Well if our January meeting is an indicator of how the year is going to be then we are off to more than a Banner Year. I think everyone left the meeting astounded at the creativity of our group and with that touchy feely kind of feeling when the kinship between us all is right there on the surface. ** Note: there is a heartwarming story at the end of the blog, so be sure to catch it. I think you will love it **

We started with a Name the QuiltCon 2017 Charity Quilt discussion. Names were suggested and gathered – even from suggestions on Facebook- and the final name, voted on by all of us is “Shockwave”. Which is very fitting! Susan will be taking the quilt to the Niagara Heritage Meeting next week then will be parcelling up the quilt to send off to Savannah, Georgia.

April’s challenge was picked from the Challenge Repository and is ” Modern Amish Style” . This should be an interesting month….. Because that month is also when we will be having a speaker. Susan Clark will be speaking on April 13th about Village Houses. We are thrilled to be hosting Susan so please be sure to share with your friends, bring a friend along if you like and come with a Modern Happy Mood because she is a passionate speaker!

Marilyn Michelin is also a member of Quilt Canada and has been on the executive in so many capacities over the years. This year she is in charge of the National Juried Show (NJS) for judging. She put out a call for helpers for 2 days while the judges will be judging the quilts before they are hung. Tara, our new Vice President has volunteered. The days are June 11th and 12th before Quilt Canada happens in Toronto. Marilyn said they are also looking for scribes to write the comments on the judges evaluations of each quilt. Which is a regular process of entering a show and the feedback is a great way to learn ways to improve your quilting skills. * Marilyn also brought in some fabric that can be utilized in making a block for Quilt Canada’s Quilt Bee. Quilt Canada is hoping to make 1,000 quilts for Ronald McDonalds Houses across Canada. Please consider making a few blocks *

As members of the MQG, the organization we belong to, we are asking members to please give us feedback on the website, webinars and their own general thoughts on the MQG. We know there are member benefits but we’d like to know how you take advantage of this. Dorothy, from our Guild is going to Quiltcon in Savannah, Georgia next month and will get unlimited free entrance to the show because she is a member. You would too because that is one of the perks of being a member!

March 25th will be our next Sew-In from 9:30- 4 pm. Non-members are welcome for a $10 fee. It’s alot of fun sharing that day. It will be potluck lunch so bring something to share but please remember our room is a peanut free zone. We will be doing an Improv Round Robin for a few hours that day. More details to follow on what Tara has planned for us.

Stephanie Baisley, our treasurer, has a great idea that she will be initiating this year. It involves learning and expanding your quilting knowledge during a 20 minute session at each meeting. It might be about value, colours, notions and could even involve some guests and also utilizing the many skills that our members already have!

Tara has the new Quilters Planner  that she was mentioning on our Facebook page. She loves it and gave us a great explanation of the multi use binder. It’s something to consider when organizing your projects, your days and your fabric. She was also telling us a lot about the iPhone app called Quilt Sandwich. It’s a great way to keep yourself organized!

Debbie is organizing a Bird Block Lottery for October. Soon you will receive an email giving your access to our Pinterest group NMQG. There are Pins of suggested bird blocks to make and of course you can add any new Pins that you find. You bird doesn’t need to be paper pieced, there are many sewing blocks that involve birds. You can make the black any size, any colour and any bird patterns that you find. If you make 3 blocks then you receive 3 ballots to possibly win the blocks. We are hoping to see many different colours of birds, shapes and sizes. How many different Modern birds can you make?

And finally we are trying something new this year that will involve many members of our Guild. We’d like YOU to write the blog. Before the meeting Debbie may be asking you to take notes that night and to do your own write-up about our meeting. We all have a different perspective ( and sense of humour ) so this is a sure way to get everyone involved and to give their input. For the month of February Kathleen O’Flaherty will be writing the blog!!

Challenges:

February – Windy Day

March – Flying Geese

April –  Modern Amish Style

* Sew-In date is March 25th *

Please meet Audrey, the newest member of the Niagara Modern Quilt Guild. This was her first time out to a meeting and we couldn’t have been more pleased to have her there because she had a story to tell of her quilt. She actually came to our meeting just to meet Lorna Costantini!!! You see Lorna is also a pattern maker and currently has some of her designs for sale at the Modern Bee in Virgil. Audrey came into the store and saw this pattern. She almost left but something drew her back to this pattern.

Audrey’s husband proposed to her at this Gazebo in Niagara On The Lake. The meaning to Audrey of this special place just needed to be stitched. Audrey embroidered her husband and her own initials in the top of the sail on the boat and it proudly hangs in their home! Audrey told the story much better than I have written it here!!!

You see this is why we do what we do…. we create patterns and quilts because they mean something to us. Because they define who we are and the memories making the quilts and the purpose behind them is so special to us. Congratulations Lorna for making such a big difference in someone’s life !!!