While everything is still fresh on my mind, I want to share a little of what happened to the Dallas Quilt Show and why your officers are trying to be as fiscally responsible as we can.

I know there have been comments and questions in the past about why we keep a large balance in our bank accounts. The week of March 12th shows all of us why. We have to have money to refund payments received for events that won’t happen, to pay for contracts for future activities that have been canceled, and to pay for running the guild for the next year if no revenue is received this year.

Dallas had twelve hours warning that the quilt show was not going to happen. The guild president and show chair had not been told that anything was imminent. On the 10:00 pm news Thursday night we learned that at 11:00 am the next morning, groups of 500 or larger could not gather. The committee members watching the news that night started contacting each other to make plans. Cindy Matthews, show chair, sent out an email to ask each chair to take charge of their own area and we would take down the show on Friday as though it were Sunday.  Everyone responded well, did their jobs well and we stopped our quilt show before anyone could even come in the door.

The Dallas guild board will now take care of their business in completing the show records. But this gives us the chance to look at what could happen to Plano and to plan how to survive not receiving any revenue to run our guild should it happen to us. AT THIS TIME THERE IS NO PLAN TO CANCEL QUILT PLANO 2020.

The city government of Plano has met and decided to close the Plano Event Center for two weeks. Anyone with an event during that time will be refunded. However, any event canceled after that will not be refunded, rather funds will be transferred to their next event at the center.

We have already collected deposits from vendors and sponsors for Quilt Plano 2020 of about $14,000 that we would need to refund. We have spent around $2,000 on show costs that cannot be recovered. The guild budget for 2020/21 for running the guild and paying for the excellent programs we are enjoying is approximately $28,000, not including any show expenses. We would need at least that much for a second year before we could have another show to bring in revenue to pay for expenses.

The guild budget and financials are posted on our website under Documents under Membership for members to review. 

We have a vibrant guild and are enjoying some tremendous programs. We want to keep doing that. That means that we cannot be frivolous with our monies, but need to keep our business minds looking at the future and making good plans for the guild.

We had a great program at our March guild meeting thanks to Tammy Vonderschmitt with Moda. She inspired us with all the wonderful quilts that she brought and displayed. Moda’s fabric lines are outstanding and I just bet the majority of us are using some right now during this “stay at home” time. Thanks so very much, Tammy. You came right before we knew that we needed your inspiration!

Maria Shell’s presentation and workshops have been cancelled. We have rescheduled her for September 2021! Maria is now at home with her family in Anchorage Alaska safe and well!

Let’s all create, stay well and enjoy our families!

Years ago when I first started to quilt, I remember hearing about a quilter’s “stash.” I had no idea what they were talking about until I went to someone’s house. “Jane Doe” showed me a walk-in closet filled with fabric to the ceiling. It was amazing! I had never seen so much fabric outside of a quilt store before. “Jane” showed me several fabrics and talked about going on “shop hops” to quilt stores all over the state. And then Jane told me about quilt shows. I was hooked!

After seeing her stash, I turned around to leave the room. It was then I saw an entire wall of shelves filled with fabric to the ceiling!  Prints, stripes, florals, batik’s… “Jane” had it all. I wanted to be like “Jane.” Instead of buying kits, or fabric for a particular project, I started buying fabric for my “stash.” Fabric for a rainy day… It was so much fun. I purchased fabric from my local quilt shops and then branched out to other quilt stores while on retreat or family vacation. I bought lots of fabric in Alaska- they have great quilt shops. California has lots of great quilt shops too. I often shipped back dirty clothes and packed my suitcase with yards of precious fabric and thread. Don’t even get me started about thread…

But, now I know the truth. “Jane” was a hoarder! She had way more fabric than anyone could use in a lifetime. In fact, I can now say that I am a hoarder of fabric. I am OK with that. Many of my friends are hoarders too. I am OK with that too.

Who knew all of our years of hoarding fabric would actually pay off?  

Now it is April, 2020 and I am staying home with my fabric. Only venturing out for food or necessary supplies. All of my retreats have been cancelled. But, every day I get to go to my studio and play with my fabric. So many projects I wanted to make with my stash-  now I have time. I took an empty shelving unit and pulled fabric and patterns I want to make. Every shelf has lots of fun projects. Some are Community Service, some are kits, and some are UFOs. I have also been following Edyta Sitar’s blog and making her mystery blocks.   

