Lorain County Piecemakers Quilt Guild
Volume 23 Issue 8 – April 13, 2023

President: Chris Yoo
Treasurer: Sue Schillig
Secretary: Bridget Coyle
Vice President: Margaret Miller
Community Service: Maria Lucki
Hospitality: Maryann Doucette & Jean Tobia
Membership: Marilyn Novak & Karen Neuschaffer
Quilts of Valor: Kaye Koler
Sunshine Committee: Val Watring
Challenge Committee: Kelly Grace, Susan Thornton, Helen Smelser
Communication Committee: Kelly Grace
Bits & Pieces Editor: Kelly Grace
Articles due by Saturday before meeting, Newsletter sent out Sunday before meeting.

Meetings:  2nd Thursday of month
Time:        7:00 PM
Location:  New Russia Township Lodge,
46300 Butternut Ridge Rd, Oberlin, 44074
Additional Info: Please remember that there is always a sew day the day of our meeting – starting around 10!

Website: https://loraincountypiecemakers.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/LorainCtyPiecemakers
Guild email: loraincountypiecemakers@gmail.com

Meeting Minutes:
Chris Yoo

At 7:00 p.m. President, Chris Yoo, called the meeting to order and welcomed our members and a several visitors this evening.

Program:  Lyn Fowl of Farmhouse Quilting Co. based in Elyria Ohio presented a trunk show and talked all about her online shop.  Lyn also brought a significant portion of her shop to vend this evening!

President’s Report:  Chris shared that because she will be hosting a table at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo On April 13th, our VP Margaret Miller will be opening the hall for you at 10:00 a.m. for sew day.   Chris noted that although Margaret will open for you, Chris will still be at the meeting in the evening.  Chris reported that from now until the quilt show, her president’s report will consist of Quilt Show News and Updates.  At this meeting Chris discussed the following:

  • Vendors:  As of today there are 5 vendors confirmed: (1) Mike’s Fused Glass (2) Wool Yankers (3) Sew Creative Cottage (4) Quilter’s Fancy, and (5) Online Quilt Shop  Color Connexion owned by Merran Phillips. It was noted that we have had six vendors in the past, but Chris believes that five along with the country store is more than enough. 
  • Raffle Baskets:  Teri Walter and her team are heading up the raffle basket committee.  Any new or like new donations should be given to Teri. 
  • Country Store:  Jean Tobia and her team are heading up the country store committee.  Later this summer Jean will be accepting donations of handmade items and used or slightly used items for the country store.  
  • Quilter’s Café:  Genny Dangerfield and VP Margaret Miller are leading up this committee to make sure we have sloppy joes, hotdogs, drinks and snacks in our café.  They will welcome help on show days.  
  • Quilt Show Program:  Sue Schillig is going to put together the quilt show program and we need to start selling some advertising space to help pay for the program.  Ad costs are $25 – 1/3 page, (business cards, enlarged); $40 – half page  (4.25″H x 5.5″W); $75 – full page (8.5″H x 5.5″W);  $100 – inside front or back cover (full page); $125 – outside back cover (full page).  Please contact Sue Schillig for more information suequilt2@hotmail.com. 
  • Advertising Online and in Publications:   Val Watring is helping with initiative which is very important as without visitors, our show would not be a success.  If you have any ideas where Val could advertise, make sure to pass those her way. 
  • Door Prize:  Chris is still on the look out for a door prize sponsor.  She hopes to network with many area shops next month at the Expo in Akron. 
  • Quilt Raffle:  Chris will be selling raffle tickets at the Elyria H.S. craft show on March 25th as well as at the Expo in April.   More shows in the works for the spring/summer.
  • Quilt Show Entry Forms:  Quilt show entry forms will be distributed in May and collected in June and July.  No entries will be accepted after the July meeting.  It was noted that the forms will allow for everyone to enter 3 items and list a 4th alternate in case there is room.  Starting planning what items you will enter for the show.  Remember you do NOT have to enter bed quilts.  You can enter throws, table runners, placemats, art quilts, etc.  Also remember all those challenge items you have made!  We want to show our creativity.


Approval of the Minutes:  The February minutes were distributed electronically by Kelly Grace.  Hearing no changes or corrections, the minutes were approved as distributed.

