Quilter

September “Around the Block” Newsletter

Kaleidoscope of Color may be happening even as you are reading this. If you haven’t been to it yet, don’t miss it! If you have been, grab a different friend and see it again. See you there!

I’m writing this message a week before it opens. But I’m hopeful that we really are going to pull off this crazy-big annual quilt show. So let’s plan to celebrate our success at the September 12 guild meeting! There will be ribbons and there will be snacks!

The most important thing there will be is gratitude for all the time and effort so many, many of you have given to the show. Please know that I’m a bit overwhelmed right now and afraid I’ll forget to acknowledge someone’s contribution. It ALL mattered! The logo you designed. Every quilt you entered in the show. Every quilt or boutique or silent-auction item you sewed. Every friend you told about the show. Every volunteer shift you fulfilled, including the ones that left you with sore muscles the next day. Every time you shared on social media. The food you brought to the opening reception. The vendors you helped find. The sponsors you asked to donate. The funds you donated as sponsors. The way-more-than-usual financial record keeping. The baskets you put together and donated. The work so many did on the Opportunity Quilt more than a year ago. Having patience while we didn’t have all the answers. Putting yourself out there to give a demonstration despite butterflies in the stomach. The show ribbons you made. The volunteer badges you put together. The cut-and-fold-600-programs work. The Challenge designed and fulfilled. The art supplies you donated. The A/V setup you improvised. The ladders you lent. The music you played. The flyers and bookmarks you handed out. The things you did so quietly without any expectation of acknowledgment. Thank you all for believing in the vision of a great big show! Give yourself a pat on the back, a round of applause, or both!

And this doesn’t even mention that the members of the show committee did those things plus research and planning and site visits and sitting through loooooong meetings and you name it — all of which were steps outside their comfort zones. The committee went above and beyond in every direction, time after time. It was an honor to serve with Karen Kunz, Susan Thomson, Janet Taylor, Ann Gaber, Dawn Griffin, Peggy Allen, Marty O’Neill, and Tara Goodman. If I am still sane, they are the reason.

Your grateful chair
Sue Isaac

In August, Philanthropy completed:

• 20 Sleep in Heavenly Peace quilts
• 5 Big Bend Hospice quilts

Thank you all for your wonderful contributions to QU Philanthropy!

Philanthropy is continuing to offer free fabrics at every meeting on our “Free to a Good Home” table. And there’s no Philanthropic commitment – You decide whether you sew for QU Philanthropy or someone/something else.

Also available at every meeting: QAYG (Quilt as You Go) kits already cut for your quilting pleasure – please stop by the Philanthropy table and pick up a kit or two! QAYG is a quick quilting method that has resulted in TONS of lovely quilts for “Sleep in Heavenly Peace.”

Evelyn Gonzalez and Marion Millet

Free! Yes, it will be a free class! Wahoo! Saturday, November 9, at 9:00 we will begin at Transformation Church. The class will be making napkins and coasters/rug mugs. Sign up quickly as there is a limited amount of people for the space we will have. Let me know that you will be attending, at the next guild meeting or via email.

Peggy Clark

The timing of this newsletter is the very weekend of our winsome produced Kaleidoscope of Color Quilt Show. I have no doubt the Fairgrounds are hopping with quilt enthusiasts and amazing creators and creations. Congratulations on the culmination of a full year’s planning. So many have worked to make this show a success and the fruit of our labor is finally on display!

Here are some very important needs, notes, items of super-interest. How many can you check off?

1. Next and all future meetings: Wear Your Nametag! We now have 151 members and need to know who we are! Have extra time? Make a few name-tags and leave at the membership table.

2. Read the Newsletter. There’s a ton of information and something for everyone. Being in a guild means philanthropy as well as interest and learning new skills.

3. Check your times for your Volunteer Hours at the KOC Show and ENJOY.

4. Pick up your show quilt on Tuesday morning at the Fairgrounds, 10 am to 2 pm.

5. The FIELD TRIP is scheduled for Saturday, October 19, to the Levy County Quilt Museum; lunch (not included) is at a local fish joint; and a visit to the Busy Bobbin in Chiefland, Florida. Cost is $60 and there are seats available. Bring a friend. Sign up next meeting and bring a check written to QU, which will be held until the trip is confirmed.

6. LAP QUILTS for Veterans and Shands (40 x 40) are due at the November meeting. During our August meeting, we heard a request for quilts to be sent to Israeli refugees currently living away from their homes in Israel. These may be turned in the next two meetings for a special air delivery.

7. Please be thinking of what position you’d like to take for next year! A nominating committee will SOON be formed and replacements are needed for elected positions and committee chairs.

8. Finally, take time to SEW. “A good day is a day spent quilting.” “My soul is fed by needle and thread.” Don’t get so busy or wilted that you let your love of this craft gather dust. Dust is not your hobby. Quilting is!

See you at the Show!
Janet Taylor, President

Reminder: All remaining completed kits are due at the AUGUST QU Meeting. Please get with Dawn to make arrangements to get the completed items to her if you are NOT able to attend the meeting. We will be selling any items not sold at the show at the September QU meeting.

Special shout out to all of YOU who helped in creating the amazing items for the boutique. What an awesome team effort. Huge Hug!

Dawn Griffin