Meeting Minutes_April 2018 ~ Inspire. Educate. Give.

MEETING MINUTES

April 04, 2018

The Sewing Studio Classroom

Welcome

Sarah opened the meeting with reminders to renew membership with Zonetta and to add Fabric Auction items to the table in the back or give to Marge.

Welcome to all our newest members: Betty W., Jo O., and Trish. We are excited for you to join in all our quilt-y fun!

Icebreaker

Jane treated us to a fun group challenge to list sewing terms using all letters of the alphabet. The crowd favorites were fabric for F, seam ripper for S, and unfinished for U!

President

State of the Guild, Maitland A&H Review, Survey

Sarah reported about all the things the board and members have been working on this past month. To say this month for the guild was busy would be an understatement. We were featured on MQG site for “Our Experience Organizing a Large Charity QuiltDrive.”

Our task force committees are in full force and making great strides on their plans to shape and improve the guild.

Sarah thanked everyone for their feedback and thoughtful comments during our survey this month. The board learned more about your interests in getting to know each other, skill-building, knowledge-sharing, and desire for small group ‘bees’. Paula and her task force have been hard at work to make some of these wishes a reality and had some exciting plans to share later in the meeting. The board will also be establishing a Programming Calendar to better organize and inform each other of our projects for the coming year.

As presented last meeting and shared widely over social media, our guild was invited to participate in A & H Maitland’s Art 31: Fiber this month. Each weekend we staffed the Waterhouse Residence with volunteers to demonstrate modern quilting and explain it’s roots in traditional quilting. As a result we were invited to participate in the Finale on Friday March 30^th. The quilts of volunteers and those selected for QuiltCon 2018 were displayed with the care and creativity of fine art. A lively Q & A session gave members the opportunity to share details about our designs, techniques, inspiration, guild roles, and community involvement. We’ve developed a great relationship with the staff at the museum which we hope continues to grow through future collaborations.

Vice President

Block of the Month

The March BOM by Jane was a hit and won by Sharlene.

Ashley presented the April BOM, Split Complimentary. This block is designed to test your color theory skills and use up some scraps. The finished block using bright scraps for the center, white or low volume for the “splits”, and black for the border will measure 11” square.

Cre-Active Club

Caroline (with her trusty translator, Jane) announced Cre-active Club Challenge was so successful the #2018creactiveclub challenge will start again next month. The same rules apply: select 6 or fewer (bigger projects can take up 2 slots) of your favorite yet unfinished projects that you are excited to finish this year. Every 2 months another number will be selected from the list and that will be the quilt you’ll work on for the next 2 months. If you’d like to participate fill out this Lovely List of Projects and email it to Caroline before the May meeting.

Fabric Auction

This year’s Fabric Auction will be during the May meeting so bring cash and come prepared to add to your stash! If you have books to donate, please bring those pre-priced to the May meeting. Social media stations will be set up for questions and help during the auction.

Treasurer

Financial Report and Budget

Zonetta reported on last month’s income and expenses. She also reported that the 2018 Budget had been finalized and approved. It was based on 2017 actuals and includes expectations for the new year based on the class schedule. Education is a big line item in our budget and while class fees usually cover all the expenses, sometimes there are unanticipated costs that exceed the income and require us to use reserves. It was clarified that the education basket collection will continue to go towards full membership education instead of just those able to take classes.

Secretary

Annual Anti-Harassment Policy Reminder

Ashley read the guild’s Anti-harassment Policy as stated in the By-laws. This is an annual reminder that coincides with the renewal of our insurance policy.

Community Outreach

Annual Rollout

Marge and her task force presented their plans for the guild’s Community Outreach for this year. Kate E. will be heading up the Festival of Trees quilt, Kathy will be planning the QuiltCon Charity quilt, and Beth is in charge of the Call for Blocks.

Marge reported that thread and 21 blocks were sent to the Parkland group for their quillows project for the victims. Our 2017 QuiltCon charity quilt was donated to Access Charter School for their upcoming fundraiser and will be sold as an auction item.

With a May-September timeline, the first charity project will be to create 6 twin-sized quilts to be given to Samaritan Village, a residential and rehabilitative program for victims of sex trafficking. These 6 quilts will be made in small groups or “bees” as a way for members share in the effort and to get to know each other. Representatives from Samaritan Village will be at the May meeting to talk about their mission.

