~ Inspire. Educate. Give.

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MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Maitland, FL

WELCOME

President Sarah welcomed members and guests and reminded everyone that we are no longer able to park in the lot of the gas station next door. She explained that we would have the business meeting, the election, the program, and then result of the vote would be announced before Show and Tell. She said someone donated a number of quilting books and magazines to the guild, so there will be a book sale after the meeting with proceeds gooing to the guild library, magazines are free. Sarah also had our 9 guests at the meeting introduce themselves.

ICEBREAKER

Member at Large Jane explained this month’s Icebreaker. Everyone was to think what they would have on their vanity license plate to indicate their quilting style to the world and then everyone who wished to shared theirs with the group. Results included QLT4FN (quilt for fun), WIP4VR (works in progress forever), QLTLUV (quilt love), and SEWWHT (sew what).

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) Update

Sarah said preregistration for classes at QuiltCon this year, in Pasadena, CA, is open at the MQG website through February 13^th; after that, anyone attending will have to register in person in Pasadena. She said if anyone attending is looking for a roommate or other contact, to let the guild know so they can help put people in touch with each other.

She announced that the Art & History Museums Maitland has invited the guild to take part in its annual Art31:Fiber event. The guild will have 2-3 people stationed at Waterhouse Residence Museum, a Victorian home on Lake Lily, to relate modern quilting to history, to show their work, to explain quilting to those touring the house for several hours each weekend in March. Volunteers can have 2-3 sewing machines but no irons plugged in, or they may do handwork and have quilts and other items to display. She invites those interested to sign up as volunteers for this event when an email is sent about it.

VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Block of the Month (BOM)

Paula’s Sightly Valentine Subtle Wonky Improv Blocks of the Month were won by Sharleen. Caroline presented the next Block of the Month, a pair of blocks, one pinwheel cut to be remade into a more elaborate block which, when set with a plain pinwheel, creates an interesting secondary design. Instructions will be on the blog.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Marge reported on the guild’s finances. January had expenses of $1,566.00 for bringing in a teacher; class fees paid most but all of the cost so the guild subsidized part of the cost of the class. Membership renewal fees are due next month and member gifts will be on hand for members to choose at the March meeting. Existing members who don’t renew at the March meeting will be reminded in April, and removed from the roster in May, although anyone may join or rejoin at any time. Marge reminded guests and members that the membership dues are $50 and include membership in the Modern Quilt Guild.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Mary W reviewed the tremendous number of charitable donations made by the guild last year:

· 441 sweet bears for Share Bear United, Inc

· 72 (and still counting) quilts for youth aging out of foster care and being served by Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, Inc

· 1 quilt for the Festival of Trees to support the Orlando Museum of Art

· 1 quilt for Quilt Con’s Charity Quilts project

· 1 quilt for a local family that was victim of a house fire

· 14 quilts and tops to tornado victims in Georgia

· 1 quilt plus many blocks for Project 70273

· Blocks sent to the UK after the Grenfell Towers Fire

· 3 quilts sent after the Las Vegas shooting

· 4 quilts to Houston after Hurricane Harvey

· 3 quilts to Deland for re-homed children from Puerto Rico

· Large Flat Rate box of fabric and quilt tools to California for quilters affected by fires

· Large Flat Rate box of heart blocks and backing fabric to Sutherland Springs, TX after the church shooting

· 6 completed quilts and 6 tops currently in ‘stash’

· HST blocks in stash to be assembled

· Last of over 1800 quilts given to victims and responders of the Pulse Nightclub shooting

She thanked the members very much for so much generosity, and thanked Beth for being in charge of the Calls for Blocks, Wendy for spearheading the Festival of Trees quilt, and Debra J for organizing the making of the QuiltCon Charity Challenge Quilt for this year’s QuiltCon in Pasadena. Beth announced that she is still soliciting HST blocks for the project of making quilts on an ongoing basis, so the guild has some on hand in its stash to send when there is a new call.

Mary W also showed us a special Pulse coin issued by the Orange County Mayor’s office and given to the guild. It was passed around so all could see it. She reported that there was a “brain dump” meeting of guild members about the Pulse project, and a document has been compiled and reviewed by the board about the many aspects and lessons of the Quilts for Pulse project which might be useful to other guilds wanting to hold a quilt or quilt block drive in a similar situation. There will be a link to it on the OMQG blog and the Modern Quilt Guild wants to publish it, too, for use by other guilds.

EDUCATION

Anne reported that the Sarah Sharp class in January was a great success. Several who attended mentioned how much they enjoyed learning her flip and fold paper piecing technique which has less waste than many paper piecing methods and offers the ability to include tiny fussy cut pieces.

The next class will be given by Jen Carlton-Bailey, who teaches curved piecing. That class will be April 21, 2018, will cost $55 to members, $75 to non-members. Ede reported that she took one of her classes at QuiltCon last year and the class not only made curved piecing easy, but that Jen is a hilarious teacher. She can be seen in an episode of Fresh Quilting available at the MQG site. Anne also noted that learning curved piecing was the #1 item of interest in the results from last year’s survey of members. Signs up will be at the March meeting.

There will be a class by Melissa Averinos in September, though the date has not yet been set. She will present either 2 workshops or 1 workshop and a lecture. One of her workshops is on making human faces and the other is on making cat faces; members are interested in both.

Education Basket

Janet presented the Education Basket filled with a number of great items including fabric, a book, and much more. It was won by Ashley.

DOOR PRIZES

Paula had 6 door prizes this month. Dar won a small cutting mat, and 5 others won a fat quarter lollipop.

ELECTION

Beth and Karol, the Nominating Committee, explained the process. A number of people voted by absentee ballot, and they have been crossed off on the roster of members that Beth and Karol each had. At the meeting, they asked each member to state her name – if it was not crossed off as having previously voted, they were given a ballot to be completed and turned in. They counted the ballots during the program with results announced at the end.

PROGRAM: MODERN PRINCIPLES CHALLENGE #4 – QUILTING PART 2: HOW TO DECIDE HOW TO QUILT A TOP

Debra J demonstrated a method of choosing quilting designs by having members look at 2 quilt tops hanging at the front, one at a time. Several people offered their first idea for quilting, members were asked to sketch designs based on those ideas, the best drawing was “nominated” from each small group in the room, those who drew those sketches gathered at the front to choose the best, and the chosen member drew their sketch on a whiteboard; then the same was done for the 2^nd and 3rd quilt tops – the last one by elements with different designs chosen for each part (blocks, sashing, etc.). Debra’s point was that many ideas can be generated in a very short time by talking, sharing ideas, drawing and looking at ideas with other quilters.