Letter from the President

By Linda Neal

This is my last newsletter article as President.  It has been a interesting 2 years.  It was not at all what I expected.   My term started off in 2019 with great national speakers and workshops. ( Edyta Sitar and Bethanne Nemesh)  It was such an honor to have speak at our meeting and see their quilts in person.  We  had a wonderful Christmas party and 2020 was looking like it was going to be a great year.  Little did we know what was lurking around the corner.

Covid.  It changed the guild and impacted everything we do as a guild.  We cancelled meetings, small groups, retreats and finally our 2020 quilt show.  We went from being an active, thriving quilt guild to staying at home and sewing alone.

Then we discovered Zoom.  We were back in business!  Guild meetings, small groups, classes, board meetings all could be done on Zoom.  I will admit it’s not nearly as fun as meeting in person, but it is nice not have to get out in the inclement weather and traffic. It’s fun to see cats jump into members laps unexpectedly or to peer into studios to see design walls with projects on them.  

We are trying to “get back to normal” and meet in person, but the Covid numbers are not cooperating.  So, we will continue to meet on Zoom a bit longer.  The BIG exception to this is our 2021 quilt show that will take place on October 8th and 9th.  The Plano Centre is open and ready.  Vendors are booked and excited about coming.  Quilts have been entered.  We expect attendance to be good based on the feedback we have been getting from quilters.  We just need volunteers to make our quilt show a success.  Sign up online for your favorite job.  It’s easy and it’s fun.  Feel free to sign up your spouses and relatives.  Let’s make it the social event of the season!   Take care and stay safe.

Programs

By Jeanne Smith

We are entering the last quarter of 2021!  What better way for quilters to culminate the year than to kick off with a Quilt Show and with renowned teachers like Maria Shell and Kathy Doughty. All are coming our way and the excitement builds!!

Zoom Workshop – Bits & Pieces—Designing From The Scrap Bag

This Zoom workshop is held on 2 consecutive Fridays:  September 10th and September 17th from 1:00 – 4:00pm both days

Workshop Fee: $45 members/$55 nonmembers 

Kit Fee: $35 (this includes a curated scrap bag, handouts, and shipping)  

This workshop is for scrap-a-holics. Learn how to shape, sort, and piece your fabric bits into art quilt masterpieces.  While learning how to work with bits and pieces, students will also be given information about improvisational piecing techniques and ideas for taking these techniques and creating original quilts.

**  To register for the workshop and to order the kit, go to qgplano.org. ** 

Quilt Plano

October 8 & 9, 2021

By Donna Petrick

Just a reminder first off, CF Sharpening Service will be at our quilt show.   Bring your scissors and knives that need a good sharpening.  And let any friends know about him if they need the same.  He has done a great job for me in the past. 

I’m sure everyone is concerned about the Covid outbreak going on.  We will follow the guidelines from the Plano Event Center and City of Plano.  But we will have masks available for those who don’t bring them in and then decide they want one.  Please do consider what you are going to do.  Bring your own mask if possible.  I know I don’t like wearing them anymore than anyone else.  But I’ll have mine and plan to keep wearing one until we get to a safety zone again.  We will also have hand sanitizer out at various places.

Raffle ticket sales are going well.  If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you can pick then up from Sherry Worley or me.

By the time you read this newsletter, we will have done the layout of the show.  Paperwork will be mailed out soon.  Time to get finished up.  I know I still need to do labels.  Something I didn’t get around to during our shut down time.

We still need volunteers, particularly Quilt Angels and Security People.  Various other jobs are still available.  Check out the volunteer posting on our website to see what is open that you would like to do. 

And speaking of volunteering—if you have done your 30 hours of volunteer work for the guild this year, you can pick up your year bars in the hospitality room at the show on Friday or Saturday.  You will need to turn in your hours to Julie Schaefer so we can keep up with who and how many hours.  You can also get your show charm for working at the show.  Remember to also keep up with your hours to count towards to PVSC awards for 2021.  These will be turned in at the end of the calendar year.

It’s almost show time.  Hope you are excited about having our quilt show once again.

