LOTS of News

Please check the blog for lots of juicy details and exciting things happening with your guild.

We had a huge turnout at today's meeting at Quilter's Studio--46 people!  We gained five new members, had seven guests and we are up to 82 members now.

This growth is exciting and presents a lot of new possibilities for us.  On the board, we've had to shift our thinking and planning and we still have some catch up to do.  In the meantime, please be patient with us.  These attendance numbers are unprecedented.  Our venues need to be scheduled months in advance so it will take a little while before we can fully catch up with venues that can accommodate sewing days for this many machines.

Announcements:

1.  This Wednesday, Burke Quilter's Unlimited is hosting Jackie Gehring for a lecture at 7:30, Burke United Methodist Church, 6200 Burke Centre Parkway, Burke, VA  22015
Jackie is the MQG President and has done a lot for the modern quilt movement.  She'll be talking about “Quilting Modern: Honoring Tradition.”  Jacquie shares her journey from being a maker, to becoming a quilter, and now a modern quilter, designer and author.   The Burke QU can fit about 10 more people at the lecture.  Please RSVP by leaving a comment below or sending me an email at dcmodquilts@gmail.com so we don't overwhelm the space they have available.

2.  On May 2nd, we are lucky to have Mary Fons teaching paper pieced log cabin blocks.  This is the first time that she's teaching this class so she'll be looking for feedback.  Mary will be teaching at Capital Quilts from 11-1:30 with 14 machine slots and 10 observation slots.  The guild will be charging $20 for the machine spaces and $10 for the observation spaces.  Sign ups will be first come, first served and the link for sign ups will go out by email this Tuesday, April 21st at 6pm. 

3.  Following Mary Fons, we will have our regular May meeting at Capital Quilts from 1:30-5:00.  The business meeting will start promptly at 2:00, followed by show and tell.  Please bring only one item for show and tell.  I think we can safely expect that the Capital Quilts space will be cozy, so bring hand sewing or knitting and don't be shy.

4.   Retreat Sign Ups-- the retreat space can fit 24 people to sleep overnight and up to 4 people for Saturday day passes.  The cost for Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon *including delicious and mostly organic meals* is $175 for the weekend and $50 for a Saturday day pass.  For both the August and November weekends, sign ups will start May 7th at 6pm.  I will send out an email with a link to a google doc to sign up.  There will be no lottery--instead it will be first come, first served. We anticipate that the August date will fill fast, so if you can be flexible, please consider the "either weekend" option (with a first preference).  You will be allowed to sign up for one weekend only.  If the August weekend goes well, the board and the retreat committee will look into doing quarterly retreats next year. 

5.  Logo Contest-- we are looking for a new design for the DC Modern Quilt Guild logo.  A design in black and white or similar dark + light colors would be ideal.  The purpose of a new design is to print shirts and tote bags.  Your design ideas will be collected and then shown to the members anonymously for a vote.  The winner will get a free shirt and tote bag printed with their design AND one $50 giftcard to your choice of our business members.  The due date for designs is June 15th, so get out your crayons and pencils!

6.  Tester Bee-- I am looking for 3 more volunteers to test out a guild bee.  This test will determine how the guild proceeds forward with bees.  It will have 6 members and last 6 months with each member being queen/king bee for one month.  I'm looking for super reliable people that want to make and receive some great blocks from fellow members.  So far I have Anna G., Angela S., and Alyson O.  In addition, I would LOVE it if one of the 6 volunteers would step up to be the bee mama (or papa). (pretty please? my plate is full.)

7.  Tickets to Denyse Schmidt Lecture-- If you plan to attend the DS Lecture on June 7th, please buy your tickets early.  You can use the link from the email I sent to get tickets for $10.  Invite your spouse or friend/s to use the nonmember button on the blog to buy their tickets ahead ($15).  Those of us on the board have put in a lot of hours into securing the space, the speaker and insurance.  It would mean a great deal to know that the event will be successful.  We will have three(!) pop up shops from our business members (including two new business members: Del Ray Fabrics and GoobaDesigns!) so plan to arrive at 4:30 to browse some pretty fabrics.

8.  Next Swap-- You'll be getting an email soon regarding our next guild member swap.  We'll be exchanging pouches--zip, fold over, button/snap, magnetic closure or drawstring.  It is a voluntary and secret swap (so you can stalk your swap partner and study his or her likes and dislikes before starting your bag).  Big thanks to our swap committee: Susan F. and Jamie!

Whew!  That's a lot of information to digest.  Let me know in the comments or by email if you have any questions.

Happy Sewing!