Treasurer’s Report: The treasurer’s report and all financial documents of the guild are filed for audit and can be made available for review upon request of the guild treasurer, Sue Schillig.

Committee Reports: The membership heard reports from all Committees that were present.  The Committee Chairpersons will submit their individual reports to Kelly Grace for inclusion in the newsletter no later than the Saturday before the next meeting.  For up-to-date information from the Committees, please review the individual Committee Reports noted in this newsletter.

Unfinished Business:  Chris and Sue joined to thank member Vicki Morris for completing an audit of the guild finances and both were happy to report that everything was in order.

New Business:  First it was shared that due to the recent resignation of the guild secretary, Chris is looking for a volunteer to take the minutes for each meeting.  Chris shared that she gives the secretary a summary of the agenda before each meeting so the task is not difficult.  Anyone interested should speak with Chris.

It is moved and seconded that the guild make a donation of $100 to the Lorain County 4-H endowment fund.  There was discussion about the endowment, noting that it distributes grants annually and supports many important 4-H programs across Lorain County.  A vote was taken which passed.

Announcements:  There were reminders about the following quilt shows:

Quilts 2023 @ Lake Farm Park in Kirtland, Ohio
Show will run March 31, 2023 – April 30, 2023

Sauder Village 46th Annual Quilt Show 2023, in Archbold, Ohio
Show will run May 3 – 6, 2023,

Show & Tell:   There was a fantastic lineup of quilts, pillowcases, and more tonight!  We rock!

Next meeting:  April 13th @ 7:00 p.m.  Program:  Applique any which Way You Can!

In-Person Meetings and Sew Day Etiquette: Wear your name tag.  Please remember to avoid chit-chat while someone is speaking to the group, both during presentations and during Show-n-Tell. Please set your cell phone to silent mode. Thank You Sew Much!

Minutes completed by Guild President, Christina Yoo. 

Sunshine Committee
Val Watring

Committee Report:   Meeting minutes:  Nothing in particular
Newsletter Update:

Our focus seems to be getting ready for the Sewing Expo in Akron:  https://sewingexpo.com/Events/Cleveland-OH?

and our Quilt Show in September:  https://loraincountypiecemakers.wordpress.com/events/2023-quilt-show/

May your spring be sunny and calm!

Fondly, Val Watring

By-Laws Section 8:  The Sunshine Committee shall notify members in case of illness or bereavement.  Cards will be sent; unless it is determined a blue basket is needed.

Blue Baskets:  When members lose a spouse or child, we support them by giving them fat quarters of fabric in their favorite colors.  The Sunshine Committee will supply the bag and card to be signed by the membership.

Membership

Please note that Anne Schaefer has rejoined the guild  Her information is in the membership roster.  We currently have 95 members.

Karen and Marilyn

Quilts of Valor

Kaye Koler

Hello SPRING!
The Quilts of Valor committee will host a SEW DAY!
Saturday, May 6th, 10-5pm
The Main Street Bldg.
255 Park Avenue, Amherst, OH

It has worked best in the past so we will continue the BROWN BAG LUNCH  protocol. And if you’re so inclined there are several wonderful restaurants down town within walking distance. The NEW coffee shop across the street is very good and getting great reviews about the new ownership! They have a limited food menu. Feel free to bring a snack to share…..we have to keep our energy up!

We have several presentations on our agenda for the near future and could use your help in getting some quilt tops put together. If you have time, please join us to help cut, sew, bind, stitch on a label or two, or press seams. You’re welcome to attend all day or just a hour or two if that fits your schedule better.  We truly appreciate any and all help !

Our next presentation is slated for Thursday, June 8th, 6 pm, at THE LODGE, just  before the meeting begins at 7pm.
We welcome you to attend and take part in the rewards of your hard work.  It is such an honor to award these quilts to our veterans. They are so appreciative and grateful for their quilts. And we’d love to see you there!

Thank you,
your Quilts of Valor committee

Community Service

Maria Lucki

On March 24th, 12 pillowcases were dropped off to Genesis House.   They would like at least 50 more.  Every resident that comes into Genesis House receives a new pillow and pillowcase to keep for their very own.

