March Quilt Day – Saturday, March 16 (in person and on Zoom) – WCC Morris Lawrence Building. Doors open at 8:30 and the meeting begins at 9:15 (Zoom invitations will be emailed on March 14. Sign in at 9:00a)
Speaker: Our speaker will be Deborah Boschert and her lecture is entitled “Exploring Art Quilt Collage” See more information about Deborah by following the links for her Face Book and Instagram.Demo: Quilting Tools and Techniques: The Latest and The Greatest. Non-members can purchase a $10 lecture ticket to attend in-person or via Zoom on our website store. If you are taking one of her classes, the Quilt Day Meeting and lecture are included at no extra charge.
Demo: Whether you’re new to quilting or have years of experience, there are always tools and techniques to make your quilting easier and more fun. Lynn Aleman and Carol Makielski, both long-time quilters, will share many of their favorite (and unusual) tools and ideas before and after the meeting. Bring paper and pen, and your phone/camera, as you’re sure to leave with lots of great ideas.
Vendor: Our vendor for Saturday will be something a bit different. a scissor sharpening event. The Roaming Stone has agreed to do their thing at the Morris Lawrence Building (see their tent outside). Be sure to bring your scissors (or even knives or gardening shears) with you on the 16th. What could be simpler? Drop your items off before the meeting and pick them up after. Their prices are: Straight Edge Knife $7 Serrated Knife $7 Scissors $10 (excludes hair/grooming shears) Hedge Shears $10. They use Square for payment (debit or credit cards) and do not accept cash for the safety of their sharpeners.
Book Quilt Challenge: It’s time to see what our members have come up with in response to The Book Club Quilt Challenge. There will be a slide show of the entries and you will be able to view most of them at the meeting. Please send the photos of your creations by March 13to Amy Hammer atasuzettehammer@yahoo.com so she can put together a slide presentation for Quilt Day.
Batting for Members’ SafeHouse Quilts: We have restocked our batting supply and will have lots of batts available on March Quilt Day. Many of our members make multiple SafeHouse quilts each year, and we are happy to be able to supply 70” x 90” batts for these quilts. Please let Lynne Bryant know how many you need by March 14 at safehousebatting@gaaqg.com and pick them up before the meeting. Any unclaimed at the end of the meeting will go to those who have not preordered.
SafeHouse Sew-In – March 16 following Quilt Day Meeting
There will be an in-person Sew-In for SafeHouse Center on Saturday afternoon following our Quilt Day meeting, after a short break for lunch. It will be in Morris-Lawrence Room 105/120, and you can bring your sewing machine and supplies to the room before the meeting. The Cut-Ups have been working hard to make sure there will be plenty of kits available for you to choose from, or you are welcome to bring your own project to work on. There are many other ways to participate: you might want to iron for others, but this only works if there are a lot of people sewing; or you could work on cutting scrap fabric (provided or use your own) into 2 1/2” strips or squares of various sizes to be used in SafeHouse quilts; or work with one or two other people on putting together a kit (this might be the most fun). So, bring your lunch, your sewing supplies, and a willingness to work with the group to see what we can put together for SafeHouse! Stay all afternoon (until 4:00), or for just an hour, or just join us for lunch. It is a great way to get to know your fellow Quilt Guild members!
GAAQG Upcoming Activities
Workshops – March 15, 16 and 17 and May 17 & 19 (in-person only)
There are still openings in all three of our March and both May workshops. You won’t want to miss out on these opportunities. Learn something new! Sew with your friends!
In March, we welcome Deborah Boschert who will be visiting from Texas to present three workshops. The first on March 15th is called “Original Art Quilt Collage-Personal Symbols.” Her Saturday lecture is called “Exploring Art Quilt Collage” and after the Saturday meeting, she will teach “Head, Heart & Hand – Developing Your Creative Voice.” Then on Sunday, March 17th she will teach “Graphic Landscape Fabric Collage.” Deborah is a well-known, respected instructor who can get you excited about your quilting. Those who took her classes at QU a few years ago raved about her! Learn more details, see the supply lists, and register on our website Workshops page (open to both members and non-members).
Our upcoming workshops for May are with Robin Koehler who comes to us from Florida. Her business name is ”Nestlings by Robin” and you can also check out her blog, Instagram and Facebook pages (links are on her website). For our guild membership who asked for traditional style quilting, Robin is that and more. She will present two workshops: Friday, May 17th called “Bounce” is a paper pieced quilt. The pattern is included with the workshop. Her lecture is called “How Hard Can It Be?”, and her Sunday, May 19th workshop is called “Flora Fauna ~ Not all Quilts are Flat,” which is a 3-D take on quilting. Learn a variety of techniques while enjoying the company of friends at these in-person workshops. Robin has a lot to share with us and is a popular instructor. See our Workshops website page to learn more, see the supply lists, and register (open to both members and non-members).
Fabric Sale – May 18 (following Quilt Day Meeting – Morris Lawrence Atrium)
Our Annual Fabric Sale has raised a lot of money in past years to cover the costs our guild incurs to support our SafeHouse activities (batting, labels, kits, etc.) and additional funds raised beyond our costs are donated to SafeHouse. Fabric is sold by quantity (small, medium, and large bags full) so the savings are amazing! Members get the first opportunity until noon, and after that the public is welcome to purchase. We hope you have spent some time going through your stash and collecting fabrics you may love but know you won’t use, so bring them to the March Quilt Day. Other members will put them to good use for SafeHouse or personal quilts. For more information, contact Roberta Myyra at safehousefabrics@gaaqg.com.
GAAQG Guild Retreat for Members – June 28-30, 2024, with June 27 option
Many of our members have already signed up for our June Guild Quilting Retreat at Creative Passions Retreat Center in Chesaning, MI but there are only 4 spots left. The deadline to register and pay the $85 deposit is Friday, March 29. Call the Retreat Center (989-845-2159) Mon-Fri between 9a-4p to pay your credit card deposit by phone (or you can mail your check and registration form, so they receive it by March 30). To register, fill out the Registration Form on our website Member Page (login required) where there is also additional retreat information. Contact Lynne Bryant at retreat@gaaqg.com with any questions.
Please check out our GAAQG website for additional information about the guild via the links included here and so much more. If you are not currently a member, you can join the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild on our website (there are links at the top of every page). We would love to have you!
Sincerely,
Marge Venema
GAAQG President