The Pieceful NewsMarch/April 2020

McLean Chapter of Quilters Unlimited Vol. 45, Issue 4

President’s Note from Joan Trabandt

Happy National Quilting Month: National Quilting Day is Saturday, March 21st. Well, it can still be National Quilting Month, but we will be quilting at home it seems. After polling the chairs of all our committees, the majority has agreed to we should be safe and CANCEL the rest of the bees and general meeting for this month.

Unfortunately, many of us are, age wise, are in the danger zone for this virus. I do not know who has been in the Baptist Church or how well they clean it. I don’t want to be the one who exposes you all to the virus, if I get it, and don’t know I have it. As organizations, events, and offices are closing, I want to be sure you are all protected from possible infection at our events. I am sad to cancel our events, but hopefully it will be just for this month and not for a longer period of time. Enjoy the additional time you now have and hopefully you will get some of those unfinished projects completed.

Alert: As you know we were to vote on the motion to move to St. Peters at the March meeting. I would like to go ahead with the voting, but by email instead of show of hands at the meeting. I need to notify St. Peters one way or the other so they have flexibility in reserving their room.

The motion on the floor is to move the general meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month (except November and December when our meeting are earlier) from McLean Baptist Church to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church starting in the fall of 2020.

In this newsletter is the letter I sent out discussing the reasons for the move (p.4). It was sent out before the February meeting via the Blast which arrives by email on Mondays.

A committee was formed to layout a fair voting procedure. This voting procedure is also included in this newsletter (p. 5). Please vote electronically by 5 pm on Monday, March 23.

If you have any questions about the motion or the reasons for considering the move, please feel free to email me at jtrabandt@comcast.net.

Boutique Ideas Needed:  At the last bee we shared some patterns for possible boutique items.  Please see weallsew.com for these and other possibilities:

https://weallsew.com/double-pot-holder-hand-pockets/ https://weallsew.com/cozy-pincushion-gift-holiday/

We made nearly $700 at the boutique last year so it is well worth it for us to make some items.  Put your “thinking caps” on and let’s see what we can do.

Take care and stay healthy!

Calendar Note: Bees and meetings begin at 10 am

March 3 - Bee at St. Peter’s Church, Arlington

March 10 - Bee at the home of Sarah Bidigare (Food Volunteers: Gerry Vaughn & Pat Coleman)

March 17 - Bee at the home of Betsyellen Yeager (Food Volunteers: Marge Hughes & Lura Alsalam)

March 24 - Meeting at McLean Baptist Church (Speaker: Gayle Ropp - “Gayle’s Exploding Trunk Show”)

March 31 - Bee at the home of Suzie Buck (Food Volunteers: Angela Vollertsen & Joan Trabandt)

April 7 - Sew-In at St. Peter’s Church, Arlington

April 14 - Bee at the home of Peggy Knight (Food Volunteers: Joan Hannas & Vikki Anderson)

April 21 - Bee (TBD)

April 28 - Meeting at McLean Baptist Church (Speaker: Paula Golden - “Color - How to Make Your Quilts Sing”)

April 29 - Workshop at St. Peter’s Church, Arlington (Paula Golden - “Beyond Binding Basics”)

The Pieceful News March/April 20201

Library from Nancy Ingrisano

Our lending Library is available for all members of McLean QU.  With almost 400 books we cover most quilting subjects from quilt history and hand quilting, to art and contemporary quilts.  The Internet site www.librarything.com (Account: quunlimited; Password: qumclean) lists all our books and can be sorted by title (alphabetically or by date of acquisition), author, or subject matter ("tags").  The "tags" designation also gives the 'color' of our carts and book labels, so you can find them easily...or just ask our librarians!   Books should generally be returned for circulation in one or two months.

Membership from Cindy Wilson

I hope all members are receiving their emails, especially the Monday Blasts. If not contact Membership Chair, Cindy Wilson (cindy@sloflt.com).

