July 2020

July Program

Virtual Speaker: Karen Miller presents Aurifilosophy: It’s All About the Thread
Tuesday, July 21, 2020, at 7:00 PM via Zoom

We were so pleased with all of the members that joined us for our virtual June meeting and demonstration. Our July meeting will be the same format. We will use Zoom to hold our meeting and then have a virtual lecture by Karen Miller from Redbird Quilt Company, “It’s All About the Thread”. It is a program designed to unlock the mysteries of thread. Karen will educate, inspire, and enable all users to achieve brilliant results. She will cover thread basics, including information on weight and ply, spool positioning, bobbin weights, and needle and tension settings.

We hope that everyone will join us for our July 21st meeting. It will be educational and a time for all of us to connect. Details regarding logging into the Zoom meeting will be posted to the Members Only page.

We are still taking the programming month by month as we wait to be able to go back to meeting in person. Please do not sign up for any workshops yet. We are still finalizing our presenters’ plans for their workshops if we cannot meet in person. We will keep you posted as we make progress.

Kate Brennan and Sharon Pierluissi, Programs

News from the President

I hope that you are finding fun things to do this summer even with all of the restrictions that are in place right now. Our two daughters, son-in-law, and granddaughter have been here since the 26th and then the party is over the Monday after the 4th. We have played lots of games, spent time in the yard, cooked up a storm, and of course, the star of the show is baby Dorothy Jane. We haven’t yet ventured to a store or a park yet.

It’s really difficult realizing that we have not met as a guild and in person since February. And our meeting this month, July, will again be virtual. I will be checking with the church after our state goes into phase 4 to have a better understanding of when we will meet “in the flesh again”. The Village Quilters Board and I will decide how we will approach group meetings again based on those guidelines.

Our virtual retreat was a great success with a big thanks to Jocelyn Galloway, Kate Brennan, Barbara Schober, Sharon Pierluissi, and Kearstie Grenier. Forgive me if you were involved and I didn’t mention you. It was a dedicated day of sewing for me and I finished the first month of birthday blocks, along with a couple of other projects that needed my attention.

If you still need to renew your membership, please do so.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who are reviewing the bylaws: Linda Spring, Jocelyn Galloway, Marti Austin, and Kathy Avellone.

Soon we will start planning for our quilt show in October 2021. If you’d like to serve on a committee, please contact Madge Pierce or Barb Jolley. Our raffle quilt is in process and I’ve sent the elements. It’s going to be a stunner!

Happy sewing. Looking forward to Show and Tell in person.

Christine Tindell, President

President’s Quilt

It has been our tradition to award the outgoing President of Village Quilters with a quilt, made by the members of the guild, at our annual meeting. Given the current situation, and not sure when we would meet next, it seemed like a good idea to surprise Marti Austin with her quilt. With the assistance of Lee, Marti's husband, we agreed on a date and time we could surprise her at her home. As Jocelyn Galloway and I drove up to Marti's home, we found her at her mailbox. How convenient! So social distancing and masks being observed, we gave Marti her quilt. She was very surprised and pleased with the quilt. Thank you to all the guild members who contributed blocks. I would especially like to thank Lorraine Potts, who trimmed many blocks and assisted in creating the top, Donna Derstadt for the beautiful quilting, and Claire Machinist, who bound the quilt, added the label and hanging sleeve. I hope we will see the quilt at Show and Tell in the near future, and hanging in our 2021 quilt show.

Barbara Schober, Past President 2016-2018

President’s Quilt, Part 2

Friends,

I am sending each of you a thank you from the bottom of my heart. The President’s Quilt that you made for me is spectacular. You could not have chosen a more perfect pattern and color scheme. As I was looking at your creation, I thought… this is one of the nicest quilts that I own. It’s true. My nicest quilts, my favorite quilts, have been sewn by others. You all graciously give your time and talents, lucky me, I am a recipient of your generosity. A million THANK YOU’s.

Barbara Schober organized the making of this quilt.
Guild members pieced the blocks.
Barbara and Lorraine Potts arranged the blocks and Lorraine made it one.
Donna Derstadt quilted the quilt.
Barbara created the label.
And last but not least, Claire Machinist sewed the binding.

“It takes a village.” Thank you all.

Marti Austin, Past President 2018-2020

Service Projects

Hopes and Dreams by Quilters Dream Batting Company

Hopes and Dreams is a quilt challenge where donated quilts are given to ALS patients. All donated quilts are eligible for prizes. We will be entering the “Sew Generous Quilt Guild” category. The guild donating the most quilts will win $1000. We will be submitting quilts in the August 2020 – July 2021 time frame. Details can be found on the Quilters Dream website.

