January 2025 Meeting Recap

Our first meeting in the new year was held on Saturday January 18th, in-person, at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair with 31 members and 4 guests.

Guild Business

  • 2025 new memberships and renewals are open; annual dues is $70. Email reminders have been sent to current members with a link to the payment and renewal forms.
    • Members who do not renew by the end of Jan will be removed from the roster and email list.
      Please visit the Join page to sign up.
    • Please note there are 2 steps to becoming (or renewing) a member. Make sure you do both:
      • 1. Fill out the Join Form.
      • 2. Pay the dues by Zelle, Venmo, check, cash or credit card. ($2 fee applies to credit card transactions).
    • New and renewing members will receive a 2025 Welcome email in February which will include the new password for the Members Only section of this website.
  • Name Tag Swap in 2025 – contact Ann if you want to participate.
  • Due to the concurrence of QuiltCon and our regular meeting schedule, the February meeting is shifted to the Saturday after QuiltCon:
    • February MeetingThursday Feb 27th at 7 pm, on Zoom.
    • Plus, for those not attending QC, join us for a Virtual Open Sew in the comfort of your own space, Saturday Feb 22nd 10a-2p, on Zoom.
  • March 22nd Meeting in-person – Tea Party Theme.
    Bring your favorite cup or mug; wear a fun hat; and we’ll have an open sew afterward to work on charity items with Kelly. Feel free to bring materials (fabric, zippers, buttons, travel-size toiletries, etc) to work with or share.
  • If you signed up for a new round of Bee Blocks, they are due at the March 22 meeting.
  • April 26th Meeting in-person will be followed by a Kawandi workshop with Ellaree. Sign-ups will go out in March.
  • QuiltCon Outreach Charity Quilt was shipped to QuiltCon! Thanks again to Paula and everyone who participated in making this year’s entry!

Show & Tell

Thanks for sharing your beautiful work – MJ (1, 2), Aubrey (3, 4), Tanya (5, 6), Gretchen (7, 8), Ann (9), Ruth (10, 11), Karen (13), Julia (14).

Jo Ann Lepore Trunk Show and book signing

After our regular meeting, Jo Ann Lepore treated us to a deep, informative dive into the fascinating process of creating her new book, Picture Patchwork, printed by Fox Chapel Publishing.

Thank you Jo Ann!

Ask your local bookseller to order a copy for you.

Next Meetings

Thursday February 27, 2025 Zoom 7-9p** (this is the 4th Thurs)

Saturday March 22, 2025 In-person 11a-1p, plus Open Sew 1-4p.

Saturday April 26, 2025 In-person 11a-1p, plus workshop 1-4p.

See you next time!

xo,
Kathy

December 2024 Meeting Recap

Our December Holiday Party/”in-person meeting” was held on Saturday December 7th, at the First Lutheran Church in Montclair with 33 members and 2 guests.

Guild Business

  • 2025 new memberships and renewals will open in January, with annual dues set at $70. At that time, an email reminder will be sent out to current members with a link to the payment and renewal forms. Members who do not renew by the end of Feb will be removed from the roster and email list.
    New members, please visit the Join page in January.
  • Name Tag Swap in 2025 – contact Ann if you want to participate.
  • January Meeting – will be in-person on Saturday Jan 18th at 11 am.
    Our own Jo Ann Lepore will present a trunk show and book-signing after the meeting.
  • Due to the concurrence of QuiltCon and our regular meeting schedule, the February meeting is shifted to the Saturday after QuiltCon:
    • February MeetingThursday Feb 27th at 7 pm, on Zoom.
    • Plus, for QC refugees, we’ll host a Virtual Open Sew in the comfort of your own space, Saturday Feb 22nd 10a-2p, on Zoom.
  • QuiltCon Outreach Charity QuiltBetsy V. finished quilting it and now it’s off to be bound and shipped to QuiltCon! Thanks to everyone who participated in making this year’s entry and especially to Paula for herding the cats!

Holiday Party

Many thanks to Emily, Paula, and Rochelle for doing such a fabulous job! We loved all the good food, music, and fun activities!

  • “Find A Quilter Who…” Scavenger Hunt was a great mixer and a fun way to learn more about or meet for the first time other guild members!
  • Each table played Right/Left/Center and nearly everyone got to leave with fabric, a plant, or holiday decoration!
  • Giveaway prizes were raffled off!
  • Judy won the 50/50 Raffle and we added over $70 to our Showcase fund.
  • The Teacup/Mason Jar-Pincushion craft was a hit!

  • Amazing items were exchanged in the Upcycle Swap – who knew there was so much treasure in your closets!

Tari picked up her Block-Party bee blocks.

(Bring yours to the January meeting so I can get pictures of everyone’s blocks!)

A new bee will be announced next year.

Show & Tell

Thanks for sharing your beautiful work – Cindy (#1), Sue A. (2), Carol (3), Karen (4, 5), Janet (6), Rochelle (7), Paula (apologies, the picture didn’t come out!).

