Saturday, December 31, 2011

President's Message January 2012

Dear River City members,

Boy oh Boy, what have I gotten myself into?? Well folks, we will hit the ground running in 2012 with our first organizational meeting on Jan. 5th. I want your input to set the guild on a smooth path for the new year. There will be an meeting agenda (paper) to follow along and make notes. (Thanks for the suggestion.) A hard copy will be available at the sign-in table and if possible, one will be forwarded to you via e-mail in advance of the meeting.

We are going to start a brand new year with discussions as to programs, events, and quilt community projects. We are expanding in membership and opportunities. Growth requires change. There are some items we will consider setting aside for a while and some favorites that we shall promote and continue. There are some projects that will have a short-term focus of time. I would like to thank everyone for their generosity in sharing ideas, in expressions of support, and for stepping forward to volunteer time and leadership on committees. You have made my job so much easier.

My thanks to vice president, Debbie Hulett, and the board members for their ideas, plans, and options. They are some smart cookies with many years of experience to bring to the table. I am blessed.

Here we go!! I'll see you on Thursday.

Thanks.
Cynthia


Bring to the meeting:
  • finished Mystery Quilt - we'll vote on viewer's choice
  • membership application and check for $20
  • fat quarters for the lotto - Laurel Burch
  • your fiber name tag
  • items for the Birthday Table - December and January
Be working on:
  • 2012 UFO List
  • AAQI Challenge
 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

President's Messages December 2011

Yikes! It's already time for the River City Christmas Party Celebration. How time flies when you are having fun! I wish I could say that I've caught up on my sewing, but NO. Having my daughter visit from Vienna was a great diversion, so really, it's all good. My machine doesn't even know me - I've been away so long. Well, there's always next year.

We've have an exciting December meeting/party planned for the guild. Valerie Barth and the committee have done an outstanding job of organizing it again this year. It's an event you don't want to miss. Candy and her elves have been hard at work finishing those Christmas Lotto quilts, 12 of them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my name is pulled this year!

What a surprise for the Design Star Challenge, 13 entries. Apologies go out to those who felt slighted because we didn't have beginner, intermediate, and advanced separations for the challenge. At the October meeting, we only knew of 6 quilts being done. We'll do better next year!

As my last letter as President, I thank each and every one of you for making this a great River City year for me. I've learned a lot and got to know a whole bunch of you better! I discovered that when you have a group of such hard working, kind, and generous folks, we can accomplish great things. I look forward to working as past president with Cynthia next year.

Looking forward to a relaxing 2012, I leave you, Most humbly,

Jo Paula Lantier




I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend a wonderful day with my mother in law and extended family. I will not be able to attend the guild Christmas party. A family matter has come up and I'll be in Dallas. However, I know you will have a great time and a lucky few will win beautiful quilt tops!

In preparation for 2012, I need your input. Since I will miss the meeting, I have prepared a form and ask that you please take time to share some of your thoughts about future guild activities. I want our guild to be the best it can be, and the only way to do that is get your ideas and wishes on paper.

Mary Woltmann will hand out the forms at the Dec. meeting. We cannot be everything to everyone, but we certainly can try to provide activities that the majority desires (if possible). A Board Meeting is set for Sunday, 12/18/11 at 2:00 PM at the Jones Creek Library. Any members who would like to join us are welcome to attend. At this meeting I plan to discuss the "suggestions" and make plans accordingly.

I also ask that you consider serving on a committee in 2012. Those of you who have served and agree to stay on into 2012, I want to give you a huge THANK YOU in advance. Serving on a committee is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other members and stretch yourself creatively. Sign up sheets for committees will also be available at the Dec. meeting.

I look forward to a great year. Thanks.

Cynthia McGee



The list of things to bring:
  • your contribution to the pot luck (with a serving spoon)
  • a homemade gift to exchange (if you choose to participate)
  • food pantry donations - non-perishable foodstuffs, infant items, personal hygiene items
  • fiber nametags

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

President's Message - November 2011

Our condolences from the guild are extended to the loved ones of Norma Payne. She was a great quilter and an inspiration to many. The guild will miss her and her many quilted inspirations she brought to show & tell. One fond memory was when she came home from a trip with a purchase of Paula Nadelstern fabric. She was so honest to say that she really didn't have any plans for it, but just wanted to look at it and touch it! I know all of us can relate to that. Thanks Norma, for all your wit and wisdom. We'll miss you but know now that you are sewing up a storm in heaven!

