Meeting #37 - September 14th, 2013

Hello Modern Quilters,

The weather is supposed to be absolutely beautiful Saturday (upper 70s), so it is a great time to come and see what we are up to.  We have Challenge quilts to see and lots more, so don't miss this meeting.

Date: September 14th, 2013
Time: 10am - 12:30pm
Location: The Heights

***Don't forget next month's meeting is the 1st Saturday, October 5th...mark your calendars***

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Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership #s for 2013
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Monthly Fabric Raffle
-Ohio Star Challenge Quilt Reveal
-Show & Tell
-Mix & Mingle

***We have an extra special Fabric Raffle this month as our very own Cindy Lammon has put together a bundle of coordinating fabrics that would make any quilter happy, and of course who wouldn't want the chance to win a copy of her new book "Simply Modern Christmas" too.

***We have seen some sneak peeks of a few Ohio Star Challenge Quilts and we can't wait to see them all in person.  Why did you made what you did?  Was it challenging, was it fun, did anything funny happen along the way?  You'll have an opportunity to talk a little about your quilt, so don't be shy.  And of course, while this challenge WAS for fun, there's no harm in having a few prizes for the top 3 Favs (as will be voted on during the meeting).

 ***Also, don't forget that we want to see your modern Show & Tell projects, fabric, books, etc.  Let's limit this to no more then 2 pieces/items a member please.

***For anyone who is wondering about the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge, as soon as we get some news, we'll let everyone know.

See you on Saturday!!

 

Following the meeting, don't forget that Cindy Lammon will be at JanieLou signing copies of her new book.  If you don't already have a copy, JanieLou will have them available for sale.

Meeting Recap (August 10th, 2013)

We had a packed house this past Saturday as we welcomed familiar friends and new faces.

Let's do a recap, shall we...

• We opened the meeting with 85 due-paying members and closed it with 90...WOW!!!
• Last week we received our official 501c3 group exemption non-profit documentation from The MQG.  The MQG has announced that they are working on the membership cards, a new blog button and fingers crossed will soon be announcing the next Fabric Challenge.
• Lynne announced that our Fall Charity Project will be...Pillows!!!...supporting Siteman.  Did everyone get a chance to see the super cute pillow she brought with her?  All due-paying members will be receiving a survey in their email over the coming weeks asking for feedback on the charity project...Stay Tuned!
• Our members unanimously voted to add the following to our By-Laws under Article 10 in regards to amending By-Laws.  The bit about voting via online ballot was added since we understand that in some instances it is necessary for all members, including those who are unable to attend our meetings, to vote on By-Law Amendments.  This will be added to our By-Laws this week with an amended date of 8/10/2013.

"Amendments to these by-laws shall be made by majority vote of members present as a regular or special meeting.  If deemed necessary, members may also vote via online ballot, instructions and information to be provided in an email.  The changes must be posted on the Guild's website(s) for all to see."

• The first online ballot to be sent out will arrive in due-paying members' inboxes later this week.  It will pertain to adding an amendment in regards to "children attending meetings"...which was a discussion that was held during the meeting on Saturday.
• Our members recapped Jacquie Gering's presentation and workshop, showing some of the projects they made using her crazy piecing technique. 

• Did you find some "new to you" modern fabric that you want to add to you shopping list?  Thanks to our members who brought in some of their new fabric purchases, it was great to see the color, scale and quality of some of the prints hitting shelves now.   
• It was great to see what everyone was working on in Show & Tell. Thanks for sharing!!
• We closed out our meeting with a little group-activity.  We wanted to know what activities/techniques/challenges you would like to learn?  What Speakers would be a good fit for the STLMQG?  Additional thoughts and suggestions you may have for our guild?  And don't forget, you don't have to wait for a questionnaire to offer suggestions.  Thanks to everyone who participated, we can't wait to add these to our growing list and put them into action.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, participating and supporting our guild!

Meeting #36 - August 10th, 2013

Hello Modern Quilters,

We have so much to look forward to now that we are an affiliated MQG and we want to hear from you.  There will be lots of opportunities to offer your feedback and help to shape our future, so you won't want to miss this meeting.