Service from Karin Avil, Cheryl Rounds & Marge Hughes

We have been bargain hunting on the internet for children's fabric.  We were successful and purchased quilt shop quality fabric over 50 yards at an average of $5.00 per yard. We put together Love Quilt kits (not without a few boo boos) and have given out 7 with only 2 to go.  Always remember we still have children's quilt kits to be done and we want everyone to participate so that it is a McLean QU project. Since Karen's started her trip the small quilt tops are slowing down because she was the quilter on her mid arm.  By the way, she has been enjoying her trip and sends pictures. 

We are happy to report that 15 tops were given to "Joshua's Hands" (patriotic).  

A new guild member, Nancy Sonnenberg, has taken the heart pillow project and 31 have been completed and ready for delivery.

We also have a new request for the heart pillows and this group will supply the stuffing.  These are very easy to cut and sew but stuffing takes more time and we would be happy for members to help with this job.  (We do have a few but the more the merry, and less time and responsibility for a few.)

Joan Trabandt is collecting fabric donations for Days for Girls.

This is a sample of the new 9-block Love Quilts we are making for the AIDS unit at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. We still have two kits with everything necessary to make a Love Quilt. If you are interested contact Marge Hughes (vze3342k@verizon.net) or Cheryl Rounds (roundsrc@verizon.net).

The Pieceful News March/April 20202

Local Events March 1-31 (except Tuesdays): Woodlawn Needlework Show & Sale

Saturday, March 28: The Needlework Emporium in Bethesda, MD from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at The Women’s Club of Bethesda.

March 28, 10:30 am: Textile researcher Rebecca A.T. Stevens will lead a lecture titled The Quilt Phenomenon, tracing the history of quilts from bed coverings to pieces of art, at the Textile Museum at GWU. Following the lecture, the Textile Museum will host a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon from 1:00-5:00pm to improve accuracy in entries on Women Fiber Artists.

April 4-5: Cabin Branch and Stonehouse Quilters Annual Quilt Show

Now through April 19: Working With the Muse at Strathmore, Bethesda, showcasing the work of art quilters' guild SAQA.

The Fallen Military Women Quilt exhibit, a tribute to the servicewomen who have lost their lives in Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, has been extended indefinitely at The Women’s Memorial.

Click on any of the links above to get more information about these events.

Bus Trip from Ginny McConnell

We are planning a bus trip to the Virginia Quilt Museum to view Jenny Emry’s exhibit and side trip to Patchwork Plus Fabric Shop and Dayton Market on May 14th. The cost is $30 payable to McLean QU or cash. The sign up sheet will be at general meetings or contact Ginny McConnell, 703-764-2775 or vmcconnell1@verizon.net.

Upcoming Programs from Carole Marti & Vikkey Anderson

Tuesday, March 24 - 10:00 am to noon, McLean Baptist Church Gayle Ropp - Lecture and Exhibition - “Gayle’s Exploding Trunk Show”

Quilt designer, professional hand quilter, teacher and developer of quilting tools, Gayle is a long time member (and past-president) of McLean QU. Through the years she has designed and hand quilted many museum quality quilts. She will lead the chapter members through her growth of as an artist and innovator.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - 10:00 am to noon, McLean Baptist Church Paula Golden - Lecture - “Color - How to Make Your Quilts Sing”

Paula Golden will be the featured speaker at the April meeting. Named “Teacher of the Year 2001” by Professional Quilter magazine, Paula has been quilting since the early 1970s and teaching for over twenty years. Her quilts, patterns and articles have been published in magazines and books. Paula is past-president of the Board of Directors, Virginia Quilt Museum and co-author of the book, “Quilts of Virginia: Birth of America through the Eye of a Needle.” Paula’s lecture will teach easy steps to make your quilts sparkle and delight the senses. She will show many of her quilts and explain how colors interact, the importance of value and how to successfully use many textures of print together so you too, can make your quilts sing.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm (1 hour lunch break), St. Peters Episcopal Church Paula Golden - Workshop - “Binding Basics”

Finish your quilts in the style that they deserve. Learn how to prepare your quilt top for binding, straight and curved edges, straight and bias bindings, mitered corners and prairie points. Find the best binding for you and your quilt. The workshop fee is $25 and Paula can take up to 22 students, but would consider up to 25 max. For questions or to sign up for the workshop, contact Carole or Vikkey. Unfilled spaces will open up to other QU chapters after the March meeting.sign up by the March meeting (or something) and we will open the unfilled spaces to other QU chapters.