I think everyone can agree that the auction was a complete success. Our thanks go to Jo Doherty and all of her elves for a job well done. $3,115 worth to be exact Joyce will have the break down by department.

The board is excited to unveil the 2011 version of The Board Quilt, actually 2 quilts for your viewing pleasure. Tickets for the drawing at the Nov. meeting will be on sale for $5 each. Remember you must be a RCQG member to purchase the tickets! It is the board's "thank you" quilt to all our members.

In fact, I was inspired by The Board Quilt to purchase some beautiful batiks at Magrieta's Quilt Shop in St. Augustine, FL. Not like I needed an excuse to buy batiks, for that matter, but I do think you will love the board quilt as much as we do ; )

Special congratulations to Cynthia McGee, president, and Debbie Hulett, vice president, for stepping up and volunteering to serve as officers. We know 2012 will be a great year.

Lastly, so many thanks to all of you for making my year as your guild president a pleasant one. I feel like I'm leaving the guild in great hands and look forward to taking a breather and sitting in the bleachers next year. Good luck to all of you.

Remember to see Valerie Barth about the Christmas Party. She and her elves have planned a great event.

Until next time, keep those machines humming.

Best regards,
Jo Paula



Bring list:
  • Cash for the Board Quilt drawing held this evening. $5 per chance.
  • Show and Tell - Trash and Treasure from Houston, Thread painting projects, AAQI mini's, and regular stuff. Tell us about the Ponchatoula Quilt Day, GSQA meeting, Stitched -the Movie.
  • Fat Quarters for Lotto: " Christmas Reds & Greens" Max. number of entries is 2.
  • Fiber Name Tag: Sign in. You could win a $10 gift certificate or $10 cash.
  • Birthday Table items
  • Pet Quilts
  • Deposit for March Guild Retreat
  • Design Challenge Quilts
  • Fabric Exchange Quilt Challenge

Monday, October 3, 2011

President's Message - October 2011

Wow, what a whirlwind month! If you were inspired by Sherry Herringshaw like I was, you've been busy making small quilts for AAQI. I've made 4 so far. Paper pieced log cabin quilts are too much fun.

We had a great board meeting on Sat., the 24th, and you will really really like the quilts that the board constructed. We ended up with so many blocks that we now have 1 large quilt top and 1 lap size. These quilts will be displayed at the Nov. meeting and will be used as a fund-raiser for future national teachers. The tickets will be sold to members for $5 and buy as many as you like. We have great ideas for national teachers for 2012.

I'm so excited about the upcoming Auction! Infinite thanks to Jo Doherty for her labors to put together a vast collection of lovely baskets. 80% of the proceeds will go to the Parker House and 20% will be retained by RCQG. We will be setting up the auction beginning at 2:00 pm. If you are able to help with set up and/or transporting items from Jo's house to church, please contact her ASAP, (h) 767-4960 (e) jocdoherty@cox.net

A brief rundown of Auction Procedures: When you enter the building:

(1) Members and guests sign in and get a bidder number; that is your personal number for the evening.

(2) You may begin bidding as soon as you register. All silent auction baskets are numbered with corresponding numbered bid sheets and a brief description of the contents. Those sheets stay with the basket.

(3) If you are interested in a basket, simply write your bidder number and the amount of your bid on the sheet. To increase the bid, the minimum increment is $1. Bid more......and bid often......

At the end of the silent auction: Designated runners pick up the bid sheets. A group of clerks will tally the bids for each bidder. There will be stations numbered 1 20, 21 50, 51 75, 76 100, 101 125, etc. When it is time to pay, you will go to the line that corresponds to your bid number. Your total will be calculated for you. When you receive your total form, there will be a runner who will pull your baskets by number and give them to you. This set of operations is to alleviate confusion in distribution of winnings.

