As we turned the corner into 2015, I was as determined as ever to find "my people" here in Florida. In January, I hunted down a local quilt guild, the South Florida Modern Quilters, that meets in Boca Raton once a month. They meet at Stitchcraft, an independent fabric store. I sent an email to the organizer about attending and she replied that the guild is very loosely organized and has no dues, so I could "join" simply by attending a meeting. I was instructed to wear a name badge and bring a few things for show and tell and for the topic of discussion which was "favorite fabric (the one you can't cut into)".  

Stitchcraft is a very friendly fabric shop, they have a wide range of fabric including a large section of batiks, a big corner of Kaffe Fassett prints, and good selections of reproduction cottons and modern designer prints. They are a Babylock dealer and have good range of sewing notions, thread etc too. They do some classes including project classes on general sewing, and introductory classes for quilting.  

I brought the blocks I was working on for do. Good Stitches' January quilt with the Inside Addition pattern. I talked a bit about joining the charity bee. 

It was really nice to meet the members and spend some time with fellow quilters.  The group works on round robin quilts for Project Linus, so I took a partially completed quilt top to add to.

The February meeting was yesterday and there were fewer members in attendance this time (largely due to Quiltcon I think!).  We talked about the upcoming Broward Quilt Expo which some of the members are involved in organizing. The discussion topic this month was hand embroidery. Charlotte talked about redwork and she had made up some little kits and instruction sheets so that everyone could try it. There was also a Babylock rep giving a demo on free motion quilting.  Lots of quilts for the show and tell this time, I think we are all getting our sew back on after the holidays.  Patti and I both spoke a little about attending Quiltbeach last month.

Every month the group has a block theme and everyone who makes a theme block puts names in a hat to win all the blocks. Being near Valentine's Day, the theme this month was hearts.  I made a block using the Cluck Cluck Sew tutorial., then combined four small blocks together and added a border.

There were some beautiful heart blocks!  Sadly, I didn't win the lucky dip, but I am sure the winner will be able to make something really lovely.

Next month's block theme is texture, which is a bit of a mystery for me, but I'll figure something out I'm sure!

There are a few other quilt groups down this way and I will endeavor to look into them in the coming months.

Happy sewing everyone!