Quilt Me a Story: The 2016 Quilt Show Challenge

Step right up to the 2016 Challenge table at the guild meeting. Is a book now knocking around in your head waiting for you to create a small challenge quilt? Have you got a little Grinch fabric just waiting to be your jumping off point for the next challenge? Have you got a teapot pattern that you just have to add a mouse and you will have a perfect entry quilt titled “The Mad Hatter Tea Party”? Have you just read a great book? Set your imagination free, but first buy a challenge package!

The challenge this year is to make a small quilt that represents your favorite book. It could be a book you have read for yourself or a book you read to a child (perhaps a 100 times). Alternately, you could choose a book that you know would make a great challenge quilt. You do not have to take a pledge stating that the book really is one of your favorites!

The goal is to get very imaginative and express yourself. Be whimsical, be serious, sign up and make a small quilt for the challenge.

We want to have a great challenge display. The entry fee will cover minor costs and the rest will go to fabulous prizes. The winner will be chosen by people attending the quilt show

The cost is $4.00. You can enter more than one quilt! You can enter 3 quilts if you buy three entries. NOTE: The number of entries is limited. They will be available at the meetings at the Challenge table. Bring your Toonies.

More details will be announced at the meeting and in your challenge package.

Barbara Beatty

PS from Dianne: A reminder that quilts you are planning to register for the June 2016 show cannot be hung in another show in BC within the 12 month period before our show.

Thank You

A big thank you to the Lion’s Gate quilt guild members for their contribution of quilts to the groups home for teen girls. Included is a picture of the Burnaby Girls U17 Soccer team who supported the home with Santa sacks for each of the group home residents with the quilts donated. The quilts are going to be a beautiful, warm and loving part of the girls’ Christmas this year. I ended up getting 11quilts donated through mostly Guild members. This will give the girls in the home right now a quilt plus the three new girls who are moving in in January a welcome gift. Plus an extra for anyone who moves in during the year. Thank you so much your generous gift of love.

Kathy Flood and Burnaby Girls U17 Storm

Burnaby Girls U17 Soccer Team with quilts donated by Lions Gate members
Burnaby Girls U17 Soccer Team with quilts donated by Lions Gate members

New in the Library: Strips and Other Stash Busters

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! My term as a librarian is coming to an end, and I hope someone will be willing to take over my duties.

Here are this month’s new books:

Sonia Milanez
Your Librarian

Community Quilts

The beautiful baby quilts were delivered December 8th with many thanks. I have received requests from NS Community Services for a couple of larger quilts for English lessons. They would apparently sit on the quilts on the floor and it makes the group gather round in the spaces they get for free. Said we would add them to our list of requests.

Please mark your calendars for the March Community Quilt Days at St. Andrews St. Stephens church Thursday March 3 to Saturday March 5. All help appreciated — and this is a great way to meet other members of our guild. Looking forward to seeing you.

Above: Just some of the many, many community quilts shown at the November 2015 guild meeting. Quilts came and went so quickly, most photos were a blur.

Thank you
Anita Jones-Gould
Community Quilts President

Thank You from Lions Gate Hospital

Anita and Karen,

community4I cannot thank you and the guild enough for your generous gift of quilts to our Perinatal Program at LGH.

Your photo will be on the VCH social media page by early next week. I hope you have access to the VCH Facebook page. I have requested that they include the guilds web page address. Hopefully that will solicit some new members for your guild!

I love the photo. My only regret is that I didn’t put the HUGE pile of the guild’s quilts in front of you. We have decided that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Years Eve and New Years Day, we will present the babies born with one of your beautifully crafted quilts.

We have saved some treasured quilts you have given us for gifting to the families of our very special stillborn babies. We know that the quilts help those families in their journey of grief and healing.

We thank you again for your guilds generous and kind gift to all of our babies at LGH. It is a community partnership that is highly valued.

Yours sincerely,
Kelly-Ann Haslauer

Workshops

Hello Quilting Divas and Divo!

