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1.  Thanks to all who have registered quilts.   It’s going to be an amazing display! Quilt number labels and drop-off information letters should be received by the week prior to Dropoff, Saturday, April 27.  Contact Karen Carlson, registrar@northernstarquilters.com, with any questions.

2.  We still need volunteers – click HERE.  Please pitch in – there’s a job for everyone!  Specific volunteer job instructions will be sent to you by that area’s coordinator prior to the show. Any questions, contact the job coordinator or showvolunteers@northernstarquilters.com

3.  Bring your Raffle Baskets and any donated items to the April guild meeting.  Donations of empty baskets in good condition are welcome.   Contact Shelley Lounsbury, Rita Romeu or Kathy Tuttle with any questions.

4. Bring quilt and craft books (no magazines) for the quilt show book sale.   Contact Patricia Loquet with any questions.

Challenge Coordinator(s) –  Do you have an idea for the 2025 NSQG quilt challenge?   If your challenge is chosen by the board, you will be responsible for informing the members of the challenge, collecting the quilts in March, organizing the voting in April and displaying the challenge quilts with ribbons at the Quilt Show.  Share the job with a friend if desired.  Send your idea along with proposed rules and parameters for your suggestion to activities@northernstarquilters.com.

Super Saturday Coordinator(s) – Encourage members to teach at Super Saturday, make arrangements with the church in Yorktown, coordinate with the Hospitality about lunch and snacks.  This event takes place during February.  Share the job with a friend if desired. Willing to take on this activity?  Contact activities@northernstarquilters.com.

• Black and White Challenge
  Vote for your favorite Black and White Challenge quilt at the April 17^th Guild Meeting.
• Ugly Fabric Auction
  Last chance to bring in those ‘Ugly Fabrics’ for our May auction.
• September Lancaster AQS trip
  Bring a check and signup!  Check the details on our website Trip event page  or contact coordinator Christine Bunke, chrisme214@aol.com.
  
• Fall and Spring Mariandale Quilt Retreats
  Sign-up for the very popular Mariandale Quilt Retreats will start in May.  The Fall retreat will be Tuesday 11/5/24-Thursday 11/7/24. The Spring retreat will be Friday 3/21/25-Sunday 3/23/25.  Questions: Jody Sullivan jodysull@optonline.net.

NSQG Workshops

• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact Jo Thomas, programs@northernstarquilters.com

Click pic for video interview

Affirmation Quilts & Quilt Typography

Saturday, 9 March 2024
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm ET
Zoom link will be emailed to all members a few days before the event, no signup necessary.

Every NSQG member is invited to this free Zoom event during which we will learn about Nicole’s Affirmation Project and then explore different methods by which we can put text onto a quilt!
Review details and supply list HERE.

1.  Quilt registration is now open!  You can always find all the details on the NSQG website on how to register your quilt including which category to register under, when to drop off your quilt and more!  Remember your quilt does not need to be finished to register – just enough to send a picture and then you have until drop off on April 27 to complete. Contact Karen Carlson, registrar@northernstarquilters.com, with any questions.
Review quilt registration guidelines and register now.

2.  Volunteer sign-ups for the 2024 Quilt Show start Friday, March 1, 2024.  Details and signup link can also be found on the NSQG website.  Each member is expected to sign up for one or more shifts. Details about each volunteer job are included in the sign-up details. The show is only a success because of the volunteers!

3.  We will again have a raffle booth at the quilt show this year which so far includes 12 raffle baskets with varying themes and a Bernina 475 sewing machine donated by Lisa Alfonzetti of Pins and Needles.  Our themes include Welcome Baby, Baking, Travel to Quilt, Comfort Quilt Kit and Quilting Essentials, Pre-K Reading, Pillows by Karen Griska, Birdfy Smart Bird Feeder, Dog Lovers, Quilts and Cocktails, and Beads and Jewelry Making. The raffle basket committee would welcome any new offers of raffle baskets!  Each basket should contain new merchandise valued at least $100.  Baskets will be due by the April guild meeting.  All proceeds from the raffle booth will go to programs for our guild.  Donations of pre-owned empty baskets are welcome.   Please contact Shelley Lounsbury, Rita Romeu or Kathy Tuttle.

4.  Help Fill a Basket – Donations Needed!  Bring to guild meetings or Comfort Quilts.

• Narcita Medina is making a GLOBAL FABRICS basket and is looking for donations of ethnic fabric (1/4 yard minimum) to include in her collection.  Please label fabric with country of origin.
• Shelly Lounsbury is requesting NEW books (or like new) for ages 3-4, not board books, for the Pre-K Reading basket.   Please contact Shelly before donating to avoid duplicates.

