President’s Message

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

And I thought all of my weather worries were over once we got through March.  Sorry about the late notice that we were cancelling the May meeting. I didn’t find out until around 5:00 that Kennedy Catholic had lost power in the storm.  With no power and the roads a mess there was no other option.  We worked on spreading the news as quickly as we could.

Despite the storm, we were able to hold the workshop with Sue Beevers the next day.  Helen May reported that the class was terrific and Sue gave the attendees a sample of the hands on color lecture she would have given the night before.  Since it was such a great presentation we have booked her to do her lecture next May.

Needless to say our June Salad Supper meeting will be a little busier than usual.  We will be starting the supper at 6:00 and will follow with our business meeting after – sometime around 7:00.  This will be our Annual Meeting, so we will be voting on the slate of officers for 2018-2019 and the proposed By-Laws revision.   We will also pick the winner of the raffle quilt and sewing machine, as well as presenting a check from the money raised to the Emergency Shelter Partnership.

April Russell has volunteered to run next year’s Guild Challenge and will give a short presentation about it at the meeting.  Since it will be the 40^th “A World of Quilts”, she wants to get as many participants as possible.  The traditional gift for a 40^th anniversary is a ruby and based on that her proposal is to have quilts with red flowers.  April is thinking of supplying a piece of fabric that is to be used somewhere in your quilt.  She would like to get an idea as to how many people think they will participate so she can figure out how much fabric to buy.

I hope to see you on the 19^th.  Susan Fasnacht, President

As you read this, A World of Quilts XXXIX has taken place and since I am writing my message in April, I can’t truly say how fantastic it was, but I am sure that it was.  I want to thank everyone who was involved in the show for their awesome work on it.  Chris and Noreen have done a great job organizing it, working through all the problems that arose.  Their leadership helped make its planning run so well.  Additionally, they had a wonderful group of volunteers heading the various show committees.  All of these people put in countless hours carrying out their jobs.  I and the guild thank all of them for their hard work.

Of course now that this year’s show is over, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s show – it will be the 40^th anniversary!  I am sure next year’s committee will make it a special celebration.  Some of our advance planning already takes this into consideration.  So, if there is that special quilt you want to make, start it now so you can enter in the show.

Our May meeting is the guild’s Annual Meeting.  We will be voting on two items – the proposed slate of officers for 2018-2019 (minus a President as of now) and the proposed by-laws amendment.  We will also be drawing the tickets for the winner of this year’s raffle quilt and the Bernina sewing machine.  Make sure you attend.

Finally, if you attended Maria Shell’s presentation at our April meeting, I am sure you were disappointed with the quality of the projection of her slides.  The Board has since authorized the purchase of a new projector and we will be using it for our May speaker.  It should be a big improvement.

Susan Fasnacht

Normally I would be reporting on a full slate of officers nominated for next year’s Board; however this year the Nominating Committee has been unable to find someone to take on the position of President.  The Committee spoke to nearly 50 members looking for volunteers to fill four open, elected Board positions – President, Quilt Show Chair, Membership, and Education.  We were successful in finding someone for only three of those four offices.

This has caused great concern for me.  Volunteerism is an important factor in our guild’s operation.  It is what makes our annual quilt show so successful and is vital in carrying out our ongoing activities.  It is unfair to expect the same people to step forward to serve on the Board; it should be spread among as many members as possible.

I have had people say to me, “why don’t you just stay on another year?”  While flattered to be asked, it is not something I should be doing.  First of all, our By-laws have specific restrictions as to how many consecutive years a person can hold a position on the Board; this prohibits me from serving a third year as President.  Additionally, I have served on the Board the past 5 years; one as Membership, two as Quilt Show and two as President, and  I will still have another year or two to serve as Ex-Officio President.  While I did not find the jobs to overly time consuming, they did impact my life.  For the past four years in particular, I have had to juggle personal activities around Guild Board and Membership meetings, as well as other events.  I am looking forward to getting that flexibility back in my life.

To address the apprehensions that a job may be too much for a single person, we have used co-chairs for several positions – Quilt Show and Hospitality for example.  While it has not been done with the President’s position, having co-Presidents is something the Board would consider.  Since we need to have a President, at our April Board meeting we will discuss our options for filling the position, even if it is on a temporary basis.