Date: August 10th, 2013
Time: 10am - 12:30pm
Location: The Heights

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Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership #s for 2013
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Monthly Fabric Raffle
-Charity Announcement/Volunteers/Etc.
-Our Guild's Future (Activities, Education, Speakers)
-ByLaw Amendment Proposition
-Jacquie Gering Recap
-What's New in Modern Fabric  **Participation Wanted, see below**
-Mix & Mingle

***Okay, fess up...we know that you have bought some of the new modern fabrics that have hit the market over the last few months.  We would like to ask our members to bring some of their goodies to the meeting for a little "What's New in Modern Fabric" activity.  If you bought a F8th/FQ bundle, we'd love for you to bring the whole thing if you don't mind...otherwise, if you just bought a few pieces here and there, that's good too.  Don't bring your whole stash, just a few fabric-pretties, so you can show your fellow members what's new out there.  Don't worry, the fabric will be in your possession the whole time and of course, we realize that people might bring the same print/collection, that's okay because we want to hear about what drew you to those prints anyway.

 ***We want to see your modern Show & Tell projects, fabric, books, etc.  Let's limit this to no more then 2 pieces/items a member please.

See you on Saturday!!

Modern Quilt Guild Affiliation - Guild Membership Approved

Hello Modern Quilters,

As you may remember from the post that was written last week, our guild had a decision to make regarding if we would be affiliating with The Modern Quilt Guild.

We sent out emails to all of our due-paying members, included documentation about the affiliation, the required changes to our by-laws, etc.  Thank you to all of those members who took the time to read the information and vote, your participation shows that you are invested in our guild's future.

As the votes were tallied, we did receive our majority and therefore our guild will be affiliating; which we are very excited to be doing. Thank You again!

So, you are probably asking yourself...What's Next??

First, we will be providing The Modern Quilt Guild with all required paperwork this week; which includes a copy of our amended By-Laws, our Financial documentation, List of Officers, etc. 

Second, we will be uploading all of our members into the database.  This database will not only make it easier for the Officers to manage our guild; but will provide each member with an opportunity to participate in The Modern Quilt Guild community site.  Each due-paying member will receive a confirmation email, asking you to verify that you are in fact a member of the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild.  It is important that you click through to the link in the email and verify this information, otherwise the Officers will not be able to properly communicate with you.

Third, once you have confirmed you place as an STLMQG due-paying member, take some time to check out the new community site, play around and have some fun.  It is still a work in progress, and new features will roll out throughout the year. 

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We have updated our About Us section to include the amended By-Laws; but you can also find them here for quick reference.  As stated in the previous post and email sent to you, we were required to include specific wording in regards to 501(c)3 status.  The By-Laws were amended on Saturday, July 28th...after all of the votes were tallied.

Amended STLMQG By-Laws

If you have any questions, you can reach us at stlmqg@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Saturday, August 10th.

 

Modern Quilt Guild Affiliation

Hello Modern Quilters,

 

If you have been following along with the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) announcements lately, you’ve seen several mentions of “Membership opening soon”…and have probably wondered exactly what that meant. If you joined us at our July meeting, we shared with you our guild’s Past, Present and Future; which led up to the announcement.

PAST: We shared the amazing charitable work that our guild has put forth for our local community and on a national level. Additionally, our members have strong creative spirits and have had their work in travelling quilt exhibitions, been published in countless magazines, authored books or started their own small pattern companies. We also shared with you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run a successful guild, and how we are continuously recognized on a national level whether it be through our programming, or social media efforts.

 

PRESENT: If you attended the meeting, you saw first-hand how much friendship, laughter and joy is always present; whether it was tossing around a ball of yarn during our informal icebreaker, or socializing with friends over a slice of cake.

 

FUTURE: We announced that in a few weeks we would be affiliating with the national Modern Quilt Guild and not only becoming an officially recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization; but that we would have many great benefits including a streamlined membership tracking interface, a private members-only forum, and also the ability to collaborate with other guilds for fun things like swaps and challenges.

 

As mentioned during the meeting, the Officers are confident that this in in the best interest of our guild and our members; yet since there are a few changes that we need to make to our by-laws, we wanted to dot all our I's and cross all our T's. You might be asking yourself...

• What does affiliation means?
• How it will effect our guild?
• What benefits are there?
• What are associated costs? etc.

