January 2026
January Program: Nina Clotfelter – “Threads – What’s the Big Deal?”
Tuesday, January 20, 2026: 7:00 p.m. – Zoom Meeting
NOTE: Members will receive an email containing the Zoom link a few days before the meeting!
This is a FUN lecture on all the things you didn’t know you needed to know about thread! As an educator for WonderFil Specialty Threads, Nina has learned a lot and she wants to share! Thread is like candy! Sometimes you just can’t get enough...LOL! When we purchase threads, we usually are buying it for the color we need for the project or because it’s the only thread the shop carries. In this lecture, you’ll learn about the different weights of thread and why they make a difference.
What is “ply” and why is it important? How do we work with specialty threads, such as metallic, monofilament, and tinsel? Why do metallic threads give us issues? This lecture is FULL of information you’ll be thrilled to know!
January Workshop: Chop It Like It’s Hot! With Nina Clotfelter
January 21, 9:00 -3:00 p.m. - Zoom Workshop
We asked Nina what her favorite workshop is and she said “Chop it Like it’s Hot!”. Nina said, it’s her favorite because you can’t make a mistake!
Learn about and experiment with embellishments like Angelina fibers, couching yarn, nettings, cords, etc.
Nina created a short video about the workshop.
Join us from the comfort of your own home!
February Program: Gail Abbey – Save Your Body and Do What you Love
February 17, 2026: 7:00 p.m. – In Person
Gail Abbey, a practicing occupational therapist, will present her lecture to help us stay safe and productive! Topics will include how to set up a safe and functional workspace for quilting tasks, injury prevention techniques, and the benefits of stretching.
Attendees will learn about the effects of aging on the body, the importance of posture and body mechanics, common upper extremity repetitive stress injuries, and specific pre and post quilting exercises to help prevent discomfort. This will be an interactive presentation and questions are always encouraged!
February Workshop: Fun With Rope!
Wednesday, February 18, 2026: 9:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Our very own Celia Stratman will be teaching us how to make rope bowls. The goal of this three-hour workshop is to give you the tools and techniques to complete a rope bowl and take home a finished product! Rope bowls can be used to store so many things: spare change, jewelry, car keys, candy, pens, and binding clips - the list is endless!
Celia will supply the rope. Once you learn the techniques that she will teach, you will be ready to explore more possibilities on your own if you wish.
Note: this workshop is currently filled. If you’d like to be put on a waiting list, please email Andrea Krier.
Brown Bag Hustle – Going Green
Now that we are all hunkered down amid the dreary days of January, consider a Spring Clean Out of your sewing room! Put aside a bag with all those had-to-have gadgets, fabric, kits, tops, books, and “maybe I will try that” projects you seriously do NOT want to deal with anymore! Donate them to our March Brown Bag Goes Green (BBGG) event. The focus is on sewing, quilting, needlework - think of this as a "hand-me-down" activity with your guild friends, and bring treasures!
The Brown Bag Goes Green is a big fundraiser for our guild, and also a fantastic time to pick up treasures large and small. Also this year we are featuring "Bring One Get One": bring a friend to the meeting (no guest fees) and pick a fabulous prize! (Prizes are limited and will be on a first come, first served basis).
We also need some new volunteers to help with set up or even in the early planning stages. Contact Erica Jarrett or Donna Fitzgerald to get on our committee - we have fun and there will be disco music! Details of the event's process will be in the February and March newsletter, but for now, get cleaning!
President’s News
I hope all of our members enjoyed their holidays and are looking forward to a wonderful New Year. I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store for Village Quilters this next year. I know we have some wonderful lectures and workshops planned. We have quite a few new members to welcome and it should be a fun year!
The Sheridan at Green Oaks has asked us to come to their facility and share some quilts with their residents. On February 28th Village Quilters will provide a Show and Tell presentation of a variety of members’ quilts. Judy Hillebrand and I will be asking some of our members to bring a few of their quilts on that day to show and briefly describe, similar to what we do in our monthly meetings. Please consider joining us for this event!