In the meantime, while you wait for the tallies to finish, please be seated. (4) The LIVE AUCTION will commence, Suzi as auctioneer presides. After the live auction we will have Show & Tell. (5) During the entire evening, Jo will have a Cash Ticket Table, like the birthday table drawing, you purchase 4 tickets for $1 or use exact change; no change will be made. Please bring your checkbooks and cash - you will need both.

(6) At the conclusion of Show & Tell, queue up at your bid number station and pay for your goodies.

Christmas Party plans are coming together nicely. Valerie Barth and committee will be meeting before the auction to talk about details. If you signed up to work on the Christmas party, please come early (6 pm).

Nominations are open for officers for 2012. It is one item of business that we must take care of before the Nov. meeting (according to our bylaws). If you are interested in serving, please contact Lilly Willis.

We shall suspend guild operations of birthday table, fat quarter lotto, and the name tag drawing until the Nov. meeting.

Hope this isn't TMI!
Best regards,
Jo Paula



Bring to the meeting:
  • Your friends, your money and your smile
  • Show and Tell
  • Your fiber name tag
  • Wear something for Halloween if you wish
  • Christmas Lotto Blocks - this is the deadline
  • Birthday table items

Saturday, August 27, 2011

President's Message September 2011

Good day to all of the River City Quilters!

So sorry I couldn't make the August meeting. There were family commitments and a bit of vacationing. Of course, I thought about all of you while visiting a few quilt shops in Arlington, TX, Colorado Springs and Ft. Collins, CO. The spectacular selection of batiks in Colorado Springs was overwhelming. I convinced my husband to stop at the Moab, UT quilt shop. I found some interesting local themed fabric there. Needless to say, I came home with enough fabric for about 5 quilts. Ridiculous, isn't it?

Besides shopping for fabric, we did a lot of hiking. We visited several national parks: Rocky Mountain, Arches, Canyon Lands, and Mesa Verde! If any of you are traveling folks, the best deal we came across was a lifetime pass for ALL of the National Parks for $10! My husband qualified for the senior discount. It is so worth it.

I heard through the grapevine that Michael Young's presentation was excellent. If we have enough interested people, we're going to ask him to do a workshop for one of our Saturday Sew Ins next year.

Okay folks, I'm slowly knocking out those items on my UFO list. I sent Suzanne Elliot a list of 5, YES FIVE quilts that are finished! Let's try and beat last year's numbers. Remember, I won last year and I'm sewing my fingers to the bone trying again in 2011!

Thanks to Beth for taking care of the business at the meeting. And many thanks to the Nominating Committee for their hard work in finding a slate of officers for 2012. As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed being your guild president, family commitments and health issues will preclude me from continuing next year. Of course, I am more than willing to serve in a support position. Being president isn't a hard job! It is time-consuming but with the great support I have received from the membership, it was easy to accomplish what we set out to do: have fun, learn new skills, and meet friends! Please consider serving if you are asked and if you aren't asked, consider volunteering. The current board has already made some plans for 2012 so all you have to do is step up!

I am looking forward to the September and Sherry Herringshaw's presentation. She has great ideas and techniques for small quilts which will fit in fine with our AAQI involvement. It's amazing how easy it is to finish these small art quilts. And they go to such a great cause.

All I can say is, "WOW," when I read about Candy Bergeron and the Christmas committee's accomplishments on the Christmas Lotto Quilts. Incredible that we had such a great response and returns. If you weren't able to make a block (they are sold out), you still have time to earn chances by sewing with the committee. These quilts are going to be highly sought after at the drawing! So many thanks to all for a job well done!

Well, I must go sew. Those UFOs are calling my name.

