January 2021
/Program: Anatomy of an Improv Quilt
Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 7:00 PM via Zoom
Have you ever wondered how to create an Improv Quilt without a pattern? Author and award-winning artist Cindy Grisdela will share her tips and tricks in her entertaining lecture at our January 19th guild meeting.
Cindy will then lead the Improv Puzzle Blocks workshop. This will be held over two evenings, Thursday, January 21st and Monday, January 25th. During this workshop you will create Improv Log Cabin blocks in a variety of sizes and put them together into a unique composition – like a jigsaw puzzle. Please see the calendar listing for further information on the workshop and the supply list.
Looking ahead to February we have another speaker and workshop we are excited about. Lori Dickman will share how quilting templates have always been her "go-to" tools for piecing fast and fun quilts, along with a trunk show of her quilts.
The workshop for February will be held on Saturday, February 20th. In this workshop, the Drunkards Path block will take on a modern and updated look for Lori’s Fruity Melon quilt. For this workshop you will need to sign up early as you need to order her pattern for the workshop. You will also need to either make a template for the drunkard's path or purchase the large drunkard's path acrylic template. This can be purchased through Lori or from other sources, such as Missouri Star. Please see our website for further information.
March will be a time to take a look at some of the tools we like to use in quilting. Marti will help to present Tool Time. We will evaluate some new gadgets on the market as well as some that have been around awhile. So get out your favorite flannel shirt and join us for Tool Time.
Kate Brennan and Sharon Pierluissi, Programs
Christine’s Chatter
Happy New Year, 2021! I’m sure you all have the same sentiment as me when I say, “Not sorry to see you go, 2020”. This has been quite the year with more home time and more time to sew. Although I have not sewn much at all since the beginning of November. Mostly because our younger daughter has spent about three weeks overall during the holidays with us at home. We have managed to do several jigsaw puzzles, play another very long card tournament (score is Chuck-2 games, Candice-2 games and me 1 game), bake many of our traditional cookies, watch many favorite holiday movies, and eat and eat and eat. We have had quite a bit of face time with the East coast family too. Christmas was wonderful but hoping we can all be together next Christmas.
A big thank you to Sharon Pierluissi and Marti Austin for putting together the December Show and Tell. It may have looked easy but they spent a lot of time and effort to put that program together. I am constantly amazed by the creativity and talent in this group. I can’t wait until we can have in-person Show and Tell and meet together as a group.
I’m hoping that the distribution of the vaccine will start to bring this pandemic to an end. I received my first vaccine two weeks ago and had absolutely no reaction except for a slightly sore arm for about 24 hours. I will get the second half January 13th. If you have the opportunity, please consider getting it. If you don’t know how to sign up, go to the Lake County Health Department website for more information.
Our Programs Committee ladies have more exciting programs in the upcoming year with some alternative days to take workshops. Please consider joining a virtual workshop. How convenient, all of your supplies are right there!
Please be patient with the Quilt Show committee as they are making some difficult decisions about our planned show. I’m hoping we will have some definite answers for you at the February meeting.
Stay bundled up. January is a great time for sewing. Can’t wait to see what you’ve all been working on.
Christine Tindell, President
Service Projects
QUILT OF VALOR Block of the Month
For January, continue with the making of two blocks for your “Flying Flags” quilt. I made a Wonky Star for one of the blocks. Wonky Star is a fun block and can be made in various ways. Instructions for a 6” finished Wonky Star block can be found at Scissortail Quilting and Fiber of All Sorts. Also, Missouri Star has a YouTube tutorial.
Hopes and Dreams Challenge
To catalog the quilts, a Hopes and Dreams Facebook Album has been created on the Village Quilters private Facebook page. When your quilt is complete, please take a picture and post it to the Album. Add your name in the comments section of the picture. If you don’t have access to Facebook, I will take a picture and post it when the quilt is received. To access the Album go to the Facebook page, then More > Media > Albums > Hopes and Dreams.
