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

The following board positions are available; please consider volunteering your time:

• President: manages guild; prepares agendas for, and chairs, meetings; receives communications; prepares a report for each issue of the newsletter (1 nomination accepted)
• Membership Coordinator: collects dues; provides information to new members; maintains membership list (1 nomination accepted)
• Member-at-Large (one of two): presents quilts at Show & Tell; sells 50/50 tickets; sends cads to members to comfort, console, or celebrate (1 nomination accepted)
• Secretary: keep minutes of all meetings; prepare correspondence & notices as requested by board  (no nominations received)
• Workshop Coordinator: arranges workshop instructors, venues, schedules; announces workshops; handles workshop registrations (no nominations received)

Elections for all positions listed above will occur at the February  meeting. If you are interested in one of these positions, or you’d like to nominate someone, please contact one of our members-at-large (Joan Elliott or Terri Gerath).

Also needed: Raffle Quilt Coordinator and committee members. The raffle quilt is a major fundraiser for Community Quilts, and the 2014 quilt needs  a coordinator. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact a member of the executive.

Happy New Year everyone! It’s nearly time for guild Membership Renewal.

We will be processing the renewals at the February Meeting. The membership form will be included with the next newsletter. See you at the next meeting and don’t forget your name tags!

Kate Burzuk
Membership Coordinator

Sonja Callaghan is a delightful young woman who entertained us thoroughly at the October meeting. She has a lovely sense of humour; she was organized; used technology very professionally and took us step by step through her creative process of designing paper pieced quilt patterns. She even had “stuff” for sale in the form of patterns. It almost sounds as if I am writing a report card. As always our Program committee deserves an “A+”. They are a very hard working committee and they are doing an excellent job for us all.

Another committee which is always working to bring us interesting experiences is our Workshop committee. Joan Herrin has been the chair of that committee for four years and she must take a break. I do know that one of her committee is willing to stay on the committee but the position of Workshop Co-ordinator is coming up for election in February. Please consider offering your time to that position. By time I mean attending nine Executive meetings during the year. Those meetings are held the Monday evening following the Guild meeting from 7:30 until 9:30. The current committee has already booked workshops up until June and there are many resources available for future bookings. So, if you enjoy workshops and have attended guild sponsored classes find the excitement by being a more integral part of them.

Executive positions coming available this February at our AGM include: President, Secretary, Workshop Co-ordinator, Membership Co-ordinator and Member-at-Large. I am pleased to say that I am offering to continue on as President for another term so that means we need four people to come forward and offer to take over the other positions; five if someone is excited about having an election and would like to take on the challenge and rewarding position of President. An election may even be held if we get a raft of members offering their services. Think about it but as soon as you make up your mind please inform myself or any current Executive member.

On behalf of the Executive I approached Dianne Ritter about chairing our Album of Quilts Show 2014. She said, “Yes”. YIPEE!!!!!! Thank you so much Dianne. However, we do need a Raffle Quilt Committee to get themselves established, the sooner, the better. It may seem like a very long way away but June of 2014 will be here before you know it!!

Another committee needed as soon as January is our Hospitality Committee. Come on you tea and coffee drinkers. Get yourselves on the front line and report to me that you will be happy to help in the kitchen. Tanith Laughton has agreed to be our new Guild Archives person. Thank you Tanith.

It seems like most of this President’s message has been dedicated to pleas for help. In January newsletter I would like to tell you more of the Guild Gathering meeting I attended mid October. There is an announcement in this newsletter of the Fraser Valley’s Challenge for guilds to send a team to the “IRON QUILTER” competition which will be held in June 2013 during the Fraser Valley Quilt Show. It sounds like a lot of fun. Perhaps you can get 5 friends together and make up a team. Read the rules and think about it along with thoughts of participating more fully in Lions Gate Guild operating activities.

Happy Quilting,
Betty