Attendees: July – 37 members, August – 21 members.

Guild Business

Q2 Treasurer’s Report – will be posted soon on the website in the members-only section.

Annual Bylaws Review –

• MQG sent out guidelines to guild leaders regarding governing documents, which included language they require verbatim.
• We have updated our Bylaws to incorporate those requirements, most of which were already in our Bylaws just not in the same order.
• There’s a link to the Review copy of the Bylaws in the members-only section of the website.
• Please take a look as we will be voting to approve those changes in September.

Sunrise Committee – Call for volunteers! What We Need:

• Small group of dedicated members to greet guests and new members at sign in
• Make introductions and build connections
• Reach out to guests after the meetings to share a friendly message (optional!)

Volunteers could be anyone who is good at remembering names and faces, attending meetings consistently, and comfortable in initiating conversations with strangers.

*Look out for the sign up form!

Quilt Showcase 2026 – Hunting for the right venue, aiming for Autumn 2026!
Got ideas for fundraising and sponsorships? – email vicepresident (at) njmqg.com

Felting Workshop with Josie held July 19th. Bring your felty items (finished or not) to the September meeting to show off!

QuiltCon 2026 February 19-22 Raleigh, NC.

Registration opened at 10 am EDT on Wednesday August 20th. All the information is on the QuiltCon website.

Emily mentioned that, as a first-timer this year, she had a lot of fun participating in the Mini-Quilt Swap!

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*Look for a google form from Ann around September 8th to join the lottery
*Names will be drawn at the September guild meeting

• Lottery to draw for 10 spots reserved for NJMQG members
• If picked, you’ll pay NJMQG $35 to hold your spot
• Early registration October 6-13, $315 for ticket (hotel not included)

General Registration opens November 3rd at 7 pm, $365
These go fast but there is a waitlist which is very fluid.

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Programs

Becca Fenstermaker gave us a presentation of her UFflow lecture – with lots of great ideas on how to deal with your UFOs!

UFO Challenge – turn your UFOs into FOs! At the September meeting you’ll get a raffle ticket for each of your FOs and we’ll draw a winner!

Minimalism with Nicole Neblett (mamlovequilts.com) – we watched a webinar from the MQG’s Resource Library, a wealth of articles, patterns and videos. Your NJMQG membership gives you free access to this incredible resource which you can return to as often as you wish. Check it out!

If you missed it, watch it here. (Log-in required.)

Minimalist Mini Quilt Challenge

• Inspired by the presentation by Nicole Neblett, create your own Minimalist Mini Quilt
• Quilt should be between 12-24 “ per side
• Quilt can be any shape
• Bring your quilt hidden to our November guild meeting
• We will display them and have time to enjoy the mini quilts

Mystery Quilt

• Part 6 was emailed July 15th
• Part 7 was emailed August 16th
• Part 8 will go out on September 15 with instructions for block construction and putting the top together
• Bring your finished top to the October meeting for a special prize! 
• If you are a bit behind, don’t worry!  There’s still time to catch up!

Contact programs-co (at) njmqg.com with any questions.

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Happenings

Atrium Gallery – Ellaree Pray has a quilt in the current exhibit, “Another Slice of Sweet Potato Pie”. 10 Court St, Morristown, NJ 07960, through September 19th.

Reeves-Reed Arboretum – Carolyn McKibben’s work is on display in a solo exhibit “Nature’s Tapestry” through October 31st.

Know about other happenings? Email secretary (at) njmqg.com.

Have a great Labor Day weekend and smooth back-to-school transition!

xo,
Kathy

35 members and 1 guest were at our meeting on Saturday June 21st at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair. Happy first full day of Summer!

Guild Business

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QuiltCon 2026 February 19-22 Raleigh, NC.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Registration opens at 10 am EDT on Wednesday August 20th.

Pricing has changed this year!
A 4-day pass is now $50 or free when purchased with $50 or more of workshops, lectures, or special events in first purchase (in other words, when you register). After Nov 1st, the price increases to $60 for both members and non-members.

All the information is on the QuiltCon website.