On March 24th, 30 baby quilts and 12 pillowcases were dropped off at Blessings House.   They also would like more pillowcases.

In June for Judy Riggle Community Sew Day, we will be working on twin size quilts for the new men’s rehabilitation center in Lorain.  They need 45 twin size quilts.  We will have sign up sheets for various jobs at the May meeting. We will also be collecting food for the food pantry at We Care, We Share.  Please no opened or expired foods.

Catholic Charities has requested 20 twin size (68×86) quilts and pillowcases for teenagers.

The Peace & Justice Committee of Sacred Heart Church in Oberlin needs household items for Ukrainian Refugees—especially twin size (68×86) blankets and quilts.  Quilts can be tied or quilted.

Welcome Nursing Home can always use lap quilts for their residents.

If you are in need of material to make items for Community Service, please contact Maria Lucki.  (Call or text her works best)

Sincerely, Maria

LORAIN COUNTY SAFE HARBOR/GENESIS HOUSE: Provides temporary safe shelter, food, and support services to victims of domestic violence and their children.  Serves roughly 25,000 annually.

BLESSING HOUSE:  Founded in 2005 to house children, birth to age 12, when their parents are addressing their own crises.

April Birthdays

Kaye Koler – April 2
Georgia Forbush – April 10
Judy Echeagaray – April 12
Barbara Spieker – April 13
Ruth Groot – April 16
Audrey Spreng – April 16
Helen Smelser – April 28
Linda Yavoich – April 29

Programs/Workshops

April:     This month some of our members will be presenting “Applique; Any Which Way You Can”.  I know I am very much looking forward to it.  I love the looks of hand applique and would like to learn more about it.  They will be covering all different kinds, hand and machine.  Thank you very much ladies!

For the all day sew in April, anyone who would like to participate in the “Strip” Design Challenge, please bring at least twenty  2 ½” Width of Fabric strips.   Please do not bring strips that you just cannot part with or try to color coordinate them—you may not end up with the strips you brought.   In addition, I would suggest bringing a “blender/background” fabric—a yard or two.   Another thought I have been playing with is orphaned blocks.   If you any  orphaned blocks that may become part of your design, please bring those along as well.  The sky is the limit.   This is meant to be fun and not stressful.   I will be bringing a crock pot of sloppy joes and buns to share at lunch.   Just an FYI.

I will also have a short survey for anyone willing to fill out—It is basically about what “subjects” you would like to see for presentations and suggestions for workshops.   I have a couple of presenters that I am in conversations with and am amazed at how many prepared presentations they have.  I would like to choose wisely for the group, so I am asking for input.  If you want to put your 2 cents in, but won’t be at the meeting, no problem.   Feel free to shoot me an email:   mimawsews@gmail.com and let me know your thoughts.

May:  The Lorain County Spinners and Weavers Guild will be presenting their skills.   They will have demos, trunk show and some items for sale.

June:  JUDY RIGGLE ANNYAL COMMUNITY SEW DAY.   We will be working on the requested quilts for the new Men’s Rehab center in Lorain.  Many hands make light work.   There will be sign up sheets in May for needed workers and supplies (ie cutting mats, irons and ironing boards, etc).   There will also be some fun and games intermixed with the work.  It will be a fun and productive day for sure.

Felice Dahlhausen of Felice Quilt Designs will be our evening presenter.

July:  Merry Christmas in July Event.  Sure to be lots of fun.
In the evening, we will be having our annual Pot Luck dinner.  There will be no program.

Margaret

Challenges
Kelly Grace

UFO Challenge

Currently 7% of UFO’s are completed (43 out of 646), I even have one this month! Keep it up, lets see if we can beat least years number of finishes. Please remember $5 is required to participate, it goes toward the prizes at the December meeting. You can turn this in at the next meeting. If you cannot come to a meeting to show off your finish, please send me an email (or text) or post it in our Facebook group and let me know it’s a UFO so I can mark it down as complete. Good luck this year!

Fat Quarter Exchange
Signups for the 2023 Fat Quarter Exchange have started, you choose what color/theme you’d like to receive and you either choose fabric from your stash or go shopping for everyone on the list. Fat quarters are turned in at the August meeting, lists are send out to everyone by the April meeting.I ended it a little early this year so that lists could be sent out for those wanting to shop at the Sewing Expo this week. I’ll give everyone until Wednesday, April 12th and then send the lists out. So contact me or send an email to the guild email with your color/theme.