Best regards, Jo Paula


 
Stuff to bring:
  • non-perishable food for local food cupboards
  • donations to the auction
  • quilting supplies for Joplin and/or Alabama
  • Show and Tell items
  • Finished Pet quilts
  • Finished Christmas Lotto Blocks
  • Fat Quarter Lotto - Kaffe Fassett
  • Items for the birthday table
  • Fiber name tag

Friday, July 29, 2011

President's Message August 2011

Hello Fellow Quilters,

Just a brief message to wish you a happy summer. I don't know about you but this wonderful rainy weather has encouraged me to pull out my UFO basket. I finished 2 more projects. Now, not to set to bar too high, I just want to remind you that I won the UFO Challenge last year and I'm feverishly working to win it again! I have to keep reminding myself NOT to work on some of the new projects that I started from fabrics I purchased on our road trip to Knoxville. Well, that's another story. We visited 15 quilt shops and bought a little here and there, but the best shop, by far, was Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough. It was easy to see why it was selected as one of the Top Ten shops in Quilt Sampler Magazine in 2011. If you've never been, believe me it's worth the trip. In fact, we almost went 3 hours out of our way on the return trip home, just to go back, but we decided to go through Marietta, GA and visited a few shops there. Needless to say, I won't be going to Houston this Fall.

I wish I could say that I got a lot accomplished on this trip. I had such good intentions, really I did. I brought a few UFOs but the shops in the area were too much fun to visit. It was great seeing our quilts hang in the Ultimate Guild Challenge. We got some great ideas for the next one! Unfortunately, the show is moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan, but eventually, it will return to Nashville in the future.

Sorry I won't be able to be at the August meeting. I was so looking forward to hearing Michael Young talk about the Stack and Whack technique. I've had some fabric which is on my UFO list which I purchased for that technique, but haven't felt comfortable jumping in without seeing The Pro work his magic! Oh well, next time.

Anyway, I'm off to Colorado for my sister in law's 70th birthday celebration so I'll see you around the bend in September. Until then, keep on sewing!

Best regards,
Jo Paula

The Bring List:
  • Stack and Whack Quilts for Show and Tell
  • We want to see your finds and hear your stories if you've been traveling to quilt shows in Sisters or Knoxville, or anywhere else
  • Childrens fabrics and brights to donate to Wasted Women for cherity quilts
  • Finished Pet Quilts
  • Donations for the Auction - please measure and label your fabrics
  • Fat Quarters for Lotto - Clouds or rain, in either silver, blue-gray or white
  • Fiber Name Tag
  • Items for the Birthday Table
  • Completed Christmas Lotto Blocks earn 3 chances to win

Sunday, June 26, 2011

President's Message July 2011

Happy Summer Fellow Quilters!

I hope this wonderful Louisiana weather is inspiring you to stay inside and SEW! I’ve been so productive, I amaze myself! Seems like this heat is good for something.

River City has another action-packed meeting on Thursday, July 7th and sure hope you can join us for a Christmas in July party. We’ll be collecting the birdhouse blocks AND we’ll be offering for your viewing and sewing pleasure, the CHRISTMAS lotto blocks! Special thanks to Candy and the rest of the gang for working on this. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser!

We plan to have a Red, White, and Green meeting, so please bring your past Christmas Lotto Block quilts to display for the viewing pleasure of our members. I think it will be inspirational! And since it is a mini Christmas Party, we’d like for everyone to bring a little bit of party finger food. It’s pot luck, so we’ll see what turns up. The guild will provide the soft drinks, ice and FUN!

There were several River City guild members who went to Paula Toups’ chenille rug class. What a fun time was had by all. It’s gratifying to start a project and finish it in the same day. The rugs were so diverse and I hope that those who attended will bring their rugs for Show and Tell.

Marie Montalbano wants to me to remind quilters that St. Margaret’s is available for the Tuesday sew days. Suzi will post the upcoming dates. It’s a great way to get projects done and visit with others at the same time. If you can’t seem to get that quilt finished because of laundry, telephones, computers, bring it to St. Margaret’s. It’s stress free sewing and it doesn’t cost a thing!

Hope to see you at Christmas in July, but until then, keep those machines humming!

