October 2022 Meeting Recap

At our first guild meeting of the fall we welcomed new members and tried out our new meeting venue.

Our guild members and guests braved their way through the autumn rain to gather at The Center, 208 West 13th St, NY 10011. We were welcomed by our new President, Maren Berthelson, who introduced the rest of our board members: Bruce Goldstone (Vice President), Maureen Hyslop (Treasurer), Eva Le Blanc (Secretary) and Lisa Vosper (Membership).

After welcoming our guests and new members, we played a fun icebreaker game to get to know each other a little better. Each participant drew a mystery topic from a quilt-themed 'bag of fortunes' and then shared an anecdote drawn from their own experiences. Many laughs ensued as people shared funny stories about their quilting exploits!

Maren announced that the guild's Winter Retreat will be held at Mariandale in Ossining, NY on January 6th-8th. More information - including how to sign up for the retreat - will be shared with all our guild members soon. In the meantime be sure to save the dates!

Chris Economos gave an update on her quilt drive to support victims of the war in Ukraine. With the help of guild members and volunteers from the wider quilting community, Chris was able to send 140 quilts to Ukraine in June and an additional 200 quilts are due to be sent this fall. Chris presented a surprise trophy to Jody Sullivan as a special thank you for her contribution to the quilt drive. Jody has donated over 20 quilts in addition to making over 100 hand knitted 'pocket pals' to donate as children's toys. Well done, Chris and Jody, and a big thank you to everyone who donated a quilt!

For Show and Tell, Nellie Wu modeled a coat that she made for the Free Spirit quilt coat challenge. She customized the 'Tamarak' coat pattern from Grainline Studio, adding pockets and a high-low hemline.

Sue Erdreich showed a quilt top that she made out of HST blocks sourced from the scraps table at our last guild retreat. She plans to donate the quilt to charity once it's finished.

Debbie Kellogg showed a quilt top that showcases fabrics from her stash.

Bernadette Forward showed a star quilt top that she made at a guild retreat, plus an improv quilt top made out of strips.

Vickeidy Plybon showed a mini quilt made from upcycled fabric that she sourced from her local 'Buy Nothing' group. The quilt is made out of modified Courthouse Steps blocks and features a floral backing.

Sam Panzier showed a fanny pack that she made in order to practise sewing with zippers. She chose a 1980's theme with a bold black-and-white print.

Maria Gualdoni showed a pair of knitted mittens that she's making, which have already been claimed by her daughter even though they're not finished yet!

Nanette LaVerdiere showed her quilt titled 'Sunrise'. Like many of Nanette's quilts, it features hand-pieced house blocks and is hand quilted.

Chris Economos showed a quilt that was inspired by the design of one of Jody Sullivan's quilts. Chris made it using a charm pack that she got from Diana Cherryholmes. 

Chris also showed an in-progress Bargello quilt top made out of batiks, which was inspired by a Bargello quilt that was donated to the Ukraine quilt drive by a Gotham Quilts customer. Chris loved it so much that she decided to make one of her own.

Eva Le Blanc brought in an unfinished quilt top to be turned into a Round Robin quilt. Maren Berthelson volunteered to be the next person to add to the quilt top.

Nancy Dougherty showed a quilt that she worked on at the last guild retreat. The design has a Southwestern feel and features some fabrics from Usha Berlin's Handloom Batiks line. Nancy made the quilt for her son, who asked for it to include some turquoise.

Anthony Bowman showed some examples of his 'Overlapping Geese' quilt pattern, which was featured in Curated Quilts magazine and at QuiltCon 2022 in Phoenix, AZ.

Gayle Gross made this quilted Japanese rice bag - and she even made the cord for the bag's strap.

Leisha Pawlyszyn showed a quilt top that she made out of upcycled materials sourced from FabScrap. The quilt top features a variety of fabric types including denim and seersucker, and it has some charming pocket and buttonhole details.

After Show and Tell we held a prize draw for this month's Block Lotto. Jody was the lucky winner, receiving a bundle of Thread Spool blocks in fall colors.

That's it for this month's meeting. See you next time!