Other Good Stuff Happening

  • Montclair Fiber Arts Club – register through Lifelong Montclair to join this group with your needlework at Edgemont Park House 290 Valley Road every other Wednesday 10a-12p.
  • Hunterdon Art Museum – 7 Lower Center Street Clinton, NJ 08809, Unblocked: Improvisation and Identity in Contemporary Quiltsnow through January 12th, 2025.

    Featuring Elizabeth Brandt, Zak Foster, Coulter Fussell, Chawne Kimber, Basil Kincaid, Kwesi O. Kwarteng, Krystle Lemonias, Sarah Nishiura, our own Melanie Tuazon, and Sherri Lynn Wood.
Unblocked brings together a diverse group of artists whose quilts tell stories, express identity, celebrate community, further social justice, and engage in formal design and color investigations. Comfortable with improvisation, these artists use materials that are readily available—often discarded or donated clothing and domestic textiles—and work intuitively, without a structured plan.

Next Meetings

Saturday January 18, 2025, In-person 11a-1p

Thursday February 27, 2025 Zoom 7-9p** (this is the 4th Thurs)

Saturday March 22, 2025 In-person 11a-1p

May your holidays be filled with good things!
See you next year!

xo,
Kathy

NJMQG August 2024 Meeting

Greetings everyone!

Our August meeting was held on Zoom 8/15 at 7 pm, with 31 members in attendance.

QuiltCon Registration blues news…

As anyone who tried to register for QuiltCon knows, the system crashed and the MQG has been manually going through all the records to resolve a multitude of issues.

Week of August 19th – Everyone who has registered will receive an updated registration confirmation email. Please see QuiltCon 2025 Registration Update: Next Steps for details on balances due, refunds, and a special cancellation policy through August 22.

Week of August 26th  – Registration will reopen for MQG members only – the exact date and time that registration will reopen will be announced in an email to all members at least five days before!

Watch your inbox for that email from MQG!

2025 QuiltCon Community Outreach Quilt

The theme for 2025 is “Lines and Bars”.

A big thank you to all who submitted designs!
The quilt chosen for this year’s entry was designed by our very own Betsy Vinegrad (and is on the cover of the 2024 QuiltCon magazine!), recolored in the 2025 Outreach palette.

Septvolunteers needed to cut fabric on 9/17 at 11am.
Quilt kits will be distributed at the meeting 9/21.

  • Oct –  Sew blocks, and turn in at meeting 10/19.
  • Oct-Nov – volunteers needed to assemble quilt top and back.
  • Nov-Dec – volunteer needed – quilter.
  • Dec-Jan –  volunteer(s) needed to apply binding, sleeve and label.

Many hands make short work of 48 blocks! A volunteer sign-up form will be sent the week of Aug 26. Paula Fleischer is leading the process; contact her with any questions.

Autumn 2025 NJMQG Quilt Showcase

We’re looking for volunteers to form a committee to steer this idea into reality. Ann has a template for the steps based on last year’s showcase, so you’re not starting from scratch. A sign-up form will be sent out soon.

Fundraising

Now that we’ve been approved for a gaming license a world of possibilities opens up for fundraising in conjunction with the Showcase. Thanks for all the great ideas at this month’s meeting! It’s exciting to hear your enthusiasm!

Among the ideas floated:

  • Make 2 of the Outreach quilts and raffle one.
  • Distribute raffle ticket books to every member with a requirement to sell all their tickets.
  • Mini quilts silent auction/raffle.

Programs

Next meeting

In-person Saturday September 21st, 11a-1p at the First Lutheran Church of Montclair.

  • Sign up for Bee Blocks
  • Hand in finished Charity Quilts to Kelly
  • Pockets-to-Go swap
  • New name tag if you’re working on a swap with someone.
  • Show & Tell! is back
  • After the meeting: Free-Motion-Quilting workshop with Jackie Laba and Samantha Linehan.
    Sign up here. Cost is $25.

Upcoming

October

  1. Saturday 10/19 – in person meeting
  2. After Meeting: Pleating with Miguel Huidor

November

  • Saturday 11/16 – in person meeting

December

  • Saturday 12/7 – Holiday Party

Other Stuff

Book Signing

Jo Ann Lepore will be at Quilts in the Mills Friday Sep 27th (and possibly 28th) to sign advance copies of her forthcoming book Picture Patchwork, published by Fox Chapel Publishers. The show, sponsored by Courthouse Quilters Guild, runs Sep 27-29. Jo Ann’s book is expected to be available from booksellers by early November.

Congrats Jo Ann!

Stars of the Valley Quilt Show

Sponsored by Warwick Valley Quilters, the show runs Oct 19-20. Quilt registrations are due by Sep 7.

Your quilt does not have to be finished to register, you just need to provide a picture of it for identification purposes. You’ll find the registration form on their website.

  • Bonus: our own Melanie Tuazon will be giving a lecture on Saturday Oct 19 at 1pm, “Planned and Unplanned: Design and Improv in Piecing”.

That’s all for now! See you in September!
Happy sewing!

xo, Kathy