Sunday, September 2, 2018

September Newsletter

September 2018 Newsletter
A newsletter designed with OrlandoMQG members in mind!
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Issue 34


September 2nd, 2018

Dear Guildies,

Happy (almost) Fall, ya'll! It's going to be a busy and fun month. We have 3 Sew Days and the Fall Fiber Festival to cap it off. Paula and Ede have a planned a great programming for this month's meeting that you don't want to miss. So get all your last minute sewing in on all your QuiltCon Charity Quilt blocks, Blocks of the Month, Bee blocks, nametags, and WIPs so we can see your beautiful work!

Check out this month's Member Highlight featuring Dar Arnswald at the end of the newsletter.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the newsletter, please email me. I would also love to hear of any quilty news or ideas for content you'd like to share. Constructive feedback is always welcome.

Happy stitching,

Ashley Gottshalk
Secretary
Meeting Reminders
  • Wednesday, September 5th is our guild meeting at The Sewing Studio 10-12. Parking is once again permitted at the gas station next door when The Sewing Studio lot is full.
  • Bring your Block Lotto block(s). Each block made earns you one ticket in the raffle of ALL blocks. The more blocks you make, the better your chance of winning! Here is the current block's details
  • Bring your finished projects for Show and Tell.  
  • Remember to bring you Bee Blocks for your Queen Bees.
  • All books checked out from the guild library need to be returned by Wednesday's meeting. If you checked out a book but will not attend the meeting, you need to make arrangements to give the book to someone who will. Check the link on our blog to see what books are in our inventory and to add books to the ongoing wish list.
  • Members receive a 15% discount at The Sewing Studio on guild meeting days and a 10% discount on non-meeting days.
  • Monday, September 10th is the Maitland Sew Day. Saturday, September 22nd is the Dr. Phillips Library Sew Day. Saturday, September 29th from 10:30 - 3:00 is the Oviedo Library Sew Day.
  • Block of the Month (current and past) instructions, meeting minutes, Calendar dates, and more can be found on the guild blog.

Monthly Programming
Paula Kennedy



This month starts our two part series on Color Theory - Part one will introduce using the Color Wheel.
If you have a color wheel, bring it to the September meeting.
October will bring part 2, with discussion of how we choose color in our quilting projects.
And, this month we start the Paintbrush Fabrics Color Theory Challenge!

Paintbrush Studios #pbstudiofabrics has graciously donated beautiful fabric for each member for a mini quilt challenge. It will run for two months, with the reveals at November's meeting. Fabric will be distributed at the September meeting (please note, there is a limited supply) and you’ll receive the parameters and instructions for the challenge.
Look for updates and progress on social media.


And finally, in November, bring your ideas !
 It doesn’t seem possible, but as we head into the end of the year, the programming committee is already getting ready for next year. In order to plan according and help next year's programming transition, November’s meeting will be a brainstorm of what topics, as a guild, you want to see next year.
We need your ideas !

Do you want to learn fabric dying, do you want to learn about minimalist design?
How to organize your crafting and sewing room?
Bring your creative ideas for a great discussion.
 

Orlando Public Library
2 to 4 p.m.

 
The Guild has signed up to participate in the Fall Fiber Festival. We will need a few volunteers for the weekend to demonstrate quilting. The Fall Fiber Festival is an annual celebration of the the fiber arts in Central Florida. The festival will include demonstrations, exhibitors, and hands-on activities, as well as a Fiber Arts Contest. Register today for the Fiber Arts Contest. The grand-prize winner will be awarded $250. Entries will be accepted in the following categories: sewing, knitting and crochet. Contest registration is open from June 1-August 30. Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, skill level required, utility and attendance in fiber arts classes. For more info, visit the event website.
 

Board Member at Large
Jane Allingham

Help me out and wear your nametag. 
Last month we started a “wear your nametag and get to know each other challenge” (synopsis: we paired up and lots of pairs accepted the challenge to make each other a nametag and bring it to the September meeting.)  Why? Because I like nametags.

The reason I like nametags is summed up in the internet article:
22 reasons why wearing nametags will change your life forever

5. A nametag is a disarming gesture. Sigmund Freud discovered that a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. So, wearing a nametag means one less name people have to worry about remembering. Thank [heavens.]”

So if you have a nametag, please wear it. If you don’t and no one is making one for you, please make one and wear it.
See you at the September meeting.

 

Community Outreach
Marge Cree



Call for Blocks – Beth Schmidt – Chairperson
We haven’t seen much activity for Call for Blocks lately, we usually get our information from Instagram. If anyone hears about a group requesting blocks or quilts for a worthy cause please let Beth Schmidt know. We are always in need of HST for our ‘stash’ for quilts we keep for when there is a Call for Blocks. They should be half white and half color or fabric of your choice to make a 10 ½” square 

Placemats for Meals on Wheels – Kate Elliott – Chairperson
As of the August meeting, we have collected 150 placemats which have been distributed to Orange and Osceola counties Meals on Wheels. Thank you so much for your generosity and please continue to make them during the rest of the year. I’m sure these placemats will be used to cheer up many shut-ins during holiday season.

