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

Those of us who were able to attend the Spring Fling last Saturday, had a real treat.  The weather stayed fine and even the gusty winds could not sweep away our good spirits and pleasure at seeing quilting friends again.  We heard about weddings planned, grandchildren visited, vacations booked —all signs that the spring is bringing new freedom into our lives. We also got to see evidence of how our quilting has taken us through some difficult winter months to reach this point, with beautiful quilt displays from the online SIGs and other Guild members.  Thank you to all the volunteers — who set up, manned tables, dispensed quilting advice and handed out goodies — to make this event such fun, and to all of you who came and shared your work and your stories.

This month is the Annual Meeting, and we will be voting on the slate of nominees who have generously stepped forward to serve on the Board and lead the Guild over the next year.  Their names and bios are in the Newsletter and we hope that you will come to the business meeting and take part in the voting.

The speaker at the May meeting will be Lisa Walton, all the way from Sydney, Australia!  Her lecture is “Traveling Textile Inspiration,” and she will be taking us on a world tour to show us where she has found inspiration in creating her beautiful textile art.

Pop-up Zoom Tutorials this month are about making an NSQG Fabric Name Badge by Karen Carlson on May7th and ideas for making Quilt Label by Linda Stern on May 28th.

We hope that you are all enjoying watching things come into bloom and are looking forward to seeing you at the May meeting.

Best,  Karen and Anne
May 2021

Happy Spring everyone!

We hope that you all have the opportunity to read the rest of the Newsletter and see the nominees for the positions of officers to the Board for the 2020-2021 year.  We think you will agree that this is a terrific slate of candidates and we thank them all for stepping forward to serve the Guild.  All these candidates will be presented at the upcoming Guild Meeting on April 20^th and will be voted on in May.  We would also like to thank Pooa Bloomberg, Anne MacDonald, Carol Sterk and Jody Sullivan who served on the Nominating Committee and who did such a wonderful job of reaching out to the membership over the last three months.

In addition to the presentation of the Board candidates at the April meeting, Dee Plouffe will be conducting the Raffle drawing for the beautiful “Painted Prism” quilt, coordinated by Daisy Dodge and Debby Warren and quilted by Angela Vertucci, and for the Bernina sewing machine, donated by Lisa Alfonzetti at Pins and Needles.  Thank you to all of you who bought tickets – there has been a wonderful response.  As you know, the proceeds will go to SHORE/ICARE, a Westchester organization that builds and renovates homes to provide permanent housing for homeless families..

Don’t forget to put Saturday, May 1, on your calendars for the Spring Fling at the North Salem Ambulance Corps.  You can register and read more details further on in the Newsletter.  There will be a number of activities and, in addition to catching up with quilting friends, this is a great opportunity for us all to see the quilts that you have been working on over the winter.  If you have a quilt that you would like to show, please bring it to display while you are at the event.  We are also hoping to see samples of the work created in one or two of the online SIG’s.  Watch for further emails!
Please contact us at president@northernstarquilters.com if you have any questions.

Thank you to Nanette LaVerdiere who held a pop-up workshop on making an adorable armchair pincushion.  For those of you who missed the workshop, you can find the recording HERE. Coming up in April, Susan Deshenksy will demonstrate how to make a Book Pillow and Linda Stern will be showing us creative ways of labeling our quilts.

This month’s lecture is by David Owen Hastings.  David, who is a quilter, graphic designer and textile artist will be showing his process of creating simple graphic quilting patterns and providing examples of translating architectural photos into quilt designs, opening up new ways of looking at the world around us to find inspiration.

We often hear from you about interesting online exhibitions and articles which we share on our website and include in the Newsletter’s Member Notes and Links of Interest below.  Keep those coming!

Hope to see you at the Spring Fling!
Karen and Anne

Things are definitely looking up!  The temperatures are rising, the snow is melting, and vaccines are already in arms or scheduled.  It looks as if March will indeed go out like a lamb. Spring is on the way!

