Month: April 2016

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May 2016 Newsletter

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(If you don’t have Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it here.)

NEXT MEETING: MAY 2, 2016

WHAT TO BRING TO THE MEETING

  • Name tag
  • Block party block
  • Show-and-Tell
  • Program items
  • Door Prizes for F, G, H

BIRTHDAYS

  • Sue Heard … May 16
  • Shirley Allen … May 30

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

I finished a quilt top the other night and wanted to continue sewing but didn’t really want to start a new project so I turned to my scraps. Once upon a time I wouldn’t bother to keep these small bits of fabric. They were of no consequence to me. Now, they are carefully sorted by size, prized and hoarded like gems. By themselves most people would say they hold little value, but assembled, these small pieces still have so much life left in them—just look at any crazy quilt. My deposits into the scrap bin far exceed the withdrawals. I can create a top strictly from scraps and not even make a dent in the stash. To think, if those scraps are converted back into yardage, imagine how much fabric one actually throws away. That will make you think twice. Even the smallest pieces too small to use can still have a second life as filler for pet beds. Nothing goes to waste. Three cheers for scraps.

Happy Sewing!

Tory Swartzwelder

VISITORS

Welcome to our April visitors!  It was wonderful to see so many visitors at our April meeting.  We hope you will come back and join us at our May meeting.

Our visitors were: Julie Schneider, Karen Holder, Mary Johnson, Janice Barnes, Dorothy Smith, Carol Miller, Marilyn Smith, Sandra Bufkin and Michelle Atwood.

Welcome to our newest member, Ann Stevenson.  Ann was a member several years ago and has come back to the Guild.  Her information is as follows:

734 Finland
Grand Prairie, TX  75050
(214) 972-0042
ann_stevenson@sbcglobal.net

MAY PROGRAM

For the May meeting, we as a guild will be reviewing the proposed bylaw changes for voting. If time permits, we may do a short quilting-related presentation.

Also, please make sure that if you volunteered to take a box last month for Operation Shoebox that you bring it back for the next meeting so that someone else may have a chance to make a block for our charity quilt! As a footnote, someone had asked at the April meeting how large a lap blanket would need to be. To answer this question, upon speaking with someone at the VA hospital, they stated that lap size blankets need to be a minimum of 40×40. Please e-mail me with anymore questions!

Carrie Stanford

TAQG REPORT

Rally Day 2016 will be Saturday, July 9th at Mimosa Lane Baptist Church, 1233 N. Beltline Road, Mesquite, TX 75149. Doors open at 9 a.m. Admission is FREE to members of our quilt guild. Goody bags will be given to the first 500 in attendance. Door prizes will also be awarded. The first door prize awarded will be a sewing machine. The guest speaker this year is Kimberly Einmo. Her website is kimberlyeinmo.com

Thanks to all of you who volunteered to help at Rally Day. If you are working at Rally Day, you need to arrive at 8 a.m. I have Sue Heard, Barbara Garner, Janis Hill, Nancy Mills-Dickens, Shara Scheibner, and Tory Swartzwelder working at the doors. Lillie Martinez, Grace Norris, Jeri Bush, Shirley Lewis, Michelle Rodriguez, Barbara Burnaugh, Kathy Poole, Debi Cypert, and Penny Johnson have volunteered to work with the Raffle Quilts.

There will be multiple workshops: a two-day workshop on Thursday and Friday before Rally Day in Mesquite; Two one-day workshops in Arlington, one on Monday and another on Tuesday after Rally Day. I have forms for the workshops available. However if you are interested, please pull a form off the TAQG website taqg.org and mail it in with your payment as soon as possible. The workshops have traditionally filled up quickly. There is a fee for the workshops.

I am selling pre-Rally Day raffle tickets. The grand prize and the 2nd prize both contain a sewing machine. Tickets are $1 each, or 6 for $5 and will be available at our general meeting on May 2nd. The drawing will be Friday, July 8th. You need not be present to win. There will be an additional Raffle on Rally Day itself. The grand prize for this raffle also includes a sewing machine.

I will be selling advance tickets for a box lunch on Rally Day at our May 2nd general meeting. Tickets are $10 and there are four menu choices. McAlister’s is the caterer this year.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at krazykat1952@gmail.com or call me at (817) 691-5433 or (817) 577-5793.

Katrina Lindley, TAQG Representative

DON’T FORGET

  • Be sure to wear a name tag at our meetings. If you don’t wear a name tag, you will be charged 50 cents each time.
  • Remember to bring your item for the TAQG Rally Day door prize bag to the May meeting. Items should be brand new and quilting related. Katrina will be accepting these items. Some of you already brought your items and they are appreciated!

