April 2023
/Annual Meeting and Potluck
Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 6:00 pm – In Person
Come join us in person for our Annual Board Meeting!
We will start the evening at 6:00 pm with a potluck dinner. Sign up to bring a salad, and the board members will provide the desserts and beverages. Please bring a serving utensil with your food contribution!
Highlights of the evening:
Voting and Installation of new Board Members
Budget presentation and vote
Collection of the quilts for Ukraine
Show and Tell
Opportunity Quilt – Country Quilters of McHenry
Guild Officers April 2023
President – Christine Tindell
VP Membership – Sharon Pierluissi, Andrea Krier
VP Programs – Kathy Sorkin, Cheryl Mercy
Advanced Programs – YOUR NAME AND A FRIEND’S NAME COULD BE HERE
Secretary – Peg Schemenauer
Treasurer – Madge Pierce
Assistant Treasurer – Donna Derstadt
Newsletter – Celia Stratman
2023 Quilt Show Chair – Kathy Avellone
Member at Large – Marti Austin
The position of Advanced Programs 2024 remains unfilled. The member(s) who fill this position are responsible for arranging the speakers for our meetings. There are many of us who have filled this position and have found it lots of fun to do. Each year two months are designated for the guild, our annual meeting in April and our December social. One meeting is scheduled for our fund raiser, the Brown Bag Hustle.
That leaves only nine months that need to be filled. We have had meetings during which the members work together on charity quilts. We have had meetings designated as “Members Teaching Members”. If you feel that this position speaks to you, please contact Marti Austin. She will give you a clear picture of the job and will help you. Ask a friend to help and make it more fun. Our guild only works so well because we have committed members who work together to make it happen.
Marti Austin – Member at Large
Programs and Workshops – In Person
We are very excited to offer a great year of programs! All programs will be presented during our regular guild meetings, and our workshops will be offered in person as noted below. Workshops generally last until 3 or 4 pm – 6 hours with lunch. Here is what is planned for the next several months.
May Program – MJ Kinman – “Gems and Joy”
In May, MJ Kinman will give her lecture "Gems and Joy." She will discuss her sewing technique and the history of the gems. The method used to make the gems is freezer paper piecing. Freezer paper piecing is like paper piecing except that you are not sewing through the paper; thus, no little pieces of paper to rip out!
May Workshop: "Dames and Diamonds"
Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at 9:00 am, Faith Lutheran Church, 680 W. Deerpath Rd., Lake Forest
This workshop with MJ Kinman is for confident beginners. We encourage you to join us and make a beautiful diamond. Please visit her website, mjkinman.com, where tutorials are posted in the resource section.
June Program – Nancy Roelfsema
Nancy Roelfsema will lecture in June, sharing fabulous tips and techniques that all quilters need to know. Her philosophy is that quilts look better set on-point, which she will discuss at length while showing beautiful samples.
June Workshop: Bargello
Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at 9:00 am, Faith Lutheran Church, 680 W. Deerpath Rd., Lake Forest
In the workshop, we will make a Bargello quilt, wall hanging size. The workshop is for beginners to advanced quilters. Nancy will walk us through the process, from selecting fabrics to cutting and sewing the quilt. Over 200 tutorials can be found on her website, onpoint-tv.com.
July Program – Deanne Eisenman of Snuggles Quilts
Wool Applique will be our July topic. Deanne Eisenman of Snuggles Quilts will speak about her quilting history and love of applique and scrap quilting. She will share tips for successful "scrapping." See her beautiful work on her website, snugglesquilts.com.
July Workshop: Wool Applique
Wednesday, July 19, 2023, at 9:00 am, Faith Lutheran Church, 680 W. Deerpath Rd., Lake Forest
The workshop will be a wool applique project. See Deanne’s beautiful work on her website, snugglesquilts.com.
August Program – Carol Wilhoit
A local quilter, Carol Wilhoit, will be our speaker in August. Carol will share with us successful strategies for using our stash. You can learn more about her at carolquilts.com.
August Workshop: Free Sew to Prepare for the Quilt Show
Wednesday, July 16, 2023, at 9:00 am, Faith Lutheran Church, 680 W. Deerpath Rd., Lake Forest
Spend the day with other members making Boutique and Silent Auction items for our quilt show in October! All members are invited to participate (there will be no workshop fee). The Chairs of the Boutique and Silent Auction will have all the details.