5. I’m hoping many of you will be ‘spring cleaning’ and have lots of quilt and craft books and patterns to donate to the Quilt Show Book Sale. Questions?  Contact Patricia Loquet.

• Collections will take place at the March and April meetings.
• Donations will be accepted at Comfort Quilts as well
• We are NOT collecting magazines.
• Items must be clean, complete, in good condition, and odor free.
• Bring in boxes or sturdy reusable bags, NOT paper or plastic bags.

• Super Saturday
  Bring in your creations for Show n Tell.
• Black and White Challenge
  Due at the March meeting, please have a friend bring if you can’t make the meeting.  Contact coordinator Constanze Toplansky, constanze.toplansky@gmail.com.
• Ugly Fabric Auction
  May 15 – keep bringing in those ‘Ugly Fabrics’. You can review details on our website May Meeting page or contact our auctioneer, Linda Finegan, linfin612@gmail.com.
• Lancaster AQS trip
  Bring a check and signup!  Check the details on our website Trip event page  or contact coordinator Christine Bunke, chrisme214@aol.com.

NSQG Workshops

• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact Jo Thomas, programs@northernstarquilters.com

Wholecloth created in Teri Lucas Workshop by CathyJo Rogers

Some quilt show dates to keep in mind:

• Feb 14 – Quilt Registration Opens
• March 1 – Volunteer Signups Start
• April 27 – Quilt Dropoff
• May 4&5 – Quilt Show
• May 5 – Quilt Pickup

Hello Fellow Quilters,

The Quilt Show is quickly approaching and you need to reserve your panel for your SIG or group exhibit.  Guidelines can be reviewed on our website page Special Exhibit Guidelines.

Please contact me with any questions and to secure your space at the show.
Patti Calautti, pattic0312@gmail.com

 It’s time to nominate a charity for 2025’s Quilt Show Raffle. Recipient must be a non-profit organization that serves people in the local, tri-state area. Check our website page Charity Nomination Guidelines for more information or contact me at meemee530@gmail.com.

Dee Plouffe, charitable@northernstarquilters.com

Hi everyone,

As I write this article, the weather is cold and rainy, but what better time to spend the day quilting!

Our guild continues to expand! Our latest membership tally is 214.  With the addition of many new members, Joanne and I encourage you to wear your name badges at meetings. Associating a name with a face can be a great way of getting to know one another.   Name badges for new members will be available for pick up at the Membership table on March 20^th, our next in-person meeting.

Please join us in welcoming Nancy Scotford of the Bronx, Catherine Mahon of Poughkeepsie, Jamie Hasl from Somers, Susan Zuckerman of Croton-on-Hudson and Valerie Zeman from Cortland Manor.

We recently sent a survey to new members to get an idea of how they had heard about the guild. Thanks to Karen Carlson for her technical assistance with this project. Here are the results:

• Several respondents reported that the guild had been recommended to them by an NSQG member.
• A few other new members decided to join after attending our show.
• Another major source of referrals was Pins and Needles; many thanks to Lisa Alfonzetti for her support of NSQG!
• A few people have returned to NSQG now that they have retired or their children have grown up.
• We were surprised to find that no one mentioned hearing about the guild through social media.

Thank you to each and every person who, in one way or another, has been a guild ambassador this year!

We hope to see you at the next zoom meeting or Super Saturday!
Joanne Visovsky and Carol Sterk, membership@northernstarquilters.com

NSQG Workshops

• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact Jo Thomas, programs@northernstarquilters.com

• Super Saturday
  Feb.17 – most classes full, check details on our website Super Saturday page or contact coordinator Lefa Alksne, lefermilch@gmail.com.
• Black and White Challenge
  Due at the March meeting – all you need to know about this exciting challenge is on our website Challenge page or contact coordinator Constanze Toplansky, constanze.toplansky@gmail.com.
• Ugly Fabric Auction
  May 15 – keep gathering those ‘Ugly Fabrics’. You can review details on our website May Meeting page or contact our auctioneer, Linda Finegan, linfin612@gmail.com.
• Signup for the Lancaster AQS trip
  Sept.13-14 – details are still being determined depending on response and number of attendees, you can check for current info on our website Trip event page  or contact coordinator Christine Bunke, chrisme214@aol.com.

2024 Raffle Quilt ‘Parfait’ to benefit North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Check your mailbox for your packet of  raffle tickets. Ticket stubs and a check can be mailed back to me, Dee Plouffe  280A Heritage Hills, Somers NY, 10589.  If you need more tickets just email me and I will mail them to you….meemee530@gmail.com or click HERE.

