Don’t
Forget Your Roots
Part Two
Part One of “Don’t Forget Your Roots”
described the way that our guild was formed, and the first places that meetings
were held. Q.U.I.L.T.S. was bound to
succeed, with so many creative and energetic women who had already given
themselves over to the job of managing home and family, and still had more to
give. The first months of meeting were
more casual than we now enjoy, with large amounts of “Show and Tell” and
general sharing of ideas and techniques.
When it seemed time to do a little
more planning of meetings, our first major players would get together at the
candy shop on Union Street to discuss ideas for “program” and of course, have a
cup of tea and something chocolate to go with it. At the time, there were no officers or official persons in
charge. Guild members enjoyed quilting
and each other so much that the group existed for seven years before the idea
took hold, to have people volunteer for certain positions of responsibility.
From a 1989 newsletter in the
historian files, I found an article announcing officers elected for the first
time. At least, this was the first time
there was a printed record of officers.
In addition to the expected offices of president, vice-president,
secretary and treasurer, and membership, historian, program, hospitality and
library, there were a few others of interest:
news, raffle tickets, telephone, and trip co-coordinator. I smiled at the idea of a telephone
co-ordinator, or a telephone committee.
No one wants to answer the phone anymore, especially when they can see
who’s calling. What a tough job that
was (and still is) to share information by Bell’s invention. I like the idea of having a trip
co-ordinator. Wouldn’t it be fun to
take a couple trips a year? But I’ll
bet that’s a tough job too.
There was a very proud moment in our
guild’s history that I didn’t know about until Shirley Hedman told me about
it. Q.U.I.L.T.S. was nominated for
something called the “Golden Rule Award” offered by the J.C. Penney
Company. Q.U.I.L.T.S. was nominated for
the following:
“Club
members have made and donated over 200 hand-made quilts which have been
distributed to three groups of children in local emergency shelters.”
Q.U.I.L.T.S. did not win the award,
but was honored at a ceremony,
One of
the main reasons I was driven to write about the roots of Q.U.I.L.T.S. is because
of the strength of the organization, and I can see from the old newsletters
that the strength is still with us.
Former presidents and program chairs are still active members today: Shirley Hedman, Chris Kaczynski, Kathie
Greenwold, Nancy Finelli, Cathy Riccio Gruyters, and Marie Miller are in those
pages. Please be sure to let me know of
others I may have missed.
(Part Three will document our
Q.U.I.L.T.S. association with Northeast Parent and Child.)
Q.U.I.L.T.S. CHALLENGES
CONTINUE
Do you have your STRIP QUILT BUDDY YET? Don’t forget to pair up with another quilter
to produce a Northeast Strip Quilt! I
found a large piece of wild stripe fabric in my stash that Susan and I are
going to use for blocks, binding, and backing, and we’re going to pass the
fabric back and forth to make strips, using our own colors that match the
stripes.
Don’t forget about the DOTS
AND DASHES CHALLENGE! Your quilt
can be any size, shape, color or type, but it must have both polka dots and
stripes somewhere. I have so many
ideas, I won’t be able to make all the dots and dashes quilts I have in my
head!
SOLDIER QUILT
REMINDER
Pat Terry is happy to receive any donations for the Soldier Quilt
Project. She has already sent out one
large shipment, and is collecting quilts to prepare for another shipment.
OUR CURRENT OFFICERS:
President – Anita Paul 374-2166 anitalouisepaul@juno.com
V.P. – Kathy Hermance 355-2185 khermance1@nycap.rr.com
Secretary – Janet Baron 355-2604 rbaron4@nycap.rr.com
Treasurer – Janet Huston 399-0919 hustonjp@sprynet.com
Web Master – Mary McNamara 377-4580 mcnamara@crd.ge.com
Program - Elaine McCain 383-3337 emccain@nycap.rr.com
Carol
Foucault 346-7359 cfgraphics@verizon.net
Lynn
Morhous 370-1658 lynnmorhous@verizon.net
Membership – Kathy Wagner 356-2452 kwagner1@nycap.rr.comß
Suzanne
Bernadt 346-2585
Denise
Duncan 370-1870
Newsletter – Lois Bena 399-0486 ljb@nycap.rr.com
Library – Jeannie Cleveland 381-6519 jeanniecleve@earthlink.net
Natalie McDonough 382-0169 uwsny@excite.com
Goodie Basket – Linda Storz 383-7813
Margaret Palange 371-5036 ppalange@gmail.com
Fat Quarters – Orpha Schoener 383-2723 poschoener@gmail.com
Betty Betz 371-3244 ken4bettybetz@verizon.net
Block of Month – Mary Wade 393-5469 mwade49@nycap.rr.com
Pam
Wrzesinski 356-4298 pamdiva@nycap.rr.com
--Susan Mezera 792-6319 smezera@roadrunner.com
Historian – Lynn Makrin 596-6559 LRMakrin@aol.com
Hospitality – Bobbi Paulus 785-9786
Lynn Lauzon-Russom 372-0677 lynnlauzon@aol.com
The
following is a document prepared by Shirley Hedman, who has been collecting the
quilts for Northeast for many years, providing a service to us and a blessing
to the agency. Her description of WHAT
WE DO and HOW WE DO IT is something so helpful that I am printing it in our
newsletter:
THIS
IS HOW WE TURN OUR FABRIC INTO QUILTS FOR NORTHEAST KIDS
1. Members
use their own good-quality fabric to make a quilt top, adding enough fabric for
the binding and the back as described below.