Big QU Fall Event From Julia Graves

SAVE THE DATE!  The 2020 Fall Event classes and lecture will be Nov 13-14 and feature Bethanne Nemesh.  Bethanne is one of the top machine quilters in the world and will be teaching 2 half day classes (Freehand Florals and From Fast to Fancy, Feathers for Freehand Quilters) on Friday Nov 13th at Sully Govt Center, 4900 Stonecroft Blvd, Chantilly VA, and a morning half day class (Quilted Texture from A to Zen) and the afternoon Fall Event lecture (Walk a Creative Path) on Saturday Nov 14th at Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Rd, Herndon, VA (same location as Sacred Threads).  The classes are appropriate for both longarm and domestic machine quilters and will be lecture/demo rather than hands on and can accommodate up to 40 students per class; cost is $20 per class.  Classes and lecture are only open to members, but anyone can join QU! There should be enough seats to accommodate all members that want to take a class.  Bethanne has written numerous books on machine quilting and has her own line of rulers; she will have these for sale.  Read more about Bethanne at www.whitearborquilting.com and see the attachment to this newsletter.

The Pieceful News March/April 20203

Monthly Treasurer's Report from Carol King

Location Change from Joan Trabandt

I have received several requests from members to consider moving our general meetings from McLean Baptist to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Arlington for fall 2020. We discussed the topic with the membership at our February general meeting, Tuesday, February 25th.

The primary reasons for wanting to move are:

Fees: McLean Baptist currently charges $170 for each general meeting from September to May. St. Peters will charge us $60 for each meeting in September, November, January, February, March, and April. For our auction in October, the fee would be $165 as we would be using the Narthex or lobby area as well as a larger number of tables to set up. For our luncheon meetings in December and May the fee will be $160 as we will be using the kitchen and round tables for the meal. In total, the St. Peters charge for the general meetings will $845. McLean Baptist charge will be $1530. The $685 difference will allow us to have an additional recognized speaker and workshop each year or a bus trip or other desired activities.

Parking: McLean Baptist has increased the number of classes they are offering on Tuesdays, which makes finding a parking space in the primary parking lot difficult. St. Peters has a large parking lot as well as a drop off area just outside the door (no stairs). You can drop off your items, then go park and use the open-door buttons for the bundles you are carrying.

Temperature and Ambiance: Several members have complained about the chilliness of the room at McLean Baptist, especially during the winter months. The metal chairs tend to be chilly also. With the windows at the top of the room, the lighting is less than ideal. St. Peters has natural daylight with large windows on 2 sides of the room.

If you have not been to a bee or workshop at St. Peters, you may want to take a trip to see the space so that you can compare. St. Peters is just 3 miles from McLean Baptist, just over the McLean/Arlington line, off Glebe Road near Chain Bridge.

With any change there are always concerns to be considered. The largest concern is the lack of storage space currently at St. Peters. This will affect our library and some of the other items that we currently store at McLean Baptist.

I believe we can think creatively about our library and our other stored items if we choose to move. Several of the items in the closet can be culled and disposed of judiciously. Others such as the Greeters Box and the Hospitality Box we will need to hold onto, possibly pared down. Irons, ironing boards, extension cords and risers will need a new home either with McLean QU or someone else. We tend to use them 2x a year, at most, for workshops. Auction items can be reduced into a smaller number of boxes.