Monthly Challenge
For March we are going to do the crayon challenge again, projects will be due at the May meeting. You pick 2 crayons from the bag and can choose 1 additional color and make anything you want with those colors. I have a new challenge that will be announced at the May meeting, it’s going to be a fun one!

If you have a suggestion for a monthly challenge, let me know!

Block Exchange 2023
I have 1 person interested in the block exchange for 2023, since I haven’t had anyone else that expressed interest we’ll put this on hold until next year. Maybe next years Hoffman fabrics will get more people to participate! Please make sure your quilt tops from 2022 are completed in time for the quilt show, let’s show them off!

President’s Challenge
Make something using the Ohio Star block which is featured as our guild logo. There will be a special exhibit at the Quilt Show for the President’s Challenge.

Build a Bear Quilt Challenge
I was looking at some leftover scraps while trying to decide what quilt to make next, and it occurred to me that the ones I was looking at could be made into a little quilt for a teddy bear, so I just bought this cute little bear who will be the prize.

I propose that we make little quilts for this cute little critter and at the Christmas meeting we vote for our favorite homemade scrap quilt and award the little bear to its maker. If you want, we could include them in our quilt show with a sign explaining the challenge. I could take the little bear in to include in eh show, heck, how tough would it be to finish a quilt for a 7-inch bear in time for our fall show?

Your Pal, Susan the Bear Chump

MOVE OVER, BETSY Challenge
It occurred to me that I hadn’t nagged and whined enough about the create-a-flag challenge, so I decided that if a song title can be MOVE OVER, BEETHOVEN, then a quilt challenge can have an impertinent title too.

I’m working on a flag right now; Chris the Prez said we should list any challenge entries on our quilt show forms, and that would include the flag entries, and they’d count toward our three quilts,but the little quilts for the BUILD A BEAR QUILT Challenge will be small enough to have their own nook at the show.

Make your flag any way you like, any size, any colors. I guess I should figure out a prize, too, huh? OK, I’ll offer another nice little bear as the prize.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185827319353

Susan the bear enthusiast

Do you have an idea for a challenge? Please drop a note in the suggestion box or send an email to the guild email (address above).

Treasury Report
Sue Schillig

Treasurers Report and Financial Statements of the guild are on file for audit and will be made available for review upon request. 

We have another CD coming due later this month.  Additionally, a donation was made to Quilts of Valor of $250 which will appear in the April monthly statement. A note of thanks was sent to the donor.

Sue Schillig, treasurer

Notes from the President
Chris Yoo

On March 24th, 12 pillowcases were dropped off to Genesis House.   They would like at least 50 more.  Every resident that comes into Genesis House receives a new pillow and pillowcase to keep for their very own.

On March 24th, 30 baby quilts and 12 pillowcases were dropped off at Blessings House.   They also would like more pillowcases.

In June for Judy Riggle Community Sew Day, we will be working on twin size quilts for the new men’s rehabilitation center in Lorain.  They need 45 twin size quilts.  We will have sign up sheets for various jobs at the May meeting. We will also be collecting food for the food pantry at We Care, We Share.  Please no opened or expired foods.

Catholic Charities has requested 20 twin size (68×86) quilts and pillowcases for teenagers.

The Peace & Justice Committee of Sacred Heart Church in Oberlin needs household items for Ukrainian Refugees—especially twin size (68×86) blankets and quilts.  Quilts can be tied or quilted.

Welcome Nursing Home can always use lap quilts for their residents.

If you are in need of material to make items for Community Service, please contact Maria Lucki.  (Call or text her works best)

Sincerely, Maria

STRAY THREADS…

Sue Schillig

Any which way you can is our theme this month for our applique program.  And it appears to apply as well for life right now.  Get the seeds in the ground…  any which way you can. Find time to quilt…  Any which way you can. Clear the garden beds… any which way you can. Make a community service quilt… any which way you can. Clean the house—wait–   that one may not be as critical. So…. as we try to do it all, let’s take some time to enjoy spring… Any which way you can!

Piecefully, Sue Schillig