Keep in mind that the need is mostly for boys, and they’re mostly “big
kids” – teenagers. Design is up to the
maker.
2. Guidelines
for the sizes of quilts are as follows:
“Big
Kid” Quilts – approximate size 50” x 70”
“Little
Kid” Quilts – approximate size 42” x 60” (can be larger but NO smaller)
A
finished back for each top – seam to make sure it’s big enough to cover the
top with
at
least an inch or two extra on EACH side.
A
binding for each top – cut enough strips 2” or 2.5” wide for all four
sides, or include an extra half-yard to ¾ yard fabric,
depending on size of quilt.
3. Hand
in the top/back/binding at one of our meetings, preferably by December. We need the tops in-hand in order to figure
out what batting requirements are – we need to pre-measure.
4. In
an on-going process, the quilt tops are measured, marked, and checked. Early in January, we figure out what the
batting needs are, according to the sizes of quilts we have in hand. When we have the batts, they are cut to the
proper size and labeled for the Feb. tie-in.
5. At
the February meeting, the tops/backs/bindings are paired with the appropriate
battings. Thread and some needles are
provided. Members are asked to bring
scissors, thimbles and preferred needles.
The quilts are laid out on the tables to be tied.
6. At
the end of the evening someone from the table that tied the quilt will take it
home to bind it. If no one at the table
wants to bind the quilt, we ask that they grab the microphone and ask for
volunteers.
7. Bound
quilts should be brought back as soon as possible, by the next meeting or at
least by the end of the current year.
8. When the bound quilts are brought back to a
meeting, they will be immediately delivered to Northeast.
9. Many members bring quilts during the year
that are completely finished, tied, and bound.
This is very much appreciated, because it gives Northeast a steady
supply; these quilts are delivered to Northeast each month as they come in,
throughout the year.
10. When a quilt is chosen, a heart is embroidered
with the child’s name and sewn to the back of the quilt. At times, quilts will be given to kids
without the heart being sewn on, if the agency sees a need.
I also have a list of the names of the persons who make all of the
above happen. I’ll print it in the
newsletter before the next tie-in.
* NATIONAL QUILTING DAY *
Do you know that there is a National Quilting Day?
This year, it is March 21, 2009, sponsored by the National Quilting
Association. The NQA has decided to
devote National Quilting Day to the HOME. In honor of the home, there is a special
house block design with directions and
templates. The free block link is
available on the NQA website:
http://www.nqaquilts.org/
The National Quilting Association website is wonderful, housing great
information and suggestions. It also
offers a block-of-the-month program with links to download the free patterns.
BOUTIQUE BOUNTY
Our QUILT SHOW BOUTIQUE COMMITTEE
for 2010 has created a way for us to donate to the Boutique. They are graciously taking our donations to
their cars after every meeting, and organizing them way ahead of time. Now there is a reminder about bringing
donations in the “What to bring” area of program information.
QUIRKY INFO:
The Earliest known “quilt” is carved on an ivory figure of a pharaoh of
the Egyptian First Dynasty circa 3400 B.C.
IDEAS FOR MEMBERSHIP CARD STORAGE
How do you store your membership card? Is it in your wallet? How can you be sure you have it with you
when you arrive at a quilt meeting?
Here are two ideas:
Susan and Lois have “pinned” their cards to the back
of their handmade name tags, and Virginia McGarry has made a little pocket on
the back of her name tag. Let Lois know if you have another idea, and it will
appear in the next newsletter.
