favorite colors and design elements, the mini-quilt design is up to the maker.
• Please add a label to the back of your quilt so the recipient will remember who made the quilt.
• The swap is open to the Irish MQG and paid members of the Atlanta MQG.  In the event of a membership size disparity, swap participants from the larger guild may be assigned a partner in their own guild.
• Sign-up will be open until May 13. Partners will be assigned and notified the week of May 14th.
• Mini-quilts are due to partners by July 15 (so plan on mailing in early July).  For Atlanta members, not finishing and sending your project on time will impact your ability to participate in future swaps with the group.
• Each member that signs up for the swap will be responsible for shipping charges to their recipient. This is NEW for the Atlanta guild - in previous swaps we've consolidated shipping, but since the Irish MQG doesn't meet in person, this is not an option with this swap. When shipping to Ireland, you will need to need to fill out a customs form at the post office, which takes less than 5 minutes. Shipping estimates for a mini-quilt are $16.95 for an International Priority Flat Rate envelope, as long as the package weighs less than 4 pounds. Shipping costs will vary depending on the size of your project.

Scrap Swap Anyone?

We all love a good scrap swap, don't we?  It's a great way to mix up your stash at a very low cost to all participants.  Want to get involved?

The idea is this: Each person will take a fat quarter-worth of their scraps and put them into the post to me (Cindy) along with a self addressed, stamped return envelope.  I will mix them all up and re-distribute them to each participant so you get a fresh fat quarter-worth of scraps back in the post.  Don't worry, you will not get your scraps back...I'll keep track of who sent in what.  To play along, just leave a comment below so I know to expect your fabric in the post.

The rules:

• Only modern, quilt shop quality fabric is to be entered.  100% cotton only, please.  
• Fabric should have bright, lively, colorful prints or bold solids.
• Scraps should be larger than 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches square.
• Scraps must be received by Cindy no later than 30 April 2012.
• To save on shipping, this swap is only open to those living on the island of Ireland.
• Include a stamped, self addressed return envelope for those living in ROI.
• Folks in NI, email me and we can work out return shipping via paypal or swap a FQ or something...
• Open to MQG Ireland members only.  If you'd like to join, please head here and complete a registration form.
• If you want to send in two FQ-worth of scraps and receive two in the post, feel free.

Now let's get swapping!