Promoting Knowledge and Interest in the Art of Quilting Since 1981
September, Philanthropy completed:
23 Sleep in Heavenly Peace quilts
Thank you all for your wonderful contributions to QU Philanthropy!
Free, pre-cut QAYG quilt kits are available to go home with you at every QU meeting.
You may also pick up free fabric at our “free to a good home” table at the QU meetings. No commitment required – you may use your freebies for a philanthropy project or anything else you’d like to make.
Evelyn Gonzalez and Marion Millet
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
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
First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who submitted items for the Silent Auction. As I mentioned in the July meeting, all of the items are beautiful and well deserving of high price bids. Don’t be surprised to see my name and bid on several items as I can’t resist the urge to purchase such spectacular specimens of creative work. I am assembling and grouping the items for placement on the website for the online auction. My plan is to have the items placed in a respective category (full quilts, lap quilts, youth quilts, crib quilts, wall hangings, purses, and table items) with a picture or pictures and a narrative to describe the item. I am hopeful I will be able to have a period of time for you to review what I wrote up about your item in case you see a need for some “editorial” advice. I will let you know if I am able to have a “preview” time before the auction is open to the public. I am still working on those logistics for a “preview” option. Post “preview”, the plan is to have the QR code and website open to the public by August 20. This will allow people to bid on items before the actual show opens. Of course, I encourage people to come to the fair to actually see the quilts or items you want to bid on but if all else fails the online option is always available.
I am unable to attend the August meeting, so if you have a last-minute item, please contact me via email or phone (contact information can be found in the directory) to arrange a pick up. I really need you to provide the name of the person who pieced and/or quilted the item including the year completed so I can give credit to the individual(s) when I post the item for viewing. It is important to have the size listed also. We want to be able to get a sense for what the item is worth in materials and labor so if you could provide a minimum bid that would be helpful to me. Successful bidders will pick up their item at the end of the quilt show Monday or Tuesday at the latest. You will get an item back at the end of the show if the minimum for it is not met by a bidder. I highly doubt that will occur as each and every item is well worth several if not hundreds of bids.
Marty O’Neill