President’s Message

Anne Chehebar and Karen Carlson, president@northernstarquilters.com

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Help make NSQG even better-click to take our survey

What a wonderful show to celebrate “A World of Quilts” 40^th Anniversary!  I want to thank everyone who helped make it so successful – those of you who had quilts on display or donated a piece to the silent auction; members who volunteered at quilt drop off, judging or during the show itself; the quilt show committee chairs; and especially Daisy and Debby who did such a terrific job of organizing and running the event.  We could not have done it so well without all of you helping.  As an acknowledgment to how good it was, I had several attendees say that our show was better than the Mancuso show!

Although not all of the numbers are in, it looks like the show was also a financial success – between that and other  positive increases in revenues and savings in expenses throughout the year, it appears that the overall Guild will break even for 2018/2019 – again, a big improvement over our budget for this year.

I also want to thank Carol Sterk and her Member Retention and Expansion Committee for all of the work they have been doing.  We had ten new members sign up at the Quilt Show and the eleventh at our May meeting.  We are now just shy of 200 members!  To make sure we retain new members and meet the needs of our long time members, the Committee created a questionnaire to help us understand what people expect from us.  If you did not fill out a questionnaire either at the May meeting or online, please do so.  The link to the online questionnaire is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GQQB736.  Or if you prefer, you can complete one at the June Salad Supper.  The committee will be evaluating the answers over the next few weeks so that next year’s Board can address any issues that were raised and take action.

Finally, I want to thank this year’s Board for all of their help and work throughout the year.  Without their hard work we would not have had such a great year.  I also want to thank all of the guild members for their support and understanding of the changes we have made to improve the finances of the Guild.  It appears to have worked.  I know the new Board will continue to look for ways to improve how we operate and I wish them lots of success.

I hope to see many of you at the Salad Supper on June 18 – remember the meeting starts at 6:00 that night.

Susan Fasnacht, Acting President, president@northernstarquilters.com

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING – MAY 2019

Board Candidates-Click pic for Bios- Anne,Karen,Daisy,Deb,Linda,Rona,Karen,Rebeka,Rosemary,Linda,Narci,Julie

The Annual Meeting of the Northern Star Quilter’s Guild will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, Somers, New York.  At that Meeting, the membership will vote on the following candidates for the NSQG Board for the 2019-2020 Guild year.  The candidates are:

Co-Presidents: Karen Carlson and Anne Chehebar
Secretary:  Rona Spar
Co-Treasurers: Rebeka Glacy and Karen Martinez
Co-Vice Presidents: Communications – Daisy Dodge and Deborah Warren
Vice President:  Education – Linda Finegan
Vice President:  Membership – Rosemary DePaola
Vice President: Programs – Linda Stern
Co-Vice Presidents: Quilt Show – Narcita Medina and Julie Long

The Board appointed positions to oversee Charitable Activities and Hospitality and Special Events are still open. Please let us know if you can help or would like further information.

President’s Message

This message should be arriving in your in-box just as A World of Quilts XL is wrapping up.  I saw a sampling of the quilts at Saturday’s quilt drop off and it looks like we will have a stunning display.  Everyone involved has done a fantastic job and I want to thank all who have volunteered.  Daisy and Debby have taken on the show with a lot of enthusiasm and energy.  They have done a great job organizing it, and looking for ways to make it even more exciting and successful.

This year’s Challenge Quilts were fantastic.  I was overwhelmed by the workmanship and the variety of interpretations of the theme – Ruby Red Flowers.  What a way to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of A World of Quilts.  I offer a big thank-you for April for organizing the challenge.  She enjoyed running the event so much she has volunteered to run next year’s challenge.  Look for the announcement of next year’s theme in the coming months.

Our May meeting will have a lot going on.  It is the guild’s Annual Meeting and we will be voting on the proposed slate of officers for 2019-2020.  We will also be drawing the tickets for the winner of this year’s raffle quilt and the Bernina sewing machine.

Additionally at the meeting, we will be handing out a member survey for you to complete. Carol Sterk has formed a committee to look at what it is the Guild is doing right, where we can improve things, and what do members expect of us.  Membership has been dropping the past few years and we want to see what we can do to bring in new members and retain them.  Please take the time to complete the form; it will be a great tool for us to shape the future of the guild.

Our program is a repeat of the one canceled last May when Kennedy Catholic lost power just before our meeting.  Sue Beever will be giving a “hands-on” lecture in the cafeteria.  In groups of 6-8 people with 36-40 fabric “chips” at each table (provided by Sue) we will discuss real life color harmonies.  A color wheel only shows us color theory; using real fabrics, both prints and solids, Sue will lead us in a discussion to help us create different color scenarios.  I was sorry we missed out on this “lecture” last year and am glad she is able to return to us.

Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

2019 Ruby Challenge Quilts

Our 40^th Anniversary “A World of Quilts” is only a few weeks away.  It’s shaping up to be a great show.  We will have on display nearly 200 registered quilts; quilts by our speaker, Paula Nadelstern and our invitational quilter, Karen Eckmeier; the Sacred Threads Quilt Exhibit; our SIG’s; FANE; and our beautiful Challenge Quilts – in the neighborhood of 300 total!  It should be spectacular – invite your friends and relatives to see all these great quilts.

I received some good news this past week.  It seems that WCSU made a mistake when looking at their 2020 calendar when they told us we could not hold the show there on our traditional weekend.  After looking again at their calendar I received confirmation that we will be able to have our show at WCSU on May 2 and 3, 2020.  This takes the pressure off of us scrambling to find a new venue in just a few months.  However, the Board also recognizes that there is concern with the financial aspects of holding the show at WCSU and will still be looking at that.  We made changes for this year’s show to increase income and decrease expenses to help with the finances.  Once the accounting for this year’s show is done, we will evaluate its cost and decide if we need to make a change.  Keeping our show at WCSU in 2020 gives us almost a full year to decide what changes, if any are necessary.

Thank you to April Russel for organizing this year’s Quilt Challenge.  She had 39 beautiful quilts submitted.  It was great seeing how people interpreted the theme of ruby red flowers.  I thought that since it was such a good display of techniques and showed a wide variety of quilting methods, it could be a good display for Arts Westchester to exhibit.  This is the organization that gave us the $1,000 grant to support our speaker costs.  I have made initial contact with them and hopefully will have more to report at our meeting.

Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

Click to register your quilt in the show!

According to a recent survey conducted by the American Quilters’ Society, the month during which most quilters finish projects is February.  That means several of you should have completed a quilt last month, so why not enter it in our show?  We could use more quilts registered – please don’t wait until the end of March to enter your quilt.  It makes the registrar’s job easier if they don’t all come in at the last minute.  Remember you don’t have to have it completely finished until quilt drop off on April 27.

Once again Super Saturday was wonderful.  Thank you to Pooa Bloomberg for organizing the day and to all the people who taught classes.  Also thanks to our Hospitality Chairs, Micky Green and Christine Langan for arranging for the food that day.  I saw lots of beautiful projects being worked on with a real variety of items.  If you participated in a class, and didn’t get a chance to show off your work at the February meeting, bring it in March for our Show and Tell.

The Challenge Quilts will be displayed at the March meeting.  You will be able to vote for Most Creative, Best Use of the ‘Ruby’ Challenge Color, and Viewer’s Choice.  I don’t know the final count, but April had close to 40 quilts turned it.  It will be a great display for our meeting and the quilt show.

I hope to see you in March – spring is not too far away.

Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

Organizers Rosemary and Linda

Auctioneer Sandy

January’s Ugly Fabric Auction was a great success, netting $676 to help support guild activities. Thanks to all who bid and donated!
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I am pleased to announce that the guild has been awarded a $1,000 grant through ArtsWestchester’s Arts Alive program to help fund our speakers.  We are honored to receive the money and are thrilled that ArtsWestchester recognized quilts as an art form.  We hope to use this relationship with them to publicize the guild, and help build interest in quilting and increase our membership.  Thank you to all who helped in writing the grant application.

Now for some not so good news.  We were informed several weeks ago by Western Connecticut State University that in 2020 the first weekend in May will no longer be available to us for the quilt show (don’t worry we are okay for this May).  They are going to start using the arena on the Friday of that weekend for their sport’s award dinner, which will impact with our set up.  The Board looked at possibly moving the show to another weekend, but found that it would not be possible without conflicting with another quilt show or a holiday.  We are starting to examine our options and will be reporting back to you as we develop them.

Remember the Challenge Quilts are due this month.  I hope we have lots of submissions – it will be great having a large display at the show.  Our program will be demos by various guild members and it looks like we will have a good variety of presentations at the meeting.

If you have not signed up for Super Saturday, you can still do so.  Contact Pooa Bloomberg at Supersaturday@northernstarquilters.com to register.

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel this year’s Lancaster trip.  We only had 10 people who had signed up and paid by the January meeting.  After struggling last year to get enough people to sign up to cover our costs, we decided not to risk losing our deposits and cancelled the trip.  We plan on offering it again in 2020, and maybe a year’s hiatus will create more interest.  Thank you to Jen Cannizzarro for keeping on top of things so we will not lose any money.

Stay warm and see you on February 19.

Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

Comfort Quilts ready for Christmas delivery to Westchester Medical Center’s Behaviorial Unit

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

As the weather starts to turn bad, remember our snow policy.  If the Somers or Kennedy Catholic schools are closed or have early dismissal due to the weather, our meeting will be cancelled.  We will send out an email to members notifying them of a cancellation as early as possible and post an alert on the website. Be sure to check if you are in doubt.

Quilt registration for A World of Quilts XL opens in just a few weeks.  We hope to have a spectacular display of quilts for our 40^th show anniversary celebration.   Don’t forget, your quilt does not have to be finished to register it – it only needs to be done by quilt drop off on April 27.  Daisy and Debby have been busy coming up with new ideas for the show – be sure to read their announcements of the changes for this year.

The Ugly Fabric Auction will take place at the January 15 meeting with an early preview around 6:30.  Be sure to bring lots of cash and be ready to bid.  I have heard they will have a great selection of fabric for the event.  February will be mini-demos and your completed Challenge Quilt is due (voting will be at the March meeting).

We will be starting the nominating process for the 2019-2020 Board.  If you are interested in serving on the Board, please let me know.  We will need to fill the elected positions of President (no I am not serving again), Secretary, Treasurer, Communications, and Programs.  A brief description of the jobs is on the website page Membership-Board dropdowns, Being on the Board is quite rewarding.  It is a good way to give back to the Guild, meet members, and see what the Guild does.  Please consider serving – you can also team up with a friend and be co-Chairs.

Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

Happy Holidays to all!  I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and are looking forward to all the festivities of December.  There is a lot happening at the beginning of next year and lots of reasons to quilt.  I hope you get time to work on your projects in December. After all there are many reasons to quilt – Challenge quilts, Silent Auction pieces, and quilt show entries.

January will be our Ugly Fabric Auction – last chance to donate is this month’s December meeting.  Also in January quilt registration for the show begins on the 15^th.  At our February meeting we will have short demos by members and the Challenge Quilts are due and voted on.  And Super Saturday is February 16.

We are trying a few new things at this year’s show.  One reason is to try and increase attendance, particularly non-quilters.  A second is to produce a little more revenue at the show.  Daisy and Debby will be sending out more details on these changes in the next couple of weeks – we are still working out some of the specifics, but I wanted to give you an idea of what they are planning.

We are going to change a few things at the Silent Auction, since sales have been slowly declining over the past few years. We will be accepting larger items – up to crib size quilts.  We will also have a few gift baskets that people can bid on.  Finally, there will also be a “purchase now” option for all items.

You will also have the opportunity to sell any quilt you enter in the show.  When you register your quilt there will be a new question asking whether you want to list it as being for sale and at what price.  We are still finalizing the process for how the sale will take place – more details will follow.  The guild will take a small commission on any quilt that is sold.

Our hope is that these, plus other changes will help increase attendance at the show.  We want to attract more of the general public to the show, hopefully resulting in more interest in quilting.  I know that some people come to the show looking to purchase a quilt – these changes will help.

Finally, thank you to everyone who brought food items in November to donate to the local food pantries.  If you missed the opportunity to bring an item, you can always contact your local food pantry directly to make a donation.  There is a great need in our area for food pantries and any donations they receive are appreciated.

I wish everyone a wonderful and happy holiday season.
Susan Fasnacht, president@northernstarquilters.com

October Mini Mosaic Workshop with Carol Lynch

It’s hard to believe the holidays are upon us already.  The days seem to just fly by.  Reminder – our November meeting is a week earlier than normal because of Thanksgiving.  The meeting is the second Tuesday – November 13.  Our speaker will be Rayna Gillman.  You may remember that Rayna was one of the Invitational Quilters at our 2017 show.  We are pleased to have her return to the guild and talk about her work.

At our November meeting we will also be holding the Holiday Boutique.  It will take place starting at 6:00 in the lobby area just outside the auditorium (no stairs to climb).  Make sure you bring extra cash so you can buy something from one of our vendors.

I dropped off two Comfort Quilts today at Kennedy Catholic.  Every year the school holds an auction to raise money.  Sister Barbara use to donate wardrobes containing several “American Girl” doll outfits she sewed as an auction item.  With her passing the Guild started donating a Comfort Quilt in her memory to replace them.  The auction takes place on Saturday, November 10 starting at 6pm and the admission price includes dinner and drinks.  It looks like they have lots of auction items.  If you are interested, more information can be found at kennedycatholic.org/auction.

