Letter from the President – Carolyn Cosgriff

The April meeting captured the components of our strong quilting community–education, charity, friendship and fun!

We honored a handful of the people who have given generously their time and resources with the Lone Star award:  Tom DeMoss, Cari Dooley, Linda Neal and Stacey Procter.  Both the business side and the community service activities of the guild thrive due to the many people that participate.  Everyone’s contributions are appreciated.

The demo provided a new twist on bags.  Rob Appell opened our eyes to more ways to make quilting fun.  The feedback on both days of workshops was that they were filled with joy and color.  Hopefully, we’ll see some of the results in special exhibits at the Show.

Speaking of the Show— it’s coming around the corner.  May is our kick-off meeting—we’ll be upstairs.  Parking and entrance will be on the south side.  For security reasons we cannot enter from the north door.   May 14th at midnight is the deadline to enter your quilts with the early bird entry of no fee for members.  If you don’t get a confirmation email, send an email to showregistration@qgplano.org.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.  The May demo is all about sleeves—don’t skimp on this step.  It can make all the difference in how your quilt hangs.

The “Bones” room is again appearing at the May meeting.  Bring the quilting related items you’ve decided not to use and let them find a new owner.  Maybe you’ll find something to entice you!   Voluntary donations will be graciously accepted if you feel so inclined when you consider the items you collect to take home.

Further, the Show volunteer portal is open.  It’s encouraging to see how many people have already signed up.   Putting on the show is a huge undertaking—a bunch of slots remain available.  Don’t lose sight of the fact that the show generates over half our budget for the year.  A successful show enables us to secure fabulous programs in the future. 

Speaking of the future, it’s time to recruit the 2026-27 leadership team.  Kaye Dunn has graciously volunteered to lead the nominating committee.  Please seriously consider how you could support the guild next year.  There are many roles to fill in addition to Board positions.  Also, the guild Policies and Procedures document needs updating. The general membership will be asked to approve a new document this fall.

president@qgplano.org

Important Dates

May 1 & 2  Gun Barrel City Quilt Show

May 12  QGP Community Sew Day at Plano Sewing Center 10-2

May 14  QGP General Meeting at Hunters Glen Baptist Church

May 14 – Destash your sewing room and bring your unwanted, unfinished items for the Bones Table

If you are new to quilting and would like to spend some time learning the basics, please join Linda Chappell and Donna Petrick in a new venture to mentor beginning quilters.  You will get acquainted with terms and gain the confidence to join in with other groups or the guild workshops.  We have a form we are asking you to complete to see the times everyone will be available and what you are interested in learning. 

Reach out to Donna or Linda for more information.

Membership

Christi Ables and Anna Marie Larrabee

There is a new Zoom link for the monthly meetings.  Find it here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82144960765

APRIL MEMBERSHIP RECAP

144 members attended the April meeting in person or on Zoom.  We also want to welcome our guests: 

Steve Grow

Isabella Sterlacci

Jane Wood

Donna Hill

Mary Anne Pirics

Dianne Green

Linda Gramlick

Tim Dowler

Debbie Evans

The next fiscal year (2026-2027) begins in October, so DUES will be coming up again right around the time of the Quilt Show in August.

You can renew at the Quilt Show or online after the show or come see us at the Membership table at the September meeting.

You don’t want to miss all the great programs, workshops and community service opportunities we have planned for the upcoming year!

Current Members be sure to wear your new black Quilters Guild of Plano neck I.D. You will receive two (2) door prize tickets!

Special Drawing

Keepsake Quilting Mountain Retreat Quilt Kit

May Birthdays

Quilt Plano Show 2026 — Carol Truscott

August 14-15, 2026!

Can you believe that it is already May??

For those of you that are new to our guild- May’s guild meeting is devoted to our Quilt Plano 26 show!!  It’s the meeting to learn about All Things QP26!

First off, I will be announcing our Quilt Plano 26 “Featured Quilter”!!

Next-QP25 Show Chair, will be presenting this year’s Show Chair pin.

At the meeting you can~ 

Order your lunches for the show (gluten free option this year)

Enter your quilt into this year’s show!!

