Sunday, February 22, 2015

SSQG Meeting Minutes - February 19, 2015

SSQG Meeting Minutes - February 19, 2015


  1. President/Call to order (Pam T.) –       6:36pm
  2. Sign In, Welcome to Members and Guests – 16 Members attended
  3. Reading of the minutes and motion to accept –
a)    Motion made by: Sharon Holder
b)    Motion seconded by:  Betty Braud
c)    Accepted by membership? - yes
  1. Reports of officers and committees
a)    Treasurer’s report (Elsie H.)–
                             i.     Beginning Balance:  $1,007.00
                            ii.     Deposits:  $156.00
                           iii.     Expenditures:  none posted
                          iv.     Ending Balance:  $1,163.00
                           v.     Motion to accept:
1.     Motion made by:  Karol Guidry
2.     Motion seconded by:  Becky Fincher
3.     Accepted by membership? - yes
b)    Secretary/Blog site (Valerie V.) – Posts are added as they occur.  If anyone has a link, information, picture, etc they would like posted, please let Valerie know.
c)    Historian (Marilyn H.) – a few pictures from the Giving Quilt Bear Stuffing table have been posted to the blog site.  Marilyn is now determining the best way to post large numbers of pics, whether direct to the site or via link to a photo album site.  She also took lots of pics of the evening’s activities and will post those soon.
d)    Unfinished Projects (UFOs – Kathy S.) – Kathy has volunteered to oversee the UFO challenge and  has set up a Treasure Box system.  As members complete their UFO, please bring it to the meeting for show and tell.  The member will then get to pick a “treasure” from Kathy’s box.  The treasures run the gamut from fabric to notions to CHOCOLATE.  If you have any items to donate to the Treasure Box, please let Kathy know.  Many thanks to Kathy for taking on this task and to Jessie Comeaux for her service with this challenge in the past.
e)    Tabs (Betty B.) – Collects tabs at the meetings.  To test if your tabs are acceptable for donation, you can check them with a magnet.  If they don’t stick, they can be donated.
f)     Door Prizes (Renee H.) – Renee has set up a system of naming the door prize bags to give winners a slight idea of what inside.  Winners of this weeks door prizes were Elsie Hamway, Karol Guidry and Mynan Guidry.
g)    Just Do It (Pam T.) –
                             i.       All blocks have been finished for the Quilt in a Box project.  Boxes with leftover fabric were returned to all participants who will be making their 12th block prior to the March meeting (Please contact Pam with your 12th block choice so none will be duplicated).  Bring your block to the March meeting, where everyone’s Quilt in a Box blocks will be revealed and returned. 
                            ii.       We would like to display some Quilt in a Box projects in the August Quilt show so please allow time to complete your quilts by then if you want to enter your project in the show.
                           iii.       New Just Do It challenge – KRAZY QUILTS!  Any size from a block to a quilt, or any project you have in mind.  Timeframe TBD.
h)    Quilt Show (SSQG membership) – No volunteers to become chairperson so the show this year will be a group activity and organized by the entire membership.
                           i.           Some ideas for display sections:
1.                             Quilts of Valor
2.                             Quilt in a Box
3.                             Charity Quilts
4.                             Small “storybook” themed quilts for the children’s section
5.                             Members’ personal quilt projects
                          ii.                             Betty Braud volunteered to be Library liason to determine show dates.
i)      Charity Quilts/Projects (Merlene L. & Cheryl A.) –
                         i.         Stuff a Bear at the Giving Quilt show was a huge success with 135 bears completed and ready for delivery, and many more stuffed.
1.                                Discussions were held on the proper construction of the bears
a.                                Please do not trim seams too close or they rip open when stuffed.
b.              Bears should be stuffed softly as they are used as pillows for the chemo ports of cancer patients.
c.              Please leave larger opening at bear butt for easier stuffing
d.              Elsie described her technique for closing bear butts:  leave larger seam allowance (1/2 -1 inch) so that blind ladder stitch can be used to close opening.
                        ii.         SSQG will continue to donate both bears and quilts to Cancer Services and Our Lady of the Lake
                       iii.         Pam issued a goal to the guild to have at least 500 bears completed and donated in 2015.
                      iv.         Themes and sizes for the charity quilts to be donated were discussed:
1.                             Dancing squares – any quilt that uses squares in construction
2.                             Quilt safari theme – quilts that use animals, bugs, nature fabric patterns
3.           Any size is accepted by OLL and Cancer Services, but preferred size is minimum of 50x60 inches for youth through adult quilts.  Baby quilts can be smaller and are also accepted.
                       v.         Merlene Lewis and Cheryl Armstrong will request and choose fabric from Wasted Women.  They will look for fabric that can be used for this year’s theme.
  1. Unfinished Business –
a)    Guild banner status.  Will discuss this topic at the March meeting.
  1. New business
a)  Pam presented a list of “Quilter’s Codes”.  These were posted to the blog site
b)  Programs are being scheduled and possible presenters are being solicited from organizations such as the Rug Hookers guild and CFAL.
c)  A road trip is being planned to All Stitched Up in Slidell.  Please let Pam know if you’re interested in attending.  Further details will be forthcoming.
  1. Program Report –
a)  Mynan Guidry presented a pattern for an Inverted Star and brought some fabric for people to make blocks with. If members bring the blocks back to Mynan, she’ll put them together into a charity quilt.  Valerie will post the pattern on the blog site.
b)  Mynan Guidry also gave a demonstration of machine binding, a much faster method of attaching a binding than hand stitching one down.  Here are some of her tips and tricks:
                           i.       To start with, the binding should be initially sewn on the back of the quilt, then folded over to the front (the reverse of a hand stitched binding).
                          ii.       If the binding is a 2 ½ inch double fold, then the stitching should be 3/8 inch from the edge of the quilt (a 2 ¼ inch double fold should be stitched ¼ inch from the edge). Pressing the binding is optional.
                         iii.       Match the bobbin thread to the quilt back to blend in the stitch line on the back. (Also optional).
                        iv.       Stitch length seems to work best at 2.5
                         v.       For the initial sewing of the binding to the back of the quilt, when reaching a corner, stop at 3/8 (or ¼) from the quilt edge, then stitch diagonally off the corner.  Fold the binding as usual and begin stitching again. This helps with mitering the corners when the binding is folded over to the front.
                        vi.       After folding the binding over to the front, the stitching should be close to the edge of the binding.  This should minimize any stitching showing on the back.
                       vii.       When a corner is reached, carefully fold the fabric to miter the corner and catch the edges as you turn, then continue on.
                      viii.       You can use a decorative stitch along the edge of the binding instead of a straight stitch.  (Also optional)
                        ix.       FYI – if your quilt is to be entered into a judged show, the binding must be hand stitched down.  Machine binding is a disqualification.
  1. Show and Tell – members showed off projects, both old and new, and briefly described their interests.  Marilyn took pictures that will be posted soon.
  2. Announcements –..
a)    Quilts of Valor Foundation now has a local representative – Roxanne Brown (Roxanne.brown@qovf.org).  More information on this foundation, along with information on how to donate a QOV quilt may be found at www.QOVF.org
b)    Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19th.
                         i.                                Quilt in a Box blocks will be revealed.
                        ii.                                Please bring a fat quarter for the game
                       iii.                                Valerie Valle will present her method for sorting scraps and fabric.

  1. Adjournment – 8:26pm

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