Dee Plouffe’,  charitable@northernstarquilters.com

NSQG Workshops

• January(Zoom) – Free Motion Quilting, Teri Lucas
• March – A Day with NSQG’s Own, Daisy Dodge
• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact Jo Thomas, programs@northernstarquilters.com

Want to go on an overnight quilt show trip?  This trip is being planned for Sept. 13–14, 2024.  You will join a group of NSQG members on a bus trip that includes entry to the AQS show, visiting fabric shops along the way, overnight accommodations and some meals.  Details are still being determined depending on response and number of attendees.  For information, please contact:  Christine Bunke, trip coordinator, chrisme214@aol.com

Challenge pieces will be due at our next in-person meeting in March.  Voting will take place at the April meeting.
All you need to know about this exciting challenge is on the NSQG website NSQG website Challenge page.
Questions? Contact Constanze Toplansky at constanze.toplansky@gmail.com.

Cleaning up after the holidays?  Is your New Year’s resolution to clean out your fabric stash?  The solution is to donate your fabrics to our Ugly Fabric Auction – quilting cottons of at least 1/4 yard.  You can bring your fabric to the March and April guild meetings or to Comfort Quilts.  If you are in the Mahopac area, call Jean Degl (845-628-9130, jdegl@yahoo.com) to make an appointment to drop off fabric, if closer to Mt. Kisco, contact Rona Spar (914-941-4931, ronaquilter@gmail.com).

Questions? Contact our auctioneer, Linda Finegan at linfin612@gmail.com

2024 Raffle Quilt ‘Parfait’ to benefit North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Check your mailbox for your packet of  raffle tickets. Ticket stubs and a check can be mailed back to me, Dee Plouffe  280A Heritage Hills, Somers NY, 10589.  If you need more tickets just email me and I will mail them to you….meemee530@gmail.com or click HERE.

Dee Plouffe’,  charitable@northernstarquilters.com

‘Tis the season to celebrate quilty friends and lots of treats! At our upcoming December guild meeting, you are invited to join us in a cookie swap!

Please bring one dozen cookies to share at the meeting and a container to take home some extras.

Email your recipe (if you’d like to share it) to hospitality@northernstarquilters.com.  We will include it in an eBook cookie recipe collection to be shared with members in our next newsletter.  Along with the recipe, please include a story, picture or anything else that makes the cookies special to you.

STILL NEEDED: Committee heads for the Admissions and Quilt Handler committees.

Both of these are roles important to the success of our show; they are not longterm or complicated, and minimal prep is needed.  There will be a full team of volunteers for each position to assist you.  Committee responsibilities could be shared by a couple people, so grab a friend and volunteer!

•  ADMISSIONS – responsible for the functioning of the admissions tables.
  This position involves overseeing ticket processing, cash & charge payments, wristbands, pre-paid attendee tracking and cash box return to treasurer and register closeout at end of day.
•  QUILT HANDLER – responsible for the handling, storing, and transporting show quilts.
  This position requires the person to pack and transport the quilts by category Drop-off day (Saturday mid-day, April 27, 2024), then transport to and from Judging day (Tuesday am&pm, April 30, 2024);  and finally to transport to Show Setup day – Friday am, May 3, 2024.

When we think about a friend, an acquaintance, a family member whose day could be brightened with a call or a visit.  We act on that thought.

One of the traditional gestures of our guild is to bring heartwarming messages to our members through cards.  If you know of a member who has been ill or suffered a loss, please send an email to our secretary, Amanda Curley, secretary@northernstarquilters.com, and she’ll post a card from the guild.  Likewise, if the guild receives a donation, please email our secretary.  She’ll send a note of appreciation.

Stock up on books for the winter months, remember January and February are Zoom meetings.

Continue to design and work on your black and white challenge which is due at the March guild meeting.
All you need to know about this exciting challenge is on the NSQG website NSQG website Challenge page.
Questions? Contact Constanze Toplansky at constanze.toplansky@gmail.com

Cleaning up for the holidays?? Donate your unwanted fabric- quilting cottons of at least 1/4 yard –  to our Ugly Fabric Auction. ‘One quilter’s trash is another quilter’s treasure!’   You can bring your fabric to the guild meeting or to Comfort Quilts.  If you are in the Mahopac area, call Jean Degl to make an appointment to drop off fabric, closer to Mt. Kisco, contact Rona Spar.   The auction, this year to be at our May meeting, raises funds for the Guild while we all have a good time bidding on the donated fabrics.

