Note to readers. To streamline the meeting, items will be referred to in the Recap that weren’t discussed in the meeting.  Please read through the entire Recap to stay updated on the Guild’s business.

PDF of meeting slides

Meeting called to order at 10:05 by the president, Octavia Pitts.

Notice to those attending via Zoom. Due to the ongoing issue with sound quality and the fact that not many members are accessing the guild meeting through Zoom, the board has decided to stop offering this as an option in 2024. It will be available for the November meeting but not in December due to the nature of the planned meeting. Zoom will continue to be available as a resource for committee members to host online committee meetings.

Also, because of the nature of December’s monthly meeting, it will be limited to members only.

Treasurer’s Report – We have $29,399.24 in the checking account though be aware that all the bills from the SewMe Retreat have not cleared yet.

Attendance this month - 89 members with two additional on Zoom. We also had three guests.

Please note that the December meeting will be on the 3^rd Saturday of the month, December 16^th and will be for members only.

Octavia Pitts went over the Board Updates. Charity quilts are due by November 30. If you are a new member in the past several months, make sure you pick up a new member bag at the Welcome Table.

Blocks for the Quiltcon Challenge quilt are due today. If you were unable to drop off your blocks, please contact Marianne Belcke at msbelcke@gmail.com as soon as possible. They are putting together the blocks next weekend.

There is an exhibit at the Buder Library of projects created by the group that meets there twice a month.  Photos of Exhibit 

We voted on the amendment to the Guild’s bylaws which passed.  

It is time to start considering nominations for the board in 2024. The open positions are President, Secretary and Web Director. If you are interested in being nominated, please contact Hope Wyss at hope.wyss@gmail.com. These are two-year positions; Jennifer Deck and Susan Muszynski will fulfill their remaining year on their two-year terms as Vice President and Treasurer in 2024. Elections will be held in January. Oct. 18, 2023 Correction - the Web Director election will be for a one-year term while the President and Secretary are for two-year terms. Starting in 2025, the Web Director  will transition to a two-year term. 

Octavia reminded everyone of upcoming guild events which can be found on the website and the trusty Wild Apricot app.

Oct. 17 – Hand Sew Happy Hour – Chippewa Bread Co

Oct. 18 – Hand-Stitchers at Buder Library

Oct. 28 – Virtual Sew hosted by Susan Muszynski

Nov. 18 – Free Sew Day at Jackman’s Fabric – register for this on website 

The after-meeting lunch was held at Cowbron’s and November’s lunch will be at McAlister’s Deli. Note to the Social Committee from the Secretary – let’s do Cowbron’s again, it was great!

Mary Beth Oberlin and Ann Regal of the Quilt Show committee presented an update on the quilt show planned for March 23 – 24, 2024. The committee is calling for volunteers to hold demos during the quilt show. This will be an opportunity to share techniques and skills in presentations of up to 20 minutes. Please email quiltshow@stlmqg.org if interested. Mary Beth reminded us of important dates; quilts will be submitted in the month of January and dropped off at the February and March meetings. Details can be found on the website. Keep working on those projects and watch for volunteer signups in February.

Octavia reminded everyone of the Favorites Swap that we have scheduled for the December meeting. There is no official signup required, just bring your favorite items as instructed below in a paper bag for the swap. The combined bag of items should be under $20. The random swap will be done with a version of left, right, and center game.

1. Your favorite notion

2. A FQ of fabric by your favorite designer

3. A FQ of fabric in your favorite color

Please make sure FQs are modern and quilt-shop quality.

Octavia thanked the SewMe Retreat committee for an excellent retreat and mentioned that some rulers and a rotary cutter were left behind. Our beloved raffle caller, Laura Patterson, also said that a cream colored sweater was left behind. So, if you left stuff behind, please contact stlmqg@gmail.com and let us know. We are trying to reunite these lost items with their owners.

Susan Muszynski thanked everyone that participated in the Chihuly mini-quilt challenge. There were 21 entries, and some were displayed at the meeting. We are working on building a web page of pictures of the entries and will let you know when that is available. The Board was blown away by the entries and once again, realized just how talented our members are.

Everyone that entered this year’s Log Cabin Challenge presented their projects with their artist’s statements. There were 33 entries. Photo Display. Again, our members showing just how talented they are. We are so excited to have all of these items in the 2024 Quilt Show!

After break, our featured speaker was Kacie Starr Long of Sew Hope Community Sewing Room. She talked about her journey and her mission and some of the many projects going on at the Sew Hope. If you are interested in knowing more about Sew Hope, please check out their website at www.SewHopeSTL.com.

One event that they have coming up is an Open House of their new annex. See details on picture. 

Some of the attendees from the recent Barn Quilt painting event presented their projects. Nice job everyone.  Pictured L to R - Jennifer Deck, Noreen Schneider and Susan Muszynski.

2023 Log Cabin Challenge

The winners for this year's challenged were announced after everyone shared their projects and artist's statements. Photo Display

1^st place ($150) – Dottie Vaughn

2^nd place ($125) – Angie Henderson

3^rd place ($100) Mary Beth Oberlin

Honorable Mention ($25) – Gina Shelley, Patti Baymiller and Marie Hill.

Thanks everyone that entered, your projects were amazing.

The winners of this month’s fabric raffle of Tiny Frights by Ruby Star, generously donated by Cotton Cuts, were Dottie Vaughn and Melissa Eagan.

This month’s winner of a $25 Jackman’s gift card for the Round Robin challenge was Laura Patterson. Please remember that next month is the last month for the round robin.

The winner for the FQ Paintbrush solid bundle for the Chihuly challenge was Ann Mohan.

Show and Share photos

Other News –

Renewal of Membership – please read this post 

Volunteer Opportunity – please read this post

Thanks everyone, see you next month.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gail Luther

Secretary, 2023