Happy Stitching,
Cheryl Mercy and Kathy Sorkin
Christine’s Chatter
Happy spring! This past weekend we saw some winter weather and then an early spring shower. The grass is starting to turn green and the tulips and daffodils are getting ready to bloom. The birds definitely are aware of the changing seasons.
I just got home from our semi-annual quilt retreat. We had such a great time talking, sewing and enjoying each other’s company. There were so many beautiful things reminding me what a talented group of members we have. A big thanks to Sharon Pierlussi for her organization and patience with all of us.
I’m looking forward to our April Potluck which will be the start of our meetings in person! It’s such great news for our guild that we will be together for the foreseeable future. With all of the chatter I just heard at retreat, I can tell that our meetings will be lively again. On April 21st we will have our annual meeting, install new board members, discuss our upcoming budget and eat a salad meal together. Country Quilters of McHenry will bring their opportunity quilt for their upcoming show. We will donate our quilts for Ukraine relief and have Show and Tell. If you want to show something, please limit it to one item since our agenda will be so full!
I know we are all busy deciding which quilts to finish for our Quilt Show this fall. Please remember that the deadline for submission is July 15th.
Happy quilting!
Christine
Quilt Show News!
It’s April! What should you be doing this month to support the guild and the 2023 show? Keep sewing!
Raffle Quilt Travel: Pam Eulberg is busy lining up places to display our raffle quilt and to sell raffle tickets. She is in the process of contacting other quilt guilds, quilt shops, and farmers’ markets to see if they will allow us to show off our quilt and sell raffle tickets.
Pam will be circulating a sign-up sheet for volunteers to take the quilt on the road. I would like each of you to commit to at least one event to display the quilt and to help sell tickets. Find a friend to join you – it will be easier to hang the quilt if you have company! If you have given up driving at night, then choose a daytime event. Is the event out of town? Make it a road trip by leaving early enough to stop at a local quilt shop and to have dinner before the guild meeting. Is the event in a quilt shop? Pull some bolts from the shop shelves to help customers see how they might use the colors of our quilt in their own quilts.
If you know of a guild or quilt shop or other location that might host our quilt, please contact Pam.
Raffle Tickets: Susan Surdyk is organizing the raffle ticket process. The process will allow for online sales again this year. You’ll be hearing more from Susan soon.
If you have questions about the show, please don’t hesitate to ask! My email and phone number are on the member roster. I’d love to hear from you!
Kathy Avellone, Quilt Show Chair
Quilt Entry Form – Still Under Construction
Due Dates for submitting your quilts:
We are working through some licensing issues with the new tool, so we are not ready to accept quilt entries yet. Once it is available, we will send an email letting everyone know it is up and running.
However, new this year is a printable PDF checklist to collect all of the required info about your quilt before submitting the entry form – so start measuring those quilts and figuring out those quilt names!
Want some ideas to help you compose your Quilt Story? Check out a few examples from previous quilt shows.
Quilts of Valor - Since there were many questions during the meeting, here are the size requirements:
Recommended Size: 60 inches by 80 inches
Minimum Size: 55 inches by 65 inches
Maximum Size: 72 inches by 90 inches
Enid Mattimiro and Kearstie Grenier – Cataloging Committee
Quilt Show Silent Auction
Just a little something to think about while you’re finishing your masterpiece for the quilt show…Silent Auction needs your support! We’re asking each member to donate an item or two (or three)!
Any size is appropriate – wall hanging, table runner, full size quilt – whatever shows off your quilting talent or would be fun for you to make. Seasonal items are always popular, but we’d love to have any of your creations!
Items are needed by September 30, and the submission form is on the website under Members’ Show Info.
Thank you!
Liz Greenhill and Donna Derstadt
Quilt Show Boutique Invitation
Please think about being a Member Vendor in the Boutique. You would make items to sell and donate 15% of your sales to the Guild. Sign-up sheets will be available at the April meeting.
All donated items will include suggested prices.
Wednesday, August 16th, will be a fun Sewing Day dedicated to making items for the Boutique. There will be cotton batting donated by Barb Jolley to use for batting projects. We have created patterns and instructions for items which will be available on the website, including B’aprons (bibs for adults and children). We also have many suggestions for items to make: thread catchers, bun/bread warmers, pin cushions, orphan block projects, potholders, microwave bowls, table runners and toppers, mug rugs, placemats, ornaments, small wall hangings, baby quilts, small quilts, tree skirts or anything else that you want to make! Remember to include all holidays throughout the year, in addition to fall, Christmas and Hanukkah.
