President’s Message

Click for Sue Benner’s workshop – Fusing the Grid

April showers bring May flowers and hopefully it won’t be raining the weekend of our quilt show.  We’re gearing up to another wonderful show.  Our thanks to Debbie Warren and her incredible committee for working hard to make this a wonderful weekend.  If you haven’t signed up to Volunteer, please do so now.  Remember we ask every guild member to volunteer for at least a two hour shift.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Due to Fox Lane’s spring break, our April 16th meeting is now going to be on Zoom. 

Jo Thomas has scheduled Emilie Trahan as our new speaker and we are very excited.   Emilie has had four quilts win at QuiltCon this year.   She will be discussing her improv process and how she has grown as a quilter. This should be inspiration for us all.

JoAnne Hochstein has been working on a survey of our membership to send out shortly. It is our hope that you will all take the time to fill it out so that we can strive to serve you better.

And speaking of input, we still have positions that need to be filled for 2025-26.  Please consider stepping up and helping us out.  Without you we cannot have a guild or a quilt show. We still need a Chairperson for next year’s quilt show!!

Reminder, emails and related contacts can get ‘hijacked’ and used for scamming, this has happened to guild members, especially board members; anytime an email asks you to do anything unusual especially if money is involved, check the actual email address, do not respond via that email, and as necessary contact the involved person directly using some other method.

Hoping to see you online,
Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

We hope everyone has survived this cold winter and that spring is just around the corner.  With the days getting lighter, we are again going to meet in person on March 19th. We look forward to seeing all of you!  You don’t want to miss this meeting, as a lot is going on.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Due to Fox Lane’s spring break, our April 16th meeting is now going to be on Zoom.  Challenge quilts which are due at the March meeting will be voted on at the March meeting.  Please make every attempt to attend in March!

Quilt registration is now open and we hope everyone is busy finishing their quilts for the show.  Registration closes April 1st.

Shelley Lounsbury has asked us to remind you to please consider contributing items for our raffle baskets.  Please bring new items to the March meeting.

New at the next in-person meeting will be a bulletin board where people can  create a message on a post it.  Any information you would like to share with members at that night’s meeting can be added…. Do you need a ride, tools, want to sell something, buy something or have a question.  This is the place to do it.  The bulletin board will only be at the current meeting and will be started fresh the following month.  Our thanks to Chris Novell for suggesting this and offering to set it up.

Our fall Lancaster trip is now set for September 12-13th.  Please see inside the bulletin for details and start sign

Happy quilting,

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

Hi Everyone.

We hope this cold weather is giving everyone a chance to work on their tie challenge and their quilt show quilts.  Quilt registration for the show is planned to start February 14th.  Please take a look at the registration information on our website as there have been some changes.

Christine Bunke is busy working on our Lancaster trip for next fall.  We will have more information at our next meeting.  Please keep open the second weekend in September if you are planning to join us.

We want to remind everyone that our February meeting is on Zoom on the 19th.  Our guest speaker is Alex Anderson.  Her lecture is entitled “Lessons from a Quilty Life” and it will be followed the next day by her workshop, “Faces”,  where we’ll learn to make lighthearted self-portraits.

Stay warm,
Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

New Years Resolution – Volunteer!

 Happy New Year Everyone! We hope this year will bring you health, happiness, and lots of quilting. We also hope you are busy and preparing for our quilt show in May.  Registration starts very soon, so start thinking about what you would like to enter.

Just a reminder that this month and next, our meetings will be on Zoom. There is still room to sign up for Margarita Koriath and Alex Anderson’s workshops. They are also virtual so you won’t have to leave your warm home.  If you are interested in signing up, please contact Jo Thomas.

Once again, we are mentioning that we need volunteers to take board positions (click for brief descriptions).
This guild cannot operate without YOU!  Please give one of us a call if you would be willing to help out and would like more information.

Happy quilting,

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

Photo from David Taylor’s Lecture

Happy Holidays!  No matter how you celebrate, we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.

