First of all, I must thank Dorothy Porter for her opening joke at our January Guild meeting. I was taken off guard completely. She told me she was shy!

We had 114 members in attendance to enjoy the very full business meeting and a great program called Men in Quilting, starring Matt Wheeler, owner of the Quilted Bear Store in Ladner, and Paul Krampitz. You can look back at January’s newsletter for a great write up on these two gentlemen which includes a web site for Paul.

The next two months are going to be very busy ones before and after the meetings and at the breaks. Show quilts are being photographed but you only have February and March to take advantage of that service. All quilts must be registered by March 31st. And that is a very serious deadline indeed!! Also, in connection with the Quilt Show, volunteer forms need to be filled out and submitted. And, then, don’t forget that you must renew your membership by the February 28th meeting. Many important things to be done this month and next. So, after filling out a bunch of forms you can get back to quilting and finishing your Show quilts.

Brenda Sangster has been busy organizing a bus trip to Sisters, Oregon taking place from July 12-15. So, you need to register very soon for that trip if you are interested. By the time this newsletter comes to you our Quilt Retreat will be over and I know it will have been a resounding success. Marg told me that 14 of the 22 registrants wanted to get that extra day of sewing in and Edenvale agreed to feed them dinner. Good for you Marg for organizing that sustenance for the group so that they could sew into the night.

Our guild archivist, Anne Read, has finished an album containing photos from 2002 until June 2011. Cathy has processed it so that you can borrow it from the library. We all look so much younger in 2002. I recommend you have a look at it. Anne is also busy working with the Community Quilts Committee and she would like to hand over the archivist job to someone else in June. So, please consider doing that job, especially if you enjoy taking photos.

Good news on the Executive front. We have filled all positions coming available in February with volunteers. Thank you so much ladies. But, if you really would like to serve on the Executive we will be taking nominations from the floor at our next meeting and we might have to have an election. As a member of the phoning committee I would like to say what a pleasure it was to talk to some of our members. I had a member who said she would “think” about serving on the Executive and another who said that she was a “serious maybe.” Those comments kept me phoning and then someone said “yes”, just like that.

At the AGM we will be acknowledging the work done by our outgoing executive members and members who have been active behind the scenes. So, please make an effort to come to the meeting. Our program this month is a trunk show by Vivian Kapusta (her website is awesome) and Kate tells me she has a “special” door prize so remember to wear those name tags. Don’t forget your mug for tea, your cheque book and lets have lots of show and tell.

I wish you all a healthy, happy and successful quilting New Year.

Happy Quilting,
Betty