Community Service

By Dolores Williams and Valerie Salter

There will be no Community Service sewing days at Plano Sewing Center for September or October.  We will be prepping for the quilt show in September and recovering in October.  We will also not have a pick-up/take-in day for both months either.  

This has been an interesting two years for us as chairs of the Community Service (CS) group.  We did quite well in the beginning and then Covid-19 hit.  In the beginning of the pandemic, we had to halt deliveries to our charities because they were closed to visitors.  Eventually things eased enough that we were able to start deliveries again.

 It is you as guild members that made it possible for us to continue supporting our charities.  Even though the guild was not meeting in person we were able to deliver this year:

• 242 Quilts
• 202 Pillowcases
• 56 Baby Hats
• 28 Baby Blankets
• Over 2000 Stockings
• Plus items for Plano ISD

We stopped CS work days at the beginning of the panic, but members of CS and a lot of guild members took it upon themselves to keep CS going.  Quilts were quilted, pillowcases made, and our committee was able to continue our work. 

One of our goals for our time as CS chairs was to decrease the number of quilt tops we had on hand.  We had over 300 tops when we started.  At one point we had less than one bin of tops stored.  What that means is that a large number of quilts were finished and distributed. 

Thank you for helping us support CS for the last two years.

Quilts of Valor

By Carolyn Cosgriff

Two quilts were awarded Saturday, August 21.  Both Virginia Hauer and Dianne Croneberg were able to personally wrap their respective quilts around well deserving veterans, both started service in the Korean War years.  

Labels:  We’ve been attaching standard Quilts of Valor labels.  However, other groups are using embroidered labels that look much classier, and are easier to read.  We’d love a couple of volunteers to design a standard format (examples are available) and volunteer to produce labels as needed.  They need to be semi-custom in terms of the quilt top and quilter’s names with space to write in the recipient and date of award.   

Bring tops/blocks/fabrics and, of course, finished quilts to any Community Service Drop Off Day.  All is appreciated.  Texas has 650 unfilled requests for quilts.  A Sew Day is planned for Friday, November 5 at the Best Little Retreat Center.  Please save the date.

Tote Bags

By Monica Hendewerk

The food bank really needs all those “free” totes that you get everywhere you go that are taking up space in your house.  The food recipients often come on buses and need the tote bags to put over their shoulders while also carrying bags in their hands.  They receive a week’s worth of food.  Imagine carrying food for 4 for a week on a bus.  Please contact Monica Hendewerk to drop them off or she’ll arrange to pick them up.  mhendewerk@gmail.com, (713) 569-8798.

News from the Zoom Bees

Hoop It Up Bee – Donna Petrick

The machine embroidery group meets the third Thursday each month on Zoom.  We talk about problems or successes we might have had in using our machines as well as having show and tell.  We are open to all levels of users.  If you have an interest in machine embroidery, please join us. 

Email me petrickdl@outlook.com so I can send you the Zoom invitation.

Hand Applique Small group – Linda Neal

We meet the first Monday of each month at 10:00 on Zoom. Our next meeting is September 6th ( Labor Day)  We work on our individual projects and  offer encouragement with lots of hints and tricks.   If you are interested in joining our hand applique Zoom group, please email Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

English Paper Piecing Small Group – Linda Neal

We meet on the third Tuesday at 10:00 on Zoom.  September 21st is our next meeting.  Whether you are new to English Paper Piecing or a pro, we would love to have you join our group.   Our group is informal and fun!!  For a link,  please email Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com)

Featherweight Fellowship Groups – Jeanne Vogel

We have a collection of Singer Featherweight sewing machines with happy owners as we sit and sew. We share tips for caring for the machine, our best notions, and have several members experienced with problem-solving both machine and quilting problems. If you work, join us on a Saturday!  When we share a lot of tips and tricks we follow the meeting with an email to those attending.  Those who have not previously notified me, please email pickincotton26@verizon.net to get the invitation to join the Zoom meeting

• Chicks with Feathers—3rd Saturdays @ 1-3pm — (Formerly meeting at Sunrise of Plano)                                                                                                                                                                                         
• Featherweight Friends—4th Fridays @ 1-3pm — (Formerly meeting at Best Little Retreat Center in Texas) — Will start to meet all day at the Retreat Center and/or Zoom from 1-3pm

Pieceful Organization – Sarah Krauss & Jeanne Vogel   (Now we will meet twice a month!)