Here is the link to enter your quilt:

Quilt Entries:

https://qgplano.org/quilt-show/quilt-entries/

For Special Exhibits:

https://qgplano.org/quilt-show/special-exhibits/

If you are needing help submitting your quilt entry, join us at the May meeting!  We will have members with laptops who will submit your entries with you.  Please bring a digital photo of your quilt on a flash drive or email it to showregistration@qgplano.org before the meeting.

Another great information piece will be learning from our very own Bonnie Landon as she teaches us how to “repost” QP26 Show information on your social media. Carolyn is so right- it takes all of us to make this show work.

Speaking of working together, here is the link to sign up to volunteer at the show:

https://www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13571DC00A3CEECC3A81-quilt2026#/

**Please note- Look for Dolores to sign up at the guild meeting also!!  Remember that if you volunteer for the show in any area, you will receive a special charm….Well this year, there might be something special happening with our charms!! Just Saying … 

Raffle ticket sales are a big part of our fundraiser for the guild.

Show T-Shirts and Show pins are flying off the shelf- both will be available at the May meeting

Want to join in on the fun? I have several volunteer opportunities to help with the show, some are even from your favorite chair and your comfy PJ’s!!  Reach out to me to find out more!!

Don’t forget~~

To honor the Semiquincentennial celebration of the United States, the Quilters Guild of Plano will feature a special judged category for the Quilt Plano 2026 show sponsored by the James Billingsley Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  The 250th celebration committee are: Tisha Harms, Carolyn Cosgriff, Carol Truscott, Bonnie Landon and Roxy Gross, contact any one of us with questions.

One last thing, remember to turn in your volunteer hours to Donna Petrick so that you can get a bar to hang your charm on! 

Thank you in advance for your efforts on behalf of the 2026 Quilt Show.  It is my honor to work with all of you to make this show a success!

Carol Truscott

ShowChair@QGPlano.org

Guild Activities – Donna Allenbaugh & Sally Pitre

How fun was the apron fashion show! We loved seeing the different approaches.

The next challenge is due at the July meeting.  Show off your creativity by making a 12” block that supports the theme of Summer Fun.  The goal is to create a table runner with 4 blocks.  Each entry will get a ticket—you have a 25% chance of winning enough blocks to make a table runner.  See details on the website under activities, challenges.

Contact: activities@qgplano.org with any questions.

Education – Debbie Burns and Deanna Tucker

We have some fun and creative demos coming up.  Please stop by the Education table and say hello.  

At our April meeting, Carol Esch and Judy Curtis gave a wonderful demo on making vinyl front project bags!  Thank you both for sharing this fun project with us.  I can’t wait to share my first vinyl project bag at the May meeting.  If anyone else has made one, please bring it for Show and Tell.

We are all excited about the Plano Quilt Show coming up in August.  At the May meeting, Deanna Tucker will be showing us how to make a quilt sleeve for hanging your quilt at the show.  If you are entering a quilt, this is required.

If you have any suggestions for a demo or would like to present one, please let us know.

Debbie Burns and Deanna Tucker

education@qgplano.org

Programs and Workshops — Kim Iverson and Andrea McMahan

What an amazing April program and workshop schedule!  Rob Appell was high energy and a positive force. The response has been overwhelmingly positive!  Thank you to everyone who attended the sold-out workshops and sent us such great feedback.  We hear you regarding the supply list mix-up and confusion.  Rob didn’t realize we were using an old supply list.  However, we are taking steps to remedy this for future workshops so stay tuned for updates.  Again, thank you all for your honest feedback!

We are taking a break in May and are excited to support the Quilt Show roll out.  We can’t wait for everyone to see what’s coming!  It’s going to be an amazing show!  You don’t want to miss this meeting!

We’ll be back in June, welcoming Allie McCathren with her raw edge applique presentation on Thursday night and her Seaglass Quilting workshop on Friday.  This is a sold-out workshop, our 3rd sold out workshop of the year!  We are starting a wait list so email programs@qgplano if you want to be added.

Thank you all for supporting the programs we put together.  We couldn’t do it without you!  Wait until you see what’s coming in 2027!

