Happy New Year Everyone!

And welcome back to another wonderful year with the Lions Gate Quilt Guild. I hope you are all rested and ready to sew up a storm during these winter months. Personally, I did take a little time away from sewing and played with some jigsaw puzzles and found time read a few books. Now, I am very excited about getting back to fabric projects.

Your calendars should have indicated the Winter Extravaganza 2013 with Carol Piercy on January 19th and the 2-4-1 Bag with Krista Hennebury on February 2nd. Then, the Guild Retreat is dated March 1-3 followed by Community Quilts days on March 8th and 9th. We are starting the year with two workshops and I am looking forward to attending both. If you enjoy guild workshops and have met and made some friends during those events please consider taking on the job of Workshop Co-ordinator for the next two years. I know of someone who has already said that she would be part of the committee but cannot take on the larger role of Co-ordinator.

Other positions opening up in February at our AGM meeting are those of Secretary and Memberat-Large. All Executive positions are for a two-year term and require a commitment of time in the form of one Executive meeting on the Monday following each Guild meeting. Kate Burzuk has generously offered to continue on as Membership Co-ordinator but she needs a laptop computer to help with the job. If you, your family or friends are looking for a very good home for an old laptop Kate will be very pleased to recycle it for you. Thank you Kate. Another thank you goes out to Gaye McCance who has volunteered to be the Treasurer for Community Quilts.

This is really a special time of year. This is the time of year in which positions on the Executive open up allowing more people to participate in the workings of the Guild. New ideas and different points of view are necessary to keep the guild exciting, alive and interesting. Each one of us is important and we all contribute. And, let’s face it, it’s fun when we all get together either at guild meetings, at workshops or attending Executive meetings.

Two other committees which need filling are the Raffle Quilt Co-ordinator and committee along with the Hospitality Committee. Although the Raffle Quilt Committee does not get very busy until 2014 there is still advance planning (a quilt to be made) and paper work that needs to be done. The Hospitality Committee on the other hand, needs to be in place by 7 pm on January 22nd in order for coffee and tea to be offered to the membership. Please give me a phone call or email me if you will help out with either of these committees or would like to be part of the Lions Gate Quilt Guild Executive.

Please remember to bring your mug (in case you will indeed be offered a cup of tea or coffee), your name tag, your cheque book needed to sign up for future workshops, cash for 50/50 draw and for raffle tickets being offered by guests from the Boundary Bay Quilt Guild and of course, any Show and Tell projects you have been working on. We all love our Show and Tell.

Our next meeting is on the 22nd of January, the 4th Tuesday of the month. See you there.

Happy Quilting,
Betty