January 2016

January: “BROWN BAG HUSTLE” hosted by Ways and Means
January 19, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm (Note: Early Start!)

You bring it… We’ll sell it….

ALMOST ANYTHING IS ACCEPTABLE:

Equipment, Fabric, Yarn, Pillows, Lamps, Irons, Rulers, Patterns, Buttons, Thread, Beads, Sewing machines, Storage bins, Markers, Ribbon    
ET CETERA!!!!!!

Tickets: 6 for $5; 15 for $10; 20 for $15!

Pick-up can be arranged! Call Donna Fitzgerald with any questions.

Village Quilters President's Letter

I must begin this letter by thanking The Steeple Stitchers for a most enjoyable holiday party. The food was good. The games were fun. The singing was warm. We were all pleased to hear Feather’s wonderful voice leading us, accompanied by Edie’s husband.

We received our Iron Quilter fabric bags at the party. I am choosing a pattern and hope that others in my bee will join me in making a quilt. I wonder if others have as much trouble as I do being generous with quilting time. I have so many competing interests and sometimes I resist quilting for others rather than myself, which does seem selfish.

Hand quilting my deceased friend’s counted cross-stitch quilt of the United States continues. This project will take a while, but it does seem that I will finish during 2016. And, as I have said before, other projects call including my daughter’s t-shirt quilt and projects from our programs.

I trust that your new year is beginning well and that you have a nice supply of quilting projects to keep you satisfyingly busy.

I have recovered from the flu, which I suspect I caught from a grandchild, even though I had the flu shot. I am preparing for my adventure in the Galapagos Islands. Honestly, once you read all the information at the International Travel Inoculation Center, you begin to doubt whether the trip is a good idea after all. But I am really looking forward to going in mid-January, after our January Guild meeting.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Happy Quilting.
Linda

From the Treasurer

Balance 12/1/15: $27,993.55
Income: $836.45
Expenses: $1596.02

Balance 12/29/15: $27,233.98

We continue to take in and pay out money related to the quilt show. At the moment, the net Quilt Show proceeds are $12,540.26

Respectfully submitted,
Kimberly Jurco

From the Service Committee
"IRON QUILTER" Returns!

That's "IRON QUILTER", not ironing quilter!

Getting back into the swing of things after the holidays is always challenging… but here we are! If you were at the December Holiday Get-Together, you know that we, the Service Committee, began this year's Service Project. Yes, the IRON QUILTER has returned! We handed out several mystery bags of assorted fabric to the hale and hearty adventurers willing to accept the challenge of creating "A silk purse out of a sow's ear"… metaphorically speaking. At the January BROWN BAG HUSTLE we will have even more mystery bags available and urge the rest of you to get on the bandwagon of quilt making all for a great cause.

BUT… want to make a quilt from your own stash of fabric and NOT the Iron Quilters Mystery Bag? ABSOLUTELY! Yes, please do. All quilts will be gratefully accepted.

The VQ Annual meeting on April 12th will be the culmination of the IRON QUILTER service project. We are again donating the IRON QUILTER quilts to Staben House and the Eddie Washington Home. Also, we are inviting representatives from the two facilities to be our guests for the Potluck dinner and to accept the quilts so lovingly stitched on their behalf. Two years ago the Village Quilters donated almost 50 quilts... let’s see if we can meet or exceed that goal.

You can also count on a surprise or two at the finale in April.

Service Committee,
Cheryl Mercy and Kathy Sorkin

The International Quilt Festival/Chicago Returns in April!

The International Quilt Festival/Chicago will be returning to Rosemont April 7-9, 2016. The call for entries for modern and traditional quilters is up. All the information and forms can be found on the website at: http://www.quilts.com/home/contests. The deadlines are January 29th for traditional or February 12th for modern.

Our guild does not have a raffle quilt this year, but guild members can still earn money for the guild and get free parking and entry by working the show. They are looking for workers to help hang the special exhibit quilts before Festival, guardians to watch over the quilts during Festival, doorpersons to scan tickets, and workers to help with takedown of special exhibit quilts after the show is closed. 

These are paid positions ($8.25 an hour and parking (up to $13)) and you receive free entry to the show for each day you work. If guild members sign up under the guild's name, the guild would receive a check for the hours worked. Interested? Contact Terri Winsauer via email, worktheshow@quilts.com or by phone, 281-432-9396. She will begin scheduling after January 20th, 2016.

IQI Opens Workshops to VQ Members

Illinois Quilters Inc. is offering their 2016 workshops to the members of our guild. As of December 6, they had five 2016 workshops with space available.  (The notice was too late for inclusion in our last newsletter.) The five workshops are:

Saturday, February 6
Sara Lawson, Learn how to make the Appaloosa Bag. This medium size bag has accordion dividers on the inside, so you can easily find all your “stuff”. Everything is straight seams, making this an easy sewing project. See how cool it looks with different fabrics.

Friday, March 4
Barb Raisbeck, Squarey Quilts. In its most basic form, the Squarey quilt is very simple, but has a great look. You’ll be in charge of how simple or complex your Squarey quilt will be. Start gathering lots of scraps and fat quarters in the color scheme of your choice.

Saturday, March 5
Barb Raisbeck, Broken Paths is made using a free form cutting technique. This makes each piece unique. We are going to be working on a table runner or wall hanging in class that finishes to approximately 16" x 54". The technique may be adapted to make a quilt in any size. You can also change the shape if you want. We are using hand dyed fabrics for our projects. These give a very modern feel that will go with all décor. Each participant will choose from a large selection of Quilts by Barb’s hand dyed fabrics for the class.

Friday, April 8
Pat Speth, Small Wonders – 8 quilts to make featuring: Tillie’s Treasures, All That Glitters, Butterfly Waltz, Star and Hourglass and more. Once you start with these units you won’t want to stop. Simple sewing and cutting techniques will turn your 5: squares into these remarkable units without cutting any triangles or working with bias.

Saturday, April 9
Pat Speth, Picket Fence – 5 Quilts to Make Featuring Millennium Star, Chesapeake. The picket fence unit is made with the sew & flip method. No triangles to cut or bias to work with. Pat will have handouts with design variations and how to make your pieced border fit your top.

The cost for each workshop is $55.00; additional information can be found on the IQI website which is:  www.illinoisquiltersinc.org.  The registration form is in their December newsletter, which can be found on the site. The fee can be paid by mail or by Pay Pal.  IQI workshops are held at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church at 1133 Pfingsten Road in Northbrook from 8:30 am until about 3:30 pm.

Happy Birthday!

January Birthdays

Mary Quednau, January 11
Fran Dmytro, January 14
Nancy Salmela, January 19
Peggy Miller, January 23
Sandra Johnson, January 27

February Birthdays

Kathy Heusinkveld, February 3
Kathy Avellone, February 5
Dorie Botimer, February 12
Dorothy Roderick, February 16
Marye Feldman, February 23
Cheryl Mercy, February 25