We also have several donated kits that need to be made. These kits will be available at the April meeting. Some kits include fabric: Christmas table runners, table toppers, shopping totes, small bags with zippers. There a several quilt-as-you-go patterns with no fabric.
Julie Milne has donated 6 tooth fairy pillows with a pocket for a tooth or a note, 8 selvedge pin cushions stuffed with walnut shells and 6 mug rugs.
Our goal is to have 5 to 10 more of each sellable item than were donated at the last show by our members and vendor members. Help us get there!
Please contact us with any suggestions or a request for member vendor information!
Barb Jolley and Madge Pierce - Boutique Chairs
Are You An EQ User?
As a follow up to our EQ8 class, I am forming an EQ User Group open to anyone who uses EQ. The meetings will be virtual. Members will have a chance to share their EQ-designed projects, sharing what they’ve learned and any difficulties they are having. Each meeting will also have a focus and presentation of tips, tricks, and/or lessons. Our first meeting will be Saturday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m., and the lesson will be beginning to design applique quilts.
If you are interested in joining or just learning more about designing quilts with computers, please email me (my email address is in the roster) and I will send you a link and a pdf handout for the lesson. Hope to see you on the 22nd!
Kearstie Grenier
Retreat Report
We had another fun and productive Quilt Retreat this past March. It was so much fun for us to get together and visit and see what beautiful projects were being worked on. Our goal is to have a retreat twice a year. We are looking at having our next retreat in September. There is no date set yet as we need to meet with the hotel.
Cheryl Mercy shared a quilt block and fabric to use to create a block for a Quilt of Valor, and several of our members made blocks during the retreat. Cheryl will combine them to make a Quilt of Valor from the guild.
This year we added a pop-up quilt shop where the items being sold were provided by the members. This was very successful and may make an appearance at future retreats.
We always have quite a spread of treats to munch on throughout the retreat. This year Kathy Sorkin’s lemon cookies were particularly popular, and she has generously shared her recipe!
Kathy Sorkin’s Lemon Cookies
2 sticks butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Make the cookie dough and chill 30 minutes
Roll in balls and flatten on the cookie sheet
Bake 15-20 min. at 350
Cool cookies and drizzle with a glaze made of lemon juice and powdered sugar
Thank you to all who participated in the retreat and helped to make it a success.
Sharon Pierluissi
Treasurer’s Report
Balance as of 1/31/2023: $27,356.40
Income: $175.00
Expenses: $506.60
Ending Balance as of 2/28/2023: $27,024.80
The guild generated income from workshop fees, and incurred expenses in speaker fees.
Respectfully submitted, Donna, Treasurer and Madge Pierce, Assistant Treasurer
Membership Report
Spring is here, and it’s time to renew your Village Quilters Membership.
The new membership year begins on May 1, 2023. The membership fee is $50.00 ($25.00 for active military or spouse), but you save $5.00 if you renew by May 31! All renewals require 2 steps:
Completing a registration form
Submitting your payment.
To register online and pay your dues with your credit card, click on any green “Join or Renew” button throughout the website. You’ll be taken to a page where you can complete the membership form online or indicate that all of the information is the same as last year.Then click the “Pay Online” button and select your one-year membership to be placed in your shopping cart. You will see that the one-year membership is “on sale” for $45.00!
To pay by check, you can download the membership form as a pdf from the Join Us page, print and complete the form, and mail it with your check to the address shown on the form.
If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Krier or Sharon Pierluissi.
Nametags
When you see a member with this nametag, please include them in conversations and make them feel welcome! Speaking of nametags, starting in April we will be meeting in person and we want to remind everyone to wear their nametag! It’s nice to put a name to a face!
Happy April Birthday to the following members!
Edythe Hirasawa – 4/28
Erica Jarrett – 4/6
Emily Malone – 4/25
Margaret Martin – 4/21
Enid Mattimiro – 4/30
Linda McCabe – 4/20
Robin McGarrigle -4/18
Julie Milne – 4/26
Andrea Krier and Sharon Pierluissi – Membership Chairs