March 2024
/March Program – Diane Harris of “Stash Bandit”
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 – 7 pm via Zoom
On your mark, get ready, and GO! The final lecture and workshop of the 2023-2024 VQ Season is almost here.
Join us via Zoom on Tuesday evening, March 19th as Diane Harris, aka "The Stash Bandit", presents her "Make Extraordinary Scrap Quilts" lecture.
Diane is a scrap quilt specialist who loves to help quilters bust through their stash. How many quilters do you know don’t need help with their stash? Diane believes having fun and breaking the rules is more important than perfection or tradition. We will learn her best tips and secrets during this trunk show of over 50 scrap quilts. For more information go to stashbandit.net.
March Workshop – Diane Harris – Ahead of the Curve: Improvising a Round
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 9am-3pm – via Zoom
But wait, there's more! Be sure to register for Diane's Online Workshop on Wednesday March 20 entitled "Ahead of the Curve: Improvising a Round." Diane will teach how to cut and sew large, gentle curves while paying attention to value and scale for smashing results. She’ll cover many ideas for adding machine quilting details and hand-stitched embellishments. The day will end with Diane showing how to finish the piece using facing as an alternative to binding.
Since this workshop is presented via Zoom, you will be working in your own sewing space with the ability to pull from your own stash as you learn!
To register for the workshop, check the Registration page of the Village Quilters website.
Happy Stitching! Kathy Sorkin and Cheryl Mercy, Chairs
Annual Meeting and Potluck
Our April potluck is always festive as members bring salads (of any type!) and board members furnish desserts and beverages.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 6 pm – In Person
Come join us in person for our Annual Board Meeting!
We will start the evening at 6 pm with a potluck dinner. Members will bring salads and the board members will provide the desserts and beverages.
Highlights of the evening:
Thank the outgoing Board members
Voting and Installation of new Board members
Announcement of changes to committee members
Budget presentation and vote
Bylaw change vote
Committee reports
Show and Tell
Opportunity Quilt – Sinnissippi Quilters (see the quilt here)
Christine’s Chatter
Hasn’t the weather been weird this winter? Two days ago it was 60 degrees and yesterday it was 15 degrees. Winter can’t decide if it should stay or go. I’m definitely gearing up for spring, but any gardening plans will just have to wait until the weather cooperates.
Our Zoom February meeting was such a pleasant surprise with Krista Moser. She was so full of energy and excitement for quilting and showing her designs! I was inspired to attempt one of her quilts. Also, having almost 50 attendees for the Zoom meeting was great. The next day several of us got together to sew and try out her patterns and tools.
March brings us another virtual speaker, Diane Harris. I just signed up for her Zoom workshop! I have attended one Zoom workshop in the past and it was great to have access to my supplies while learning from an expert.
In April we will have our annual meeting. The food will be supplied by you! Please bring a salad to share. Your board will provide desserts, paper goods and beverages. We will discuss the upcoming budget for 2024-2025, thank our exiting board members, and install new board members. Don’t forget that we will also have Show and Tell! This is such an important highlight of our time together, and I know that we will have lots of things to show, so we may break it up into two sessions. Also, the Sinissippi quilt guild will bring their opportunity quilt for their upcoming show and I know we will want to be supportive of their fundraising efforts.
I hope you have time to sew and create. Looking forward to seeing beautiful things from you.
All my best, Christine
This group had a great time at the “Nifty 60” FREE Sew-In on February 21. As you can see, many quilters chose to work on patterns designed by our speaker, Krista Moser.
New Service Project!
We have a new service project for 2024! The organization we will contribute quilts to is Quilts Across America, which works with Sleep In Heavenly Peace to provide beds and bedding for children in need. You can check out this organization at their website shpbeds.org.
They request quilts following these guidelines:
50”-60" wide and 75”-90" long
Colors that appeal to kids and young adults from 2 to 17 years
No religious or holiday themed fabrics
No buttons or glued on embellishments
Machine bound with simple allover quilting
The service committee is planning a sew-in for our members during the August guild meeting; more details on this to come later. If you'd like to make a quilt to contribute in the meantime, you are welcome to do so!
