April Meeting Minutes

Lucky, lucky Heartstring Quilters held our April meeting at the Sedgwick for our annual private tour through the Art Quilts at the Sedgwick. And, the word certainly got out because we had lots of guests, including one husband. Since our GREAT Secretary, Judy Fliegelman, had to miss this meeting, Marcy George took notes, and unfortunately, didn't get all the guests names! (MY APOLOGIES!!!)

Debbie Schwartzmann acted as our meeting leader, in Janet Kempf's absence. In our business meeting we discussed several things:

Janet Kempf had sent an email saying that she will need to resign as President, due to her travel schedule and new business requirements that are on her shoulders.

The group overwhelmingly supports the notion of having co-presidents, or a Pres/Vice President combination so that future presidents don't have so much on their shoulders. People are asked to volunteer to serve.

*A discussion about the need for set up of our space at the monthly location was also held. It has been suggested by the group that the people responsible for hospitality/desserts for each subsequent meeting arrive 20-30 minutes ahead of time to set up the coffee urn, set out desserts, and set up the room for the evening's events. In this way, no one or two people must shoulder this duty. (Certainly, if anyone is available to come earlier than the meeting's start at 7:30 PM, additional help would be completely welcomed by those responsible that month.)

We were reminded that May's speaker is Robbie Joy Ecklow, and that our meeting date is CHANGED -- SECOND WEDNESDAY of the month instead of Thursday.

This brought up the subject of additional charges incurred when national speakers are in town, because of our Thursday evening timeframe. The other guilds with whom we share the costs for housing and meals are meeting Monday thru Wednesday, so Heartstrings must shoulder the cost for the additional day that the speaker is in town. The group overwhelmingly supports
that these evenings be planned for the second Wednesday instead of Thursday, so that the speaker can be spared the time, and we can be spared some expenses.

It should be noted that this change in date will need to be checked out with the Church Office ahead of time to make sure that there is no conflict with another meeting scheduled that Wednesday night. Also, we will be meeting in the larger room, located downstairs from the room we usually meet in.

The June Meeting is our annual Potluck meeting. This year it is being hosted by Mary Kay Hitchner -- THANKS, MARY KAY! We will need to have a sign up sheet at May's meeting to ensure that we all share the "potluck", so come prepared to sign up! Directions to Mary Kay's house should also be available at the May meeting.

Marcy George brought up that Kathie Harrington's children want the guild to have Kathie's extensive collection of books, magazines and fabric. Marcy asked if the guild was interested, and with the positive reaction will pursue the idea with Elsa Lopusniak, our Librarian, and several charity quilt groups within our guild (Suzan Hirsch, Joanne Dooley, Christina Johnson, and Mary Ivory indicated interest in Kathie's fabric). If anyone else is interested, either let Marcy know, or we may schedule one of our summer meetings to go through this.

Show and Tell:

Marcy George showed some book covers made, using Kathie Harrington's UFO and using Lonnie Rossi fabric....Marcy's daughter LOVED 'EM!!!

Karoline Wallace brought an article about our own Tina Gravatt from a 1981 Quilt World magazine, which she passed around to everyone! Yea!

Cindy Friedman brought her latest "drawn quilt series" piece, which was absolutely lovely, as well as shared some real finds in silk sheers from 4th Street purchases.

Sherri Dunbar (one of our guests) shared a wildlife in nature piece that was magnificent as well as a log cabin and appliqué - WOW!

Gwen Gatto shared a fabulous effort that had been hand painted with Setacolor, over-painted and embroidered - spectacular...

Tracey Kuehn told us about her Lancaster piece's judged comments all of which were complimentary, and which included: "good choice of colors"!!! Tracey had a "marvelous time", and we're all so proud of her accomplishment. She's hinting that there's a sequel!!!

Shawn Towey relayed a conversation with an "expert" in the field, who had indicated a willingness to host us on a "field trip." The response was overwhelmingly positive to this idea!!

Debbie Schwartzmann then gave the group our own private special showing of the quilts and the artists in the exhibit, and we lingered to savor the experience. It is noteworthy that there were 254 applicants, who sent in 618 images, out of which 47 quilts were chosen for the show. The size of the quilts were limited to no wider than 60 inches. The judges were Patricia Malarcher (Surface Design Magazine), Micheal Olszewski (Moore Professor), Linda Lee Alter (painter, and founder of Leeway Foundation, which provides grants for artists).

The guild really appreciates the year-long efforts that several within our midst (Debbie, Cindy, Lonni, Shawn, & Suzan) expend to bring the wonderful show, and to arrange for the guild to have its own private showing. Particular thanks to the Sedgwick for allowing its doors to open in the evening for us.

Respectfully submitted,

Marcy George