President Kathy Howe called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Kathy expressed condolences to Carol Browning. She thanked Chris Phillips for creating Patchwork Garden's beautiful basket for the 2014 Marketplace. She thanked Judy Ozbun for organizing our Christmas Challenge for 2014. She thanked Shirley Larsen for volunteering to lead the creation of a card trick quilt for one of our donation quilts to the 2015 Showcase. She welcomed two visitors to our meeting.
Treasurer's Report -- Patchwork Garden has 42 members.
Healthy Start -- Our guest, Healthy Start representative Dina Martinez, was presented with 25 quilts from Patchwork Garden. Dina described the services Healthy Start provides in preparing pregnant mothers for parenting.
Show and Tell -- Show and Tell committee member Delaine Koonce asked the chapter to decide how it wants to run the show and tell prize drawing. The chapter voted to hold the drawing at the last meeting of each month. Members are entered in the drawing once for each week of the month they present one or more items for show and tell. The drawing will begin in February and members who presented show and tell in January will be included in February's drawing.
Nancy Rockwell, Norma Swartz and Kathleen Harrison presented their show and tell this evening.
Angel Quilts -- Our chapter voted to donate one or more angel quilts to Cornerstone Hospice. Chris Phillips described the purpose of angel quilts and the quilt themes requested by the hospice.
Pillowcase Donation -- Patchwork Gardeners made around 100 pillowcases. The pillowcases will be turned in at the March Guild meeting so we have the opportunity to make more. Kathy said it is impressive that our small chapter has made so many pillowcases.
Donation Count -- Our chapter donated 128 items in 2013.
Happy Birthday! -- Ruthie Campbell chose her birthday fat quarter.
Patchwork Garden Events -- Get ready for these exciting events:
Monday Activities and Saturday Retreats
--February 3, "Timetex Postcards," Louise Redding. Bring your machine/colorful thread. Louise will have supplies. If you want, bring fabric for your card.
--February 10, "Showcase 2015 Strip Quilt," Penny Gibson. Bring your machine, iron, rotary cutter/mat and 1" - 2 ½" x 16" strips in child-friendly colors.
--February 17, "Donation Quilts." Bring your machine.
--March 3, "Trapunto Quilts," Kathy Howe. Bring your machine.
--March 8, 8 am -1 pm, Saturday morning workshop. Shirley Larsen is planning. Sign up for the workshop and the lunch. Ideas: angel quilts, quilt label demo, curve demo, 15-minute table runner, guild website demo, ufos.
--March 10, Open.
--March 17, "Donation Quilts." Bring your machine.
--March 31, "Silent Auction." Bring in any items you don't want (quilt related or not) and a little money for a fun-filled evening. Note that the 50/50 drawing will be saved for the holiday party.
Tips of the Day -- Shirley Larsen shared these gems: Don't store quilts in black plastic trash bags. They may be mistaken for trash.
Iron fabric strips right sides together that you want to sew and they'll stick together and you'll need less pinning.
Wet the eye of the needle to make threading easier.
One side of the needle has a bigger eye than the other. Use the big eye for easier threading.
Sally Rowe said we can save 10% at JoAnn's by showing our membership card.
Guild Meeting Report
Dues -- Next year's dues will be collected in April 2015. It has been difficult to collect dues at the end of the year and distribute membership cards before the January Showcase or Marketplace.
Members -- QGOTV has 872 members.
New Membership Forms -- Forms were distributed to complete and return. Members were advised to leave selected lines blank if they are uncomfortable providing that information. Members who do not provide emergency contact information should carry that information with them to all meetings and trips. The new form states-- to maintain membership, members must attend at least six chapter meetings yearly. Members also need to agree to follow The Villages Code of Conduct.
Adhesives, Perfumes -- Members should not use spray adhesives and refrain from wearing perfume in the meeting room.
Guild Website -- The site had 1.5 million hits in 2013. Jo DeCandia volunteered to assist in maintaining the Guild website.
Marketplace 2014 -- Attendees disliked that the Wildwood Center was on two levels. The hours of operation were messed up. The Guild is seeking suggestions for larger off-site venues for 2016.
Showcase 2015 -- Members may enter two quilts if they are in different categories. The Challenge fabric is now available at Guild meetings.
Guild Program Announcements
--February 4th Guild Meeting -- Joan Ford, author of "Scrap Therapy" and "Cut the Scraps"," is the guest speaker.
Guild Workshops, Classes and Bees
--February 4, "Common Sense Pillow," Joan Ford.
--February 5, "Stained Glass Quilt," Joan Ford.
--February 19, "Landscape," morning session, Both Landis. Afternoon session, Open.
--February 16-17, 2-day class, "Professional Bag," Judy Richter.
--February 3, 9, 16, 23, Sundays at Sterling. The 23rd is open sewing. The 3rd, 9th and 16th are tentatively open. Check the Guild website for updates.
Ruth Campbell is our contact person to sign up for Guild classes. Members may visit the Quilting Guild of the Villages website at http://www.qgotv.org for complete information. Jo DeCandia also posts this information on the Chapter's bulletin board and on the on-line chapter calendar.
The business meeting was adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon Symanovich, Secretary