Please complete a form for each quilt donated. The form can be found on the Hopes and Dreams website. The donation category to choose from is Guild. It is not necessary to fill out the line “Name & State of participating Guild, Shop, or Business”. Julie Milne is making labels that I will attach. Thank you, Julie!
If you are donating an older quilt, it should be clean and fresh. Please wash quilts before submitting. If possible, make a new, updated label for the older quilts. Labels may include names of the quilt, the person donating the quilt, and “Village Quilters of Lake Bluff/Lake Forest, 2021”.
More information can be found on the Village Quilters Service page. Thank you for all your Service contributions!
Kathy Sorkin, Service Committee
Quilts from the Village Show 2021
Greetings! We hope that each of you have had a great holiday season even with all of the many restrictions we are enduring. The sights and smells and the many different ways in which we have celebrated are astounding.
We want to assure all of you that we understand your concerns regarding a live show. We do feel that it is still too early to make any decision about canceling the show. We are watching closely the news regarding the status of vaccine distribution, recommendations, and projected herd immunity estimates. We are relying on Dr. Fauci to be our trusted advisor.
Our normal start for show activity is generally in May of the show year with the distribution of raffle tickets. At this time (end of December) we are not in any jeopardy of being behind schedule in our planning. We will continue early show discussions and preparations and be better prepared to make go/no-go decisions in February.
Please continue to make the lovely Boutique and Silent Auction items, Quilt of Valor quilts and charity projects for ALS. Also please brainstorm ideas for alternate activities we can do during the early part of the year that will allow us to do some face-to-face community activities. We want to raffle our opportunity quilt, sell those lovely Boutique and Silent Auction items and award the Quilts of Valor. In the event of a show cancellation these activities could still occur and it would be a shorter preparation time for them to happen. What else can we come up with for ideas?
We do understand the many concerns regarding safety and the terrible loss many of us have suffered. We would never attempt to jeopardize anything for the sake of a show – but we are also keeping a positive attitude in the more than likely event that we will have an in-person show in October.
Please email your thoughts and ideas to Madge Pierce or Barb Jolley for inclusion in the list of alternate activities.
The only thing we MUST do now is get rid of COVID!
Madge Pierce and Barb Jolley, Quilt Show Co-Chairs
Birthday Blocks
Hoping that all of us had a pleasant, if uneventful, holiday and wishing a very happy and healthy 2021 to all. Soon we will be into Spring and mindful of tulips, some of which will find their way into the birthday blocks. It will be fun to see how we have set our blocks as more and more of them are delivered to the next birthday ladies. Happy sewing to all!
Nancy Smith and Edythe Hirasawa
Treasurer’s Report
Balance as of 11/30/2020: $26,387.73
Income: $236.07 from Workshop fees
Expenses: $823.00 for CPA/Tax Return and Guild insurance
Ending Balance as of 12/28/2020: $25,800.80
Respectfully submitted,
Alice Hutchinson, Treasurer
Membership
Happy New Year from the Membership Committee!
Invite a guest to our monthly VQ Zoom meeting, and we will waive the usual guest fee! To have a guest join us on Zoom please email Sue Ann Kuby with your guest’s name and email address a few days before the meeting. She will contact your guest and give them the link to access our meeting. Please do not give them the access information yourself. Note: remember that guests may only attend a maximum of three meetings per year.
Please be sure to reference the current membership roster (available to download on the Members Only page) when you need to contact another member. Recently there have been some instances where members had difficulty contacting other members, but it seems they were using prior versions of the membership roster. The new roster, posted in October 2020, is the most accurate information we have.
Membership dues are $25 for the remainder of the fiscal year, until April 30, 2021 ($12.50 for active military or spouse). Your membership entitles you to attend our online monthly meetings and to access the Village Quilters (Members Only) Facebook page. It also allows you to sign up for retreats and workshops.
Please contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to the day we can welcome you in person at the check-in desk.
Happy January Birthday to the following members!
Kathy Eagin – 1/25
Cindy Heineman – 1/05
Nancy Salmela – 1/19
Membership co-chairs Sue Ann Kuby and Kathy Avellone