This month’s meeting was held in Wheaton, IL in the most beautiful location at the DuPage County Historical Museum. As you can see, it was a full house as we all attentively listened to President Amy Struckmeyer as she delivered our announcements to the guild.
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Photo courtesy of Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy
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We were so very EXCITED and PROUD to be hosting member Mary Fons for a lecture titled “Standing On the Shoulders of Giants: A Brief History of the American Quilt.” This presentation was entertaining and enlightening, and it was certainly not your typical high school history lesson. Mary was extremely informative as she indulged us in her passion for quilt history as she discussed quilts from the 1800’s all the way up to today (the “Modern Era”). She even had a special quilt to share: a quilt made by her mother Marianne over 30 years ago.
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Photo courtesy of Laura McDowell Hopper
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Announcements:
The MQG has announced the Charity Challenge for QuiltCon 2018. The topic is “Exploring Modern Traditionalism”. President Amy Struckmeyer presented her concept for this quilt. It will be a Mystery Quilt of sorts. The design is a modern interpretation of an art deco inspired Chicago Star block and is made up of 24 blocks. At the October meeting, members will be able to pick a block and then choose their fabric from a limited set of colors. The color palette (chosen by the MQG) is a warm mix of gold, red, magenta, and purple. The blocks are due at the December meeting, when they’ll be put up on a design wall and the pattern will be revealed to all. The resulting quilt top design will be a surprise for most, and the color combinations a surprise for everyone, include the organizers, Heather Kinion and Amy. We’re very excited to see this come together!
President Amy Struckmeyer announced that she is seeking members to serve on the CMQG Board. Treasurer Dani Miller and Secretary Dianne Bienick will be departing and Vice President Heather Kinion will be moving to the President position (opening the VP position). 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). If you would like to serve your guild or you have any questions regarding these positions please contact Heather.
Special Events Chairperson Laura McDowell Hopper will be hosting a field trip to see the exhibit “Quilts and Human Rights” at the Pick Museum of Anthropology at NIU on Saturday, September 23. The day will begin with brunch and then a guided tour of the exhibit. Afterwards, we will be treated to a special behind the scenes tour of the museum. We will be sharing this day with members from the Bloomington Normal MQG. Sign-ups have CLOSED and we have about 50 members (from both guilds) attending. If you need to change or cancel your registrations please contact Laura.
Member Emily Lang will be coordinating a “Secret Mini Quilt Swap.” To participate you are encouraged to provide a small scrap of “inspiration fabric” for your swap partner to use as a starting point for design and/or color. Registration will begin shortly and will be open until October 23rd. Around November 5th you will receive your swap partner’s name, and your mini quilt will be due at the February 18, 2018 meeting. Please be very cautious of what you share on social media as you don’t want to give away any clues as to who your swap partner is. Remember it’s a secret, shhhh!!!
Programming Chairperson Laura Hartrich will be hosting a Programming Meeting on Saturday, September 20 at 12:30 pm at her house in Oak Park. All members are invited to attend. She will be providing a light lunch of soup and bread so please RSVP to Laura. Prior to the meeting, you will receive an email with her address and directions.
Programming Chairperson Laura Hartrich will be hosting a Programming Meeting on Saturday, September 20 at 12:30 pm at her house in Oak Park. All members are invited to attend. She will be providing a light lunch of soup and bread so please RSVP to Laura. Prior to the meeting, you will receive an email with her address and directions.
Our next retreat is October 20 – October 22 with an optional day on Monday, October 23. At the time of the meeting, we had 20 members registered and confirmed (no lottery needed). The four remaining spots will be confirmed on a “first come, first served” basis with registration remaining open until October 10. To see if there are any spots still available, contact the guild.
Our October 15 meeting will be all about bags. This meeting is being coordinated by member Sarah Shulman. There will be a series of short presentations relating to making successful bags followed up by some small group Q&A sessions. More info to come.
Our November 19 meeting will be focused on UFOs. This meeting is being coordinated by member Debbie Pine. To learn more about this meeting and how you can contributed click here. If you have any questions please contact Debbie.
Our December 10 meeting will be our Holiday Potluck and Social. There will be a blind swap where you bring a wrapped handmade gift that took you two hours or less to make. Participation is optional. Unlike in past years, time is your only limit on what you can make as a gift. But please remember that our membership practices many faiths, so please make your gift non-denominational. Take a look at the guild’s Pinterest Board for some inspiration though you are certainly free to make whatever you want.
Our Special Events Chairperson 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
Member Sarah Shulman is leading an effort to make quilts for Local Veterans through the Road Home Program. Sarah and Secretary Dianne Bienick hosted a sew-in on Monday, September 11 which is a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Many members attending including: Robbie Eklow, Dani Miller, Donna Moscinski, Debbie Pine, and Amy Struckmeyer. During the course of the day, we completed one quilt top and back. The quilt now resides with Sarah Evans who will be doing the quilting.
We still have two more quilts planned and we will slowly be getting them pieced. There are plenty of ways to get involved by quilting or binding these quilts so please contact Sarah or Dianne if you are interested.
We still have two more quilts planned and we will slowly be getting them pieced. There are plenty of ways to get involved by quilting or binding these quilts so please contact Sarah or Dianne if you are interested.
At the August meeting, member Debbie Pine brought in some foundation paper squares to make string blocks. There were some leftover and they were brought to this meeting. Debbie’s design is to place a strip of Kona Snow (2” wide) on the diagonal across the center of the block and then stitch strips of fabrics to each side. Please refer to this video from the Missouri Star Company on how to make these blocks. Also, if you are curious as to why these foundation squares are cut to 10”, Jenny will explain. Please bring your completed block(s) to the November meeting (or earlier) where Debbie will be collecting them. They will be used to make a charity quilt(s).
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, October 15
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!
