Newsletters

November 2022 Newsletter

Posted on November 1, 2022November 2, 2022 by Media

And speaking of successes…we have had two great months of workshops with a third one coming up in November. Thank you to all of you who are joining in each month. Tisha and her group need some volunteers to help out with workshops. Your duty is to check in the participants, order lunches and help the instructor in whatever she may need. Your benefit is that you get to hear what the instructor is teaching when you aren’t running out for lunch. Contact Tisha Harms if you are interested in helping out in 2023.

I know a lot of you are working on holiday presents and decorations. But don’t forget to be planning your quilt entry for our next show. We had a wonderful turnout of quilts and hope to have that again this next year. I’m working on my workshop entries for the next show because I’ve enjoyed the workshops and want to actually do a project instead of just learning the technique. I already have mini quilts ready…just need to put a label on them. And don’t forget to do another community service quilt………. It’s great to hand them out when the weather starts turning colder and some of the kids may not have much else during the holidays.

If you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please do so. Join us for all the fun and learning opportunities connected with the guild.

Happy stitching.

Candyce Copp Grisham

Lecture – If you Give a Girl a Dresden & Trunk Show

Candyce’s journey with the Dresden block into the Modern quilt world, art quilts and publishing. How do you go from a quilt you made to a pattern to a book?

About Candyce

Candyce has been fascinated with fabric, sewing and quilting since the age of nine, when she took her first sewing class and won a prize for her corduroy jumper and print shirt. When she saw an ancestor’s quilt in the Smithsonian at age thirteen, she was hooked. Candyce taught herself to quilt from a book and used cardboard templates and scissors to make her first quilt, a Log Cabin. It has been a love affair ever since.

She loves using fabrics, themes and colors from nature, but also leans more and more to bright fabrics with prints. Many of her works have a “traditional with a twist” quality. She relies on inspirations from generations gone by and puts a contemporary feel to her designs. She dabbles in fiber art, challenges, machine quilting and modern quilting.

Candyce has taught quilting for more than twenty years and loves teaching and exploring with students as much as the creating. She has been lucky to have quilts and fiber art pieces juried in shows with Missouri Fiber Artists, the American Quilter’s Society in Kentucky and the International Quilt Association in Houston as well as many local and regional shows and displays. Candyce published her first pattern on the Dresden quilt (of course) in 2015 and looks forward to more patterns. Her book, Reimagined Dresdens, is available now where you purchase your books or from her Etsy site.

Candyce is a Missouri native and lives in a semi-rural setting and urban downtown St Louis. She loves to travel and geocache too. She is married to a wonderful man who has always supported her art and they have raised two wonderful young men.

A modern update for making a variety of Dresden plate designs using a single template. The class will cover 5 different variations of edge finishes. Size and design variations are endless. You will learn to sew the plates by machine and mix and match your edge finishes if desired. Designed to be a technique class letting you determine how many plates, what sizes and finishes and layout you desire.

Create your own, unique small wall hanging using the Dresden Quilt Blocks Reimagined book. In class we will cover the basic Dresden blocks and then some of the Dresden 201 blocks which allow for creative piecing. Your choice. You can start with a background (Suggested 40 x 40”) of your choice (pieced or solid) or wait until your blocks are made. It will be tons of creative fun and easy for all from confident beginner up.

Bring your willingness to be creative and step a little outside the box. You will have plenty of time to sew and view the videos.

Quilt Show

By Carolyn Cosgriff

The heat of summer seems like the distant future, but it will be upon us before we know it! Mark these dates on your calendar: The Show is August 11 & 12, 2023 with set-up August 8 & 9. Entry deadline is June 8, with early entry by May 31 is greatly encouraged. The mini-quilt auction will need your creative contribution. Help those ladies sleep better by turning in your mini early.

Check the October newsletter for the detailed listing of open Show committee positions. They are all still open–call me if you are on the edge of volunteering. Carolyn 469-387-0033

Quilts of Valor

By Evelyn Cheek

Quilt of Valor Foundation -- https://www.qovf.org

Thank you to those who’ve served!

Our Hearts are full of Gratitude.

Thank you to the following QGP Members who donated completed quilts, volunteered to do long arm quilting, volunteered to sew on binding and labels, and/or took a quilt to complete quilting. You ladies, as well as previous members who have donated, are some of the most gracious givers on earth. And for the ladies who stopped by the community service table to inquire and plan to help out when time allows, from the bottom of my heart -- Thank you.

Barbara Collins, Caryn Schniederjan (new member), Sharon Wilhelm, Julie Cohagan, Dianne Cronenberg, and Melinda Propes.

Veterans Day is Friday, November 11, 2022. What a Beautiful day to honor a Veteran and his/her family.

