At our next meeting on June 18, we will elect and induct our new executive board of NJMQG. Here, we get to know the candidates.

Daniela Di Iorio, President

How long have you been quilting?

I have been quilting for about 2 years. My favorite part of the quilting process is designing the quilt. My preferred method for creating a quilt is the in improvisational style using abstract art to influence my work. I like to dive right in and cut and sew, rearrange and design and contemplate and so on until the design is cohesive, has tension, is pleasing to the eye and balanced (or not balanced!).

What do you like best about our guild?

Our guild is amazing! I love it! The incredible talent of our members is immeasurable. I leave each meeting inspired and am so grateful for the support each member provides. I consider myself very lucky to be part of this wonderful group.

What are you looking forward to most as a member of the board?

I have learned so much over the past year as Program Director. I am most excited to keep our guild as alive and as vibrant as it is now and to continue to promote our guild’s mojo!

What do you do when you’re not quilting?

I am a designer, quilter, creative director, color aficionado and a fabric lover. When not running my design studio, I am at my sewing machine every chance I can get. I love spending time with my husband and two kids, taking long walks, ice cream, soy cappuccinos, traveling and looking for quilty inspiration wherever I can find it.

Amy Rehbein, Vice President

How long have you been quilting?

I have been quilting for about 10 years.

What is your favorite part of the quilting process?

My favorite part of the quilting process is, well, the entire thing. I love all of it. From picking out fabrics to designing to piecing to thinking about what and who I am creating for to the binding. I need to be creative. Its deep in my soul and I find I am a better person when I allow myself to be creative. I know that sounds corny but there is so much truth in those words.

What do you like best about our guild?

One of the  best thing about our guild is the diversity of it. I think we are all so diverse and yet have such  respect for each others work. I feel there is such a wealth of knowledge that hasn’t even begun to be tapped into from members of our guild. I look forward to pulling it out of our members.

What would you like to do as a member of the board?

I would love to create more learning opportunities for our members and utilize the different gifts that we all have.

What do you do when you’re not quilting?

When I am not quilting I am taking care of my family. I am a wife to my high school sweetheart and a homeschooling Mom to a first grader and Sophomore in High School. I also enjoy gardening and photography and I love to embroider. 

Tracy Ehrhardt Baird, Program Director

How long have you been quilting?  

I made my first quilt in 2013 on a whim, using jelly roll strips and with no knowledge of a 1/4 inch seam!  I love it and it rests at the end of my bed.

What is your favorite part of the quilting process?  

Gosh, that’s a tough one, it kind of depends on the quilt. I do love the planning and fabric pull/buying process, since there are so many possibilities at that point.  I also get excited when that first block or section of the top comes together and you can see if what you visualized will work.

What do you like best about our guild?

The vast range of experiences and styles and personalities and levels of sewing knowledge in the group – I am always amazed (and sometimes slightly intimidated) during our show and tell when I realized how much I don’t know about our craft.

What are you most excited to do as a member of the board?  

I’m excited to better understand the guild leadership process on the national level, and to continue the relationships created in the quilting community.

 What do you like to do when you’re not quilting?  

This time of year (spring/summer) it’s all about gardening and being outside, trying to make up for having a ceiling over my head all winter.

Annette Aponte, Treasurer

How long have you been quilting?

I have been quilting for 23 years.  I saw an ad in my local paper about a quilting guild meeting. After years of watching Eleanor Burns on PBS – TV, I got on a bus and went to my first guild meeting.  It turned out that some of the guild members were neighbors and needless to say I never had to take the bus again. 

 What is your favorite part of the quilting process?

My favorite part depends on my mood.  Sometimes, I want to cut, some times to sew, other times I just want to look at quilting magazines and sketch quilt blocks while watching TV with my hubby.  I usually keep a quilt on my mid-arm frame for when I want to do some free motion quilting.

What do you like best about our guild?

The thing I LOVE best about our guild is the youthfulness and experience of our members.  I think modern quilting has revitalized the quilt movement.  I always see something wonderful very month.  I also like that we meet 12 months a year. We seem never to lose momentum.

 What are you most excited to do as a member of the board?

I think keeping up with the guild will be a great challenge and I look forward to interacting with the other board members. 

 What do you like to do when you’re not quilting?

I like to read, knit, zumba, practice yoga, walk and spend time with family and friends.

Meg Sawyer, Secretary

How long have you been quilting? 

I have been sewing since I was ten years old. I have been quilting for about 9 years now. 

What is your favorite part of the quilting process? 

My favorite part of the quilting process is trying new techniques and experimenting with different patterns and techniques. I love how alternative ways of patch working can result in such different, unique creations. Every quilter has a different eye to their designs. 

What do you like best about our guild?

Being probably one of the youngest guild member, I like that I can talk about my passion with others who appreciate it just as much. Not many people my age can have conversations about quilting or sewing, so this is my little escape. 

What are you most excited to do as a member of the board? 

I am most excited about being more involved with the members and the guild. I recently graduated from college so now I have more time to focus my energy on quilting. I have so many ideas I want to execute with my sewing and quilting and I would love to include that with the members as well. 

What do you like to do when you’re not quilting?

When I’m not quilting, I am usually binge watching television shows or out with my friends! 

Thanks to all of our candidates! We look forward to the June meeting.