First and foremost, in our message this month, we want to express our sincere thanks to those members who have heeded the call to serve as elected officers on the Guild Board next year.  The nominating committee has compiled a slate of candidates for Board approval at the March board meeting.

Thank you also to the members of the Nominating Committee – Pooa Bloomberg, Anne MacDonald, Carol Sterk, and Jody Sullivan who have worked the phones and sent emails over the last two months to come up with such an excellent roster of candidates.

It is not for want of effort but, unfortunately, we have not been able to find a nominee to chair the Quilt Show for 2022. We all understand that it is a difficult position to fill, given the responsibility and time-commitment.  Long-time Guild members now have other obligations and newer members are naturally reluctant to take on the position with little or no experience under their belt.  Sadly, given the feedback we have received, it may be time for the Guild to recognize that, for the moment, we need to scale down and consider a different way of promoting quilting in our community – perhaps limited exhibitions of member quilts in local venues that can be organized separately by different groups of volunteers. We are certainly open to ideas and would like to hear from you.

Although there is no Quilt Show this spring, we still plan to get together!  The Board is currently considering reprising our fall Quilt Social at the North Salem Ambulance Corps. with a Spring Fling!  This will take place in late April or early May.  We are hoping for a small exhibition of quilts – Comfort Quilts or quilts created through the SIGs or some other member organized display.   Some shopping – there will be bargains on Boutique quilt kits, books, magazines, and raffle quilt pins.  We hope to have a few tables available for members to sell items.  If you have any other thoughts about what the event might include to add to the fun or how you might like to participate, please get in touch with us.

Raffle ticket sales have been booming!  Thanks to all of you who returned your raffle booklets, to SHORE/ICARE who reached out to their donors, and to Lisa at Pins and Needles who advertised the raffle to her store clients – the response was wonderful.  Just a reminder to those of you who have not yet purchased your raffle tickets, the deadline is fast approaching (the raffle drawing will take place out our April Guild Meeting) and the mail is not as reliable as it was!!!

Thank you to Roni Gerhardt, Susan Fasnacht and Patricia Loquet who treated us to wonderful pop-up workshops this month.  Coming up: Nanette LaVerdiere will teach us how to make an armchair pincushion, Susan Deshensky will give a class on sewing a book pillow and Linda Stern will be showing us creative ways to make labels for our quilts.  Keep an eye out for the emails!

Our Guild speaker this month is Katie Fowler who will describe finding her creative bliss by painting on fabric and layering and stitching the paintings to provide texture and structure. She describes herself as a fearless quilter and her lecture is bound to release a sense of adventure in all of us.

Happy quilting!
Karen and Anne

March 2021

Valentine Heart by Barbara Powers – Inspired by a CQ pattern

Despite the cold weather outside…  brrr… there are lots of opportunities to stay warm at home while working on our quilting skills this month.

After the wonderful demos from the Quilting Basket and Debby Brown at the last Guild meeting, we are excited to see another lecture demonstration on February 16.  Lisa, owner of Pins and Needles in Mount Kisco, will be demonstrating how to ensure accuracy in our quilting projects. Lisa is an experienced teacher and a long-time supporter of our Guild and we warmly welcome her to our meeting.

The additional special workshops have been a great success.  Mary Cannizzaro explained the basic steps in making a T-shirt quilt while introducing more creative ways to use the logos in a variety of designs.

In our most recent member tutorial, Meg Mooar introduced us to boro stitching and interweaved demonstrations with a history of the craft.    In February, Roni Gerhardt will show us how to make a casserole carrier, Susan Fasnacht will be demonstrating how to sew a reusable bag and Patricia Loquet will be exploring quilting as you go.

The online SIGs have already had their first meetings and are offering the opportunity to get together and learn and share a variety of different quilting techniques and projects.

At this month’s Guild meeting, April will be presenting the quilts in the 2020 Challenge, “What’s Your Vision,” and we will have the opportunity to vote on them.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to see the Guild talent on display.

