Register Your Quilts
The deadline is fast approaching – you must register your quilts by March 31. Don’t forget to include a 4″x6″ photo of yourself with the top (that’s just to give the folks laying out the show an idea of what to put next to what).
Merchants Mall
We have 17 vendors registered for the show, some of whom are old friends, and some of whom are new but bound to become good friends:
Boutique
Have you been busy making lovely things for our boutique? Stash busting quick projects include: tea towels, napkin sets, placemats, zipper pouches, market totes, book marks, journal covers, knitted baby items, washcloths, stroller blankets/playmates, and doggie bandanas. If you’re looking for free tutorials, ideas, or inspiration, try Sew Mama Sew.
Boutique inventory forms are available on the guild web site in a fill & print format; blank forms will also be available at meetings. Completed forms are due when you drop off your boutique goods the day before the show. Please remember that every single item you want to sell must have its own unique inventory number.
Finishing Your Quilts
There are a number of tutorials on the guild web site for finishing your quilt – if you need help, check them out or ask for help at the guild.
Karen Johnson is our Program speaker for our March 25th guild meeting. Karen has been sewing for most of her life, having made her first dress when she was six years old. Her grandmother taught many of the young women in the community to sew and her mother was her 4-H sewing teacher. She spent 8 years in a 4-H sewing club as she was growing up, continuing on to a degree in Home Economics at the University of Manitoba. Karen majored in Clothing and Textiles before moving to British Columbia and a teaching career, working in both Vancouver and Langley.
Quilting took over about 1994 and although Karen has made many of her own clothes, it’s not a big part of her quilting journey. She’s been involved with the Langley Quilters’ Guild since its inception in 2003 and appreciates the energy of being immersed with like-minded souls. She’s also a member of the Langley Arts Council, Canadian Quilters’ Association, Studio Art Quilt Associates and Fibre Art Network.
Karen will be sharing the various themes she’s explored during her quilting journey, as well as a focus on the quilts and workshops that have played a pivotal role in shaping her direction.
At the March meeting, we will continue to sell books of raffle tickets to Guild members to buy, for advance sales to our family and friends. In addition we will have pictures of each quilt for you to show the purchasers as you sell the tickets! The photos of the quilts will also be available on our website.
Tickets will be sold in books of 15 tickets, at a cost of $25.00. All tickets are to be sold at 3 for $5.00. As done previously, the member buys the book of tickets up front for $25.00, sell the tickets (this money is now yours) and return the stubs for the draw. We keep track of member names and ticket books. Please return your completed book stubs to the Raffle Quilt Committee at our monthly meetings. However, please ensure all stubs are returned to the raffle committee for the draw at the end of our quilt show to ensure all tickets sold are entered for the draw on June 14th.
Help us sell raffle tickets and promote our show in June. Please let us know if you would like to assist us in selling raffle tickets at other local quilt guild meetings in April and May and at Lion’s Gate Hospital.
When the groundhog saw his shadow at the beginning of February it was said that we should expect 6 more weeks of winter. By the time you receive this newsletter those 6 weeks have come and gone but after a walk through my backyard between all the rain showers/storms I noticed that my trees are about to burst into bloom. My rhododendrons are not far behind. Spring is definitely in the air!!
To date we have 115 members. Your membership cards and tickets should be ready to be picked up at the March meeting. We had 66 members sign in at the February meeting.
Don’t forget your name tag in March as we will have 2 draws for door prizes as we did not have a draw at the February meeting. Name tags are available for $1 each if you forget to bring yours.
Thank you to all of the Guild members who attended the workshop for the terrific support you gave to Community Quilts this past weekend and the great support you have given me as president of Community Quilts over the past 4 years. I have enjoyed working on it with you and will continue to so as a Guild member. The president’s job is now in the very capable hands of Anita Jones-Gould and her committee. So, if you need batting or have a need for something relating to Community Quilts I am sure she would like to hear from you.
The May meeting of the Guild will be focusing on Community Quilts so having as many quilts back as possible would be appreciated.
If you have borrowed a book from the library, and the book is overdue, please leave a dollar or two on the return table. Thanks!
The new books for March are the following:
• Irena Bluhm: Whimsical and Funky Feathers. This book is Lynne Fanthorpe’s favourite book. She teaches free-motion quilting courses. • Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration: 20 New Designs (Denyse Schmidt) • Cute Quilts for Kids (Kristin Roylance) • Quilting with a Modern Slant (Rachel May)
Let me start off this Newsletter with great news!! As of February 11th we had filled four of the six Executive positions which need to be filled by the February AGM meeting. Suzanne Patchell has agreed to be our Treasurer, Norine McCaffrey has agreed to be our Member-atLarge, Joan Gold and Sonia Milanez have agreed to act as our Librarians, and Laurel Hickey has agreed to be our Newsletter editor. All of the Executive positions are for a two-year term and all members are expected to attend monthly Executive meetings which are held on the first Monday after our Guild meeting.
