At Road 2018, the Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild created the beautiful quilt exhibit that rose above everyone’s heads as they entered the venue. 
The Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild was established in January, 2015 to bring together individuals who are passionate about modern quilting. Their goal is to inspire, educate and develop friendships and they continually strive to use their love of quilting to bridge the needs of our community. 
Guild Members were active participants with this year’s Quilts from the Ashes, the initiative created to support the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild’s efforts in supplying quilts to the survivor’s of the devastating Thomas Fire in Ventura County, California. 
Another philanthropy the guild supports is the Memory Pillow program. On the one year anniversary of the passing of a child, the guild makes a memory pillow which is customized to that child and which the hospital presents to the surviving family members. 
The Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild is also a member of the worldwide Modern Quilt Guild, founded in 2009 as an online community of modern quilters by one of Road 2018’s vendors, Latifah Saafir. 
Road 2018 was Latifah’s first time hosting a retail booth for her Latifah Saafir Studios. She really enjoyed being in front of customers and putting faces to names. 
Latifah also hosted a Special Exhibit, Expanding Traditions. One of the quilts included in the exhibit was Latifah’s first free motion quilt. Because it was her first quilt, there were a lot of mistakes. Latifah felt it was important to show this “not perfect” quilt because learning to quilt is a part of the quilting process. 
Thank you Long Beach Modern Quilt Guild and Expanding Traditions for sharing modern quilting with Road 2018 guests.
]]>
Posts Tagged ‘Modern Quilt Guild’
Up, Up And Away With Modern Quilts
Saturday, April 28th, 2018Two Ways To Show Off Your Quilt for Road 2017
Thursday, July 14th, 2016Do you have a quilt that you have been working on that you would like to share with the public?
Road to California 2017 is offering two opportunities for quilters to enter their quilt designs – one that we are known for and a new one for quilts to be part of a special exhibit.
First, there is Road’s annual Quilt Contest. For 2017, quilters have the chance to vie for prize money totaling $90,000. Once again, Gammill is sponsoring the Best of Show category, offering $10,000 for the top prize. [caption id="attachment_4055" align="aligncenter" width="404"]
Best of Show Road 2016 – Silk Road Sampler by MelissaSobotka[/caption]
Road receives hundreds of entries each year in their annual contest for the fifteen categories. In order to qualify to enter, quilts have to have been made since January 1, 2015 and could not have been entered in a Road contest previously. The quilts have to been made with three distinct layers and no pre-quilted fabrics can be used.
[caption id="attachment_4093" align="aligncenter" width="336"]
2016 Outstanding Modern Quilt by Linda M. Thielfoldt[/caption]
Individuals can enter up to 3 quilts in the contest. Entry packets can be obtained on the Road website and must be received at Road’s office (either online or by mail) no later than October 3, 2016. Entrants are notified by November 28, 2016 if their quilt is chosen for the competition. Quilters then have until December 23, 2016 to ship their quilt to Road’s office.
[caption id="attachment_4035" align="aligncenter" width="327"]
2016 Director’s Choice by Kathy McNeil[/caption]
Judging for the contest will take place on January 17, 2017. Besides the top prizes, judges also consider three winners for each of the categories offered. All winners are notified the evening of the 17th.
[caption id="attachment_4110" align="aligncenter" width="336"]
2016 Outstanding Traditional Quilt by Bethanne G. Nemesh[/caption]
For more information on our 2017 Quilt Contest, please visit our website.
If you have a modern design quilt that you are proud of, perhaps you might consider entering it in the Special Exhibit, Modern Quilts – Redesigning Traditions. While no prize money is being offered, accepted quilts earn the prestige of being included in this special display.
The exhibit will be shown at the Ontario Museum of History and Art in Ontario, California, December 1, 2016 through January 22, 2017 – which includes time during Road 2017.
Modern Quilts: Redesigning Tradition, explores the modern evolution of traditional quilt patterns. Entries must adhere to the exhibit theme: traditional quilt blocks redesigned into a quilted item displaying Modern Quilting aesthetics. The traditional block used as inspiration must be identified by its commonly used name on the entry form.
[caption id="attachment_3839" align="aligncenter" width="296"]
Not Your Grandmother’s Wedding by Pauline Saltzman[/caption]
Submissions considered for acceptance to the exhibit include quilts, bags, pillows, and table coverings. All entries must consist of three distinct layers: top, middle layer and backing and must be quilted by hand and/or machine. No entry can exceed 96” wide. Due to shipping restrictions, quilted upholstered furniture will not be accepted.
[caption id="attachment_3842" align="aligncenter" width="297"]
Square in a Square by Christa Watson[/caption]
The deadline to submit entries is August 15, 2016. Accepted pieces will be notified by October 1, 2016. Interested sewists can request detailed information and an entry form from Guest Curator, Geroganna Hawley at ghawley@ontarioca.gov
Road to California is looking forward to all the submissions for both of these events. What quilt will you be entering for Road’s contests?