We know that while we have a guild of 80+ members, not every member is able to attend our meetings and this is an extremely important decision, so we are providing this info here on our blog and in an email that was sent out about 2:30pm (Tuesday) giving you ample time to review the documents below and to cast your ballot.

 

Below are two linked documents; the first is a brief PDF answering many of the questions you may have regarding affiliation. The second is the amendments we must make to our bylaws as required by the IRS (in order to receive the non-profit status).

• MQG Membership Info
• IRS Required By-Law Changes

Once you have reviewed both documents, please click the link that is in the email sent to you; which will direct you to a super simple 2 question ballot. You have until Friday, July 26th 11pm to vote.

 

 

Thank you for your support and enthusiasm these last 3 years!!

 

  

Meeting Recap (July 13th, 2013)

Boy, Oh Boy!!! Wasn't Saturday's meeting a lot of fun?  For those who missed out, it was our guild's 3rd anniversary and we had a lot to celebrate; but before we get ahead of ourselves, let's start with the business side of things.

• Kelly, our Secretary, announced that we had 80 due-paying members
• Rene, our Treasurer, provided us with our financial status
• We then started into announcements and misc. quilting news
• It's not too late to participate in the AQS Modern Quilt Challenge, the entry deadline is August 2nd.  Click here to read more about this opportunity.
• Do you fancy yourself a Modern Block Designer? Or want to get into the business?  Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine is hosting a Designer Block Challenge and it could land you in their magazine.  Click her to read more.  Entries are due July 31st.
• We announced new rules regarding "Children at meetings".  Essentially, nursing moms with babes in arms are always allowed, as are children up to the age of 1 year.  Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to bring your children to a meeting, we are collaborating with The Heights to help provide "Tot Care".  If this is something that you need info on, please contact us and we'll send the info along to you for future reference. 

• Can you believe that it's almost time for Jacquie Gering to visit St. Louis...it seems like it was so far in the distance; but we are only days away now.  If you missed the announcement, check out this link.  Both events are closed to due-paying members only.
• Our Members' Swap/Challenge Committee discussed the Ohio Star Challenge; which is currently underway.  If you missed the announcement at June's meeting, it's not too late to get in on the fun as the quilts are due in September.  Check out the Challenge tab at the top of our blog to get all the details.
• We cut the cake and spent some time socializing with one another, preparing for what would be an interesting Icebreaker/Game to follow...let's just say a skein of red yarn was all it took to get the group laughing.  Well, that and a few misplaced throws :-)

• We closed out our meeting by looking back at our guild's past accomplishments, enjoying our present and looking towards our future as we joyously affiliate with the MQG in a few weeks time.  Keep your eyes here on the blog and in your inboxes, as we'll be sending you info on what affiliation actually means and how it will help our guild continue to be one of the strongest in the nation.

In closing we wanted to Thank all of our members for another great year, and for those new faces

and guests that joined in on our fun...Welcome!

 

Just as a reminder, if you want to know more about our guild, this blog is our main "billboard";

but we also have a home on Flickr, Facebook and Pinterest too.

Meeting #35 - July 13th, 2013

Hello Modern Quilters,

Can you feel the excitement?  YAY!!!  It's our 3rd anniversary this month and we are so excited to be sharing it with all of you.  We have games, some prizes, cake (who doesn't love cake) and some announcements that we can't wait to share with you. 

Date: July 13th, 2013
Time: 10am - 12:30pm
Location: The Heights

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Agenda:

-Welcome & Guild Business
   :: Membership #s for 2013
   :: Financial Information
   :: Special Announcements/Quilting News
-Monthly Fabric Raffle
-Jacquie Gering (Volunteer Sign-Up, Workshop & Presentation Info)
-Ohio Star Challenge Q&A Session (Members' Swap/Challenge Committee)
-Games
-Cake Break
-Show & Tell 
-STLMQG Past, Present & Future
-Mix & Mingle

***Make sure that you wear your modern quilting nametag each and every month. It shows your appreciation for your fellow member and the guild.

***We want to see your modern Show & Tell projects, fabric, books, etc.  Let's limit this to no more then 2 pieces/items a member please as we have a lot to do this month.

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Here's us in our humble beginnings, at our 1st meeting in September 2010. 

I believe there were 11 of us in attendance that day.

 

 

 

And here's us just a few months ago.

 

See you Saturday!!