Thank you to all of the members who stepped up to fill the Special Events positions for next year. Your generosity will be appreciated by the entire Guild.
Chris Roche, VP Special Events
quiltshow@Northernstarquilters.com
Wednesday, May 18th is the last day that Comfort Quilts will be meeting in North Salem. Starting on Wednesday June 15th through September 14th, CQ will be following its Summer Schedule of meeting every Wednesday at Bnai Israel Temple located at 2 Banksville Road, Armonk, NY. Come and join the fun but always verify the dates with Carol Auer or Karen Carlson because dates are subject to change.
Congratulations to The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, our charitable organization for next year’s raffle quilt. Since there was only one nomination, there will not be a vote by the membership, but we hope you will be as excited as JoAnne Hochstein, the member sponsor of this organization that provides meals and wellness programs to those in need.
Thanks to the hard work of Barbara Tatera, The Ronald McDonald quilt project is now complete with seven quilts donated to the House in Valhalla. I would like to thank the many members who turned in blocks to be used in the quilts. There were also many members who donated extra time to make this project a success. A special thank you to the following members who quilted a quilt, made a full quilt top on their own, did the hand sewing on a binding or donated batting for the project: Joan Weth, Patricia Loquet, Isobel Greer, Diane Linker, Kelly Lockwood, Kim Hyde, Karen Carson, Barb Tatera, Althea Nolan, Chris Roche, Angie Contadino, Dee Rizzo, Carol Auer, Pat Baker, Cheryl Kosarek, Carol Sterk, Janice Nastasi and Jean Degl.
Althea Nolan, VP Charitable Activities
charitable@Northernstarquilters.com
The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the Slate of Officers for 2016-2017. The nominees will be introduced at the April Guild Meeting and voting will take place at the May Meeting.
President – Susan Fasnacht
Treasurer – Carla Wdowski
VP Membership – Jennifer Kramer
VP Quilt Show – Noreen Lippolis and Chris Roche (co VPs)
VP Education – Donna Chambers
Returning for a 2nd year in their current positions:
Secretary -Rosemary DePaola
VP Communications – Maria Catalano
VP Programs – Judy Gignesi
My thanks to the nominating committee, Karen Carlson, Jennifer Kramer, Noreen Lippolis and Joyce Sullivan for giving the Guild a wonderful slate of candidates. And I also thank the candidates for agreeing to share their talents with the Guild.
Barbara Sferra, Chairman
The President’s message this month will be a tribute to Sr. Barbara that I read at the March meeting. A number of members suggested it be in the Newsletter for absentees to read and for members to keep if they wish to. Click on the link for the tribute.
At the meeting I reported that the Show Committee and the Board have agreed to dedicate a page in the show catalog and provide a memorial Exhibit at the Show this year. We have taken member suggestions under advisement and discussed them. There will be a monetary donation from the Guild but the amount and the charity have not been designated. For one thing, we are waiting to see if Kennedy will be setting up some significant memorial that we would like to contribute to. I explained that the Guild is limited to some degree by our own Monetary Policies. It was obvious by the “show of hands” that most members wish to make personal donations, in the amount they choose, to add to the impact of the Guild’s gift when that is made. Checks would be made out to the specific charity but all would be donated together as a single gift to the chosen charity.
Your Board will continue to work toward a decision on this and we will keep you informed.
Joyce Sullivan, President
president@Northernstarquilters.com
It’s Show Time! There are only a few weeks to go. Our new venue at the O’Neill Center is going to make the Show fantastic. I hope you are inviting all of your friends and relatives to our new location in Danbury. Make sure you tell them that it is at the Westside Campus of Western Connecticut State University (not the downtown campus). There is a map on our website that you can click on to get directions. Please go to “Directions to Show” under Quilt Show, Visit the Show menu.
There are several ways you can help advertise our Show. There will be Show posters and postcards available at the admissions table at the April Guild meeting. Also, we sent everyone a Show invitation email that you can forward to your family and friends. We have found personal invitations from our members are on the best ways to bring in attendees.