We did set up a phoning committee and most members of the guild will be receiving a phone call this month as a last ditch attempt to encourage members to fill the remaining Executive positions which are: Programs and Vice-President. If we can find a group of 3 or 4 members interested in working on the Program for our monthly meetings then we are set for another two years of exciting learning and discovery. There is much, much to learn about the many facets of quilting. The Programs inspire us and currently I am getting my creative juices flowing by trying to piece a quilt back. I was inspired by our January speaker, Felicity Ronaghan who is co-president of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. Even though I have a very large stash I find that I still must go shopping for yet more fabric. So, you see folks, our Programs and Workshops are most important for each of us and for the general economy of Canada. By serving on the Programs committee you will be doing a national and public service.
I would like to quote from an email I received from our new Treasurer, Suzanne. She writes: “I have so enjoyed being on the raffle quilt committee and I’ve always felt that you only get as much from a group as you are prepared to give.” That statement is so true. Thank you Suzanne for reminding us of that.
Dorothy Porter has said that members are becoming very good at giving her the written total of the circumferences of their Show and Tell. In January we had a total of 6, 913 quilt inches with a grant total of 25,976 inches or 659.3 metres. At the January meeting it was delightful fun to open a brown envelope and see a beautiful fat quarter in there. It was a gift from the Inuvik Quilting Guild. The Challenge continues for just two more months.
We are going to have a very busy AGM this month with lots of business; time taken to thank all of the members who really help our evenings and months flow smoothly; Show and Tell; plus a program which is piquing my interest. And our Raffle Quilts are going to be on display.
If you enjoy the monthly meetings with its Show and Tell and great Program then please think about how you can contribute. THE FUTURE OF THE LIONS GATE QUILTERS GUILD IS IN YOUR HANDS!!
I’d like to send a huge shout out to Krista Hennebury for suggesting that we invite Lorna Moffat to speak to us this month. A few of us met Lorna at the VMQG meeting in December but I think Krista was the only one smart enough to keep in touch and suggest to me that we contact her to come to our meeting.
As per Lorna’s suggestion, I stole the following “bumf” (Lorna’s word but I like it!) from her bio on the Dragon Threads website (publisher of Lorna’s book, Silk Unravelled, 2008):
“Lorna is an internationally renowned award winning textile artist, author and lecturer who has been at the forefront of contemporary and innovative machine embroidery. After graduating from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, her work has been exhibited worldwide in prestigious galleries, craft exhibitions, museums and stores such as Bergdorf’s, Barneys, Takashimaya, Nordstrom, etc.
Lorna has also been commissioned for several large embroidered installations for multinational corporate headquarters and healthcare institutions. In addition, she has been instrumental in advancing creative embroidery techniques through her inspirational workshops and lectures together with teaching in schools and colleges around the globe.
Having developed her own unique style in the manipulation, deconstruction and reconstruction of fabrics, Lorna’s has now taken inspiration from the intricate and ornate craft work of indigenous people in remote corners of the world. Her extensive worldwide travel has also included living within communities in remote mountainous regions of Turkey and in the jungles of Borneo.”
Are you excited? Intrigued? I am. I don’t know what brought Lorna to Vancouver but I’m very glad she’s here. I am really looking forward to meeting her. I hope you are too. Let’s hope that our AGM runs smoothly giving Lorna lots of time to talk.
Back to business, I hope you are all enjoying your mystery quilts. I expect that everybody participating is now an expert in making a square within a square and that you don’t want to see another one of them anytime soon. Clue 4 will be out shortly if it isn’t already and, again, if you are not receiving your clues please send me an email.
As this is our last month as your Programs Committee and I would like to take this opportunity to thank JoAnn Lee and Paula Bohan for all the work they have done the past three years. They are the true work horses in our committee and trust me we would not have had the programs we did if it weren’t for them. So thank you…I owe you each a bottle (or case) of wine. See you on the 25th.
At our last guild meeting I promised to provide some links to tutorials on techniques that will ensure that you quilt lies flat and hangs beautifully. There are a multitude of tutorials on-line these are just a few that I thought were well done.
The February meeting is your last opportunity to renew your membership in order to be eligible to enter a quilt into the show.
There are two more meetings at which you can register your quilt and of course you can mail your registration to Barbara as well. Remember your quilt does not have to be complete to be registered you simply need a 4×6” picture that give a good sense of the colour and style of the quilt and a fairly accurate size.
Make sure to fill in your volunteer forms. It makes Vicki’s job much easier if she doesn’t have to phone members to slot in their volunteer hours.
Entries to The Pin Cushion Challenge will be displayed at the show, the auction will take place at the June meeting and the funds raised will be used to purchase equipment for Workshops.
Our Boutique is a showcase for member’s talents and possibly a way to earn some money to buy more fabric…… What saleable delights are you working on?
Your quilt needs a sleeve in order to be hung in the show. It needs to be 4” finished width in order to accommodate our hanging rods and also needs to be securely sewn to the back of your quilt. There are lots of websites on how to do this and here’s one of them: http://quilting.about.com/od/decoratingwithquilts/ss/quilt_sleeve.htm
If your quilt is really small, a 2-3” sleeve is sufficient but if in doubt, use a 4” one!!!! If you have special hanging requirements, please contact me or see me at a guild meeting. And don’t forget that your quilt also needs a label with your name and the name of the quilt (as entered in the show).
lionsgatequiltersguild.com 
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