MINUTES

  • President Tory Swartzwelder called the meeting to order at 7:00.
  • The Guild had 1 birthday for April: Elisabeth McMahon. Janice Barnes, guest of Christine Blanton, has a birthday on April 21st.
  • Remembrances: Ann, a friend of Lauren, is pregnant and due at the end of April. Her baby, James, has spinal fluid leaking into the brain and will undergo treatment at birth. Aleena Vanderberg, friend of Christine, has been diagnosed with myoloma. Also Barbara Garner is recuperating. Nancy Conner announced that she is getting married on May 7th.
  • Karen Holder, member of the Fort Worth Quilt Guild displayed the Fort Worth Guild’s donation quilt and sold raffle tickets at the meeting.
  • The minutes of the March meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter.
  • Janis reported that the balance in the guild account is $1,583.58. A deposit of $15.00 was added to a beginning balance of $1,568.58.
  • Shirley Lewis, Membership, reported we have 26 members present and 9 visitors. We welcomed a new member, Ann Stevenson. Guests were Julie Schneider, Sandra Bufkin, Karen Holder, Marilyn Smith, Carol Miller, Dorothy Smith, Janice Barnes, Michelle Atwood and Mary Johnson.
  • Kathy Poole, Door Prize, held the door prize drawing and winners were Karen Holder (FW Quilt Guild) Sue Heard, Michelle Atwood and Ann Stevenson. Katrina brought two tickets to the Arlington Quilt Show donated through TAQG. Winners of the tickets were Nancy Mills-Dickens and Barbara Burnaugh.
  • Michelle Rodriguez, Newsletter, reminded members that the newsletter information deadline is the 10th of the month.
  • Lauren Metang, Workshops, announced that the next workshop is scheduled for May 21st and will be a tumbler flag quilt using a 5″ tumbler template. The tumbler template is available online from Missouri Star Quilts.
  • Christine Blanton, Block of the Month, showed an example of the May BOM “Louisiana.” The pattern will be published in the newsletter. The drawing for the April blocks, “Missouri Star” was won by Janice Overton.
  • Katrina Lindley, TAQG representative, has pre-Rally Day tickets for sale along with T-Shirts, pins and lunch tickets for volunteers and those attending Rally Day. The May meeting will be the last opportunity to purchase TAQG items.
  • Grace reported that the “Stitch a Bit” group meets on the 4th Thursday – 9:30 to 3:30 at The Woods Methodist Church, Robinson at Bardin Rd. The next meeting will be April 28th. Please e-mail Grace in advance if you want the meal provided by the church so that they can prepare sufficient food. A donation is appreciated.
  • Show and Tell participants for April were Kathy Poole, Pam Landrum, Christine Blanton, Shara Hill-Scheibner, Barbara Burnaugh, Michelle Rodriguez, Tory Swartzwelder, Elisabeth McMahon and Janis Hill.
  • The Operation Shoe Box boxes were returned and redistributed for May.
  • Our program for April was “Bring a Friend”. Games were played and fabric squares brought by the participants were the prizes.

Debi Cypert, Secretary

 BLOCK OF THE MONTH

A couple of things: I encourage everyone to shop for Civil War fabric.

I would suggest getting 10-12 fat quarters to choose from for the Blocks of the each month. Please stick to the color scheme that you see each month on the example. The blue can be light or dark for example, but it should be blue.

We will be drawing each month for a winner of the blocks. The finished blocks are 8.5″ squared.

Any questions, contact Christine at blntn606@sbcglobal.net or 214-284-4906.

Christine Blanton

For Directions, visit this site: civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

TREASURER’S REPORT

Beginning balance …$1568.58
Deposits/Withdrawals … 15.00
Beginning balance … $1583.58

Janis Hill

REMINDERS

  • Articles for the newsletter are due by the 10th of the month. Any articles not received by the 10th of the month may or may not get published in that month’s newsletter.
  • The newsletter is published monthly usually within 10 days of the meeting date (first Monday of each month). You will receive an e-mail with a link to the website (qgogp.wordpress.com). All previous newsletters are archived on our website. You may also go to our Facebook page. Our newsletter link is posted there monthly. If, at any time, you cannot find your newsletter or have deleted the e-mail with the link, you could do an internet search for “quilter’s guild of grand prairie” to find our website.
  • If you have a question about a program, a workshop, or the block of the month, be sure to contact the person(s) in charge of whatever you have a question about. The names, phone numbers and e-mails are all listed in the newsletter.
  • Please silence your cell phone during our meetings.

Michelle Rodriguez

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