Best regards,
Jo Paula

Bring:
 Cash to invest in some Christmas Lotto Blocks.
 Finger food for the Party. Sweet or savory, we eats what we gets.
 Tweet-Tweet -- "Bird House" lotto blocks are due
 Payment for Labor Day Weekend Retreat
 Items to donate to the auction
 Completed pet quilts for YELP!
 Fat Quarter Lotto -- Red or White or Green Christmas prints

Friday, June 17, 2011

Norma's Quilt

Alice Fredlund and Jo Doherty brought Norma Payne's quilt to her today. They said that as soon as they gave it to her, she wrapped it around herself and didn't let go of it the whole time they were there. She was really touched and loves her quilt. They all had a good cry when Alice read the notes to her.

Give her a call sometime or drop by for a short visit!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

President's Message June 2011

Hello Fellow Quilters,

As I say that, I didn't feel much like a quilter this past month. Since early April, I've only managed to put a border on a quilt! I am finally over the jet lag and ready to get back in business. I keep reminding myself of all those UFO projects I listed in January. We best all get busy so we can get those numbers up!

We have another busy month ahead of us during June. Don't forget to bring $3 for a Kumihimo kit. You can pay Joyce. If you want to see more about this technique please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumihimo and some images http://www.google.com/search?q=kumihimo I have heard reports from members of the old Stitch Witches guild about how much they enjoyed Nancy's program. I know it's a bit out of the ordinary from "quilt related" programs, but thread is part of what we do and it promises to be a very fun and easy project!

AND.... Kathy Brown will display a mini trunk show of quilts prepared from her new book, Strip Smart, before they are shipped out for promotion.

WOW!!! Wasn't The Giving Quilt event spectacular!! It was great to see all those beautiful quilts. My thanks to all of you, for your generosity and volunteer spirit that made it a complete success.

Mark your calendars for Sat., June 11th. That is the new date for Paula Toups' Chenille Rug class.

So not to take away any more time from your sewing and mine, I'll sign off. Until next time, keep those machines humming!

Best regards, Jo Paula

Bring to the meeting:
  • Birthday Table
  • Choose JUST any 2 items from your sewing stash/room. Bring them for the AUCTION. Jo Doherty and Co. are ready and waiting in the parking lot to accept your donations. Baskets & containers welcome
  • YELP project (Lilly Willis) Bring your finished pet quilts
  • Show & Tell: please bring any quilts made with Kathy's ruler methods - like the ruler class from last year and any summer projects, and regular show & tell.
  • Fat Quarter Lotto: (See Suzi) "Asian fabrics - any kind - cotton or silk". Max. of 2.
  • Fiber Name Tag: Sign in. You could win a $10 gift certificate.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

President's Message May 2011

Happy Spring Fellow Quilters!

Can everyone take a deep breath and say WHEW! What a great start to the Spring season, Judy Laquidara's lecture and classes. Her lecture was fast paced and held everyone's interest. Amazing what removing one piece of fabric or adding a pieced border can do to a quilt.

The board is so pleased that the programs for the rest of the year are offering a wide variety for different skill levels. Suzanne Elliott, Beth Jessup and I will show you the POE block assembly for the program in May. We will have patterns to distribute and should surprise you on how easy these blocks are to make, even though they have a very complicated appearance!

For Show and Tell, don't forget to bring your Judy LaQuidara projects and any great finds from Paducah. Please don’t forget to bring your qBay and Birthday club items to help raise funds for St. Paul’s June installment.

My apologies for not responding to email but I will be visiting my oldest daughter in Vienna for the rest of the month of April, but will see you at the May 10th guild meeting.

Until then, keep those machines humming. Best regards, Jo Paula

p.s. – I'll report that the fabric shops I stopped in while in Vienna, Austria, had fabric for sale at 17 Euros per meter (a little more than a yard), which equates to $24 a yard. Obviously, I didn't find any fabric I just "had" to have!


Bring list:
  • Birthday Table and qBay - (see Jo Doherty and Mary Wolf) *Remember that proceeds from this month’s birthday table go to the church to renovate the fellowship hall with new carpets, so bring some good stuff!
  • donations for this year's auction. Jo Doherty and Co. are ready. Baskets and containers
  • YELP project (Lilly Willis) Bring your finished pet quilts. Any questions call 753 1108.
  •  Show & Tell: Bring your Judy LaQuidara class work and regular show & tell.
  • Fat Quarter Lotto: (See Suzi) "Batiks in Blue or Purple," like iris in Springtime. Max. of 2.
  • Fiber Name Tag: Sign in. You could win a $10 gift certificate.