If you are feeling “abode overload,” we will:  relieve clutter, stress, struggle and feelings of being overwhelmed.  We are Zooming on the 3rd and the 4th Wednesday’s from 1:30-3:30 pm using the inspiration from a workshop we attended.  Organization will change your clutter and chaos to start the day fresh with your stuff organized.  Less chaos leads to more productive quilt making.  Join us to organize your mess and give tips and sometimes we offer to trade our stuff!   pickincotton26@verizon.net for an invitation.

Free Motion Quilting Bee (we actually sew during the meeting!) – Monica Hendewerk

Our meetings have been a huge success.  It turns out that Zoom blocks out background noise, so we can sew and chat at the same time!  Monica or one of the other members provide some designs to practice on a small sandwich which you can choose to use or not.  The designs are sent out in advance and include step by step instructions, with both beginner and intermediate designs.  A number of us generally “doodle” on paper first, and then sew.  Some people do the designs that have been sent out, others do their own thing.  We have beginner beginners all the way to advanced members of the group.  We also share our samples and ask/answer questions.  Meetings are on the second Monday of the month, from 1 – 3 (or longer sometimes!).  Please contact Monica so that she can send you the Zoom link if you are interested.  mhendewerk@gmail.com  (713) 569-8798

Guild Activities

By Leigh Knox and Michael Davison

Hello there Guild family.  Happy Birthday to all you September kiddos!

Well it is time for me to pass the Activities baton on, and I want to thank all of you for supporting me during my time.

The last part of our mystery is as follows:

Take the strip sets you have put together that are 11 x 11 and trim them to 10” squares.  Then slice ½ of your blocks diagonally once top left to bottom right.

Take the other ½ of your blocks and slice from bottom left to top right.

Take your 10” background squares and cut diagonally once.

Sew pieced triangles to background triangles to make half-square-triangle squares.

We will put 6 blocks across the top and 8 blocks down for a twin size quilt. (When it says reference chart the 6 across by 8 down is the chart.)

We will reveal our creations at the November guild meeting.

See you at the show in October.

Membership

By  Sue Rentz & Karen Edmondson

We are receiving lots of dues renewals, and we also have new members.  Since the last newsletter was published, the following new members have joined our guild:  Jennifer Carter, Stefanie Seaver, Nicole Seaver, Candace Kasper, Melissa Sobotka, and, at the guild retreat, Carolyn Duff, Carolyn Kerr, and Rosie deLeon-McCrady.  We had one visitor at the August meeting—Mary Heaston.

Our door prizes at the August meeting came from Stitched with Love, Quilt Country, Not Your Mama’s Quilt Store, Sew Let’s Quilt It, and the Best Little Retreat Center.  Winners were selected using the “Wheel of Fortune,” and they were Joan Hammett, Carolyn Kohut, Mary Shannon, Lori Hutyra, and Valerie Salter.

Dues are due by the end of September, and we urge you to renew now.  There are two ways to pay your dues, and you can pick the one that works best for you.

• By credit card:  Login under membership, click the button labeled Pay Your Dues, and fill in necessary information to charge to a credit card.  Please be aware that we are now charging a 4% fee for online renewals, amounting to an extra $1.20 per membership.
• By check:  Under the membership heading on the website, click on Membership, then Membership Information.  In the first paragraph on that page, click on Membership Form.  Print the form that appears and mail it with your check for $30 to the post office box indicated on the form.

• Martha O’Grady — 9/2
• Deni Schwendiman — 9/5
• Leigh Knox — 9/5
• Rodawna Wiant — 9/5
• Fran Levy — 9/7
• M.J. Fielek — 9/10
• Janet Carver — 9/11
• LaDawn Dalley — 9/11
• Gwenn Erlinger — 9/13
• Edith Perry — 9/14
• Valerie Salter — 9/17
• Dena Smith — 9/23
• Betty Moreland — 9/24
• Patsy Padgett — 9/25
• Sally Hamilton — 9/26
• Carole Glover — 9/29
• Gwen Schroth — 9/29
• Marilou Wimmer — 9/29

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