Community Outreach Challenge QuiltCon 2026

• We want your ideas!
  Put your thinking cap on and submit a design to the Board for our guild to create using one of these palettes.
• If you have an idea but don’t know quite how to execute it, submit it anyway. We have many talented members to help make your vision a reality!
• The theme is Medallion quilts, a fun way to work as a group and experiment with different repeating shapes and secondary patterns.
• Size constraints of a maximum of 65”x85” and a minimum of 60”x80” must be adhered to.
  More info on the MQG’s website.
• Bear in mind that entire color palette must be used, with no additional colors allowed, and broad participation by as many NJMQG members as possible is an essential feature of this challenge.

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Programs

Ongoing

• Mystery Quilt – Step 5 was emailed June 15th. (More Flying Geese!) The reveal will be in October.

Upcoming

• Felting Workshop with Josie Dakers-Brathwaite on Saturday July 19th at First Lutheran Church of Montclair, 10a-2p. Sign up here.
• Becca Fenstermaker will talk about UFOs (the earth-bound kind) at our July 17th Zoom meeting at 7pm.

The Initial Challenge

WOW.

Really, W.O.W.

The display of creativity by our members was overwhelming! What a talented bunch. You ignite my imagination with your fantastic work!

The challenge: create a mini quilt no larger than 24×24″ using your first name initial as your main color and your last name initial as the block inspiration.

• While Ann updated us on all the guild-y things going on, Emily quietly numbered and pinned up the 20 entries on the display wall behind us.
• During the break, everyone got 3 pom-poms to toss into the numbered paper bag(s) for their top 3 favorites.

The Entries

See if you can guess the makers and their inspirations.

The Winners

3rd place was a 3-way tie so we went into an overtime runoff, with #17 by Debbie Coats snagging the bronze. Debbie’s color is Denim and her block inspo is Circles.

2nd place honors went to #7 by Ellaree Pray. Ellaree’s color is Ebony and her block inspo is Piano Keys.

And 1st place went to #19 by Betsy Vinegrad. Betsy’s colors are Blue and Black and her block is Variable Star.

Honorable mentions: #20 by Ann Marston (Aqua, Artichoke, Azalea et al & Mariner’s Compass) and #19 by Rachel Bond-Baron (Red, Rose, Rust, et al & Bear Paw).

Congrats to the all our winners!

The Reveal – Who Made What?

Can you guess the maker’s colors and blocks?

In numerical order:

(Apologies to Margy, Casey, and Rachel—I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot to snap photos of you with your quilts!)

Show & Tell

Thanks for sharing this month! (1, 2) Judy, (3) Sue M, (4) Ellaree.

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Happenings

Atrium Gallery – Ellaree Pray has a quilt in the current exhibit, “Another Slice of Sweet Potato Pie”. 10 Court St, Morristown, NJ 07960, through September 19th.

Reeves-Reed Arboretum – Carolyn McKibben’s work is on display in a solo exhibit “Nature’s Tapestry” through October 31st.

Jane Lombard Gallery – Soft Structures 10 artists exhibit textile art, June 27th – Aug 8th, at 58 White Street, NYC, Tues-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-6.

Vintage Quilts as Inspiration – Lecture with Arlan and Pat Christ at Clifton Senior Center, Sat June 28 at 1pm (non-member suggested donation $5)

Next Meetings

• Thursday July 17, 2025 Zoom meeting 7-9p
• Thursday August 21, 2025 Zoom meeting 7-9p
• Saturday September 20, 2025 in-person starting at 10 or 11 am tbd, at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair

Have a great Independence Day weekend!
See you online!

xo,
Kathy

34 members and 1 guest were at our meeting on Saturday May 17th at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair. Thanks for coming everyone!

Guild Business

• Board Elections – The election will take place at the June meeting, which will start at 10 am. The new board will transition prior to the July meeting.
  The nominees are:
  • President (2-yr term): Ann Marston
  • Vice President: Emily Clifford
  • Secretary: Kathy Morganroth
  • Programs Co-chairs: Holly Finneran & Samantha Linehan
• 2026 Quilt Showcase Committee – The committee will meet soon. Emily Clifford is the showcase chair. Please contact her if you’d like to join in the fun of making this happen.
• We added the QuiltCon 2025 Catalog to our library of quilting books, magazines and rulers. See Caroline at a meeting to borrow.

PLEASE NOTE: Our June meeting will start at 10 am.

QuiltCon 2026 February 19-22 Raleigh, NC.