Pictures from Japan Tsunami Relief

See the pictures.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

President's Message April 2011


Dear River City Quilters:

Wow, I'm so pumped after attending the GSQA class I won last December. Gyleen Fitzgerald was a great teacher and I'm loving the look of this Pineapple Quilt with my Kaffe Fassett scraps. Ten blocks made, twenty blocks to go. Finally, a scrap quilt!

We have a fun-filled meeting on Thursday, April 7. Judy LaQuidara will be lecturing in preparation for her workshops on Friday and Saturday. If you haven't signed up, there are a couple of openings left. Call Beth Jessup for details.

Be cleaning out your sewing room for qBay and Birthday Table items. River City will use the May meeting proceeds to raise funds to have an extra donation to St. Paul's Lutheran Church. We will use the proceeds from qBay and Birthday Club Table to make a love offering for allowing us the use of the Fellowship Hall.

I'm keeping it short this month so I can find time to get more blocks done so I'll have something for Show and Tell in April.

Until then, keep on quilting!
Jo Paula

Bring list:
  • items for the Birthday Table and qBay
  • Solids Fabric Exchange
  • Spring/Pastel quilts to hang
  • Easter Egg Pastel Fat Quarters (pink, blue, purple, yellow, green)
  • YELP pet quilts
  • Items for Show and Tell
  • Figer Name Tags

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

President's Message March 2011

Dear River City Quilters:

Well, February is behind us and we look onward to Springtime. How did you like the taste of what's coming up in the guild for the rest of the year? I hope it wasn't too overwhelming to hear about so many projects at once, but we wanted to get it out there and generate some excitement!!

Barbara Lankford and the committee have really put together our annual challenge for us and I just love Elena Acosta's idea for the birdhouses for lotto blocks. I can't wait to get a piece of that swatch to start on that birdhouse. Caroline Derbes' love of art really shows in her abstract art quilt designs with solid fabrics.

We are still looking for a coordinator of the Christmas Lotto block committee. (Please, please) I love the pineapple design from Bonnie Hunter and I thank Beth Jessup for throwing together a block on very short notice. As I said at the meeting, there are already folks who volunteered to serve on this committee, we need a point person.

I was elated to get Janet Cundiff back in the guild and even more excited for her to participate in show and tell. Wasn't that a lovely quilt she made in the past year while recuperating. You need to know that she was my inspiration for the mentor program.

Wow, what a lovely array of quilts in the Ultimate Guild Challenge for AQS Knoxville! My apologies for the confusion in the awarding of ribbons. I learned a lot from this challenge and promise that we will have tape measures available at check-in and will have guidelines and rules in writing beforehand and available to all those submitting quilts. Let's keep our fingers crossed that AQS loves those as much as we do and we get into the show! I don't know about y'all, but I'm thinking something floral for the next UGC for AQS!

Beth Jessup and I are teaching an all-day Patch-No-Work class for the Remember Me Quilt Guild on Saturday, March 5th at St. Paul's. There are still a few openings available. If you are interested in attending, please contact Becky Stringer rebeccastringer@cox.net . Places are filling up fast!

We are gearing up for a great presentation in March. Our local quilt pattern creators and celebrities, Paula Toups and Connie Ewbank, will do the program. If you have quilts that were made with any patterns published by Paula or Connie, please bring them for show & tell.

Judy Laquidara's "Connect the Dots" class http://www.patchworktimes.com/ still has space available. Please contact Beth ASAP to sign up (e) bethjessup@cox.net

LA Senator Robert Adley arranged for the Lost Heroes Art Quilt to be on display on the 1st floor of the State Capitol building, March 20-27. I hope you can make it out to view it. http://www.heart2hand4art.com/lostheroesartquilt/firstpage.htm

Beth Jessup and I participated in the GSQA POE (pursuit of excellence) in Kiln, MS, on February 12th. More details about that later.

Until next time, keep on quilting!