We will collect the finished quilts at the September guild meeting. The organization asks that you estimate the hours spent making the quilt. They submit the volunteer hours to Lowes, and exchange those hours for materials used to construct the beds.
If you have any questions, please contact me. Thank you for your support!
Gwen Jaeger, Service Chairman
Spring Retreat 2024
Attention all registered retreat participants and those who want to go to but missed registration….
If you were not able to register for the retreat and want to attend, please send your name to Marti Austin via email to be added to the wait list. ALL IS NOT LOST!
For those who are registered for the retreat on April 12-14, it is time to decide if you want to stay at the hotel. If you are interested in renting a room, please contact Marti Austin with your requests. Please note that the last day to reserve a room for the retreat is March 22. Send in the room selection, single or double, and your roommate’s name if you are sharing the room.
New Member Get Together
On March 12th we are having a new member get together at 7 pm at Andrea Krier's home. An invitation has gone out to new members who have joined the guild in the last year. If you are a new member and did not receive an email inviting you, please contact either Sharon Pierluissi or Andrea Krier. We are very excited that many are planning on attending and we look forward to getting to know everyone a little better!
Next month we will be sharing detailed information regarding upcoming membership renewal.
Happy March Birthday to the following members:
Katherine Culbertson – 3/24
Emily Erwin -3/2
Bobbi Etchell – 3/3
Jocelyn Galloway – 3/29
Madge Pierce – 3/20
Andrea Krier and Sharon Pierluissi, Membership Chairs
Treasurer’s Report
Bank Balance Guild Account as of January 1, 2024: $32,884.62
Income: $190.00
Expenses: $560.90
Ending Balance as of January 30, 2024: $32,513.72
Income was Holiday Party and re-deposited Money for Brown Bag cash box. Expenses were Brown Bag cash box, show equipment, hanging straps and bookmarks, publicity
Bank Balance Boutique Account as of January 1, 2024: $5,482.22
Income: $0
Expenses: $207.40
Ending Balance as of January 30, 2024: $5,274.82
Total of both accounts: $37,788.54
Respectfully submitted, Madge Pierce, Treasurer
Third Thursday of the Month – Sunshine Stitchers
Members of Village Quilters meet at State Bank of The Lakes, 50 Commerce Drive in Grayslake on the third Thursday of the month. All are welcome. Come with your machine to stitch blocks, come with handwork, come with your quilt top, batting and binding to sandwich your quilt. There is plenty of room!
We meet in the community room which is on the lower level. Enter the bank through the front door and take the elevator to your right. The room is open to us from 10 am to 3 pm. Most quilters show up around 11-ish.
Questions? Email Kathy Huesinkveld or Marti Austin
Changes to the Bylaws – Please Read!
Luckily for us, we added a young member (under 18) to our guild this past year! This event prompted us to add a Junior Membership category in our bylaws, detailed below:
Junior membership is available for anyone under 18 years of age for half the price of a regular membership
Junior members are not eligible to vote
May attend all meetings
Are eligible to enter quilts in the quilt show
Members under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult to attend a workshop
Junior Members 14 and older may attend a workshop unaccompanied with a signed permission slip from his/her parent
The position and duties of Treasurer have grown recently after we added the usage of Strip (paying online) and Square (paying in person). The changes below will hopefully meet our current needs:
Treasurer
Omitted: “is elected for a one-year term and has served as Assistant Treasurer the previous year”
Changed to: “is elected for a two-year term”
Assistant Treasurer
Omitted: “is elected for one year and is automatically elected Treasurer the following year”
Changed to: “is elected for two-year term”
Also, we are omitting from the Standing Committees: “Secret Pal - Handles the assignments of Secret Pals and sets up gift exchanges”. This was omitted because the guild has not been doing this activity for many years.
You may look at the revised by-laws on our Members Only page on the left side below the membership list! The bylaw changes will be voted on at our Annual Meeting in April.
The Bylaws Revision Committee consisted of Linda Spring, Christine Tindell, Sharon Pierluissi, Cheryl Mercy, Kathy Avellone, Melanie Houser and Marti Austin.
Submitted by Marti Austin, Member-at-Large and, according to the bylaws, the person who facilitates changes in the bylaws!