Community Service

By Bonnie Cook

One of the most rewarding benefits of membership in the guild is the opportunity to volunteer to make quilts for organizations in the Plano area. Through the community service committee, we give quilts, pillow cases and cuddles to The Samaritan Inn, Quilts of Valor Foundation, Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center, Children’s Medical Center Plano, The Turning Point, Plano Independent School District and My Friend’s House. We also make pet beds to give to the local animal shelter.

During the guild meetings, we provide kits for individual members to take home and complete. We were thrilled with the “returns” at the October meeting. So, if you haven’t shared your quilting skills with us, be sure to stop by the table and pick up an item to finish. There’s no deadline for returning items and I promise we won’t check for mistakes.

Don’t forget about The Sit and Sew Group. We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 10:00 - 2:00 at the Plano Sewing Center. RSVP to servicequilts@gplano.org. Below is a picture of the pattern we’ll be doing on November 8, 2022.

Guild Activities

By Michael Davison

The Shades of Blue & White: Floating Point Star block challenge/exchange is underway. Participate at whatever level you would like. This is an easy star block with floating points, made using shades of blue for the star bellies and points with shades of white for the background. You could make a small wall hanging or quilt on your own with your own blocks. Or you might like to exchange blocks with guildmates to make a larger project! Bring your block(s) to the DECEMBER CHRISTMAS guild meeting if you would like to exchange. As many blocks as you bring, you will get to take home from the other participants.

The Floating Point Star pattern includes generous seam allowance so that you will square your blocks up and then still have floating points after you sew your ¼” seam, so if you’re a little big or shy on your ¼”, there is plenty of room to get accurate blocks. Shades of Blue & White means that your block background will be white, cream, tan or somewhere in between (low volume prints or something that is solid or reads solid). Your star centers and points should be a shade of blue - anything ranging from blue to teal to navy. Pattern directions are here below and in the Challenges subsection under the Activities tab.

**Worker Bees - Third Thursday on Zoom - Sharon McGinnis**

We are buzzing with excitement to start this new group! Held via Zoom on the 3rd Thursday of each month. Our next meeting is November 17th at 6:30 pm. This small group is a great fit for anyone with time available in the evenings. This group will include ANY type of quilting activity—piecing, hand quilting, machine quilting, embroidery, you name it. The name of our game is friendship and fellowship around our virtual quilting circle. Contact Sharon McGinnis at sharon.mcginnis@verizon.net to be added to the roster and a Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before each meeting. Any questions can also be directed to Sharon at 972-467-5799.

Sew Happy Quilters - Aurora Chancy

We meet at Sam Johnson Senior Center corner of 75 and 16th Steet on first Thursdays 9:00 to 4:00. We are a sit-n-sew, so bring your favorite project and enjoy the fellowship! Contact Aurora Chancy achancy@msn.com

Featherweight Fellowship Groups - Jeanne Vogel

Singer Featherweight sewing machines make 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 Zooming 1-3pm — (Formerly at Sunrise of Plano)
Fourth Friday Featherweight Friends—4th Fridays @ 1-3pm on Zoom or in person meeting at Best Little Retreat Center in Texas all day.

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. Please contact 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 1:00 – 3:00 (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

Hand Applique Small group - Linda Neal

We meet the first Monday of each month at 10:00 on Zoom. If you are interested in joining our hand applique Zoom group, please email Linda Neal (lindanealmck@hotmail.com) for the link.

English Paper Piecing Small Group - Linda Neal

We meet on the third Tuesday at 10:00 on Zoom. 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) for the link.

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.

Sew Happy Quilters

1st Thursday 9-4pm
Sam Johnson Senior Center @ 401 W 16th St. Plano, TX Contact – achancy@msn.com
Bring your own project, sewing machine & supplies.

Sit N Sew Community Service Day

2nd Tuesday from 10-2 pm
Plano Sewing Center 2070 Spring Creek Pkwy # 326 Plano, TX
Bring sewing machine and sewing supplies.

Worker Bees

For the new members working, please join us on Zoom the 3rd Thursday from 6:30-8:30 pm
Please contact Sharon McGinnis for the meeting ID and password – sharon.mcginnis@verizon.net

Membership

By Mary Alice Caffarel

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Renewals of memberships have been continuing. All are due in by October 31 for the current year ending Sept. 30,2023. Dues are $30.00 per year, with any additional members of the same household joining under family membership for $10.00 per person.

Not sure if you are current?

Log into the website with your username and password.
Under the MEMBERSHIP tab, go to Member Account.
Scroll down to a line of icons, one of which is Membership Card.
Click on this and it will show your membership card(s), one for each year since we started this new database. The card will show the date of expiration. Be sure to scroll down to see the most recent card.

