Welcome back!  It’s hard to believe that our hot and dry summer is almost over.  We hope you had a restful summer and were also able to get in some happy sewing time.  Let’s make it an exciting year!  Greetings to several new members who have joined us and to those of you returning.  If you haven’t renewed your membership, now is the time!

Our first in-person meeting is Wednesday, September 21, at Kennedy Catholic HS in Somers from 6:00-8:30.  Hospitality will be providing cookies, be sure to buy tickets at the Table Raffle.  Think about one Show and Tell you might share which helps everyone to better know our members.  Then prepare to learn from our guest lecturer, Deborah Kalenty, who will hold a workshop the next day at Millwood Fire Co#1 from 9:00-3:00.  There is still room for members to sign up for her “Love Links” workshop before we publicize it widely.

We’d like to announce that we have received a $3000 grant from ArtsWestchester to assist with funding our 2022 programs and quilt show, with many thanks for the efforts of Anne Chehebar and Susan Fasnacht.

This year we are excited to invite you to participate in a quilting retreat weekend at The Center at Mariandale in Ossining.  We have attended retreats there for years with our other guild (NYCMetroMod) and have loved every single one.  It is scheduled for the first weekend in February.  There is a minimum number required to reserve our space (as well as a cut-off number).   Details will follow at our meeting and in a future email.

Do you have scissors that need sharpening?  We have a contact who is good and is willing to come during a meeting with his equipment.  We’ll ask for a show of hands during our next meeting to gauge interest.   Prices: $10 large, $8 small.

The Ugly Fabric auction will resume and it’s already time to start gathering your donations!  Because our January and February meetings are on Zoom, we will start collecting fabric in the Fall.

We plan to resume Super Saturday this February or March – stay tuned for details.

If you signed up for the “Card Tricks” Guild Challenge, we hope you’ve been “shuffling” your skills and designs and coming up with a winning card!  This is an opportunity for some members to have their quilts displayed in an AQS Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Comfort Quilts Summer Challenge and Quilt Raffle will be presented in October.  If you’ve not been able to come to one of our CQ sewing days, please come to one of our upcoming CQ meetings or check out Comfort Quilts at our meeting.

One hundred and forty quilts, made and donated by our members and many other guilds and groups, were successfully delivered to Ukraine.  We’ve seen photos as the boxes were being received and opened.  Since then, we’ve been asked to make quilts for a Ukrainian orphanage in the Carpathian Mountains.  We are nearly ready to send out another delivery.

We need someone to step up and “oversee” the Activities Committee.  The subcommittees are already operating under leaders.  A coordinator would be most helpful.   Please volunteer if you want to do something to help the guild.

Details on these various activities follow in the Latest News section.  Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions, suggestions or want to volunteer in any capacity, our personal emails are in your member directory.  In the meantime, continue to enjoy your summer!

Happy Quilting!  See you soon!
Margaret Cibulsky and Jody Sullivan

Viewers Choice-Norma Lopez Burton-When Life Give You Scraps Make Quilts

Jody and Margaret
Contact president@northernstarquilters.com

Best of Show(small)-At the Bazaar-Linda Schoenfeld

Best of Show(large)-Good Times Bad TImes-Barbara Camoagna

‘Put a Heart on It’ Challenge

This newsletter is most likely arriving in your in-box right after A World of Quilts XLI has ended.  In case you are wondering, 65 NSQG members submitted 162 quilts and 16 non-members also participated.  We sincerely thank everyone who contributed their time, effort and talent to make this show a success.  Special thanks go to Lisa Alfonzetti and her competent and amazing committee for all they did to bring us back to an in-person and fabulous experience in this new venue.  We look forward to hearing your opinions.

Chris Economos, who is coordinating the collection and delivery of quilts to Ukraine from NSQG and NYCMQG and others, has informed us that she will have about 100 quilts to send soon. As wonderful as that is, it’s a sad reminder that the need for comfort and support is ongoing. Chris has said that this effort will continue and she will let us know about future collection dates.

Be sure to review the information about our Annual Meeting and Board Election below.  We still have an opening for the appointed position of Activities Liaison. Several of the events that fall in this category have been filled so much of the work has been done. We just need one of two members to head up the committee.  Please consider volunteering!

The guest speaker at our May meeting is our own Lisa Mason who will present a trunk show of her beautiful quilts.  You are in for a big treat! Two lucky people will win our charity raffle prizes! And don’t forget your Show n Tell!

Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday May 18!
Jody and Margaret
Contact president@northernstarquilters.com

Read our show write-up in ArtsNews!

We had a successful and lively in-person meeting in March and were excited to see so many smiling faces. The Show and Tell aspect seems to be a real hit… and quite inspiring, too.  Obviously many of you have been using your time creatively and productively.  We look forward to our next meeting on Wednesday April 6 at 6:00.

Leading up to that gathering is a two day workshop with Heidi Parkes where she’ll be guiding us in creating framed quilts.  The workshop will be held in our new venue for workshops, the Millwood Fire Company#1, from 9-4 on both Tuesday 4/5 and Wednesday 4/6.