And speaking of the new year, our guild has many activities that we hope you will participate in.  Please make sure you read through this newsletter to see what is in store for the coming year.

This is our last in-person meeting until March (January and February meetings will be on zoom) so we hope to see a large turnout on December 11th.  Our own Narci Medina will be speaking about the “Oh Freedom!” quilting project.   Please note that this is on the 2nd Wednesday of the month.

And of course thinking ahead to the new year, we really need for  you to consider taking an active part in our guild.  We need people to step up for the following positions: assistant or co-president, treasurer, program chair, membership chair,quilt show chair, communications, and hospitality chair. Without these positions being filled, our guild cannot exist. These jobs are not that time consuming, give you a chance to really meet our fellow members and make new friendships, and give you a say in how our guild operates. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Wishing you the happiest of holidays,

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

Winners of the raffle of CQ Summer Project Quilts – ‘Out of the Blue’ – every quilter worked with a yard of the same blue fabric, $435 were raised, one quilt won for every $100 raised. Clockwise-Doreen, Daniela, Jennifer, Ashley

As we write this newsletter, many of us are preparing to join next week’s retreat at Mariandale.   A special thank you to Jody Sullivan for organizing these wonderful gatherings. We can’t wait to see what everyone accomplishes and to hear about how much fun they had. Please don’t forget to bring your projects for Show and Tell.

The holiday season is almost upon us and everyone is getting busy but please make time to attend our November meeting with David Taylor.  His hand applique technique may help you relax and remove some of the season’s tension.  In December , at our holiday party, we have our own Narcy Medina, telling us about the “Oh, Freedom” quilting project.  It promises to be a wonderful and informative evening. Please take note that the meeting in December will be held on the second Wednesday of the month, December 11th.

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

September Lecture

The leaves are beginning to fall, the temperature is getting cooler, but things here at Northern Star are just heating up.

Our first meeting was fabulous with 95 people in attendance.  The lecture with Carol Anne Grotrian was very exciting and everyone loved viewing her amazing quilts.  Her workshop, the next day, went off without a hitch and wonderful samples of shibori were made.  Thank you to Betty Moulton, our facilitator,  and all participants who worked hard to keep the dyeing from damaging our rented space.

Thanks to Christine Bunke, our Lancaster trip was very successful. We know how hard she worked to see that things ran smoothly.  A good time was had by all and the consensus is that we would like to do it again.

We have many activities coming this fall.  Please check our newsletters and our calendar to join in.

Our fall retreat, organized by Jody Sullivan is scheduled to take place in November.  We look forward to hearing more about the accomplishments occurring over the three days.

The SIGS are now underway and we hope you will all take advantage of the opportunity to become part of these dynamic groups.Also, our upcoming Challenge has now begun.  We hope you are out busy collecting ties.

It’s never too late to start thinking about next year.  Our board will be turning over in June and we are beginning our search for members to step up and help run our organization.  It is a wonderful way to make new friends and give back for all our opportunities.  If you are interested, please see either one of us to discuss further. The more active everyone is, the more we can accomplish.

Happy Quilting,

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

Maria Hlushko and Kurt Guldan from North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps accepting the $6500 raffle quilt check from Helen May.

We hope your summer has been consumed with all things that bring you joy. We are really looking forward to what is going to be a wonderful year, starting with our first big event, the Lancaster AQS Trip including fabric shopping and the Quilt Show.  Much thanks to Christine Bunke for putting it all together.

Thanks to Jo Thomas and her committee, we have many wonderful guest lecturers and workshops coming this year.  This is your chance to learn new skills and improve your quilting. Please look further in the newsletter to see if there is anything you would like to sign up for.

Rona Spar, our activity chair, and our SIGS are already gearing up for the new year.  If anyone has any new ideas for a SIG and would be interested in forming one, please let us know.  We are always open to new suggestions and innovative ideas

It’s unbelievable that our guild has grown to around 250 members.  Special thanks to Joanne Visovsky, Carol Sterk and Rosemary DePaola for their hospitality in hosting new member get-togethers.  Since we have so many new members, if you see a new face, please introduce yourself.  It would also be very helpful if everyone would remember to wear their name tags to our meetings.