Due to the pandemic and the difficulty of collecting the quilts, the 2021 Quilt Challenge deadline is being extended to 2022.  So, for those of you who want to take part but didn’t get a chance to complete a Challenge Quilt, there is still time!!   February is the perfect month to start that “Put a Heart on It” quilt!!

We have excellent news from ArtsWestchester. Be sure to read Susan’s report in the Latest News section.  We are very grateful to ArtsWestchester for supporting our programs and workshops and our thanks also goes to Susan Fasnacht, who has been the driving force in all facets of the application process for the grants we have received.

Over the last year we have been moved by Guild members, both on and off the Board, stepping forward to donate their time and share their talent and quilts to help keep us connected to each other. They have demonstrated that as members of the Guild we are part of an active and vibrant fellowship. In turn, the vitality of our Guild allows us to forge connections with a larger quilting and artistic community around the US and the world.

This May, as it does every year, you will choose a new Board to guide us through the next guild year.  Our first priority now is to find a President or co-Presidents.  Some of you may be reluctant to propose yourselves because you believe you are too inexperienced in the Guild to take on a leadership role compared with more seasoned members, or are nervous about taking on the responsibility.  Please do not dismiss the possibility of serving as President out of hand because of these concerns.  As you have seen this year, so many members are willing to help and support the Guild and there are plenty of experienced members who have devoted time to the Guild in the past who are prepared to offer guidance.  Give it some thought.  Chat with a friend.  Give us a call and chat with us.  The Guild relies upon people willing to take the plunge for a community which is important to them.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Guild meeting.
Stay warm and safe.

Karen and Anne
February 2021

Happy New Year!

As we move into 2021, we have a variety of fun opportunities to look forward to, so be sure to check out the details in the newsletter’s Latest News sections or on our website.

Several members have stepped forward to offer different pop-up tutorials, starting in January.  Thank you to Roni Gerhardt who will demonstrate how to make a reusable bowl cover on January 8^th and to Meg Mooar who will be teaching Boro stitching on January 22^nd.

Bethanne Nemesh’s Creative Textures workshop is January 16th, already filled up.  We have an extra workshop scheduled for Saturday January 30^th by our own Mary Cannizzaro who will be teaching from her book, Beyond the Tee, with techniques and ideas for fashioning fabulous T-shirt quilts.

Our programs chair, Linda Stern, has other pop-up offerings waiting in the wings, so keep an eye out for the emails.

New online SIG’s are being offered, providing more opportunities to get together with other Guild members and made possible by members generously volunteering to share their expertise.  We are so grateful to the hosts who will be organizing them.  There should be something in the list to match every member’s interest.

The nominating committee is making great strides in filling the elected positions for 2021-2022 but we still have one or two Board positions looking for nominees.  We are waiting until we have the full roster before we make any announcements, but we thank those members who have answered the call (you know who you are!).  As we start the New Year, we hope that you will consider serving on the Guild Board.  Organizations flourish with new perspectives and creative energy and we know there is plenty of both out there!  The Board’s meetings over Zoom have worked so well that meetings may continue over Zoom, particularly in the dark, winter months.  This would make serving on the Board more feasible for those of you who have a long ride or concerns about nighttime driving.

For January’s winter program, April Russell has arranged for demonstrations by Cathy Anderson and her daughter Sarah from the Quilt Basket and by Debby Brown, an award-winning quilter and teacher.  And don’t forget to work on your Challenge quilts.

Congratulations to the Comfort Quilts group that has donated a record 429 quilts to hospitals and social services organizations since July 2020.  You can find a link to a detailed list of donations in the Charitable Activities section along with the information to return (or get more)  charity raffle tickets from Dee Plouffe.

Don’t forget to check out our website from time to time.  In addition to showing what is on our calendar there are links to exhibitions where our members have work displayed and other online events to enjoy.  Carol Auer has shared an interesting article about the way the pandemic has inspired the rediscovery of the practical arts such as sewing. Check it out!

Keep your photos coming.  What have you just completed?  What is on your wall?

Stay healthy and happy (quilting!)
Karen and Anne
January 2021