FAT QUARTER FRENZY
Taken
from McCalls Quick Quilts, November 2005.
Did you know that One Fat Quarter Equals:
99 2 inch squares
OR
56 2.5 inch squares OR 42 3 inch squares OR
30 3.5 inch squares OR
20 4 inch squares OR
16 4.5 inch squares OR
12 5 inch squares OR
12 5.5 inch squares OR 9 6
inch squares OR
6 6.5
inch squares
Credit
given to Carolyn Reese in Montclair, CA
A WORD FROM A
FRIENDSHIP GROUP
Our friendship group's name is The KNV's which comes from members' 1st
initials: 3 Kathy's (DelPrincipe, Hermance, & Wagner), plus Karen Scoloaro,
Nina Whitney, Virginia McGarry & Vivian Davis. When Chris Powell joined the
group, we jokingly asked her to change the spelling of her name to Kris!!. We meet once a month on Mondays but not always
on the same Monday - just a Monday when everyone is available. We are in our 3rd year together as a group,
starting (I think) in the summer of 2006. We pick our meeting dates months in
advance & try to come up with dates that are good for everyone. Since some
of the members still work full-time, our meetings are held @ 7pm and usually
run until 9-9:30. We can't accept new
members because none of us have room at our dining room tables or living rooms
to accommodate more than 8.
We tried
initially having "working" meetings (cutting, sewing, ironing) to
make quilts for Northeast, but realistically, with 7-8 women in small spaces, it's kind of difficult. So now we usually tie quilts - someone
almost always has a quilt to be tied.
Sometimes in lieu of tying, the hostess presents a demo. We have had demos on paper piecing,
pillowcases, & bindings. We also
have a Show N' Tell session, sharing any projects we're working on, any new
quilt/sewing related purchases, news on quilt shows or trips, and just general
conversation (of course, dessert is always included). We also share our quilt problems & help each other resolve
them. We typically have one quilt
project a year. Someone will provide
everyone with a pattern & ask if the members would be interested in making
that quilt & we all agree on a deadline for completion. We each make our own quilt & present
them as a group at a guild meeting together during “Show N Tell.”
Another
activity we began last year is our "Block of the Month" & it's
quite popular with all of our members.
The meeting hostess provides each member with block directions along
with her own specifications for making the block - size, colors, quantity,
etc. For example, the month when Karen
hosted the meeting, she gave the ladies directions to make 6 scrappy
pastel-colored blocks. At the next
month's meeting, Karen received a total of 42 9.5" blocks which she will
assemble into a young girl's quilt for Northeast.
Each month's
hostess is given a fat quarter (with a predetermined theme) by every
member. I am the unofficial secretary
of the KNV's & I maintain the meeting schedule along with the hostess gift
theme for each month. We do not take
minutes, but write down only important information that we don't want to
forget. The hostess for the month
usually sends an email to the other members reminding them of the upcoming
meeting.
Since we always
have refreshments, any birthdays which occur during the month are recognized.
It seems we have become as much a social club as we are a working group. We have a lot of laughs and get some work
done too.
Submitted by Kathy Hermance
Reach for the Stars
Quilters
United in Learning Together (Q.U.I.L.T.), Inc. of Delmar, New York announces
its 2009 Quilt Show, “Reach for the Stars!”
The Quilt Show will be held April 18 and 19, 2009 at
Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School, Route 9W, Ravena, N.Y. The members of QUILT will be displaying many large quilts, wearable art, and
wall hangings, along with the display of the challenge quilts created and
judged by the guild this year.
Events include nationally known
crazy quilt artist Betty Pillsbury, who will be giving a gallery talk at 1:00
p.m. on Saturday. Betty’s crazy quilt
exhibit will showcase the use of embroidery on quilts. There will also be a quilt raffle, vendors,
quilt block challenge, a mini-mart, the guild boutique, and
demonstrations.
Quilt appraisals will be available
by appointment – please contact Kathie Greenwold at lcgreeny@aol.com if you are interested in
having an appointment. A fashion show
will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The
RCS Athletic Association will sponsor the food concession.
Proceeds from a silent auction of
small quilted wall hangings, pillows, tote bags and purses will benefit the
Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York. Admission is $6 for one day, and $8 for both days. Hours are Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and
Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Contact
information: Show Chair Sharon Levanway
(518) 945-2714, or www.quiltinc.org.
QUILTS Newsletter
2008 March Issue
Lois Bena
P.O. Box 55
Alplaus NY 12008
