November meeting is the last chance to be sure your membership for 2013 is current and that you are a member in good standing if you wish to show a quilt in the 2014 quilt show in June. You will actually have until the first week of December, so if you can’t make it to the meeting be sure your 2013 form is postmarked by the 6th. If you know of past members who have mentioned they may like to participate, please pass the information along. Membership forms are available on the web site.

The renewal of membership for 2014 will be at the February meeting, but you are always welcome to bring it to the January meeting. Remember to wear your name tags if you would like to win a door prize. Everyone who signs in, has an opportunity to win.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Happy Stitching!

Kate Burzuk
Membership Coordinator

A crafty astronaut has sewn a starry-quilt block aboard the space station, and is inviting others to join her in doing the same. Karen Nyberg, who is in the final weeks of her five month stay on the International Space Station, recently revealed her handiwork a 9-by-9- inch (23-by-23-cm) red, white and blue square that she stitched together to create what may very well be the first example of quilting in space.

“This is what I’ve made,” Nyberg said while holding up the sewn square in a recorded video released by NASA on Wednesday (Oct. 30). “It is far from being a masterpiece. I’ve discovered several challenges with cutting and piecing and stitching in weightlessness. I will be bringing this block back with me when I return to Earth and I’m inviting all of you to make your own star-themed quilt blocks,” Nyberg said. “We will be combining them with my block to create a quilt for next year’s 40th anniversary International Quilt Festival in Houston, where I hope to make a special appearance.”

http://www.space.com/23436-space-quilt-astronaut-karen-nyberg.html

We’ve joined the How Far Can You Stitch? challenge from Canadian Quilters Association. From September 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014, we’ll be measuring the circumference of every quilt shown during Show and Tell. So measure your quilts, and bring those measurements to the meeting. Our CQA representative, Dorothy Porter, will be on hand to collect the measurements and tally them up each month.

I must start this newsletter with an apology for the lateness of our September meeting. Not only do I write without a thought to paragraphs but I can also talk too much. At our Executive meeting we discussed a guild meeting time schedule which I am suppose to stick to so I promise I will give it my best shot. We must be out of the hall by 9:55 so that Stephen can do a final check and lock up. I shall prioritize business items and we will finish business and Show and Tell by 8:25. Then we can have a good 15/20 minutes for a break to have refreshments, a look at library books and Show and Tell, sign up for workshops and buy 50/50 raffle tickets. I will need your help so please be ready to start our meeting by 7:30.

Bena Luxton, our Treasurer, would like all Expense Submission forms given to her by the end of the November meeting. So, if you have spent some money on behalf of the guild now is the time to gather up those receipts and fill out a form so that you can be reimbursed as soon as possible. I shall bring forms with me to our October and November meetings or you can email me or Bena and we will send you an expense submission form via email.

Kate Burzuk is stepping out of the Membership position and Joan Herrin has agreed to complete the second year of that Executive position. Thank you so much Joan. We shall see both gals at the Membership table over the next few months as Kate takes Joan under her wing and gets her ready to take command.

Krista Hennebury and Dorothy Porter were kept busy last month helping members measure the circumference of their quilts. Our total was 5,556 inches which translates to 141.12 metres. Please measure your quilts before the guild meeting and let us see if we can improve our first night’s total. Maybe someone will volunteer to make a graph of our progress? This is a Challenge by the Canadian Quilters’ Association called Stitch Across Canada as we Walk to Brock. A full description is in the September newsletter on the front page.

I dropped in on our second workshop this Fall to watch our members ‘Making Waves’ with Katherine Morgan, our Vice President. Everyone was very busy and very quiet. I hope we get to see some of the results of their labours over the next two months. Katherine says they were a very nice group and she had fun. And, the bus trip to the La Conner Quilt Show organized by Brenda Sangster, was a big hit with several members of the guild who spoke to me about it.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the 4th Tuesday of the month which happens to be October 22nd. Please remember your name tag, your mug, library books and any fines you may owe, birthday treats, cheque book for workshops, cash for 50/50 tickets, your smiley face and of course, your Show and Tell. We all love Show and Tell. And your measurements, “quilt measurements”, that is. That is all we want from you, just the circumference of your quilt/s.

Happy Quilting,
Betty

Remember to bring your name tag and be wearing it at the meeting so you are eligible to win a door prize. Should you forget it, they are available at the membership table for $1.00. If you would like to show a quilt in our 2014 show please remember to join or renew your membership in October or November.

Joan Herrin has volunteered to take over from me as Membership Coordinator. Thank you Joan! Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Happy Stitching!

Kate Burzuk
Membership Coordinator

Improv under the influence is a fast and fun way to achieve improvisational patchwork units without sacrificing traditional techniques. Beginning with 5″ charm squares, Krista will show you how to sew, rotary cut, piece and then trim wonky strip units that you can use to make a table runner, pillow cover, wall hanging or border for a quilt project. This is a technique class, the finished project is up to you!