Challenges and Hotels

2026 Windham Artisan Cotton Fabric Challenge

• For this challenge, members must use at least 3 of the 6 challenge fabrics chosen by the QuiltCon 2026 featured speaker, Hillary Goodwin.

American Patchwork & Quilting Diamonds Quilting Challenge

• Eligible quilts will have the diamond (rhombus) shape as a primary element of the quilt design. You’ll find lots of examples of this and additional details on the challenge page.

Raleigh Hotel Blocks for 2026

• We’ve secured blocks in six hotels for you to choose from. Check out the details on the website.

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Community Outreach Challenge QuiltCon 2026

• The theme is Medallion quilts, a fun way to work as a group and experiment with different repeating shapes and secondary patterns.
• Size constraints of a maximum of 65”x85” and a minimum of 60”x80” must be adhered to.
  More info on the MQG’s website.
• We want your ideas! Put your thinking cap on and submit a design to the Board for our guild to create using one of these palettes.
• Bear in mind that entire color palette must be used, with no additional colors allowed, and broad participation by as many NJMQG members as possible is an essential feature of this challenge.

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Call For Entry

MQG is curating a fresh exhibit in partnership with The Dairy Barn Arts Center! This juried exhibit will display the wide variety of talent and innovation happening in modern quilting today.

Submissions will be open April 21, 2025 – June 16, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
There is no submission fee.

• Submitted quilts may be in any modern style and may or may not have been exhibited at QuiltCon in the past.
• The entries will be juried by MQG staff.
• Any MQG member may submit up to 2 quilts to the call.
• A limit of 1 quilt per maker will be chosen with a final exhibit of approximately 20 quilts.
• Quilts must have been completed within the last 3 years (2023, 2024, 2025).
• Quilts must be available to ship to arrive in Athens, Ohio by September 5, 2025.
• There is no minimum size for quilt submissions, but the maximum size will be 90″ on any side.

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The June meeting will start at 10 am.

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Programs

Ongoing

• Mystery Quilt – Step 4 was emailed May 15th. The reveal will be in October.
• Bee Block Party – current blocks will be swapped at the June meeting.
• Mini-Quilt “Initial” Challenge – open to all members. Finished quilts are due at the June 21st meeting which starts at 10 am. (Remember to keep it secret until then – no posting on social media!)
  • The basic parameters are:
    • Make a mini-quilt, Min 12″ Max 24″ per side. (Does not have to be square.)
    • Choose a main color based on the initial of your first name.
    • Choose an inspiration block based on the initial of your last name.
    • Bring your finished mini to the June meeting (wrapped, to maintain anonymity) where we’ll display them all and vote for Viewers Choice. The winner will receive a prize!
• Charity projects will continue to be collected by Kelly for donating to CASA.
• Montclair Art Museum field trip to see an exhibit of Montclair collage artist Nanette Carter was planned post-meeting, but we found out at the last minute that the museum was closed to prepare for a gala that evening. (What nerve! Did they check with us? Did they invite us? Hmpf.) We hope to reschedule another day to see it before it closes on July 6.

Upcoming

• Felting Workshop with Josie Dakers-Brathwaite on Saturday July 19th at First Lutheran Church of Montclair, 10a-2p. Stay tuned for class registration info.

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Reminder: June meeting starts at 10 am

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Improv Inspiration

The trunk show by member Carolyn McKibben was a real treat! Carolyn’s work will be displayed in a solo show titled Nature’s Tapestry at the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit June 7 – October. Go see it!

Follow Carolyn on Instagram @quiltergardener

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Repeat after me: the June meeting starts at 10 am.

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Show & Tell

• From the Kawandi Workshop with Ellaree Pray – (1) Debbie, (2) Caroline, (3) Sue, (4) Jo Ann. Great work everyone!

• Thanks everyone for showing your wonderful work! Jo Ann (1), Sue (2), Ann (3), Betsy V. (4, 5).

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Next Meetings

Saturday June 21, 2025 In-person 10a-1p

• New meeting time: 10 AM!
• Board election
• Initial Challenge mini-quilts due & vote for Viewers Choice!

Thursday July 17, 2025 Zoom meeting 7-9p

Thursday August 21, 2025 Zoom meeting 7-9p

See you in June at 10 am!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

xo,
Kathy