2018 Festival of Trees – Kate Elliott – Chairperson
The FOT team has created another masterpiece! Thank you Kate and her team. It will be ready for the unveiling at the November meeting to be given to Council of 101 who sponsors the yearly event to raise funds for the Orlando Museum of Art. 

Quilts for Samaritan Village - Kathy Aber – Chairperson
The 6 teams have been very busy and the quilts are well on their way to completion! We have seen pictures of some amazing quilts! Stay tuned for the Show and Tell of these beauties at the October meeting. We will present them to a representative of the Samaritan Village in November. 

2019 Quilt Con Quilt – Kathy Aber – Chairperson
The Orlando MQG is truly amazing, so willing to donate their time! If you expressed an interest, you should have received a brown lunch bag with fabric to make your block for this quilt. In the next few months you will see your effort transformed into another beautiful quilt which will be displayed at QuiltCon 2019 in Nashville, TN.

Quilts for Health Central Park ALF (Assisted Living Facility)
Have you noticed that the previous projects are well under way and almost completed???? Well don’t you worry, there is still more to do. In January (date TBD) we are planning on having a ‘trunk show’ to share some of the amazing quilts our guild members have made with the senior folks of our community. Help us bring joy and beauty to the residents of Health Central Park Assisted Living Facility. There are 2 ways you can help. Volunteer to come with us to explain the modern style of quilting and show off your quilts; some of the residents also have quilts that they will share with us. Or you can make a lap sized quilt and donate it as a raffle prize for the residents. Please let us know if you would like to show a quilt and/or make a quilt. Kathy Aber is collecting the quilts for this effort. Also, please let Kathy Aber or Marge Cree know if you have a quilt you would like to show at the trunk show.   

November Retreat  Nov 9 – 12 
Members, don’t forget to sign up for the retreat if you haven’t already done so, there’s still room.
The online booking link is here. This link will be active until October 8, 2018.

If guest would like to book over the phone, please have them call the group line at 1-800-347-9092
(mention the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild 2018 group at the Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort) to receive the discounted group rate. Office hours are Monday – Friday 9:00AM – 5:00PM EST and Saturday – Sunday 9:00 – 4:00PM EST.

 
Here are a few reminders for guest when booking reservations:
  •  A 2 night minimum is required for all reservations. Reservations will not be accepted that do not meet the minimum night requirement.
  • One night’s rate plus tax is due at booking with the remaining balance due at check-in.
  • A security deposit of $150 is required per reservation. Deposit will be released at check-out if there are no incidentals or damages to rooms or property.
  • If for any reason you must cancel, please do so 14 days prior to your date of arrival to receive a full refund of your deposit. Reservations canceled less than 14 days from the day of arrival will be charged a cancellation fee equal to one night’s rate plus tax. No-shows and early departures will not receive any refund.
  • If making reservations by phone, guests must call the group phone (1-800-347-9092) number to receive the discounted rate.
  • You must be 21 or older to check-in.

Cre-active Club Challenge

#creactiveclub and #2018creactiveclub
Caroline Garnier


Project #4 was chosen at the August meeting, so you still have another month to complete it in time to share at the October meeting.

There's still time to join the 2018 Cre-active Club Challenge. Pick out 6 unfinished projects (or less) that you would love to finish, write your list (pdf here) and send it to Caroline (carolinejanny@hotmail.com). You can also hand it in at the meeting.
 
QUILTY HAPPENINGS
Locally, Globally, and on the Web
 

Broward Quilt Week is March 4-10, 2019. They've shared their Workshops featuring Jean Wells and Tara Faughnan. For more info visit Broward Quilt Expo.

The Jacksonville QuiltFest is September 20th - 22nd. For more info visit their site.


 

Member Highlight


Meet Dar Arnswald

 

How long you have been sewing and/or quilting and when/why you joined the Orlando MQG?
I learned to sew in high school and back then I mostly made clothing! Nothing frightened me. Buttonholes. Jacket linings. Zippers. I wanted to use every attachment that came with my little Montgomery Ward sewing machine -- and I did! The sewing seed was planted even though it took years for it to sprout and blossom!



How did you learn to quilt?
For years I pretty much danced like a wild woman around the quilting fire - but never got close enough to touch the flame! I carved wood blocks to stamp onto fabric that looked like quilt blocks.  I designed needlepoint canvases that - looked like quilt blocks. I even tried my hand at making wax resist batik fabric. And still? No quilt for me!



And then one day in 2003 an interesting set of circumstance changed all of that.

My husband and I were on vacation - sitting in the great room of The Chalet Inn in North Carolina - sipping wine in front of the big fireplace - Dave reading and I doing some needlepoint! And this is where I usually interject -- that I was minding my own business!