Thanks to Lisa and the quilt show committee, A World of Quilts is well underway with planning and preparations.  Please do your part and sign up to volunteer in some capacity.  Check the website to see where you’re needed.  Remember that a two hour shift gives you a free day pass to the show but of course we hope you’ll do more!

Membership will be voting in May on the proposed slate of elected officers for 2022-2023:
– Co-President Margaret Cibulsky
– Co-President Jody Sullivan
– Secretary Fran Jacobson
– Treasurer Amanda Curley
– Programs Kathy Tuttle
– Membership Joanne Visovsky
– Communications Anne MacDonald
– Quilt Show Lisa Alfonzetti

We’re still looking for someone (or several of you) to fill the position of Activities Liaison so that fun things continue to happen (member sponsored meetings, ugly fabric, Super Saturday, trips, games, etc).  Please consider stepping up to help.  This is meant to be a shared position with shared responsibilities.

On another note, our June Salad Supper at Kennedy will be held June 15th NOT June 22nd so be sure to redo your calendar if need be.

VOLUNTEER!

Hoping you’re all keeping healthy and warm! These cold days are a perfect time to snuggle up with a quilt on your sofa and perhaps with the book THE SECRET LIVES OF COLOR. The author of that book, Kassia St.Clair, is next month’s guest lecturer. Her book is a top-ten best seller and has been translated into 20 languages. Maybe you have read her first book THE GOLDEN THREAD: How Fabric Changed History?

February newsletters in past years have usually announced events like Super Saturday and the Ugly Fabric Auction but COVID continues to interfere with our normal lives. This year, Comfort Quilts is offering a special Saturday meeting, pre-registration is required. Hopefully we will be meeting in person in March where April and Narci will be collecting the challenge quilts themed “Put a Heart on It”. We should have lots of submissions since we’ve had years to create them. It will be great having a large display at the quilt show.

We know that many of you have been busy finishing up your quilts, sewing on sleeves and labels as well as registering quilts for our show on our website. The show will be here before you know it. A special thank you goes out to Lisa and her committee that have been doing a yeoman’s job making all the arrangements so that we can celebrate the event. More volunteers are still needed. Again, see our website for all details relating to the show.

Feedback from the Improv SIG’s first pop up on January 15th has been positive and Part Two will be on February 5th (and recorded).  Tamar Drucker’s pop-up on February 19th will demonstrate using uneven quilt edges.  If anyone else, or another group, is interested in doing a pop up to highlight their work, please contact Kathy Tuttle.  It’s fun to share and learn from each other.

Jody and Margaret, president@northernstarquilters.com

Hopefully you all had a Thanksgiving Day that left you full of abundant thankfulness and joy as much as feasting with family and friends.

We are particularly thankful that we will be able to meet with you IN PERSON very soon.  Don’t forget we’re meeting THURSDAY December 9th at Kennedy Catholic at 6:00pm.  Vaccinations required.  In addition to your face mask please wear your name tag!  It’s been a while since some of us have actually seen each other.  And be prepared to have a bit of fun because Narci and April have prepared a few games for us!  Cookies, coffee and tea will be provided by the guild.

If you have a show and tell and want to share during the meeting, there will be a sign-up clip board at the welcoming table and we’ll make time for you as well.  We know many of you have been prolific during this last year and simply can’t wait until the Quilt Show.

We hope you’ve been taking advantage of some of the many interesting and exciting workshops.  Be sure to check our emails and website’s calendar from time to time for updates so that you can plan ahead and not miss out on any activities.

The Home page features this year’s charity quilt “Bright Star” with links on how to purchase Raffle Ticket Booklets online.  Ticket Booklets will be available for pickup at our December meeting.

Please check out your Member Directory which you should have received in pdf form.  We think it’s great to see color photos of members!  Hard copies in black and white will be available at our meeting on the 9th if you were unable to pick one up at the last CQ meeting.

We wish you a very joyous and peaceful holiday season.

Margaret and Jody
Co-Presidents, president@northernstarquilters.com

We’re through October which began with a beautiful gathering outside for our “Fall Social”.  And, as spooky Halloween approached, we had a few scares of  our own with unsure in-person dates and finding a venue for our Quilt Show.

Margaret and Jody
Co-Presidents, president@northernstarquilters.com

Hi fellow quilters!

What a wonderful start of a “new year!” It was so good to see so many smiling faces and hear your enthusiasm for our programs.  While there have been a few bumps in the road, we all have kept a positive attitude and a “can do” approach and that seems to be paying off.  It looks like we’ll be back to having an in person Quilt Show in May (actually 4/29-5/1) and we’re working on our in-person meetings.

Wasn’t our speaker, Giucy Giuce, fun and informative?!  We look forward to hearing from those who took his workshop and seeing your work.  Hopefully  you’ll post photos on Facebook and Instagram (with lots of hashtags! — the more #’s the greater the audience).

Speaking of Social Media, we’re looking for someone willing to be our Social Media “expert.”  It simply requires posting members’ photos onto the two guild sites. The more exposure we have the more interest we’ll attract.  If you’re interested, contact Jody Sullivan or Karen Carlson for access information.

