Meeting Recap (January 11, 2020)

Thanks to everyone who ventured out to the Shrewsbury City Center for our meeting on Saturday! It was nice to have a little breathing room for our growing group. 

• We began with quick introductions of our new board members. 
• President - Emily Amizich
• Vice President - Pam Hartig
• Secretary - Lilo Whitener-Fey
• Treasurer - Tess McMahon
• Tess, our Treasurer, gave us the updated financial info. It's getting down to the wire to pay your 2020 dues to remain in good standing with the guild. They are $40. You can pay via our Paypal link or by cash, check, or charge at our February meeting. 
• Lilo, our Secretary, gave an update on our membership numbers. We have 170 members, provided everyone pays their dues! We will have STLMQG pins and MQG pins at the February meeting if you have not received them yet. 
• Pam, our Vice President, announced several quilting/sewing related events and news items. Check the email for the list, links, and information.
• Emily, our President, covered several items with occasional assistance of the other board members.
• Committee Sign Ups: We offered one last opportunity for 2020 committee sign ups and boy did you all respond! All spots are filled and all chairs are designated. We look forward to what you accomplish throughout the year. 
• The formation of the Welcome Committee was announced and by the end of the meeting all spots were filled. The Welcome Committee is tasked with welcoming and introducing new members to the happenings and organization of the guild. Thank you to everyone who volunteered!
• Hand-Sew Happy Hour's next meeting is Tuesday, January 21st at the St. Louis Hills Bread Co. 
• This month's activity was to divide into groups based on your zip code and get to know the folks who live nearby! Members discussed several topics and then shared a couple of fun items with the whole guild. We learned about fun places to eat, shop, and get creative within our own community. 
• The Charity Committee collected and incredible 175 quilts to donate to Project Linus in 2019! Thank you to the committee (Gina Shelley, Lilo Whitener-Fey, Nancy Dlugosz, Emily DuBois, Ann Philiph, Patti Hawkins, Erin Chan, and Amy Suiter) for all of their hard work; to everyone who made a quilt; and to our wonderful longarmers and Nancy Dlugosz, who donated their quilting and binding services for monthly giveaways.
• The board announced the 2020 Block of the Month (BOM) challenge which is focusing on Solid Fabrics this year. Full details as well as January's designated fabric type can be found in the 2020 BOM section of the website. 
• Also announced was the first 2020 Block Lotto quilt block. It's an adorable envelope block focusing on Valentine's colors and is due at the March meeting. Full details, color designations, and a link to the pattern can be found on the 2020 Block Lotto section of the blog. 
• We wrapped up the meeting with another great Show and Tell. Keep an eye on our Instagram page to see pics of the meeting, show and tell, and our members' projects throughout the month.