To Join or Renew you may:

Print the membership form from the website, fill it out and return at meeting or via mail with a check.

Pay on-line with a credit card. Note: This will create a Paypal account for you if you do not have one. If you do not want a Paypal account, bring or mail your form and check.

We currently have 220 paid members for this year, so we still have a good number to go.

So many big holidays this month--Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and these member’s birthdays! Happy Birthday to all.

1 - Pat Fenton
3 - Terry Reisinger
5 - Carole Murray
6 - Margaret Neyman
9 - Todd Allen
10 - Victoria Dean
10 - Lugay Chian
10 - Ada Loetzerich
12 - Michael Davison
13 - Jeanne Smith
14 - Laura Vehige
16 - Judy Horton
17 - Holly Laughlin
18 - Deb Van Winkle
19 - Sue Dexheimer
19 - Melinda Propes
20 - Pam Crocker
20 - Debbie Weaver
22 - Carol Surrells
24 - Debbie Burns
24 - April Trekell
27 - Rose Davis
27 - Lisa Terry
28 - Chris Simon

October 2022 Newsletter

Posted on September 28, 2022October 2, 2022 by Media

Happy New Year. Our fiscal year starts October 1 and runs through the following September. We get to start new again. Make your guild resolutions now.

I hope all of you are enjoying the guild and are again becoming engaged with our activities. Linda Neal led us very successfully through two very hard years. She made sure that we had an active guild even though Covid-19 kept us from meeting together in person. But It became very easy to stay home and to not return to all our activities. By now I’m hoping that you are ready to see each other again and to enjoy all the things the guild has to offer you.

The board during that time served an extra year so that they could keep information current and flowing to all members. The board that followed, that has just finished this past year, has also served the guild well. As we start the new year, with a few new faces on the board of directors, I hope you will take the time to thank all of them for their service. We all do this because we enjoy our guild and want it to be successful.

I have some new hopes and plans for this next year. I’m also open to suggestions…………but if you have suggestions, be prepared to also help implement them. Stay tuned and let’s see what happens in our new year.

Diane began her sewing at an early age as many of us did learning from her mother. Her first project was a fully lined wool coat for one of her dolls. Mom said if you're going to learn, you may as well learn it all. She has since then had a love of all things fabric. She has dabbled in many crafts, knitting, crochet, cross stitch, bobbin lace and ceramics. She even did some painting for a while, teaching friends and friends of friends. One afternoon in one such class there were several quilters. They asked if she would be interested in attending a quilt meeting that evening. Of course she went and as they say, the rest is history. Fabric was back in her life and she was able to do her art with fabric.

Diane works part time and teaches at Jinny Beyer Studio in Great Falls. She is an award winning quilter winning for applique and hand quilting. She has even hand quilted a king size quilt for Elly Sienkiewicz which hung in a special exhibit in the Houston Quilt Show in 2011. She also has had one of her quilts (Beauty, Happiness, Family, Love) shown at the Houston Quit Show in 2012. She has sewn many of the shop samples for Jinny Beyer Studio as well as samples for RJR Fabrics. She is married to THE BEST EVER HUSBAND and they have two married sons, two terrific daughters-in-law and five of the greatest grandsons ever. In August of 2017 she did a taping for The Quilt Show which aired February 25, 2018. The episode was about the three ways she chose to do Millefiori quilts from the book Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein.

About Candyce

Bring your willingness to be creative and step a little outside the box. You will have plenty of time to sew and view the videos.

Plano Quilt Guild Retreat 2022 was a great success and thank you to all of the ladies and gentleman who participated at the Hilton Garden Inn in Denison. We donated over 920 items and $1,250.00 in cash to Denison Helping Hands. For those who donated to this cause, their name went into a drawing for a new Baby Lock sewing machine that was donated by Plano Sewing Center. The winner of the machine was Ann McDougal, our stretching coach!

Thank you so much for all of the kind words to myself and my helpers Aggie and Julie.

From Jeanne Vogel:

For the annual guild retreat a group of members are joining to search for a place and a weekend in March-April-May of 2023. Members that were not at this year’s retreat and are interested in attending please contact Jeanne Vogel at pickincotton26@verizon.net

The 2022-2023 Show Committees had a joint meeting in September. We are joyful that 2022 was a success, and are off and running toward August 11 & 12th, 2023. As the Board works on the next year’s budget, the message is clear: the Guild requires operating income, just like any business or household.

It takes an entire guild to pull off a profitable show. Please contribute!