I can’t believe how life has changed in the last month with COVID. But, as quilter’s as long as we have fabric, thread, and a machine we are set. We have phones, texts, and emails to keep up with our friends and guild mates. We can stay at home and stay well.

Happy Stitching.

• Donna Petrick — 4/2
• Susan Autry — 4/3
• Connie Ryan — 4/4
• Jaynee Eshbaugh — 4/4
• Mychael Colyar-Long — 4/4
• Karen Bethel — 4/5
• Terri Mendelow — 4/6
• Julie Brooks — 4/7
• Glenna Brabant — 4/8
• Sara Lindsay — 4/8
• Tina Connolly — 4/9
• Carolyn Bond — 4/15
• Cristal Green — 4/15
• Beverly Geise — 4/17
• Nancie Rogers — 4/17
• Rose-Clair Fletcher — 4/18
• Elizabeth Schiller — 4/19
• Sharon Laney — 4/20
• Ann McDougal — 4/23
• Sue Landry — 4/23
• Anne Leather — 4/27
• Lori Connon — 4/27
• Mary Alice Caffarel — 4/27
• Deborah Skorepa — 4/29
• Pat Fowler — 4/29
• Margaret Burke — 4/30

We are well on our way to our annual goal of stockings to give to Soldiers Angels. I handed out 125 kitted stockings, and y’all brought back 40. Way to go, Guys!

As I am enjoying my “Corona Hibernation,” I am ironing stocking fabric, cutting big stacks of 7×11.5” fabric ready to select from for cuffs. This makes the job much more efficient. I told my daughter that, and she said, “So, the same thing you do every day.” I have it down to 1 giant tub of fabric, from six. I did not do this work alone, but I feel like it is a major accomplishment. 

I would like to share my setup.I have learned a few things that make this job much easier. I had made an ironing cover for my kitchen island. This is a great way to iron, but with my injured knee, I can’t stand all day long anymore. I also have learned that I need to move around. So, I no longer just iron, I try to process a piece of fabric completely in two rooms, instead of just making stacks of random ironed fabric.

So, first, my formal dining room table is on risers to make it a more ergonomic height, much easier on the back. Second, I cut a piece of vinyl to cover the top and protect it from abrasion. My table has the die cutter on one end, and my big cutting board on the other. Rulers and scissors store very well under the die cutter. As I stand at my work station, I have three containers: A waste basket for pieces too small to do anything with, a big Rubbermaid tub for usable scraps, and a bag for selvages. As I cut, whatever I don’t use goes into one of these.

I have one of those boards that quilters put over their ironing board placed over two TV trays. I iron a piece of fabric, take it back to the formal dining room, cut it and stuff. Then I pick out another piece of fabric and start the process over.

Right before the meeting, I got an email from Jeanne Vogel telling me that a pet adoption was going to be at the Petsmart near Willow Bend Mall wanting five beds. What a great idea! We could each target pet stores near us when they are having pet adoption, as well as veterinarian offices. Folks bring unwanted pets to vets quite often. So, these are two great ideas to take beds to. Just choose the one nearest your home, and be sure to report your hours and the number of beds. The lady in charge of the pet adoption wrote me an email thank you note. She was so very pleased to receive them.

I took 15 beds to a shelter in old town Plano. They did not want the rest right now. I took 25 to Wylie. Wylie is networked with other, less known shelters, so I like to take beds to them.

It seems like a lot has been put on hold as we wait for the pandemic to go away, yes? All in one day, I got emails from every activity that I am involved in, all cancellations or postponements. But it’s all good, right, when you are a quilter? We know how to have fun better than anyone else! Plus, we have the added pleasure of blessing our loved ones, folks in our community, even sending blessings around the world. Who else can claim such a thing?

Here are a couple of quotes from Facebook:

“Shelter in Place? A chance to quilt and to sew!”

“Someone asked, ’what if you run out of stash?’ I rolled on the floor laughing!”

The 21^st century is not such a bad time to stay home! There are many ways to stay connected to our quilting hobby and community. From Quilt Alongs, online BOMs (new and old), online classes, and online quilt shops, our members sure know how to stay busy! Here are just a few ideas we received in our survey and by email: