News

Hello there, 

My name is Mac Barnes and I am a guild member. I am reaching out at the suggestion of Octavia. There is a free quilting virtual conference in January that I am teaching in along with 30 other instructors. I wanted to share as many members I feel may want to learn some of these techniques and topics (there are quite a few). 

Also there is a VIP option for people who want longer access, and more opportunities for prizes etc. Here are the links: 

VIP Registration Link

General Registration Link

If you feel like this is worth sharing, please do! 

Many thanks, 

Mac 

We are starting to receive requests to send information to our members on a variety of subjects which we do encourage. However, we don't want to inundate everyone with a ton of emails. So, feel free to send your posts to either webmaster@stlmqg.org or stlmqg@gmail.com and the secretary will post on the News blog (it's under the Home tab). On Friday, an email will be sent to the membership listings links to the various news items The hope is that we will start using this resource to keep up with activities that are interesting to our members. If you want to keep a closer tab on the guild's news, just log in to the website and check out the News site under the Home tab. 

Gail, 

Secretary 2023

The guild received this information in an email.

Registration is now open for the Ferguson Annual Quilt Show!

February 8, 9, and 10, 2024

Registration will close, January 20th or when all slots are full. 

After January 20th you may call to inquire if slots are still available. 

Register with the link below, mailing the attached registration form or in person at the library.  

https://forms.gle/9g6wFdVP1s4rgTuT6

File to sign up - Ferguson Quilt Show.docx.pdf

We received an email about a possible volunteer opportunity.

Hello friends,

I had the opportunity of visiting the ladies sewing class at the CFNA (Christian Friends of New Americans) Peace Center a couple of weeks ago. 

American ladies assist Afghan ladies (immigrants and refugees) with a weekly sewing project. This is also a social time for the women as they do not have many social opportunities. I was very impressed with the skills of the two ladies I assisted. They were very accurate with their sewing, being careful to backstitch and sew accurate seam allowances. They are paid a small amount for each project they complete. The projects are then sold at craft fairs, etc. and the money put back into the program.

It is meaningful to me that sewing is a common language among women, no matter our country of origin, etc.

There is a sisterhood in sewing isn’t there? I am very grateful to know so many lovely ladies in the St. Louis American Sewing Guild, St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild, and the City Sewing Room. If appropriate, please share this message with your members.

There is much demand for sewing classes.  It would be amazing if a second sewing class could be set up on a different day to reach more of these Afghan ladies. Please reach out to Carol Buckman to discuss this possibility or to just volunteer on Wednesdays.

Since many of the ladies have young children there are volunteers to help with the children, so the mothers can sew. The ladies were very friendly – meeting your eyes with smiles and appreciation. 

The classes are held on Wednesdays  from 12:30 PM to 3:15 PM. 

More information on the Peace Center can be found here:

https://www.cfna-stl.org/

Carol Buckman is the head of the Sewing Outreach. Please call or text Carol at (314) 517-8513 for more information.

From the CFNA Newsletter:

Sewing Classes
Teachers are needed!  A little knowledge of sewing is helpful but we have gifted lead teachers. If you are interested, call Carol (314) 517-8513. Childcare helpers are also needed.  So many mothers have little ones at home and extra hands are needed.

Classes are Wed., @ 12:30 pm -  3:15 pm, Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, 11, 18, and 25.  You may not be able to attend but we covet your prayers for patience, kindness, and wisdom as we share Christ's love in Word and deed. 

Christian Friends of New Americans

4019 S. Grand Blvd.

Kind regards,

Sybil Fisher

For those of us that joined before this year, renewal time is coming. Our membership renewal date is Jan. 1, 2024. You will start receiving renewal emails on Nov. 2 which is is 60 days before renewal. You will receive another 30 days before renewal. You will receive another on January 1. There will be a 7 day grace period and then your membership status will be marked as lapsed. 