Kate will be collecting placemats for Meals on Wheels in Orange County and Osceola County. The placemats will be given to recipients who have meals delivered to their home, for their special birthday bags, and will also be bingo prizes. Placemats should be a standard size and can be any design or fabric, large prints work great! They could also be themed for hobbies or holidays. Have fun with them! Kate will be collecting and delivering these monthly but the ultimate deadline is November to give in time for Thanksgiving.

Beth will continue collecting blocks to maintain a stash of quilts ready to be donated to other guilds as soon as they are needed. Blocks should be 10” and should be 4-patch or composed of HSTs with one side white or low volume and the other side a contrasting fabric. Beth reported she has about 10 quilts ready to be sent out if needed.

January 2019 we will have a Trunk Show with Health Central Park Assisted Living Facility. This is an opportunity to share our favorite projects with the residents and see their quilts as well, then gift lap-sized quilts to them. We can make lap-sized quilts all year to be given as raffle items or for a specific group, like the Memory Unit.

Education

Jen Carlton - Bailey, April 21

Alissa presented on behalf of Patti who could not attend the meeting. The Jen Carlton-Bailey class is full but email Patti if you would like to be added to the waitlist.

Messy Goat, June 30

Save the Date for MessyGoat aka Elaine Popham’s class “Strips as Sourdough Quilt Starter”. Sign-up and more details will be during the May meeting.

Education Basket

Cara who won the basket last month presented it this month and Paula was the lucky winner.

Door Prizes

Paula had 4 door prizes to give away this month. They were won by Pam, Betty, Aradria, and Morgan.

Programming: Social Media and Annual Programming Rollout

Paula presented this year’s program. The theme for 2018 is Building Quilt Skills. This will be a great opportunity for members to share their tips, tricks, and special skills with the guild. A Master Calendar will be implemented to host all important dates, quilt shows, challenges, etc.

Paula’s task force announced the plan for several small interest groups or “bees” that will be within the guild but self-directed and meet at various times and locations. This is an opportunity for comradery and to learn new skills.

Alissa announced on Patti’s behalf the “Queen Bee Says”. This group will be composed of 12 members and each month the queen will announce the block, share with the hive, and receive 11 blocks that month to complete a quilt on their own. These bees will be formed based on design/style.

Sarah announced her “Improv Bee”. Similarly, this bee will make blocks to each queen’s specifications. She gave the following as an example of a prompt for the hive and possible blocks that would relate.

Rene announced her EPP Sewcial Club. This group, since it is based on hand-piecing, will be very social and portable. Join the EPP Sewcial Club if you are a long-time lover of EPP or want to learn the basics.

Beth presented her “Paper Piecing Mini Quilt” group. This group is perfect for those who’ve always wanted to try paper-piecing but didn’t know where to start or were frustrated with it. Beth will teach you to fall in love with it as much as she has. The skill level will increase as you get comfortable with each level. She wants you to join this fun and social group to learn new skills and complete a mini paper pieced project you can be proud of! The meeting location will be determined based on those interested.

Jodi announced her “Online Scrappy Quilt Along Volume 2”. This QAL is great for scraps or is jellyroll friendly. This group will follow SewCraftyJess’s “Simply Woven” pattern on her blog.

Beth announced “The Holiday Club”. This group will meet to get their holiday sewing done early whether that’s gifts or holiday themed décor.

Beth also presented a group to learn how to use their Scan and Cut Creative.

Ede explained there will be both low-tech and high-tech sign-ups for these bees but ultimately all lists will be compiled electronically to be shared with each group. A SignUpGenius link will be shared for ease. See this blog post for more details on the Interest Groups and how to sign up!

Ede also shared her plan for “Skill Builder Block of the Month”. This will be based on the blog, Pile O’ Fabric with quilt-as-you-go lessons. Each meeting you will be assigned 2 blocks to work on at your own pace.

Caroline gave her presentation, a social media refresher, on what social media is and how the guild shares our activity with each other and others. You can find us on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, twitter and more. All these platforms are a great way to gain information about the guild and a fun way to learn about each other and cheer each other on through all of our projects. The guild has 2 Facebook groups, one is public and the other is exclusive to members. Let Rene or another board member know if you want to join the member’s only Facebook group.

Instagram is a great resource for eye-candy and inspiration. A neat trick Caroline shared, is you don’t have to have an account on Instagram to see what the guild and others share.

During the May meeting there will be 2 social media stations to learn about using Instagram and Facebook.

Show and Tell