We hope to see a lot of you at our Fall Social (10/9 [rain date 10/16]) at North Salem Ambulance Corps.  There will be an opportunity to view and bid on Comfort Quilts’ Summer Project Quilts, buy pins and boutique quilt kits and bags of books, renew your membership and have your photograph taken for the directory if you haven’t already, and get advice at “The Doctor is In” consulting table.  And most importantly, you’ll be able to visit with each other in person!

Here’s to a continued year of happy quilting.
Margaret and Jody
Co-Presidents, president@northernstarquilters.com

Hi all!

We are excited to begin the “new year” with you and look forward to what lies ahead.  We’re hoping for a healthy, happy and productive year. Many thanks to the “old guard” who  have done an amazing job through challenging times and have created a calendar that looks to be a full one.

We, of course, were a bit stunned when we learned we could no longer have our Quilt Show at West Conn, but with the leadership of Lisa Alfonzetti and her committee we are confident we will find an alternative and Make It Work!  There are several ideas being pursued and no stone being left unturned.  If you have any suggestions and/or ideas, please share them with one of us.

Our board and guild meetings will continue mostly on zoom for the first few months at least.  We’re hoping to have an in-person meeting in December and will keep you posted. Our first board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 14 and our first guild meeting will be the following week Tuesday September 21.  You will be receiving a reminder with link information ahead of time.

We have been happy to see that many of the SIGs have continued to meet through the past year either with zoom, in person or a combination. Keep us informed as to what you’re doing and creating!

We are planning a social gathering at the North Salem Ambulance Corps some time in October… much like we had last year. It will be a good opportunity to actually see each other, view (and bid on) the Comfort Quilt summer challenges, see displays of other SIGs works, continue Membership work, buy books, kits and more. We’ll keep you posted as to date and times.

If any of you have any questions, information or ideas for us, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  Also, if there’s a committee you’d like to participate in, please let us know.  In the meantime continue to enjoy your summer and happy quilting.

Margaret Cibulsky and Jody Sullivan
Co-Presidents, president@northernstarquilters.com

This June seems very much a time of new beginnings:  Spring is bursting forth and seems to be lusher than ever, we are casting off our masks and slowly starting to pick up our pre-pandemic lives — and we have a new Board, ready and eager to take over the reins of the Guild.  Thank you again to all those Board members who agreed to serve.  We wish you all the very best in the coming year and we hope that you find your experience on the Board as rewarding as we have.

The past year has certainly been a learning experience. Among the challenges we can all be proud of mastering, count the technology that allowed us to continue getting together.  Our Zoom meetings and lectures averaged over 65 members each month.  Online workshops were full. Small group SIGs met together over the Internet.  Not only did we become comfortable with the technology, we discovered its benefits.  The online forums helped us get to know each other better, meet others for the first time, and allowed new members, some living miles away, to join us.

We want to express our sincere gratitude to those who made this possible.  First, the Board who were unstinting in their support of all the changes that had to be made and so willing to step up and do what was needed to keep the Guild and its programs going.  We think everyone will agree that Linda Stern deserves a special shout-out for the wonderful variety of programs that we have enjoyed from creative quilters around the world and Anne MacDonald acted as the perfect emcee, hosting our meetings and allowing us to take part, to chat and to vote.   Kudos too to all those volunteers who were willing to take on SIGs and pop-up workshops to meet our need to be together and share our interests.  We have been enriched too by the quilts and their stories that members have shared with us.

During the last year, members have been busy quilting!  In particular, six of our members – Donna Chambers, Susan Fasnacht , Linda Finegan, Jennifer Larrabee, Judy Simek and Rona Spar – now have their work displayed at the ArtsWestchester Exhibition “Together apART:  Creating During COVID”.  Congratulations to them all! The works will be on display at the ArtsWestchester Gallery at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains.  Reservations are required and can be purchased here: https://artswestchester.org/together-apart-creating-during-covid/.

Despite the pandemic, our raffle this year hit a record.  At the next Guild meeting, a check for $9,000 will be presented to SHORE/ICARE.  Dee Plouffe did an amazing job of organizing the raffle – distributing the tickets, receiving the proceeds and enlisting her lovely granddaughters to pick the winners.   Thanks also to Pins and Needles and SHORE/ICARE who rallied their customers and supporters.

Next year’s 2022 raffle recipient will be Friends of Karen. This charitable organization provides emotional, financial and advocacy support for children with life-threatening illness and their families.  Judy Gignisi and her helpers will be displaying the wonderful quilt they have created for this raffle come fall.  And Rosemary DePaola has generously agreed to organize the assembly and quilting of a striking contemporary quilt for 2023 (we do think ahead)!

The lecturer for our June 15th Guild meeting will be Elizabeth Eastmond.  In her lecture, the Abecedary of Quilts, she will talk about the power of quilting and tell stories about how our creative efforts affect our lives and those of others around us.  We hope to see you there for our final meeting of the Guild year.

We wish all of you a relaxing and fun-filled summer and look forward to having you back in September, rested and bursting with creative ideas!

Best, Karen and Anne
June 2021