If you have not yet volunteered for a job at the Quilt Show, it’s not too late to sign up! A minimum of two volunteer hours is expected of all members and is required in order to obtain one day of free admission (if you work four or more hours, you will get free entry to both Show days). This year we will be distributing vouchers that you will turn in at the O’Neill Center box office for your complimentary ticket. More details on how this system will work will be sent to you in a future email. As is our tradition, NSQG members will be allowed to enter the show at 9am on Saturday to get an early peak at the quilts or do some shopping.
Quilt Drop Off day is Saturday, April 23 from 1 pm until 4 pm at the Kennedy Catholic High School Cafeteria. Information on your registration with your quilt numbers will be mailed within two weeks. Please make sure your quilt is properly prepared for display. Don’t forget your sleeve must be sewn on the quilt. Also you need to sew your quilt number on the back of your quilt in the bottom right hand corner (as you are looking at the back of the quilt). Please refer to the “Registration Rules and Instructions” and the “Quilt Drop-off and Pick-up” pages under the Quilt Show menu “Show Your Quilt” on our website for complete instructions.
I’ll see everyone April 30 and May 1 – enjoy the Show!
Susan Fasnacht, VP Quilt Show
president@Northernstarquilters.com
The Machine Quilting SIG are attempting a challenge of free motion quilting for the next two months. Helen Boland will send out an email with the details for those who were not able to attend the meeting.
Helen will be stepping down from being moderator of the group next year so please let Helen or Jennifer Kramer know if you can take over the position. Any questions, please contact Helen Boland.
Jennifer Kramer, VP Education
education@Northernstarquilters.com
I received lots of nice comments from those members who were able to take the Deborah Tirico workshop. Evidently, it was quite a success. On that note, we still have room in the Karen Combs workshop. Her Quilts of Illusion are quite wonderful and I’m sure the class will be lots of fun.” Please go to our website for more details.
Judy Gignesi, VP Programs
Charitable@Northernstarquilters.com
Be sure to stop by the Comfort Quilt Display at our Quilt Show and enjoy examples of the variety of colorful designs and exquisite quilting done by many Guild Members on the Comfort Quilts which are distributed to those in need. Thanks to all who made quilts, quilted quilts or donated fabric to make these outstanding quilts.
Thanks also to all those who returned their raffle stubs and money to support this year’s charity Ann’s Place. You can still turn in your money and tickets at the April Guild Meeting or at the Quilt Show. The drawing will take place at the May Guild Meeting.
We are currently looking for a 2018 Raffle Quilt Coordinator. If you or a group of friends are interested in overseeing the construction of the raffle quilt for the 2018 charity, please contact Althea Nolan for details. Past experience has shown that getting the design approved by the Board and then using the summer months to get started on the design and the procedure works well.
Do you have an unfinished Comfort Quilt at home. There is no deadline and sooner or later when you get to it someone will be cheered by your quilt. If you don’t have a Comfort Quilt Kit, come and get one at the Guild Meetings.
Althea Nolan, VP Charitable Activities
charitable@Northernstarquilters.com
Quilt Registration closes on Thursday. We want to make the Show at our new venue spectacular and displaying the talents of the NSQG members is one way to do that. If you have a quilt that you can register, please do so today.
If you have any questions on the registration process, contact Yvonne at registrar@northernstarquilters.com.
Click here to go to the registration page.
The gallery of photos of the Silent Auction quilts has been moved under the Silent Auction section of the Quilt Show menu on the main page.
Quilt Registration Closes Next Thursday!
Don’t miss your chance to display a quilt in our inaugural Show at the O’Neill Center.
Why should you register this weekend and not on Thursday?
Click here to go to the registration page.
If you have any problems contact the Registrar at Registrar@NorthernStarQuilters.com.
First Dutchess Quilt Guild is sponsoring a bus trip to the Vermont Quilt Festival in Essex Junction, VT on June 23-24. $235 includes transportation from Poughkeepsie; lodging (double occupancy) at the Windjammer Inn-Best Western; tickets to the Shelburne Museum, to the Champagne-Chocolate reception to preview the show, and to the Festival. 24 available seats. To reserve a spot or for more info, please contact Teresa Meyer at lunkrrlady@gmail.com