Quilts of Valor

Let’s start making our quilts now for the 2021 Quilt Show! I have selected a quilt to be put together as a Block of the Month. Each month, beginning with the August newsletter, blocks will be assigned to complete. The quilt is a very simple pattern, “Flying Flags” by Amy Smart on her website Diary of a Quilter.

A tutorial for “Flying Flags” explains how to piece the blocks and has photographs of the finished quilt.

Fabric quantities for the full quilt can be seen on the page where you can order a pattern. (You do not need to purchase the pattern to see the requirements.)

As a bonus, for our quilts there will be additional star blocks each month to be used in place of the plain fabric squares.

Please email/text/call me with your questions.

Kathy Sorkin, Service Committee

Quilts from the Village Show 2021

It’s a little more than a year until the SHOW. The online retreat was a great motivator for me as was the “Zoom” monthly meeting. The venue is reserved but the dates haven’t been determined. I feel that we will have a great show from what we have seen posted on our Facebook members only site. If you haven’t joined in, it is fun to see all the photos of projects in the works and done.

Some of the conduit needs to be cut down to smaller sizes. I need a couple of people who can help with that. Who has a conduit cutter that was used the last time we did this?

Several members have already volunteered to do jobs for the show. These are still available: Art Quilt Challenge, Boutique, Hospitality, Quilt Travel, Setup/Take down, Equipment transport-tables/tumbler rental, Marking floors, Staffing, Vendors and Silent Auction.

Don’t be afraid to try something new; lots of people can help you! Contact me or Barb Jolley to sign up or ask questions. We will have our first official meeting in November, only 4 months from now! Hopefully we will be back to something normal by then.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon,

Your awesome Quilt Show 2021 co-chairs,
Madge Pierce and Barb Jolley

Village Quilters now has a Private Facebook Group!

When you join this group, you will see what other members are doing. Each of you is encouraged to post what you are working on.

To find our private page, visit facebook.com/groups/villagequilters or type “Village Quilters (Members Only)” in the search bar in Facebook. Click ‘Join group’ and you may have to answer the membership questions. When I did this I got no questions, but I’m in!

Marti Austin

Birthday Blocks are Back!

Our Birthday Blocks program is up and running! Hopefully all interested members have signed up on the website. Now is the time to visit the Birthday Blocks page and get the information you need to start working on the blocks. The first blocks aren’t due until August. Have fun with this project!

Note: we had some late registrations and changes to requested colors, so please check the Birthday Blocks page for an updated list of blocks.

Nancy Smith and Edythe Hirasawa

Treasurer’s Report

Balance as of 5/29/2020 $25,294.09
Income: $1,818.19
Expenses: $475.15
Ending Balance as of 6/26/2020 $26,637.13

Income this month was from Membership fees.
Expenses were for past speakers and hotel fees in Nov, 2019 and Feb, 2020, and web site hosting.

Respectfully submitted,

Alice Hutchinson, Treasurer

Membership

Greetings from your new Membership Committee! The new Village Quilters membership year began May 1st. Thank you to those who have renewed your membership! Welcome new member Cynthia Karabush!

We are still collecting membership dues which are $50 for the year ($25 for active military or spouse).

All renewals require two steps: 1. Complete registration form and 2. Submit payment.

Refer to the April 2020 newsletter for more details. (Sorry, but the early bird $5 discount period mentioned in that newsletter is over.)

We recognize that these are unusual times which have made meeting as a group impossible. However, please don’t let your membership lapse! The Village Quilters Board is working hard to keep our group viable until we can be together in person again. Read the newsletter and join the private Village Quilters (Members Only) Facebook group to stay connected (see article above to join).

An updated membership list has been posted to the Village Quilters Members Only page. Please check the updated membership roster on the website in July to see that your information is correct. If your name is not listed, it probably means you have forgotten to renew your membership!

If you let your membership lapse you will not receive newsletters, will not have access to the VQ private Facebook group, and will not be given entry into our online retreats.

Please contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to welcoming you at the check-in desk ASAP!

Happy July Birthday to the following members!

Sylvia Bath – 7/28
Ruth Pisani – 7/05
Peggy Schemenauer – 7/09
Deb Sherrock – 7/16
Carol Swartz – 7/10

Membership co-chairs Sue Ann Kuby and Kathy Avellone