May 2024
/May Program – Linda Lambert, Certified Laura Heine Collage Quilting Instructor
Tuesday, May 21 at 7 pm - In Person
Join us In Person on Tuesday evening, May 21st as Linda Lambert presents her lecture, Collage Quilting & Your Health.
Linda Lambert is a certified Laura Heine Collage Quilting instructor; teaching at many quilt shops and guilds throughout Illinois and Indiana, while sharing her enthusiasm for collage quilting. Join us to learn about Laura Heine’s process of collage quilting. While creating your design you will look at value, hues, and motifs to layer fabric while creating your collage quilt. Learn Laura Heine’s techniques to successfully create, secure, and quilt your work of art!
Quilting is so much more than a hobby - it is therapy! Learning a new technique not only exercises your brain, but lowers blood pressure, helps fight depression, and strengthens pathways in your brain. Linda will share the research that supports your favorite hobby.
May Workshop - Laura Heine Collage Quilt - Teeny Tiny Group #5 Sewing Machine taught by Linda Lambert – Laura Heine Certified Instruction
Wednesday, May 22, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. – In Person
Come join us for a fun day of playing with fabric! We will be making the Sewing Machine Collage quilt which is one of the patterns included in Laura Heine’s Teeny Tiny Group #5 pattern (Pincushion Dress Form Sewing Machine). You will learn Laura Heine’s process of collage quilting. While creating your design you will look at value, hues, and motifs to layer fabric while creating your collage quilt. We will use a kit for this class, and you may use your scrap stash for future designs. Learn Laura Heine's techniques to successfully create, secure, and quilt your work of art!
You should be able to have your collage completed by the end of class. Suggestions on quilting and finishing your quilt will be shared in this class.
No sewing experience is needed for this class. No sewing machine is required for this class.
Check out the Workshop Registration page of the Village Quilters website to register for the class and download the supply list.
Purchasing the required Kit: Linda has partnered with Quilter’s Quest in Downers Grove to create a custom kit for this class. Once you sign up for the class, Enid will send you an email with information about ordering the kit. If you would like her to pick up the kit for you, sign up for the class and order the kit by April 8th.
Nancy Zamor and Enid Mattimiro, Co-Chairs Advance Programs
The Brown Bag Hustle is Hustling Back in June!
Donna Derstadt, Erica Jarrett, Madge Pierce, Yolande Sherrod, and Jo Bailey
Bring your crafty friends who love a good bargain! Also bring anything and everything you wish to give away including fabric, kits, partially finished projects, books, magazines, sewing lamps, machine carriers, yarn, knitting equipment, embroidery equipment, sewing machines, quilt frames, and anything related that you deem worthy to pass on.
DATE & LOCATION: Tuesday June 18th, Grace United Methodist Church in Lake Bluff
TIME: 5:00 p.m. for members to drop off their own donations; 6:00 p.m. the brief meeting begins with the hustle immediately following!
RAFFLE TICKET PRICES: 6 for $5; 15 for $10; 20 for $15; and 35 for $20
Cash, Checks, and Credit Cards will be accepted
There will be no guest fee for attendees who aren’t members, so invite everyone
Donna Fitzgerald, Ways & Means
President Sharon Pierluissi
Message from the President
I thought a little introduction would thrill you. I retired from twenty years in school bussing in 2016. I knew that when I retired I wanted to start quilting. I purchased a new sewing machine before I retired so I would be ready to hit the ground running. I think I joined Village Quilters in 2017 and have enjoyed being a member. I have learned so much from the members, lectures and workshops. This guild has inspired me to try new techniques and to build a much-too-long list of quilts that I want to make!
I will also tell you that I am terrible at remembering names, so please wear your name tags to our meetings and activities! That helps all of us. Please don’t take it personally if I can’t remember your name – I sometimes forget my own family names.
We have an exciting year of programs ahead. I would encourage all of you to attend our in-person meetings and pick out a few or all of the workshops to participate in. You will be seeing more information on our website about programming. If you have questions about any of the programs or workshops, please reach out to our Program chairs, Enid Mattirimo or Nancy Zamor.
I am looking forward to getting to know more of our guild members and am excited to serve in the role of President.
Sharon Pierluissi
The President’s Quilt was presented to former president Christine Tindell at the April Annual Meeting. She writes: “Thank you so much for the lovely President’s quilt! I will always treasure this special gift. I also treasure you and your talents and friendships!”
