I just looked to see when the last time anyone had posted anything to our blog actually was. I knew it had been a while, but...
5 years?!
Well, things have to change.
We are planning on taking our Social Media presence a bit more seriously here at IRQG.
We are turning over a new leaf with the start of a new year.
We have a new slate of officers and Executive Committee who have planned the coming year with many exciting and interesting activities and we are anxious to see everyone after the summer hiatus.
We are also anxious to meet new friends and invite any who may be interested in sharing the traditional and non-traditional skills of quilt making and other crafts.
Meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month (except for this September, when we will meet on Tuesday, September 11, due to the Primary elections) at the Smithfield Congregational Church, 514 Smithfield Avenue, Smithfield, RI. Yearly membership is $25. Current members should pay this as soon as possible. Visitors are allowed to come once or twice before having to pay membership.
The doors will open around 6:30 for Meet-and-Greet and the meeting will get underway around 7:00. Members are encouraged to bring examples of their work for Show and Tell. Various members bring refreshments, as they have the opportunity to do so, however, be aware that we have been doing BYOD (Bring Your Own Drink) for the past couple of years. Everyone seems to like it better as everyone gets what they like! We are usually done by around 9:00.
Everyone who comes in the door and signs in gets various raffle tickets for drawings at the end of the meeting. Drawings are for Attendance, having your Nametag, bringing a Fat Quarter, bringing items for the Food Pantry, bringing tea Tags and Can Tabs, bringing covers for Hasbro, Show and Tell and, finally, the Basket. Most of the drawings win Fat Quarters from the Guild FQ Basket. If you win the FQ drawing, you win all the FQs brought that evening.
I started putting notes in the paragraph above "See below for details," but realized I was doing it for every item! So! Let me give you a few more details on each of them:
- ATTENDANCE We ask each person, member or visitor, to sign in when they arrive. This helps us keep track of who is there each month. If you are visiting for the first time, you will be asked for contact information, also. This is simply so we can follow up with you. WE DO NOT GIVE OUT ANY CONTACT INFORMATION TO ANYONE.
- NAMETAG Each member is asked to make their own version of the official Guild nametag. There is a pattern for it in the membership folder. It is based on the Waterwheel block and can be made in any size. However, it should be large enough to be seen and to have the Guild name and your name along the sides.
- FAT QUARTER Each month, members are encouraged to bring one or more Fat Quarters. The member who wins this drawing wins all of the FQs brought to the meeting that evening. The choice of the FQ is based on a color or theme announced ahead of time. The actual choice of the FQ is up to the member's interpretation of that color/theme. The FQ Team have been busy beavers this year and composed a musical theme:
- September "See You in September"
- October "Monster Mash"
- November "Thanks for the Memories"
- December "Silver Bells"
- January "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
- February "My Funny Valentine"
- March "The Wayward Wind"
- April "Singin' in the Rain"
- May "Strolling in the Park"
- June "The Rose" (yes, by Bette Midler)
- PANTRY Members are encouraged to bring shelf-steady, non-perishable food items that can be donated to a local food pantry.
- TEA TAGS/CAN TABS Collect all those tea tags and can tabs. They are brought in and given to a charity which converts them to cash to help people with medical needs.
- HASBRO We ask members to help Hasbro's young patients by making covers for their IV bags. These are two simple rectangles with one open end and a small opening in the other. The nursing staff cover the blood bags with these to help the youngest patients be less frightened. They need a LOT of these bags as they can only be used once and have to be discarded after use, so the cheerier the better for the little ones.
- SHOW AND TELL Show us your skills! Show us what you've found somewhere! Show us whatever! Each item you show gets you a ticket for the drawing!
- BASKET The Basket is one that has been organized by one of the members (who has signed up ahead of time to do so). These baskets usually contain sewing supplies, fat quarters, storage, patterns or whatever the organizer can figure out. Those tickets are sold separately at $2 or 3 for $5. Proceeds are used by the Guild to support activities like speakers, group projects, materials and supplies, etc. These have been very popular over the past several years and the winners are quite envied.
In addition to these regular activities, there will be a packet for the BLOCK OF THE MONTH. Members will receive these packets at the September meeting. Details will be given at that time.
The September meeting will be a busy one. Not only will it be our first of the year, with all the greetings and catching up to do, we will also have a workshop on the Joan Shay technique of flower-making. President Brenda Devine will show us how to make the flowers and make them into corsages. A materials list will be passed out for anyone interested in making the pumpkin project in October. I call it a project, because when we talked about it at the Board meeting, we said members could make it into a pillow, a wall-hanging, a quilt block, or anything they could think of! We didn't want to limit your imaginations! We look forward to seeing the completed projects.
We are also planning on having a couple of Sewing Bees where you can bring whatever project you would like to work on and get advice and/or help on it. We may even work on a Guild project. We actually have a couple of dates in mind, but just discovered a possible conflict, so we are going to nail it down before definitely announcing them. There's plenty of time. Keep watching here for that announcement.
Wow! Well! I think that's enough to make up for lost time right now! Don't forget to check out our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/irqg.pawtucket)