Questions? Contact our auctioneer, Linda Finegan at linfin612@gmail.com

NSQG Workshops

• January(Zoom) – Free Motion Quilting, Teri Lucas
• March – A Day with NSQG’s Own, Daisy Dodge
• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact Jo Thomas, programs@northernstarquilters.com

Raffle Quilt 2024 – “Parfait “ is a bed size quilt coordinated by Carol Auer and Karen Carlson, pieced and hand quilted with a ‘big stitch’ by members of our Guild.  Please support this year’s member chosen charity – North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Raffle ticket packets were distributed at the November meeting.  Please return your check and paid ticket stubs to me, I will be at the sign -in table.  And you can always request additional tickets HERE.

Raffle Quilt 2025 – Our Raffle Quilt for 2025 is being coordinated by Barbara Allen.   Special thanks to Patricia Loquet  for the use of her Accuquilt fabric cutting machine.

Dee Plouffe’,  charitable@northernstarquilters.com

Season’s Greetings to everyone!

Northern Star is rounding out the year with a total of 211 members.  Please join Joanne and I in welcoming our five newest members!  They are Elizabeth Aaron of Maplewood, NJ, Margaret Meola, of Summit, NJ, Sam Panzier of Rye Brook, Carol Powers of Cortland Manor and Bonnie Terrano of Yonkers.  It’s great to see a new surge of interest in quilting in our area!

We wish you a wonderful new year that includes the completion of one of your unfinished projects!

Joanne Visovsky and Carol Sterk, membership@northernstarquilters.com

NSQG Workshops

• November – FULL-WAITLIST ONLY – Fabulous Freehand Curves, Cindy Grisdela
• January – Free Motion Quilting, Teri Lucas
• March – Bauhaus Sampler, Daisy Dodge
• April – Pictorial Whole Cloth Quilts, Christina Arcenegui Bono
• May – Dancing with the Wall, Irene Roderick

Questions? Contact programs@northernstarquilters.com

Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to be a committee head for the 2024 Quilt Show!

We still need committee heads for the Admissions and Quilt Handler committees.  Both of these are roles are critical to the success of our show!

•  ADMISSIONS – responsible for the functioning of the admissions tables.
  This position involves overseeing ticket processing, cash & charge payments, wristbands, pre-paid attendee tracking and cash box return to treasurer and register closeout at end of day.
•  QUILT HANDLER – responsible for the handling, storing, and transporting show quilts from Drop-off day thru Judging to Show set-up.
  This position requires the person to sort and pack the quilts by category and transport to their home, Drop-off – Saturday, April 27, 2024;  to transport to  and from Judging – Tuesday am/pm, April 30, 2024;  and finally to deliver the quilts for Show Setup – Friday am, May 3, 2024.

• BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE – Challenge yourself to make a quilt using only black and white fabrics.  Black and white prints are okay, but no grey, and no other colors!  The perimeter can be no larger than 80” but can be any shape you choose.  Full rules can be found on the NSQG website challenge page.  Questions? Contact Constanze Toplansky at constanze.toplansky@gmail.com
• ORPHAN BLOCKS – Pick up an orphan block kit from Patricia Loquet at Comfort Quilts or at the next Guild meeting.  In the bag you will find a selection of donated orphan blocks that you can sew into a beautiful quilt using your creativity by adding your own fabric and clever ideas.  This takes a bit of ingenuity and curiosity, but you will end up with a beautiful quilt.
• UGLY FABRIC AUCTION – Please continue to bring your ‘ugly’ fabrics to Guild meetings and Comfort Quilts meetings.  The auction is always a happy meeting that raises funds for the Guild while we all have a good time bidding on the donated fabrics.  Jean Degl is storing the fabrics at her home, so if you are in the Mahopac area, call her to make an appointment to drop them off.  Rona Spar will also collect fabrics at her home in Mt. Kisco, just call to let her know when you are coming.  Questions? Contact Linda Finegan at linfin612@gmail.com

  – 2024 Raffle ticket booklets for the beautiful bed sized quilt, Parfait, will be distributed at the November 15^th  Guild Meeting, can be picked up at Comfort Quilts, or can be mailed.  Please help by picking up packets for members who are unable to attend meetings.  Proceeds will benefit the North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps of North Salem NY.  Thank you Carol Auer and Karen Carlson for coordinating this project and all our members who helped sewing and hand quilting this beautiful quilt.

Dee Plouffe’,  charitable@northernstarquilters.com