Sharon Pierluissi, President
Friendly Service Project
While January has a service block to make, our meeting is on Zoom so you get an extra month to make lots of duckies! If you would like to brighten the winter days in your sewing room, consider also making some flower basket blocks as we could seriously use a few more to get enough to make a quilt. How lovely it would be for a struggling mom to have a quilt containing bright sunny flowers to bring a smile to her face as she works hard to move forward during a difficult time!
We also have two tops made that need someone to quilt them! Please let me know if you might be able to take that on.
As always, the directions for the blocks are on the website’s Service page.
Please reach out with any questions!
Erica Jarrett, Service Chair
Members Meeting Members
Meeting Leitha Schaal was such a remarkable treat! I first met her at our guild's show in 2023 as she had jumped right in to help with Silent Auction. Given how smoothly she handled everything, Donna Derstadt and I immediately reached out to her for this last show, hoping she could assist again. She did so with a smile on her face and such a calm demeanor we knew she was a treasure. Not knowing much about her, I asked if I could interview her for the newsletter and she graciously agreed.
Leitha (pronounced like 'Lisa with a bad lisp' as she told me!) and her husband lived in Southern California most of their lives. After she recovered from a medical concern, she decided life was too short to be so far from her son residing in Chicago. They packed up their house of 34 years in Southern California, and traveled by RV across the country to land in Lake County to house hunt during Covid lock-down. They found their home in Lake Forest, and the priority was to build a space in the unfinished basement for her studio. And yes, I had serious envy - it was SO OPEN and lovely! She has a huge sewing table for her Bernina and lots of room for her 12' quilting machine, a Fusion Handi Quilter.
Leitha said she came to quilting late in life, retiring in 2010 and finding a lovely local quilt shop near her California home to inspire her. When she said her career was in software engineering, I wondered if she had known of my father - and boy was she stunned! It turns out that my father had been a HUGE inspiration to her for her work, and she had spent much time attending his symposiums and lectures from Carnegie Mellon. What a small world!
Leitha joined our guild in 2021 when we were all struggling through Zoom meetings, but was finally able to meet members in person at our Quilt Show held that year. She now actively participates in meetings and was happy to finally show some of her work at our most recent show. What a lovely lady!
Erica Jarrett
December Meeting Highlights
Here are a few highlights from our Holiday Party in December, including favorite holiday show and tell items!
Treasurer’s Report
Bank Balance as of October 31, 2025: $45,322.70
Income: $1,586.00
Expenses: $10,879.63
Bank Balance as of November 30, 2025: $36,029.07
November regular guild income was $700, including $225 for new memberships and $475 for workshop fees. Residual income from the show was $886 (boutique, raffle, silent auction).
Expenses from regular Guild activities were $1,155.69 and were primarily from payment of the annual insurance policy and workshop related expenses. Show related expenses were $9,723.94. Significant expenses were for the final facility rental payment, payout of Boutique member vendor commissions and sales taxes, publicity related expenses, show related gifts, and hospitality expenses.
Respectfully submitted,
Melanie Houser, Treasurer
Membership Report
Happy New Year! We wish for a great start to the new year, and we welcome new members: Jenelle Wass, Andrea Farr-Capizzi and Lucinda Vistain. We are pleased to announce that we have 125 members as of this writing! At our December Holiday meeting there were 43 members in attendance.
We are looking for seasoned members to become a mentor or buddy to our new members as they come in. If you are interested, please to reach out to the membership committee for details. Thank you to those who have graciously volunteered already.
Lorraine Potts and Robyn McGarrigle are your membership co-chairs. If you have a question, please feel free to reach out to us!
Happy January Birthday:
Jan 5 - Cindy Heineman
Jan 8 - Kathleen Widmer
Jan 15 - Cecilia Rodriguez
Jan 25 - Linda Zdebski
Jan 30 - Michael Nardi