Our first newsletter of the new year! How time flies! Happy stitching in 2016, and best wishes for health and happiness to you!

As I write this, our Winter Extravaganza is just a couple of days away, and final preparations are being wrapped up. Sure hope we haven’t forgotten anything! We have 45 people registered, and are expecting it to be a great day.

We are looking forward to our Lone Star workshop in February, led by Krista Hennebury, and have plans for one or two more workshops this spring. As the guild will be busy with putting on the quilt show in June, as well as the retreat in February, we don’t want to overbook.

Due to a cancellation, there is one place available in the Lone Star workshop. Please note the change of venue, as below.

Lone Star Circle, taught by Krista Hennebury on February 20th, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, $45 per person, at St. Agnes Church, 530 East 12th Street, North Vancouver.

Lonestar Circle by Krista Hennebury, as photographed for her book, Make It, Take It
Lonestar Circle by Krista Hennebury, as photographed for her book, Make It, Take It

Jane Andrew
Workshops Coordinator

From the President

Hello again. Guild members who attended the meeting in October were entertained by Dianne Stephenson’s informative and stimulating presentation. Sorry I missed it!

I want to thank Debbie Barrett for assuming the presidential responsibilities for the month, and filling my shoes. My feet were elsewhere, callused from walking the cobblestone paths and roads in both France and Spain.

Leslie Rutledge did a fantastic job coordinating our first ever quilt display at Amica Centre. The residents and visitors were thrilled. Leslie was helped by her capable team including Betty Clarke, Carol Piercey, Colleen Bohan, Debbie Barrett, Joan Elliott, Joan Gold, Linda Dunlop, Rita Douglas, and Sonia Milanez. One example of teamwork.

While in France, I visited the fourteenth century Château de Pau, perched on a rocky spur overlooking a ford across the Gave River. Once used by Napoleon as a holiday home during his period of power, it has a small garden that was tended by Marie Antoinette. Today the building houses room after room of immense detailed original tapestries made of wool and silk. No wall is left uncovered. The rooms are dark, to keep the tapestries from fading. The tapestries were used to heat the rooms, and later for decoration. Each tapestry was the work of a team. Seeing these tapestries made me think of all our guild members, and how we also gather together to create visual memories, for our family members and the community.

This will be our last meeting of 2015. Think again about the Guild as a team, and how you can contribute to being part of this successful team. Please consider running for one of the vacant positions. Nominate yourself!

Looking forward to seeing each and every member at our November meeting. To everyone, best wishes for the holiday season. Enjoy the time you spend with your friends and family.

Bena Luxton

Volunteer for the Guild Executive

As you know, our AGM is coming up in February and several executive positions are coming vacant. We hope you will give serious consideration to occupying one of them. Those of us who have done so can attest to the fun we have had and the new friendships that have been made. If there is a position you think you might be interested in make a point of finding out more about it from the person or people currently in it. You may be surprised to find out that it is not always as daunting as it may at first appear.

These are the positions that will be available:

Vice President
The Vice President takes over the duties of the president in the absence of the president. They also oversee the storage locker and post office box rentals.

Treasurer
The treasurer looks after all the money business of the guild. That business includes preparing year end financial statements, any required tax returns, preparation of draft and final budgets, and presenting financial and budget details to the AGM.

Newsletter Editor
Prepares and distributes the monthly guild newsletter for the nine months of September through November and January through June.

Member-at-Large
There are two members -at-large. Although there are two members each serving a two year term, one new member is elected each year. The members -at-large greet members arriving at guild meetings, look after the 50-50 raffle which includes applying for the annual license, assist with show and tell, and are another avenue of communicating with the executive. They also communicate congratulations or condolences to fellow guild members on behalf of the guild. In the second year of his or her term, the member-at-large is the Nominating Committee Coordinator for the upcoming elections.

Library
The person responsible for the library puts out the books for each meeting and stores them away afterwards. They record books in and out, collect library fines, purchase new books for the library , and cull any that are outdated.

We have a very talented group of people in our guild. We hope you will consider sharing your talents with your guild.