Normally by this time of the evening-- all guests would have arrived and checked in. The Chalet Inn sits upon a steep mountain side and trust me when I say you do not want to arrive and try to drive up the mountain after dark. But on that particular day - there had been a bad accident on the main freeway and one guest (Tess) was delayed in arriving before dark.  Our hostess was frantically pacing and keeping watch for her until finally we could see the glow of headlights making their way up the hill. Hanneke, our lovely and gregarious Innkeeper from the Netherlands-- went out to greet her and help her in. The  next thing I knew - she came rushing into the great room out of breathe  and said she had someone that I just HAD to meet right NOW. She then said "I saw her license plate and it says: Eye Quilt" and I told her you were a sewer and now she wants to meet YOU too!!

Now keep in mind that this poor woman had been sitting still on the freeway for hours on end. Then made the trek up the mountain side in the dark to the Inn. BUT as fate would have it -- I was about to meet my very first quiltaholic!  I think all I said was "hi" and the next thing I knew I was holding quilt blocks in both hands and staring wildly at her HUGE mountain of batik fabric that she explained was just her "working fabric" for the car. She quickly assured me that she had plenty more packed and lots more at home ! Her passion for quilting was contagious and I was almost unable to process all of this inside of 15 minutes! And then I heard myself say to her "I have ALWAYS wanted to make a quilt". And Tess stopped dead in her tracks, tilted her head and said "well why haven't you made one then? And I said -- "I don't know why I haven't or even where to begin to make one. That's the last thing I heard before I slipped into the rabbit hole!

The drive home to Florida was like that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The one where Richard Dreyfuss was carving shapes out of his mashed potatoes? By the time we pulled into our driveway -- I had made a list of everything I would need to buy in order to get started!  Little did I know that fabric shopping was a lifelong mission - but I digress! !  I devoured every quilting book and video I could get my hands on. When I made my first quilt block - I knew the eagle had finally landed!

Later that year I test drove a longarm machine and I knew I HAD to have one! My husband has always been supportive and has totally believed in me (silly man)  -  so when I said I would make the machine pay for itself in no time at all - he said then we will find a way to get you a longarm! And that is exactly what I did. I practiced every chance I got until the machine and I were one! I opened Dar's Longarm Quilting in 2004 (www.darslongarmquilting.com) and I have never looked back!

To me - being a longarm quilter means making every quilter's work shine whether they have been sewing for 10 years or 10 minutes. I don't "police"  my clients.  I share what I know and encourage them to keep on going and keep on learning. I'm still learning new things every day. Hopefully we all are.



What machine(s) do you drive?
I drive my Gammill Classic Plus -- Lucy. She is not computerzied. She has a stitch regulator and me. :-) My home machine is a Babylock Symphony. And I also have a sweet Featherweight named Angie!


What and/or who inspires you?
I'm continually inspired by other quilters whether they be of McTavish fame -- or one of our many talented guildies!  I find our guild to be SO energizing and passionate about what they all do! In addition, I am always inspired by other forms of art, and color and design because it's everywhere you look -- if you take the time to look! AND lastly I am a texture fiend and I look for it everywhere from bricks and stone to animals and plants.

 
What is your most treasured (sewing related) possession?
It's a tie between my longarm and my seam ripper(s)!


Do you sew with your shoes on or off?
Always OFF. The only time that was an issue -- was when I was sewing in a barn in Paducah with Eleanor Burns. Even with socks on -- I thought for sure my frozen toes would snap off!


What is your favorite thing you’ve made to date?
I have two favorites. One was a wallhanging I made for two friends of mine who were getting married. Portions are paper pieced. The quilt features 3 Japanese Kanji symbols that mean: Happiness, Love and Harmony.



The other quilt was for my friend who was a Pulse Survivor. He cried in my arms when I gave him his quilt. I could feel his heart beating as we hugged. Life is so fragile and precious. His mom said he should hang it up and he immediately said no -- I want it on my bed so I can wrap myself up in it. and that's exactly what the quilt  and I wanted him to do.




What is your next sewing adventure?
I have created a technique  that I am developing patterns for. I'm excited. Stay tuned!


What is your motto?
NEVER SAY NEVER.

 


Thank you for being a part of The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild.  We appreciate you taking the time to read our newsletter and hope you find it as interesting as we do!

President:  Sarah Lauzon
Vice President:  Paula Kennedy
Secretary:  Ashley Gottshalk
Treasurer:  Zonetta Glenn
Community Outreach: Marge Cree
Education Coordinator:  Patti Lapinsky
Member-at-Large:  Jane Allingham
Founding Officers and Board Members:
Rene' Martinez, Michele Lancaster
Do you know someone who might like this newsletter?  Forward it to them.  They can subscribe here.  
You can find the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild on these social media platforms.
Copyright © 2018 Orlando Modern Quilt Guild, All rights reserved.


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