]]>
Modern Quilting At Road 2016
Monday, August 24th, 2015Road to California prides itself as being the quilt show for every quilter.
When it comes to Modern Quilting, Road 2016 has it covered:
Road to California 2016 is proud to host the special exhibit, The Best of Quilt Con 2015. Presented by the Modern Quilt Guild, 20 inspiring quilts showcasing the work of some amazing modern quilters will be on display.
What kinds of quilts can you expect to see in this exhibit? Quilts that are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. “Modern traditionalism” or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting.
The Modern Quilt Guild was developed out of the thriving online community of modern quilters and their desire to start meeting in person. The founding guild was formed in Los Angeles in October of 2009. Through blogs and the Internet, word spread quickly of the fun they were having and soon guilds started popping up everywhere. Today there are over 125 guilds around the world with members on six continents.
[caption id="attachment_3419" align="aligncenter" width="352"]
4020C – Incline Class with Natalia Bonner[/caption]
Modern quilters that will be teaching at Road 2016 include Natalia Bonner, Sue Bouchard, Catherine Redford, and Weeks Ringle – just to name a few.
[caption id="attachment_3417" align="aligncenter" width="324"]
4013C Happy Scrappy Improv Quilts Class with Catherine Redford[/caption]
Whether you want to simply admire or you want to create your own modern quilts, there’s lots to see and do with modern quilting at Road 2016.]]>
Rebooting Your Creativity
Friday, August 14th, 2015It’s back to school time all over the country. Evidence of this is all the school supplies showing up aisle after aisle in retail stores. You don’t have to have someone in your household going back to school to utilize these great supplies – especially when it comes to your quilting creativity.
Our friend, Jacquie Gering, recently pointed out in an article for the Modern Quilt Guild’s August newsletter, that school supplies can be a great source of creativity.
Says Jacquie, “There’s something special about newly sharpened pencils, virgin crayons, and crisp empty notebooks. Back to school is a time for fresh possibilities and new experiences…As a creative person, I get stuck staring at a blank design wall wondering if I’ll ever come up with a new idea. I feel stale. That’s where the newly sharpened pencil and crisp empty notebook comes in… They seem to inspire a new attitude for a new year, and remind me to open my mind to the ideas I know are stuck inside.”
Sometimes, all it takes to reboot your creativity is to participate in a specific project. Unlocking creative ideas can come from planning and making a quilt to be submitted to Road to California 2016’s Quilters Showcase, or following through on a quilt challenge like the Road 2016 Bag Challenge or Tiny Quilt Challenge.
The Modern Quilt Guild is looking for creative ideas for their 2016 Quilt of the Month series.
Twelve new quilts, that are original ideas that have never been published before, will be chosen to be shared with MQG members. Submitted designs should have a challenging creative element (like a color study, new technique, or unique structure or piecing — they want their members to learn new things and challenge their skills). Most importantly, they want to see the vision behind the design. A visual guide to the quilt submission — a sketch (using your fresh back-to-school notebook and pencil) or a computer-generated design – however way best shows the quilt as close to the final product as possible. Designers retain all rights to their quilt patterns, and the MQG will compensate winners for the right to first publish the pattern in their MQG newsletter and on their website. For additional information and submission rules, you can go to the MQG website.
A new school year or committing to a specific quilting project are great ways to reboot the creativity within you.
How do you reboot your creativity?
]]>
Modern Quilts for Charity
Tuesday, July 21st, 2015The Modern Quilt Guild will have a special exhibit, The Best of QuiltCon 2015, at Road 2016.
The Modern Quilt Guild is a thriving online community of modern quilters. The founding guild was formed in Los Angeles in 2009 and has grown to over 125 guilds around the world with members in 6 continents.
Last August, the MQG offered a challenge to its members: the QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge. This challenge required participating Modern Quilt Guilds to work collaboratively to create quilts using a predetermined color palette and alternate grid work design. Quilts could utilize blocks of different sizes and additional negative space plus any other creative ideas. Finished quilts were then donated by the guilds to local charities benefitting children.
The official rules also included:
- Guilds had to complete a quilt using the predetermined color palette of white, light gray, chartreuse, burnt orange, sky blue, cerise and a deep turquoise.
- The quilt had to use alternate grid work.
- A pattern could be used provided the guilds got permission from the pattern designer.
- A guild’s members provided the blocks for their quilt as well as all the necessary batting, backing, binding and additional fabric to complete the quilt top.
- The finished quilts could be no smaller than 68”x 88” and not greater than 72” x 92”
- Quilting could be no farther apart than 2”
- Machine sewn binding was allowed.
Pictures of the finished guild quilts, along with their story on how they were created, began appearing on the MQG’s blog last spring. Some of the recent entries included:
Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild
A quilt inspired by ideas! Arrows swarming and circulating represent the coordination of thought fragments.
Chicago Modern Quilt Guild
Inspired by the pattern “Blue Ice” from Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen.
Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild
“Modern Bracelets” is a tribute to minimalism, bright colors, and modern piecing of every kind.
Boise Modern Quilt Guild
The idea of a block slowly building and getting bigger with additional elements being added to it. It has double batting so it really “pops.”
Congratulations to all the modern quilt guilds that participated in MQG’s QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge.
]]>
2014 Special Exhibit: Best of QuiltCon 2013
Wednesday, April 30th, 2014Graphic and Hip
That was how the popular special exhibit, Best of QuiltCon 2013 was described. The exhibit featured quilts from the Modern Quilt Guild’s inaugural show, Quilt Con 2013.
QuiltCon is the international conference and show held in Austin, Texas, by and for The Modern Quilt Guild. It is the biggest modern quilting event of its kind, bringing together top modern quilting instructors and attendees from around the world. The event includes a juried modern quilt show with cash prizes, vendors, lectures, and workshops. Held every two years, the next QuiltCon is scheduled for February 19-22, 2015.
The Road exhibit offered attendees the chance to see up close the work of eighteen amazing modern quilters. Included in the display was a quilt awarded one of QuiltCon 2013’s three highest prizes. The Local Quilt, created by Carolyn Friedlander, won Best Machine Quilting. 
Road was delighted to be able to showcase these quilts and show support for the modern quilting movement.
]]>
Road 2014 Faculty Spotlight: Meet Jacquelyn Gering
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013 Jacquie will be teaching four classes: 4005 Stitch Flip and Improvisation on Thursday, 5005 Log Cabin Modern Makeover on Friday,6005 Slice and Insert Improvisation – The Shattered Quilt! on Saturday, and on Sunday,7005 Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot. 
Personal: Jacquie Gering sits on the Board of Directors for the Modern Quilt Guild and is an enthusiastic advocate for all things modern quilting. The inspiration for her modern quilt designs comes from the world around her (like the city of Chicago) and from causes she is passionate about. She has created a quilt in response to the Boston Marathon Bombing and one in support of anti-violence. The mother of two sons in their 20’s, Jacquie’s quilting partner is her adopted black lab, Bruno.
Photo by Gregory Case
How did you get started in quilting? I started quilting by accident 5 years ago. A visit to the Gees Bend exhibit happened to correspond with me quitting my job. There was something about The Quilts of Gees Bend that reached out to me. They inspired me, and I had the time, so I gave quilting a try.
Does anyone else in your family quilt? Not really. My family is Mennonite so making is a tradition. The men and women in my family are all makers. The women are/were all accomplished seamstresses. They could make a quilt if they needed to.
What is the one quilt tool you can’t live without? My sewing machine. It’s my best friend.
What do you like to do when you aren’t quilting? I love to visit art museums, walk my dog and listen to music. I also love to write.
Photo by Gregory Case
What do you like best about teaching? I’ve been a teacher for over 30 years. Teaching is the best job in the world. The best part of teaching is that kids and adults learn!
What is your best tip for quilters? Don’t be afraid to fail and then learn from your mistakes.
What do you want your students to get out of your class? It’s important to me that students leave class having gained knowledge and skill in the technique and confidence in their design ability.
You can find Jacqueline at: www.tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com
]]>
What is Modern Quilting?
Saturday, August 10th, 2013There has been a big movement in the quilting world the past few years called Modern Quilting. While its name would lead one to believe this is something new and unique, in actuality, its roots are from techniques used for much of the 20th century.
According to the Modern Quilt Guild, “Modern quilts are primarily functional and inspired by modern design. Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. “Modern traditionalism” or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting.
A defining event for modern quilting occurred in 1998 when Martha Stewart Living featured Denyse Schmidt, calling her quilts a “chic, modernist aesthetic.” For many quilters in the early days of the movement, this was a key inspirational moment.”
There are four factors that have contributed to the growth of the modern quilt movement: the cultural shift of quality design being recognized by the general public, affordable digital cameras, the changing fabric industry and the rise of social media.
Road to California understands the popularity of this quilt genre and has always shown support. Classes have been offered featuring modern quilt designers and quilters. For Road 2014, not only are more modern quilt classes being offered, but also a new Modern Quilt Category has been added to the quilt contest. The Modern Quilt Category has two subcategories to choose from. The first is Modern Piecing which includes quilts that utilize improvisational piecing techniques. The second sub-category is Negative Space which includes quilts set with large amounts of negative space including quilts with alternative grid work and modern abstract design. Prizes for the new Modern Category include Best Modern Quilt $2,000 sponsored by Modern Quilts Unlimited; Best Modern Piecing $1,000 sponsored by Stash Books and Best Use of Negative Space $1,000 sponsored by Stash Books. Quilts entered in to the Modern Quilt Category are also eligible to win other prizes such as Best of Show $6000, sponsored by Gammill . The deadline to enter a quilt is October 1, 2013.
What do you think about modern quilting?
]]>
