Meeting Recap (May 14th, 2011)

I want to thank everyone who came out today for our meeting; while the misty rain and grey skies might have tempted you to stay home. We'd like to say a fond farewell to Ely S. who will be moving later this month to Utah.  It's been great having you as part of our group, and we wish you all the best.

Here's a recap of our meeting:

• Our 1st Sew-In Saturday (May 7th) was a big success, we had 16 members join us for sewing, way-too-much food {{YUM}} and conversation.  Some members even took part in a Jelly Roll Race.  If you'd like to learn more about how you can make your very own race-quilt, visit here or Google 1600 Jelly Roll Race  for lots more info and even videos.
• We talked a little about the Secret Mission that 5 members (Mary Claire, Juli Ann, Jamie, Lynne and I) took on, in cooperation with Laura Gunn.  Photos of the quilts can be found on our Flickr Page.
• If you are finding sewing/quilting items that you no longer want...consider bringing it to our meetings for the Freebie Table.  It's always nice to know that a fellow quilter will put it to good use.
• Mary Claire talked about our Spring/Summer Charity Quilt Block that we are collecting as our donation to Project Linus.  She will be writing a blog post on this soon; but in the meantime there is some information on Flickr to get you started.  The block request is for Cross Blocks in either a pink/orange combo or a teal/green combo.  Remember the size we need is 12.5" x 12.5".  For each block you donate you'll be entered into a drawing to win a $20 Gift Certificate to Sew,Mama,Sew!
• We saw some great Show & Tell items, and the Photo Policy was discussed.  If you have not already read/heard the policy, you can find it here.  Please note that this policy is not created to discourage taking photos that you use personally for inspiration; but rather to protect the quilters, artists and designers.
• Our Challenge for the 2nd half of the year was revealed today.  It is called: Rip, Rip, Ripping Challenge.  The fun starts in June and the finished item is due in August.  If you don't finish, you won't be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing.  Think of that as added incentive :-)  You must be present at the June meeting in order to play, so mark your calendars and don't miss out.  You can find the rules here.  **Please note that the rules changed slightly to allow for lots more creativity.
• Did you swap your Noodles today?  Most of our members brought their fabric Noodles (5" cuts x width of fabric-selvedge to selvedge) and pulled names from a tub, swapping with their partner.  It was our first time playing the game so there were a few bumps along the way; but we got some good ideas on how to keep it more lively and maybe even a little more mischievous the next time around.

Finally, I wanted to touch upon something that was brought up today in regards of emails being sent out whenever there are big events and opportunities that arise, since not everyone participates on Flickr or reads our Blog regularly.  As an example, most recently, I have sent emails for events such as the Sew-In; yet I only posted the Secret Mission on Flickr and an FYI heads-up on the Blog (encouraging you to visit Flickr). 

We would like to offer some additional support.  First, I would like to say that part of the Modern Quilting DNA is that its participants remain connected in the online world.  This is not to say that everything is done online; but to get the full experience, one must remain "plugged in".  In order to help our members stay in touch and know what is happening at a moment's notice, we have added 2 new features to our Blog.

On the right hand side directly under where it list our Group's Leadership, you'll find two icons.  I encourage you to review the brief descriptions below and select the one that best suits your needs.

This options allows you to subscribe to our post and/or comments by using your favorite Reader application (ex: Google Reader, myYahoo!, etc).  Google Reader, for example, is a application that collects the blogs you subscribe to and gives you one centralized place to read all of the posts instead of having to seek out each link in your Favorites folder.  If you are not familiar with Google Reader and it's cousins, you can always learn more by doing a Google search or by asking someone to walk you through the quick and painless process.

For those of you who don't visit our Blog regularly, I would suggest option 2.  If you enter your email address and press the Submit button, a window will pop up asking you to review your subscription to that Blog's posts.  If the answer is Yes (and we hope it's Yes...because you love us so), you'll receive an email asking you to click on a link which confirms your request.  By signing up, you will receive an automated email whenever a new blog post is uploaded, helping you to stay connected and not miss out on big events.

I will certainly try and reach out to our membership on a larger scale when applicable; but I cannot guarantee that everything will be duplicated in email, on Flickr, and on our Blog. 

Also, I'm including a link to Jamie Mueller's PowerPoint presentation that she gave in January, as it includes some helpful step-by-step information on how to navigate Flickr, create a blog, etc.  Link Here

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Next month's meeting on June 11th is at the Oakbend Library.  It's the BIG reveal of the Solids Only Challenge Quilts which we've been working on since January...so if you haven't started, what are you waiting for??  There will be some prizes too, so don't miss out on the fun.  And if you want to join the 2nd STLMQG Challenge, remember you must be present to play.

Until then...Happy Sewing!!