Jo Paula




Bring List for Meeting:
  • Block for Giving Quilt Challenge
  • Items for the birthday table (see Jo and Mary) 
  • Solids Fabric Exchange (see Caroline)
  • Lotto Blocks (see Elena)
  • Quilt or fabric donations for YELP (see Lilly)
  • Fat Quarter Lotto - Sky Blue and/or Sunny Yellow
  • Fiber Nametag
  • Show and Tell - bring quilts from Connie and Paula's patterns

Monday, January 31, 2011

President's Message February 2011

Hello dear quilting friends,

Well, what a surprise, I survived my first meeting as guild President. Thank you all for bearing with me as my legs wobbled a bit. There was so much information to cover and I hope it was enlightening. We are excited to announce that River City signed up 8 new members at our first meeting of 2011. You probably noticed from some of the presentations that we have a lot of goings on this year!

It was very encouraging that so many of you non board members showed up for the board meeting. We love your input and value everything you offer to the guild. The date and location of the next board meeting is Mar. 15 at 5:30 pm at Café Americain on Jefferson Hwy. and I encourage you to consider coming, contributing to the discussions, and joining in the fun!

I hope you enjoyed Jean Griffin’s presentation of the felted wool (geode) pin cushion. She inspired me by making it look so easy. So much that, Mary Woltmann, Margie Bumm, and I ordered kits on-line from Etsy ! We will bring those later in the year so you can see our handy work. Not sure if our pin cushions will look like Jean’s did, but we’ll give it our best shot!

Many, many thanks go out to Charlene Bertrand, Noreen Mazzaroppi, Candy Bergeron, Connie Day, and Marie Montelbano for setting up and tearing down the meeting room for the January meeting. In addition, they were also responsible for hanging and tagging the Mystery Quilts. You ladies did a great job and you have my sincere thanks for stepping forward and pitching in. We couldn’t have done it without you! AND we still need folks to sign up to help with room set up for the remainder of the year, just sign up for a month, maybe two.

WOW, the Mystery Quilts were beautiful! I was totally surprised that I took the Blue Ribbon. I hope that everyone was inspired by this display to sign up and do the 2011 Mystery Quilt. Thanks to Glenda Parks for taking care of that for the guild. I look forward to see what the next ones look like!

Please don’t forget to bring your wall hangings which are appropriate for “After the Storm” Ultimate Guild Challenge. Remember, we need at least 8 to enter AQS’s Knoxville Show in July. None of us want to get on Nina’s naughty list for not having enough to enter the competition. Remember the Para Challenge in 2009. It made it into the Knoxville show. We can do it again!

In order to give our members enough time to participate in some other challenges, we are unveiling new opportunities in February. (see the program list and meeting info, later in the newsletter.)

I’m looking for a leader! We need someone to chair the Auction committee. This person would need to have a fairly large, unused space in which to house the donated items.

Due to scheduling conflicts, I will be out of town for the February and March Saturday Sew Ins. I’m looking for someone who will be the Keeper of the Keys for those two Saturdays. If you are a regular Saturday sew person, please give me a call.

Please feel free to call me at (225) 767 1004 or (c) 955 5480. You stand a better chance to reach me on the cell. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how we can do it better, please let me know.

Keep sewing, Jo Paula
List of items to bring to the meeting:
  • 2011 Membership Application: if you have not renewed. Annual dues = $20. (see Joyce Perry) Please renew before March. The membership list is revised then. An application is at the end of the newsletter
  • February Birthday Table - (see Jo Doherty and Mary Wolf)
  • Bring Animal related fabrics/scraps for "cage comforters" - the YELP project (see Lilly Willis)
  • Show & Tell: Bring samples from your classes (Flavin Glover and Bonnie Hunter)
  • Fat Quarter Lotto: "Cremes and Off Whites" Max. of 2 entries. See Suzi
  • The Giving Quilt Project: Fabric donations for charity quilts (more info from Candy Bergeron)
  • Fiber Name Tag: You could win a $10 gift certificate.
  • "Pressing Matters" (Bags o' Scraps) help Sherry Herrinshaw (see explanation in the newsletter under Giving Quilt)