We had an exciting and informative meeting this April. It was the first in-person meeting headed by our new president Ariel Norquist. We also learned that wearing masks at Rush is optional. The guild board will be taking our member's opinions into consideration about whether to continue masking at in-person meetings. If you have thoughts, please reach out to Ariel.  During our meeting, guild members Laura Hartrich, Emily Lang, Katie Cooper and Adamandia Kapsalis presented different ways of finishing quilts. We moved around the space in groups, visiting each technique.  Laura ..read more

This month’s meeting features speaker Maday Delgado, an art educator, published artist, and sustainability enthusiast. Join us at Rush Oak Park Hospital at 2pm on May 21, 2023 for a rich conversation about how you can experiment with sustainable techniques. Maday is committed to bringing innovation and artistry to the forefront of the work she creates. Her mission is to nurture artistic platforms across cultures and generations to foster creative work, while finding ways to minimize our environmental footprint. Learning from cultural textile traditions and exchanging powerful stories cont ..read more

The Chicago MQG is over the moon excited to welcome Audrey Esarey (aka Cotton and Bourbon) to our guild THIS SUNDAY for a virtual lecture at our September meeting! Audrey is an amazing modern quilter and pattern designer whose work has been exhibited around the world. She lives in Kentucky (Get those bourbon vibes now?) and identifies as a lifelong maker and sewist. She began quilting in 2005. After setting a goal to exhibit her quilts in a juried show, she has had multiple quilts honored with awards at QuiltCon, and recently won the Young Emerging Artist Award at Quilt National ‘21 for her ..read more

We are excited to welcome Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) to our guild in September for a LIVE IN-PERSON workshop and a virtual lecture! Giuseppe grew up in Long Island, NY. First generation Sicilian-American on his dad’s side and second on his mom’s, his family lived on the bottom floor of his maternal grandparents’ house. His grandmother is a talented and prolific seamstress who taught him to sew at an early age, though it wasn’t until he was in college that he discovered quilting. He joined Instagram shortly thereafter and quickly found himself making long distance friends in the quilti ..read more

“Modern Quilts in the Second City: Ten Years of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild” is a 120-page hardcover book printed in full color that celebrates the collective and individual creativity of our talented guild. We've already distributed the books from our first preorder, but if you haven't yet purchased a copy (or want more!), you can sign up on our waiting list below (or click the image of the book in the sidebar on the right) in order to be notified of a second order. Featuring over 200 quilts made by Chicago MQG members over the guild’s first decade, “Modern Quilts in the Second City ..read more

We are delighted to welcome Sara Trail to our guild this month for a two-part online workshop and lecture! Sara Trail learned to sew at the young age of four, and is now a successful author, sewing teacher, and pattern and fabric designer. At age 13, she wrote a nationally published book, “Sew with Sara” that teaches teens and tweens how to sew cute clothes and accessories for fun and profit; then at 15, she starred in a nationally published DVD, “Cool Stuff to Sew with Sara.” While attending UC Berkeley, she created a quilt in memory of Trayvon Martin and her love for sewing and passion for ..read more

Our third annual Quilt Olympics program during our April meeting was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated, either by playing the games, or leading them. Lauren Krause lead four teams through a VIP (Very Important Project) game that left members giggling over sewing themed acronyms. The Crafty Divas, the Sewcialites, the Cut Ups, and the Seam Rippers contemplated their PHD (Project Half Finished), which made them want to go on a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). It was challenging and amusing... and ended in a tie between the Cut Ups and the Seam Rippers! Melissa Bogusch and ..read more

We hope you've enjoyed participating in the Big Fun Mystery Sew Along over the past eight months. Perhaps you learned a new technique, experimented with a novel color palette, or just enjoyed discovering what each new month would bring. By now you probably have a pile of blocks in different shapes and sizes. You may be wondering what to do next. It's time to evaluate what you have, make some decisions,... and come up with a plan! Lay out your blocks to see what you have so far. What will your final quilt look like? You may already have a design in mind. If not, we're here to offer ..read more

After Covid delays, we are excited to announce that the Chicago MQG 10th anniversary book is now available for pre-order! “Modern Quilts in the Second City: Ten Years of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild” is a 120-page hardcover book printed in full color that celebrates the collective and individual creativity of our talented guild.  Featuring over 200 quilts made by Chicago MQG members over the guild’s first decade, “Modern Quilts in the Second City” also includes an introduction by former guild member and past MQG president Jacquie Gering, as well as seven thematic chapters with intr ..read more

We're keeping things simple this month with some basic blocks made from half-square triangles. This will be the last month of block-based instructions for our Big Fun Mystery Sew Along, and then we'll focus on how to pull together all the individual parts and pieces we've created. The blocks below could be a quick and easy way to fill empty spaces or add a border to your design. Scale them up or down as needed, and use them to add some basic (or bold) geometry to your mystery quilt. If, like me, you have a bunch of blocks made, but no clear idea of how to combine them into a cohesive quilt ..read more