DATE: Tuesday, November 26, 2013
TIME: 1:00 pm. to 4:00 p.m.
PLACE: St. Andrew’s & St. Stephen’s Church, 2641 Chesterfield Ave, North Vancouver
COST: $10.00

This day has become a guild tradition – a fun-filled, social, inexpensive day to get lots of members together, and start off the new year with perhaps a different perspective. The theme this year is flowers. This could be flowered fabric, flower blocks, a landscape of a garden with flowers, 3-D flowers or artful flowers like Judy Leslie showed us last month. There will also be a pot-luck lunch (finger food only).Hosted by Carol Piercy

DATE: Saturday, January 18, 2014
TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
PLACE: St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, 1360 East 24th Street, North Vancouver
COST: $20.00 plus a contribution to a finger-food pot-luck lunch

This is a free-motion quilting course for those with some free-motion experience already. The morning will be spent drawing, then stitching, leaves, flowers, vines and stippling. The afternoon will move into more advanced feathers, and possibly fancy borders, again with lots of drawing first.

DATE: Saturday, February 22, 2014
TIME: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
PLACE: St. Agnes Church, 530 East 12th St, North Vancouver
COST: $40.00

Please make note of the Executive Positions that will become vacant in February 2014.

The job descriptions are brief, but do take the time to read through and consider volunteering for one of the positions. What are your strengths? Where would your talents shine through and benefit the Guild? We need your help!

• Vice-President:
  Assumes the duties of the President in her/his absence. Oversees the storage locker and post office box rentals.
• Treasurer:
  Responsible for all accounting tasks related to Guild business, including preparation of year-end financial statements and required tax returns, as well as preparation of draft and final budgets each year. Presents all budget and financial report details to members at each year’s AGM.
• Newsletter Editor:
  Prepares and distributes the guild newsletter for each of the 9 months of January through June and September through November.
• Member-at-Large:
  One of two members (one is elected each year) whoprovide another communication channel between the Executive and guild members. Responsibilities include greeting people at the door for meetings, coordinating the 50/50 draw and providing assistance for “show and tell”. In the second year of his or her term, also servers as Nominating Committee Coordinator for upcoming elections.
• Library:
  Responsible for set up and take down of library at each guild meeting, recording of books in and out, library fines, and purchasing new additions for the library.

All of these positions are two-year terms and require attendance at monthly executive meetings.

Welcome to September everyone. I hope you had a most enjoyable summer with lots of outdoor activities and socializing because this was definitely the summer to do those sorts of activities. But now, as I write this, the clouds have rolled in and it is time to move indoors and back into our sewing space. It is like hibernating isn’t it?

The Guild Executive usually meets in early September to touch base and to make sure we are going to have an exciting and inspiring year culminating in our Quilt Show. Anne Pelton and her committee have been very hard at work organizing three workshops for the Fall and they have booked an assortment of workshops already for winter and spring.

We discussed the subject of Advertising for new Guild members and we have some good ideas on how to let people know that we exist and that any person who is interested in sewing and quilting are welcome to come to our meetings. Once they come through that door they will be ours because we are such a fun, caring and talented bunch of quilters! I think my prejudices are showing through. So, let your friends or mere acquaintances know about our Guild and encourage them to come to a meeting. We have already submitted information to the North Shore News and the North and West Vancouver Community Arts Councils and plan on distributing posters in the near future.

Because our Guild belongs to the Canadian Quilters’ Association I get their monthly news update and this month they are promoting a Challenge called: Stitch Across Canada as we Walk to Brock. Here is their description of the challenge. “Starting Sept. 1st, we want you or your guild to send us the perimeter of all quilts shown at your Show and Tell/Share. We will plot the inches from Mile Zero in Victoria to Brock University in St. Catherines, the home of Quilt Canada 2014. But to make it a REAL challenge, we will visit our Regional Representative, Shona Barbour and her quilting friends, in Inuvik NT along the way. Yikes! a mere 106, 007,412 inches more than our last Stitch Across Canada challenge.” So, what do you think? The Executive thought we could give it a try. If you are going to bring some Show and Tell to our next Guild meeting please measure the circumference/s in inches and then tell us that total number when you are up at the mike. Dorothy Porter will record our data and send it on to CQA. Thank you Dorothy.

We are fast approaching our annual AGM in February. This is the first of many reminds about this important meeting. We will have the following positions open for renewal: Vice President, Treasurer, Programs, Newsletter, Library, Member-at-Large. All of these positions are for a two year term and we also need someone to volunteer for our Membership position for a one year term.

Kate Burzuk would like some assistance at the Membership table and if you are interested in volunteering to fill that position in the new year this would be an excellent opportunity to find out more about the job and sit with Kate, getting experience firsthand. Give Kate a call or just pull up a chair beside her at the next meeting. She does not bite.

I look forward to seeing you on the 4th Tuesday of this month which is September 24th. Don’t forget: to wear your name tag; money for 50/50 draw; cheque book for workshops; your coffee mug; any overdue library books and fines that go along with that; any “free” sewing related items to give away; any leftover birthday goodies/cake for us all to enjoy and your Show and Tell with circumference totals.

Happy Quilting,
Betty