This month’s meeting was our Holiday Potluck and gift swap. The Potluck was organized by Member Carole Woole, and members were asked to bring a sweet or savory dish to share. Carole does an AMAZING job with our buffet table. She makes it so inviting and festive.
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| Carole Wool |
This meeting provided a lot of time for just socializing and talking. It was great to just slow down and enjoy each other’s company.
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| Carol Allegretti and Mary Calzada |
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| Jordana Robinson, Bill Keller and Joy Siragusa |
We also hosted our annual holiday handmade gift swap. It was a blind swap so if you brought a handmade gift you left with one. The only limitation was that it be made in under 2 hours. Look at all that BEAUTIFUL packaging.
Today was the BIG REVEAL for our QuiltCon Charity Quilt. As you may recall, the challenge was “Exploring Modern Traditionalism.” The challenge is determined by The MQG. Our quilt is based on an art deco-inspired Chicago Star block, but guild president Amy Struckmeyer put a twist on this design by making it a mystery quilt. A few months back, members were asked to pick a block and fabric. Blocks were due at this meeting and the design was revealed to all. We can’t wait see it hanging in QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena, CA. Great job, Amy and vice president Heather Kinion!
We ended the meeting with some Show and Tell. Refer to our guild’s Instagram account (@chicagomqg or click on the Instagram logo at the top of this page) to see some amazing quilts made by our members.
Announcements
Our guild has a newsletter called “The Full Bobbin.” One of its purposes is to promote all the awesome stuff our members are doing. If you have a quilt in a show or magazine, a teaching gig, or are hosting an event, we want to know about it! Please make sure to contact social media chair Jenni Grover so it can be included in the next issue.
Our 2018 guild membership renewal is underway and we currently about 70 members renewed. If you haven’t renewed yet, please click here for more information including a link to the renewal form. Please contact membership chair Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy if you have any questions.
Member Emily Lang is coordinating our guild’s “Secret Mini Quilt Swap.” If you haven’t provided your inspiration fabric scrap for the swap or picked up your partner’s inspiration fabric swap please contact Emily. (Inspiration fabrics are suggested but not required.) Completed minis are due at the March 2018 meeting.
Would you like to get more involved in the guild? How about serving on the board? The new board will take effect in April 2018, and the only requirement to serve on the board is that you are a member of the guild for at least one year (as of April 2018). To become a nominee (or if you have any questions related to any of the board positions), please contact Heather Kinion no later than February 9, 2018.
Our January 2018 meeting will be a Member Trunk Show. This is a guild favorite and you won’t want to miss it!
Our February 2018 meeting will be a sew-in at Thimbles in Lockport, IL. Our meeting time will be 10am to 4pm. Please note the change in venue and time for this meeting only. More info to come.
Our March 2017 meeting will be “All about Bindings.” More info to come.
In April 2017, we will be hosting Tara Curtis (find her on instagram at @weftyneedle) and she will be teaching us her fabric weaving technique. The workshop will be held on Saturday, April 14 with a lecture on Sunday, April 15 (during our regular meeting time of 2-5pm). Sewing machines will not be needed for this workshop, but some preparation will be required. Registration will begin in February 2018.
Special events chair Laura McDowell Hopper is looking for locations to host guild workshops and sew-ins. She is looking for a space that can accommodate 24 people with ample electrical outlets for their sewing machines and to set-up several ironing stations throughout the room. Must also be reasonably priced. If you know of any place in your area or if you have any questions, please contact Laura.
Charity Update
Members Sarah Shulman and Dianne Bienick are leading an effort to make quilts for Local Veterans through the Road Home Program. Two quilts were shared at the meeting and they are BEAUTIFUL. The blue star quilt was pieced by “many hands” at a sew-in, quilted by member Sarah Evans, and the binding will be done by vice president Heather Kinion. The taupe star quilt was pieced by Dianne, quilted by member Tricial Royal, and bound by treasurer Dani Miller. Great job, ladies! It was a team effort that made this possible. We still have one more quilt planned and we will slowly work towards getting it pieced. There are still plenty of ways to get involved so please contact Sarah or Dianne if you are interested.
Member Debbie Pine provided some foundation paper squares to make string blocks. Refer to the September 2017 meeting recap for instructions (including a video) on how to piece these blocks. Please bring your completed block(s) to a future meeting where Debbie will be collecting them. They will be used to make a charity quilt(s) in 2018.
To quickly find information regarding our current charity endeavors, click the “Charity Projects” button in the right sidebar.
All meetings are 2-5 pm on the third Sunday of the month, unless otherwise noted.
This month’s meeting is on Sunday, January 21, 2018
Meeting location:
Rush Oak Park Hospital
Centennial Room
520 S. Maple Ave Oak Park, Il 60304
A list of our meetings can be found here.
Not a member, but would like to be? Click the button below to join our Guild!
We hope to see you there!