Just avoid all those annoying reminders and renew your membership when you get your first renewal email. You can safely pay online or if you wish, you can pay in person at a meeting or mail a check to Susan. The mailing address should be in your renewal email. 

For those of you that joined in 2023, your membership renewal day will be a year from your join date which you can check on your membership record in your profile. Reminders will be sent 60 and 30 days out from your renewal date.

FYI, Wild Apricot (our website host) will require you to change your password a year after you set your current password. This was a surprise to me but it's for our safety.

I was dismayed to hear at a recent after-meeting luncheon that some members have not logged into their online accounts. Please, make sure that you can log in. If you don't remember your original password, it's very easy to change it. You will need to log into the website either on a computer or through your phone's browser. If there is a way to change your password in the actual Wild Apricot app, I have not been able to find it.  Just go to sltmqg.org. hit the Log In button and then under the I'm Not a Robot box, there's a link for Forgot Password.

While a lot of stuff is available on the website without logging in, there is some stuff that is limited to Members and the renewal process is a part of that.

If you have any questions, email me at secretary@stlmqg.org or you can hit the Reply button up top and ask here.

Gail Luther

Good news, bad news - We have a store but with only one product in it but we are looking at others. Right now we have a quilt pattern donated by our guild's founder, Kristy Daum. All proceeds go to the guild but we only have access to this pattern until July so don't let this opportunity slip by you.

This store is open to the public though future items may only be available to members.

Store

Recently, I had an email conversation with a member and I realized that she was confused about our organization (St Louis MQG) and the national (wait, make that international) organization The Modern Quilt Guild. They are two different things. When you join STLMQG (St Louis), we pay for your membership into MQG (the international one); however, you can join MQG as an individual. Having an individual membership into MQG does not automatically grant you membership into STLMQG. Periodically we will get a guest at a meeting that thought they were a member of STL but were, instead, an individual member of MQG. Obviously, we know about our website because you are on it right now but check out MQG's sometime; www.themodernquiltguild. When you log in as a member, you have access to a lot of resources. During the COVID lockdown, I personally watched a lot of their videos.

We will be renewing our MQG membership after the January guild meeting. I will need to take off all the members that chose to not renew for 2023 and I suspect a bunch of people will be renewing at the meeting. Once that bill is paid, I will let you all know because they have a membership card that you can download and get a discount of Jackman's Fabrics. Perhaps the discount is good at other places too but I have definitely used it at Jackman's.

Let me know if you have any questions. Email me at secretary@stlmqg.org.

Gail Luther

We've had some questions about our annual December Raffle, so here are some details.

WHEN? Saturday, December 17, 2022 at Shrewsbury City Center. This is our regular December meeting. There will be NO MEETING on the 2nd Saturday. Change due to meeting location availability.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Tables with numbered raffle prizes will be set up in our meeting space. Each prize will correspond with a numbered paper bag. Label EVERY TICKET with your name (not keep one and drop one) and drop in bags for your favorite prizes. Bring address labels or a pen.

RAFFLE ITEMS? Our generous members (that's YOU) donate all items for our December Raffle. Please bring these THIS SATURDAY if possible, though we will accept items before the December meeting. Come early! Please do not donate "free table" items. We are looking for retail quality quilting, sewing, crafting products; handmade items; or other items you might enjoy while quilting (gift cards, wine, chocolates, etc.).

TICKETS? You earn tickets for the items you donate, or you can purchase them separately.

Ticket-to-Donation Exchange Rate:

If the estimated retail value of your entire donation is…

$10 or less = 5 tickets
$11-30 = 10 tickets
$31-50 = 15 tickets
$51 and up = 25 tickets

We cap the number of tickets offered in exchange for items at 25, but you may purchase as many additional tickets as you'd like.

This area will be for news/articles not restricted to members only. Items meant for members only will be contained in the Members Only section of the website. Take a look at the website and let us know what you think. We can reached at stlmqg@gmail.com