Upcoming Programs

June – Allie McCathren presenting Seaglass Quilting June 11th.

July: Frances O’Rourke Dowd will join us via Zoom to show us how to get memories off our Sim cards and onto our quilts to create amazing memory quilts.

October – Diane Harris presenting StarQuar Scrap Quilts October 9th and Fowl Play a three October 8th. Workshop details coming soon!

Check out the details for these workshops or register at https://www.qgplano.org/activities/programs/ or stop by the Programs table to check out the other 2026 offerings.  We look forward to chatting with you!

Community Service – Jeanne Vogel and Susie Luttrell

Thank you for your generous donations supporting PISD expectant parents. Through your contributions, families receive credits that allow them to select essential items for their newborns—making a meaningful difference during an important time in their lives. Thank you to Rose Davis for making the delivery of donations.

We also appreciate everyone who has been dropping off completed items at the designated store locations. With convenient collection bins now available, there’s no longer a need to wait for meetings to turn in finished quilts. Offering multiple drop-off locations has been a great success, making participation easier for everyone and helping reduce the volume of items transported to meetings.

April 27 we had a great group of volunteers to cut and package over 50 quilts with batting. Our thanks again to Tom DeMoss at Ready, Set, Quilt for the use of his studio. 

Transition Resource Action Center—TRAC   This year, we are especially excited to expand our outreach. For the first time, we will be donating baby quilts to children in foster care who are becoming parents. TRAC has requested 50 baby quilts to help furnish their New Parent Baskets. They currently support 11 families with 21 children (ages 0–4), with four more babies on the way. They average 20–25 newborns each year across 16 counties in North Texas.

In addition to the baby quilts, we are collecting 15 adult quilts and pillowcases for the new moms, as well as the 50 baby quilts and 25 cuddles for their newborns.

We are pleased to welcome Shannon McKenrick-Okou, who will be speaking at our May meeting to share more about this impactful program.

Thank you for your continued generosity and support.

Jeanne & Susie

communityservice@qgplano.org

Meetings on Zoom

Hoop it Up Bee

1st Monday from 10am – 12pm

Donna Petrick

Hoop It Up!

Come join us for a machine embroidery Zoom meeting

Contact donna.petrick@gmail.com

Chicks with Feathers

3rd Saturday from 1pm – 3pm

Dana Braden

Sit & sew at home with your Singer Featherweight.  Tips, tricks, and advice to make straight stitch sewing simple and precise.

If you have not previously notified me, please email: pickincotton26@verizon.net to get the invitation to join the Zoom meeting.

In Person Meetings

Sew Happy Quilters

Aurora Chancy

achancy@msn.com

1st and 3rd Thursday 9am-4pm

• Sam Johnson Recreation Center @ 401 W. 16th St. Plano

• Bring your own project, sewing machine, and supplies

• We have lunch together at the Gazebo Cafe for $5 or less

Fourth Friday Featherweight Friends

Jeanne Vogel

pickincotton26@verizon.net

We’ve branched into 2 locations – so reservations are needed!

Meeting at the Best Little Retreat Center in Texas, Dallas  from 9am-9pm on the 4th Friday

Singer Featherweight sewing machines  where we share tips for caring for the machine, our best notions, and have several members experienced with problem-solving both machine and quilting problems.  

Make your reservation by calling 469-708-2378 or email: info@blrcit.com                                        

Either bring your lunch or a group we go out to eat together.

Or meet in Plano at the Ready, Set, Quilt location at 1101 Ohio Dr. Plano

Sewing from 9-4—email for a seat reservation pickincotton26@verizon.net

Sit N Sew Community Service Day

Susie Luttrell &       Jeanne Vogel

communityservice@qgplano.org

2nd Tuesday 10am – 2pm

• Plano Sewing Center, 2070 Spring Creek Pkwy #326, Plano

• Bring your sewing machine and sewing supplies

Turn your treasured tees into a cozy quilt!  Our custom T-Shirt quilts are perfect for preserving memories.

Longarm edge-to-edge and custom quilting available.  Call for more information.

Liz’s Quilting Corner

Allen, Tx

214-532-1394