May 2025 Meeting Recap

34 members and 1 guest were at our meeting on Saturday May 17th at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair. Thanks for coming everyone!

Guild Business

Board Elections – The election will take place at the June meeting, which will start at 10 am. The new board will transition prior to the July meeting.
The nominees are:
- President (2-yr term): Ann Marston
- Vice President: Emily Clifford
- Secretary: Kathy Morganroth
- Programs Co-chairs: Holly Finneran & Samantha Linehan
2026 Quilt Showcase Committee – The committee will meet soon. Emily Clifford is the showcase chair. Please contact her if you’d like to join in the fun of making this happen.
We added the QuiltCon 2025 Catalog to our library of quilting books, magazines and rulers. See Caroline at a meeting to borrow.

PLEASE NOTE: Our June meeting will start at 10 am.

MQG Business

QuiltCon 2026 February 19-22 Raleigh, NC.

Challenges and Hotels

2026 Windham Artisan Cotton Fabric Challenge

For this challenge, members must use at least 3 of the 6 challenge fabrics chosen by the QuiltCon 2026 featured speaker, Hillary Goodwin.

American Patchwork & Quilting Diamonds Quilting Challenge

Eligible quilts will have the diamond (rhombus) shape as a primary element of the quilt design. You’ll find lots of examples of this and additional details on the challenge page.

Raleigh Hotel Blocks for 2026

We’ve secured blocks in six hotels for you to choose from. Check out the details on the website.

Community Outreach Challenge QuiltCon 2026

The theme is Medallion quilts, a fun way to work as a group and experiment with different repeating shapes and secondary patterns.
Size constraints of a maximum of 65”x85” and a minimum of 60”x80” must be adhered to.
More info on the MQG’s website.
We want your ideas! Put your thinking cap on and submit a design to the Board for our guild to create using one of these palettes.
Bear in mind that entire color palette must be used, with no additional colors allowed, and broad participation by as many NJMQG members as possible is an essential feature of this challenge.

Call For Entry

MQG is curating a fresh exhibit in partnership with The Dairy Barn Arts Center! This juried exhibit will display the wide variety of talent and innovation happening in modern quilting today.

Submissions will be open April 21, 2025 – June 16, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
There is no submission fee.

Submitted quilts may be in any modern style and may or may not have been exhibited at QuiltCon in the past.
The entries will be juried by MQG staff.
Any MQG member may submit up to 2 quilts to the call.
A limit of 1 quilt per maker will be chosen with a final exhibit of approximately 20 quilts.
Quilts must have been completed within the last 3 years (2023, 2024, 2025).
Quilts must be available to ship to arrive in Athens, Ohio by September 5, 2025.
There is no minimum size for quilt submissions, but the maximum size will be 90″ on any side.

**The June meeting will start at 10 am.**

Programs

Ongoing

Mystery Quilt – Step 4 was emailed May 15th. The reveal will be in October.
Bee Block Party – current blocks will be swapped at the June meeting.
Mini-Quilt “Initial” Challenge – open to all members. Finished quilts are due at the June 21st meeting which starts at 10 am. (Remember to keep it secret until then – no posting on social media!)
- The basic parameters are:
  - Make a mini-quilt, Min 12″ Max 24″ per side. (Does not have to be square.)
  - Choose a main color based on the initial of your first name.
  - Choose an inspiration block based on the initial of your last name.
  - Bring your finished mini to the June meeting (wrapped, to maintain anonymity) where we’ll display them all and vote for Viewers Choice. The winner will receive a prize!
Charity projects will continue to be collected by Kelly for donating to CASA.
Montclair Art Museum field trip to see an exhibit of Montclair collage artist Nanette Carter was planned post-meeting, but we found out at the last minute that the museum was closed to prepare for a gala that evening. (What nerve! Did they check with us? Did they invite us? Hmpf.) We hope to reschedule another day to see it before it closes on July 6.

Upcoming

Felting Workshop with Josie Dakers-Brathwaite on Saturday July 19th at First Lutheran Church of Montclair, 10a-2p. Stay tuned for class registration info.

Reminder: June meeting starts at 10 am

Improv Inspiration

The trunk show by member Carolyn McKibben was a real treat! Carolyn’s work will be displayed in a solo show titled Nature’s Tapestry at the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit June 7 – October. Go see it!

Follow Carolyn on Instagram @quiltergardener

In the beginning…
Carolyn has learned from and been inspired by books by Irene Roderick, Sherri Lynn Wood, Victoria Findlay Wolfe among others.
Quiltcon 2023
“Ms Anglerfish”
Lego Candyland Quiltcon 2023
“Dead Fishes” Quiltcon 2023
Sometimes the back is equally interesting!
“Pollinate This”
“Mojo” at Reeves-Reed until May 23rd.
See this at Reeves-Reed in June
Zephie’s quilt “Rainbow Gelato” which was diplayed at Quiltcon 2025 in the Youth category! You go girl!