And since we are mentioning meetings, we will again be meeting on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at Fox Lane with the January and February meetings on Zoom.   In December, because of the holidays we will be meeting on the 2nd Wednesday.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

2024-25 Planned Meeting Dates – Calendar Link
Sept 18, 2024
Oct 16, 2024
Nov 20, 2024
Dec 11, 2024
Jan 15, 2025  Zoom
Feb 19, 2025 Zoom
Mar 19, 2025
Apr 16, 2025
May 21, 2025
June 18, 2025

2024 Viewers Choice by Carol Mann, Color My Window of the World – – – – – Click HERE for a look at all the quilts, photos by Constanze Toplanksky.

As this guild year draws to a close, we would like to thank everyone, both on the board and in the guild for helping to make this year such a success.  We look forward to a wonderful year to come.

From the feedback we’ve been getting, our quilt show was a very positive and enjoyable experience for everyone who attended.  Much thanks to Deb Warren and her committee for again pulling off two great days.  To all of our volunteers, we could not have done this without your help! Thank you, thank you, thank you….

We hope to see many of you at the Salad Supper, a relaxing chance to socialize with friends and have a bite to eat.   Please join us at Fox Lane on June 12th (reminder-date change from original June19th) at 6 pm.   Please bring a dish (not necessarily a salad!) to feed 6-9 people.  Details in the hospitality section.

Warmest wishes for an enjoyable summer.  We will be posting our meeting dates for next year once confirmed with Fox Lane.

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

THE QUILT SHOW IS HERE!  “There’s no people like Show People.”  Not only are you going to see magnificent quilts but we are having an amazing program.  Irene Roderick will be presenting three unique lectures and don’t forget that the room will be filled with friends and family and other quilters.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Our May meeting on Wednesday the 15th will feature our annual Ugly Fabric Auction.  Bring your cash and be prepared for a great time!  The committee has told us the fabrics this year are going to be quite special.

There are still some spaces available for the Lancaster trip.  If you are still sitting on the fence about this, the time is now. Bring your checkbook to the quilt show as we will have a booth there for sign-ups and hope to finish filling up the bus.

Wishing everyone a beautiful spring.

Sheryl and Helen

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

March Lecture by Daisy Dodge

Flowers are blooming and so is our guild.  This is our busy season with many exciting things happening.

We hope you are all putting the finishing touches on your quilts for what we expect is going to be a fantastic quilt show. Don’t forget to sign up to volunteer at the show.  We ask that all members sign up for at least one 2-hour slot.  You will receive one free admission (maximum 2) for every two hours that you work.  For those of you entering a quilt for the first time to our show, please remember your quilts need a sleeve on the back and a number in the corner which you will receive in the mail.  Quilt drop off is April 27th.  Please refer to the website for any questions and more information.

The Lancaster bus is half full with seats going fast.  Right after the April meeting, we will be opening seats to non-members.  If you plan on joining our quilt trip, please get your money in now.

Looking forward to seeing you at our April meeting.

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com

Welcome back to in person meetings. We look forward to seeing you at Fox Lane on Wednesday March 20th at 6pm.

We are busy!  If you are involved in a SIG, those meetings are underway.  If you are interested in joining a SIG, the guild meeting is a perfect place to learn more about them. Hopefully the SIGs and workshops have given you inspiration and you are getting quilts ready for our show the first weekend of May.  Quilt drop off is April 27th! Please remember that quilt registration is now open to non-members so if you would like to show any quilts, please register ASAP so you can be assured that there is room.

If you are planning on joining our Lancaster trip scheduled for September 13-14, please remember to bring a check to register.

We have booked an additional free workshop for ALL our members.  On March 9th, there will be a three hour Zoom workshop with Luke Haynes and Nicole Leth on typography in quilts and Nicole’s Affirmation project.

Looking forward to seeing all of you,

Sheryl and Helen, president@northernstarquilters.com