Please support our local and area quilt shops during this stay-at-home time. They are offering online shopping, phone orders, and curbside pickup. Check their websites or call. If no answer, leave a message because they may not be in the store during their “normal” hours but are checking messages. We certainly want them to all be here when we are able to go out and shop again.

Also support our guild members who are long arm quilters or have other quilting businesses. Member, Lori Dickman, is offering a Spring Mystery Quilt on her website. Click HERE for step 1, HERE for step 2, HERE for step 3.

Stay safe and healthy!

Thank you for everyone who came out to the March neo-natal sew-in. The winners of the most popular NICU quilts are:

1st: Ying Chi – Crayon quilt
2nd: Cecilia Mann – Circle and Squares quilt
3rd: Amy Ottens – Happy quilt
4th: Donna Shay – 25 Patch quilt

Pam Surmo will hand out the prizes to you when our next meeting occurs or she can send it to you. Let her know.

*************************

Elizabeth Franck has reported that face masks can be dropped off at Joann’s for distribution. Elizabeth is making masks to send to her niece who is a pediatrician in San Antonio, TX and if anyone wants to make and donate to her cause, please contact her. There are several online tutorials being circulated. Many of them use 1/4″ elastic, but if you don’t have the elastic on hand, there are some instructions on how to make fabric ties or use elastic hair ties instead.

I’ve also received an email from Michelle Watson that our healthcare workers in Rockford would love masks to put over their paper masks. You may want to call your healthcare friends/family or your doctor’s office to find out where the need is.

*************************

Announcing our guild banner challenge: “The Alphabet of Flowers”. Click HERE to view the complete details. Since we don’t know when our next meeting will occur, please email Robin Gausebeck to receive your assigned letter of the alphabet.

Stay safe everyone.

Stay in and SEW!! It’s a great time to shop your stash and raid your scrap bins to make items for our upcoming craft show at Edgebrook on June 13th. Small items like purses, bags, potholders, placemats; medium sized items such as table toppers/runners and wall hangings, pillows, garments and small quilts; and larger, more expensive quilts. Look online for free patterns. Or sew up some neo-natal quilts and lap quilts for chemotherapy patients.

Since most of us are in the “high risk elderly” category, be smart and stay in. Reach out for help if you need groceries or other essentials.

Guild Library: Books and magazines from our library collection will be for sale at the April through June guild meetings.

Special Projects: We’ve added chemotherapy lap quilts to our Special Projects charity program. These will be donated to area hospitals to be given to their patients undergoing treatment. Contact Special Projects committee with questions.

2021 Quilt Show Challenge: The banner quilt challenge is back! Sign up begins at the April meetings where you’ll be given all the details and rules.

Art and Craft Shows:

Indoor City Market on Friday, April 17th, 5-9 pm: We have 2 spaces at the ground floor room within the Indoor City Market building. Advertising will be provided in a brochure distributed by Rockford Area Art Council which sponsors the April ArtScene. This event requires original art pieces so many of our craft show pieces will not be appropriate for this event. We will sell original items from our craft show inventory. We will also accept additional original items on consignment with SQG keeping 20% of the sale price. If a consigned item is not sold, SQG will return it to the owner. If an original item is donated to SQG (ie. It is not consigned) the guild will become its owner. (An original guilt or item is one that is not made from someone else’s pattern and it reflects the creativity of the artist who submits the quilt.) Please bring your original items to the April guild meeting. Allow time to complete a short information form for consignment items. Following the April 17 th show, quilters who have sold consigned items will be responsible for submitting the tax form reporting their earnings.

Artsy Arts and Craft Show at Edgebrook on June 13th, 10 to 5 pm: This event will allow us to sell our usual crafts and it appears to be well attended by customers who appreciate unique craft items. We definitely will need new craft items for this sale: small items like purses, bags, potholders, placemats; medium sized items such as table toppers/runners and wall hangings, pillows, garments and small quilts; and larger, more expensive quilts. Items for the Edgebrook sale can be dropped off at the April, May and June guild meetings.

Please contact Amy Ottens with any questions.

We are raffling the 3 remaining quilts from the Laurie Larson collection. Tickets are $1.00 each and mark the ticket for quilt choice. The tickets can be picked up from Anne Biedowicz, Colleen Magee, or Bonnie Hodina. The drawing will be at the evening Christmas party on December 5th.

Tulip Christmas Quilt, hand quilted, full/queen

White Fan Quilt, hand quilted, 40″x40″

Pieced Star Quilt, hand quilted, 90″x100″

We will be sewing neo-natal quilts at the Cherry Valley Library on Thursday, November 21st, 10:00-4:00 p.m.

Food responsibilities for the December 5th Christmas potluck:
If last name begins with
A-E: Salad
F-M: Entree
O-Z: Dessert

The Northwest Suburban Quilters Guild is excited to present their show, TIME FLIES! on November 2 – 3, 2019!  (Their beautiful raffle quilt was at our October meeting.) Click HERE to view the details.

We have reserved the Cherry Valley Library room for a special neo-natal sew-in on Thursday, August 8th, 10 a.m. to 3:00/4:00 p.m. Bring your lunch, sewing machine, and sewing supplies.

Thursday, August 1st: New Board members trunk show. Meet our new 2019-20 board members and see their latest projects.

REMINDER: Turn in (or mail) your 2019-20 membership dues by September 5th to be included in the new directory. Dues are $40.00. Click HERE to print the membership form.

The August/September newsletter has been posted. Click HERE.

*************************

Gems of the Prairie Quilters quilt show is August 24 & 25 in Peoria, IL. See their website for additional information. https://gemsoftheprairie.com/quilt-show/

*************************

The Northwest Suburban Quilters Guild is excited to welcome Cheryl Sleboda as our guest lecturer and instructor in August, 2019. Cheryl will present her lecture and trunk show, “Not Your Grandmother’s Quilter”, at our meeting on Thursday, August 15, 2019. In this presentation,Cheryl will offer her hilarious take on how she uses not only vintage linens and heirloom sewing in her projects, but also light-up technology and high-tech gadgets. Guests are welcome to join us for this lecture; there is a $10 guest fee payable at the door. On Saturday, August 17, 2019, Cheryl will offer her class, “Fabulous Fun Fabric Manipulation”. She will teach us how to take our next projects to new heights by adding an unexpected, yet heirloom, twist! Using vintage fabric manipulation techniques, you can create beautiful tucks, pleats, and more to add texture and interest. There are still a few openings in Cheryl’s class at this time; the non-member fee is $55. Click HERE for more information.

In September, NSQG welcomes Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Victoria has been greatly influenced by her grandmother’s crazy quilts, through which she learned her sense of color while buried under them in the cold Minnesota winters. She will present a lecture and trunk show at our meeting on Thursday, September 19, 2019. In her presentation, “Creativity & Play: The What and Why’s of PLAY!”, Victoria will share about her process and inspire you to push your creativity. It’s exciting, and she promises to send you home with a creative buzz! Victoria’s classes are only open to NSQG members, but her lecture is open to guests ($10 guest fee at the door). Click HERE for more information.

Please visit our website www.nsqg.club for additional details.