Donate a creative mini. We need 80 and would love to bump up the average sales price.
Join the great group of ladies on the Show Committee to fill out the open positions:
- Raffle Quilt Chauffeur. The Quilt will want to go visit other guilds and places where lucky souls can buy tickets. The quilt has a safe, pet free place to live, but it needs to get out and show off occasionally. This would be a fun job for 2 friends, or you can con the host guild into helping you set up the stand and quilt.
- Special Exhibits. This person organizes the quilts from workshops, the featured quilter, the art quilters, and any other non-judged quilts. This role is active both before and during the show.
- Admission tickets. We have 2 entrances at the show and sell tickets for 14 hours at each. The lead person is experienced; but, needs a second person to help supervise/troubleshoot. This role is mostly during the show.
- Signs. Notice how when you drive into the Event Center, there are signs pointing you to where to park, drop off your quilt, find the volunteer entrance? The sign elf makes sure the signs are in good shape and gets them in place. It’s mostly a show week job.
- Demo team has some great momentum, but could use more woman or man power. If you are good at herding cats or getting children to do their homework, this is the job for you.
- Call me if you want to know more. Carolyn @ 469-387-0033.
Start on your entry quilt(s)!

Quilts of Valor

By Evelyn Cheek

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as Quilt of Valor coordinator.

My name is Evelyn Cheek and I’ve been quilting for six years. I’ve been a member of QG Plano for a year and a half and quickly found places within the guild to volunteer.

With the guidance of Carolyn Cosgriff in recent years, we have honored numerous local veterans and their families. With her help and wisdom I have the privilege of continuing our work with Quilt of Valor. (See photos below and in past newsletters).

Quilt of Valor is a nationally recognized organization that wraps a handmade patriotic quilt around the shoulders of a veteran in a coordinated program to thank them, as well as their family, for serving our country in the military.

Our Guild members participate by volunteering to make quilts, piece blocks, sew together quilts, donate completed quilt tops, donate patriotic bolts of fabric, donating our time, long arm quilting, nationally register veterans, complete binding, sew on quilt labels, and participate in presentation ceremonies. If interested in learning more about this organization click on the link below.

Quilt of Valor Foundation Organization: qovf.org

Look for QOV volunteer opportunities at the Community table at monthly guild meetings. If unable to attend, reach out to me by text or email to chat and let me know how you plan to participate.

Stop by and say hello. Give words of encouragement. There’s plenty of ways to volunteer.

Looking forward to another successful year of working on a local level with QOV at the Quilt Guild of Plano.

Evelyn Cheek

echeek@ymail.com

214.415.4496

Community Service

By Bonnie Cook

I’m so thrilled to begin my tenure as Vice President of Community Service. It’s already been an inspiration to see the dedication and hard work exhibited by our members! This year we’ve got a wonderful group of people serving with me on the Community Service Committee. Thank you to: Pam Walsh, Fabric Supply and Quilt Delivery; Valerie Schlake, Community Sew Days; Laurie Lumston, Community Outreach; Barbara Pepin, Fabric Manager and Quilt Delivery; Evelyn Cheek, Quilts of Valor; and LaDawn Daley, Quilt Delivery.

Did you know helping others is good for you? Research indicates that those who consistently help other people experience less depression, greater calm, fewer pains and better health. They may even live longer!

One of the opportunities for helping others is our monthly community service sew day. This is open to everyone that wants to participate. All that is required is a sewing machine, basic sewing skills, and basic supplies. We provide all the fabric and batting. All we need is your help! On these sew days we will be making quilts to be donated to our local charities.

This is not only a great way to give back to your community but a fun way to meet people while doing what you love to do, quilting! The Sit and Sew group meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 10:00am-2:00pm, at the Plano Sewing Center. RSVP to servicequilts@qgplano.org.

I hope to see you at our next meeting. Be sure to visit our table so we can tell you all about community service!

Guild Activities

By Michael Davison

The Floating Point Star pattern includes generous seam allowance so that you will square your blocks up and then still have floating points after you sew your ¼” seam, so if you’re a little big or shy on your ¼”, there is plenty of room to get accurate blocks. Shades of Blue & White means that your block background will be white, cream, tan or somewhere in between (low volume prints or something that is solid or reads solid). Your star centers and points should be a shade of blue - anything ranging from blue to teal to navy. The pattern will explain everything. Sample block shown here.

Video here: https://youtu.be/URdy_XJJgoE

**Worker Bees - Third Thursday on Zoom - Sharon McGinnis**

We are buzzing with excitement to start this new group! Held via Zoom on the 3rd Thursday of each month. Our next meeting is October 20th at 6:30 pm. This small group is a great fit for anyone with time available in the evenings. This group will include ANY type of quilting activity—piecing, hand quilting, machine quilting, embroidery, you name it. The name of our game is friendship and fellowship around our virtual quilting circle. Contact Sharon McGinnis at sharon.mcginnis@verizon.net to be added to the roster and a Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before each meeting. Any questions can also be directed to Sharon at 972-467-5799.