Give Yourselves a Pat on the Back
Thanks to everyone who participated in making Christine’s president’s quilt. If you were at the April meeting you saw how great it looked and how surprised she was with the finished product. So many of you turned in blocks that we were able to make a double-sided quilt! Thank you for sharing your creativity in making the blocks. I predict that it will take Christine a lot of time to see all the cleverness that was sewn into each block. You are all special and so are the blocks. Carol Swartz and Peg Schemenauer each pieced together one side and Lorraine Potts sewed on the binding, so a special thanks to these three. I wish you all could have been me when I was opening up the envelopes to see what you sent. It was like a birthday, over and over, one surprise after another!
Thanks, Marti Austin
Meet the New Village Quilters Board and Committee Chairs!
Village Quilters new Board Members and Committee Chairs as pictured at the April Annual Meeting
Library Update
As I'm sure many of you are aware, the guild has a great library of books on quilting. It's a wonderful resource for us as there are a variety of books on many subjects! There are books that can inspire your creative juices, and/or titles that can help you learn a new quilting skill!
I hope to highlight some of these titles in our newsletter every month or so in order to promote your interest in browsing the actual books at every guild meeting and checking out any that pique your interest.
Although our collection is rich with books that may help you with your next quilting project, there are some adult fiction titles and a few children's books that are rarely checked out and seem to be of little interest to any of us. Because of this, Christine Tindell and Sharon Pierluissi have taken the time to sort through these materials and weed them from the collection. We are giving these books away and they will be available at our May meeting! Feel free to take them and give them a new home.
Rosemary Groenwald, Librarian
Friendship Committee
As your new Friendship Committee chair, I will need everyone’s help in order to do my job which consists of sending cards from the Guild to members who have been ill or who have suffered a death in their family.
Please let me know the pertinent information via email, phone or at a guild meeting. Thank you for your help! I look forward to serving Village Quilters in my new capacity.
Judy Hillebrand
An enthusiastic group of members attended the April retreat, sharing inspiration, encouragement, and fun!
Sew With Sunshine Stitchers!
Members of Village Quilters meet at the State Bank of The Lakes, 50 Commerce Drive in Grayslake on the third Thursday of the month. All are welcome. Come with your machine to stitch blocks, come with handwork, come with your quilt top, batting and binding to sandwich your quilt. There is plenty of room.
We meet in the community room which is in the lower level. Enter the bank through the front door and take the elevator on the right.
The room is open to us from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Most show up around 11ish.
Questions? Email Kathy Huesinkveld or Marti Austin
Treasurer’s Report
Bank Balance as of March 1, 2024: $36,851.64
Income: $3,755.00
Expenses: $3,213.72
Ending Bank Balance as of March 31, 2024: $37,392.92
Income was from retreat ($1,950) and workshop ($1,265) registrations and memberships ($540) for the coming fiscal year. Expenses were for the retreat deposit ($1,860), workshop speaker fee ($1,225), and Stripe fees.
Respectfully submitted, Melanie Houser, Assistant Treasurer
Membership Report
Welcome new member Janell Etner! She was a member a few years ago and we’re so happy to see her back!
It’s important to wear our nametags at every meeting since we are meeting in person every month! If you forget, you will be donating .25 cents to the can!
Spring is here, and it’s time to renew your Village Quilters Membership. The new membership year began on May 1, 2024. The membership fee is $50.00 ($25.00 for active military or spouse), but you save $5.00 if you renew by May 31!
To renew your membership online, go to our website. On the home page at the top is a Members tab. Click on that tab and in the drop-down menu select Membership Renewal. From that page, select the type of membership (regular or military), and you will automatically be taken to the checkout where you can pay your membership fee.
If you prefer to mail your renewal, send your check to:
Village Quilters c/o, Grace United Methodist Church, 244 E. Center St. Ave., Lake Bluff, IL 60044
If you have any questions, please contact Lorraine Potts or Robyn McGarrigle who are taking over as Membership Vice Presidents. You will be seeing their smiling faces at our meeting this month!
Happy May Birthday to the following members!
Marti Austin 5/13
Kate Brennan 5/18
Donna Derstadt 5/10
Tory DiGregoria 5/3
Lisa Gosen 5/2
Rosemary Gray 5/5
Floriann Gulk 5/24
Melanie Houser 5/25
Annette Klingsporn 5/23
Joan Lagedrost 5/13
Donna Lechowicz 5/22
Claire Machinist 5/19
Isabel Olsen 5/1
Sharon Pokropinski 5/3
Jonnie Staggs- 5/15
Celia Stratman 5/19
Linda Wiemerslage 5/30
Susan Zdebski 5/20