I am once again asking all members to consider becoming President.  You can do this as an individual or you could team up with another member and create a co-Presidency.  You don’t need to have Board experience.  The Guild has detailed policies and job descriptions to guide you.  Additionally, I will be on the Board as Ex-Officio President to help and you also appoint an Assistant to the President to help with tasks.

Please seriously consider helping us in filling the slate of offices for the 2018-2019 year.
Susan Fasnacht, President@northernstarquilters.com

Annual Meeting – Election of Board Members and By-Laws Amendment

The Annual Meeting for the Northern Star Quilters’ Guild will be held at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at Kennedy Catholic High School.  At this meeting we will be voting on Officers for 2018-2019 and an amendment to our by-laws.  The specifics of the proposed by-laws’ amendment were sent to all members via the US Postal Service, as well as by email.  The proposed slate of officers follows.

The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the Slate of Officers for 2018-2019. The nominees will be introduced at the April Guild Meeting and voting will take place at the May Annual Meeting.

NSQG 2018-2019 Ballot
President – To Be Determined
VP Quilt Show – Daisy Dodge and Debby Warren (co-VPs)
VP Membership – Rosemary DePaola
VP Education – Linda Finegan

Returning for a 2nd year in their current positions:
Treasurer – Annette Nash-Govan
Secretary – Anne Chehebar
VP Communications – Julie Long
VP Programs – Helen May

Thank you to the nominating committee, Dee Ploufee, Julie Long, Anne Chehebar and Susan Fasnacht, for their work on putting together the slate of candidates.  I also thank the candidates for agreeing to share their talents with the Guild.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Super Saturday so successful. Pooa Bloomberg did a great job organizing the day.  I also want to thank the members who taught the classes – everyone I have spoken to enjoyed their class.  A final thanks to our Hospitality Chairs, Micky Green and Christine Langan for arranging for the food that day. It seems like we have found a home for Super Saturday at the Yorktown Presbyterian Church.  If you participated in a class, bring your work to March for our Show and Tell that meeting.

Once again we had another fun evening at our February meeting with the Ugly Fabric Auction.  A special thanks to our auctioneers, Sandy Bright and Carolyn Lewis, for doing such a good job.  Our sales exceeded last year’s auction!

We also saw all the wonderful Challenge Quilts at the February meeting.  It is always interesting to see how people interpreted the theme.  Thank you to Carla Wdowski for organizing the Challenge and to everyone who submitted a quilt.

Don’t forget to register your quilt for the World of Quilts XXXVIII.  Registration will be open until the end of the month.

Susan Fasnacht, President

There are a number of things happening this month, so make sure you read through all of the articles in this month’s newsletter for the details.  You can still sign up for a Super Saturday class, it’s a fun day and a great bargain.  There is also room on the Lancaster trip, lots of quilts to see and shopping to do.  We have exciting speakers and workshops coming in March and April – sign up for a workshop.  Don’t forget quilt registration is open.  Register your quilt early.

Our February meeting will also be busy.  This year’s Challenge quilts – Quilts Inspired by Doors – will be on display.  Come and vote for your favorite quilt.  Also, back by popular demand we will be holding the Ugly Fabric Auction.  If you missed last year’s event, make sure you come this year, it was lots of fun.  Don’t forget to bring your dollars!

Finally, I just returned from the Bahamas, and I was excited to see as we drove into town that the local guild, Stepping Stone Quilt Guild, was holding their quilt show.  Naturally, I had to add it to my things to do.  It was fun to see what people do in other parts of the world.  Their quilts were very nice and often reflected a Caribbean theme.  I was particularly amused by their guild challenge, quilting a cover for a 5 gallon water jug.
Susan Fasnacht, President@northernstarquilters.com 

Happy New Year to all!  This weather sure is conducive to cuddling up under a nice warm quilt or staying inside to sew.  Quilt registration for a World of Quilts XXXIX opens in just a few weeks and I hope you have been busy working on your entries.  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 28.  Also you don’t have to register all of your quilts at one time.  So, please if you have a quilt that is ready to be register, do it sooner than later.  It would be a big help to the Registrar to get the entries in early.  She only has about a week after registration closes to get the final list together so she can mail out quilt numbers.  By registering early she can check your entry immediately and avoid having to process so many quilts at the end.

We will be starting the nominating process for the 2018-2019 Board.  Click  here to find the list of positions with brief descriptions. 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.  I encourage you to consider serving.

If you are interested in serving on the Board or would like more information about any position, let me know.

Susan Fasnacht, President
president@northernstarquilters.com