Finally, I want to write once again about volunteering to help at the Guild.  Last month’s meeting was a good example of our problem when we were unable to find a volunteer to staff the Library table for the evening.  As a result there was no library in October.  It is hard to run an organization such as ours that relies on volunteers to do the work when we lack volunteers.  Other than at the quilt show, only a small percentage of our membership gets involved with working on one of our committees or activities.  As the New Year approaches we will start looking to fill the slate for next year’s Board and I hope our search will go better than last year.  Please consider getting involved, we cannot depend upon the same people to do the work each year.  There are plenty of opportunities – some big and some small – where we can use your help.  Let me know if you are willing to become more involved, and we can find something that will fit your interests and time constraints.

I look forward to seeing you on November 13^th.
Susan Fasnacht, President@northernstarquilters.com

It was a shame the weather was so bad for our September meeting. We enjoyed a delightful lecture by Anita Grossman Solomon – it was a great start to the year. We have a great line up of speakers and workshops for 2018/19. You can find them all listed on our website here.

We have started to increase the use of social media to promote our guild and the quilt show. Helen Boland will be keeping our posts up to date on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Please be sure to “like us” and follow us on your social media accounts. Links to our accounts can be found at the bottom of our website page.

If you weren’t at September’s meeting you did not hear some changes in when things are happening this year. The Ugly Fabric Auction will be held at our January meeting and the demos in February. We realized if we held it in February and had to cancel the meeting due to weather, someone would be stuck with all this fabric to hold on to for a year. By holding it in January, we have a backup of the following month for the auction, if we need to cancel. We will start collecting donations to January’s auction at the October meeting.

Another change in the schedule will be when the Challenge quilts are due. They will be collected at the February meeting with voting taking place in March. April handed out the ruby red fabric in September – it’s lovely. If you want to participate and haven’t picked up the fabric, contact April at Challenge@NorthernStarQuilters.com and she will get it to you.

I hope the weather behaves in October and I see you then.
Susan Fasnacht

Welcome back! I hope everyone survived the heat this summer and was able to get lots of sewing in. We are looking forward to another great year. There are some wonderful speakers lined up, the Ugly Fabric Auction is returning, Super Saturday is scheduled, and we will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of A World of Quilts! It’s not too late to get started on making a quilt to display in this special show.

To help with the show’s 40th Anniversary celebration, this year’s Challenge Quilt is ruby red flowers. April Russell will have the fabric to hand out at our September meeting. She has received a terrific response by people interested in participating. If you haven’t emailed her yet about needing fabric please do so before our meeting at Challenge@NorthernStarQuilters.com. You can also visit our website for more details.

We are looking for volunteers (no, not necessarily the president right now, although it would be nice). The Quilt Show committee has some positions that need filling, Helen May is looking for an assistant, and Linda Finnegan has gotten a great opportunity to play in the Long Bay Symphony, a Regional Symphony of South Carolina, so she will need help this fall with her position as VP of Education. Please consider helping out, some of these jobs do not require a large time commitment. Volunteering to be on one of our committees, not only helps the guild out tremendously, but it is also a great way to meet other members. If you are interested, please contact me, president@northernstarquilters.com

Remember our September meeting will take place a week later than normal on September 25.
I hope to see you then and don’t forget to bring you summer projects for Show and Tell!

Susan Fasnacht , Acting President

 2018-19 Board Members and Emails

Thank you for the lovely basket of fabric and threads.  I am looking forward to creating some quilts with them.  I appreciate the support guild members have given me and the entire Board over the past year – thank you again.  I hope all of you have a wonderful summer and have an opportunity to get lots of sewing done.

Election Results –
At the June Salad Supper we voted on two items scheduled for the May meeting.  The first was the proposed slate of Elected Officers, as nominated at the April meeting, which was approved by the members present.
It was announced that to address the fact that the Guild still does not have a candidate for President, the Board of Directors, in accordance with the Guild By-Laws, voted to appoint me as Acting President starting July 1st.  I will fill this position until next July unless a member steps forward before then to take on the Presidency.
Additionally, Chairpersons of all Standing Committees positions were announced.  The following is the 2018/2019 Board of Directors.

Elected Officers
Acting President – Susan Fasnacht
Vice President: Communications- Julie Long
Vice President: Education – Linda Finnegan
Vice President: Membership – Rosemary De Paola
Vice President: Programs – Helen May
Co-Vice Presidents: Quilt Show – Daisy Dodge and Debby Warren
Secretary – Anne Chehebar
Treasurer- Annette Nash-Govan

Standing Committee Chairs
Assistant to the President – Carol Sterk
Charitable Activities – Althea Nolan
Hospitality – Micki Green and Christine Langan
Library – Narci Medina
Special Events – Jennifer Kramer

The second vote was the proposed by-law amendment, which passed by a vote of 81 in favor and 1 against.

Enjoy your summer and I hope to see all of you in September, Susan Fasnacht