The Pieceful News March/April 20204

McLean Quilt Guild Voting Procedures from Joan Trabandt

The motion on the floor is to move the general meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month (with the exception of Nov and Dec when we meet earlier in the month) from McLean Baptist Church to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church starting in the fall of 2020.

The McLean chapter bylaws do not specify a voting procedure for any issue other than election of officers. The McLean by-laws are consistent with the Big QU by-laws. Most of the voting references in the Big QU by-laws are for special meetings at which all members in good standing are allow one (1) vote. McLean by-laws specify that 10 members meets a quorum requirement. Roberts Rules of Order specifies that majority is more than 50% of the votes.

Here is the committee’s proposal for our voting procedure:

a.  who can vote?

Anyone in good standing (paid dues), including life members and paid associate members, are entitled to one (1) vote.

b.  how we will vote: 

Each member in good standing may vote once by electronic email. The deadline for electronic voting is no later than Monday, March 23rd by 5 pm. Electronic email shall be sent to: jtrabandt@comcast.net

c.  The motion will be considered affirmative if the vote for the move is the majority of the votes cast in-person and electronically, in other words more than 50%.

QU Digest As you may have heard, Cindy Grisdela, QU Digest Editor, had to switch the QU Digest to a new platform called groups.io because Yahoo is no longer supporting its Groups function and we can't send out emails from there anymore.

If you would like to continue receiving the Digest, please send an email to Cindy at cpgrisdela@gmail.com with your name, the QU chapter you belong to (or that you were a member of the Yahoo group), and the email address where you would like to receive the Digest. 

Watch for a confirmation email from groups.io and click on the link to be added to the list. If you have questions, email Cindy. Please feel free to share this information with others who might be interested in joining the Digest, but remember that the Digest is open to current and former QU members, and those who are "sponsored" by a QU member. It is not open to the general public. 

The new site is groups.io/g/QUDigest if you would like to visit for more information. 

Box Tops for Education from Jan Fuoto

Jan Fuoto is collecting box tops for education. They are found on packaging of products such as General Mills cereals (box tops), Cottonelle, Ziploc bags, and Hefty bags. For a full list, visit: www.boxtops4education.com/earn

If you are not already saving them for someone else, please bring them to Jan at bees or meetings. At the chapter meetings, there will be a basket on the Welcome Table to drop them in, or you may give them to Jan or to Peggy Knight. Thank you.

General Meeting and Bee Information

Monthly Meeting: The McLean Chapter typically meets at 10 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month from September through June at the McLean Baptist Church, 1367 Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA. All are welcome. Members should wear their name badges and bring a mug (you may win something!). If you need a badge kit, contact Gayle Ropp. We have show-and-tell at all meetings.

Bees: Bees are on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. except on the days of our monthly meeting. Locations are posted in the Calendar (see above), and an e-mail reminder is sent to members. All are welcome. For more information or to sign up as a hostess or food volunteer, contact Nancy Fallone.

Policy for Cancellation of Quilt Meetings: If school is cancelled or delayed in Fairfax County, our McLean Quilt Meeting is cancelled. In addition, if school is cancelled or delayed in Arlington County, a bee at St. Peter’s is cancelled. Always use your own best judgment if there is inclement weather in deciding whether to get out on the roads.

Newsletter from Sarah Bidigare

Newsletter publication takes place every two months with a break during the summer. Please send news articles to Sarah Bidigare (sarah@bidigare.me). If you do not have e-mail, and need a printed copy sent to you via regular mail, please contact Cathy Eckbreth (703-534-4402).

The Pieceful News March/April 20205

Quilting quote of the month: “Quilting is like love…do it with abandon.”

McLean QU 2019/20 Officers and Committee Leads

President: Joan Trabandt (703-532-3595, jtrabandt@comcast.net)

Vice President: Gayle Ropp (703-527-6983, gayleropp@verizon.net)

Secretary: Alcy Frelick (703-532-3137, alcy.frelick@gmail.com)

Treasurer: Carol King (703-532-4299, clady999@verizon.net)

Auction: Carole Marti (703-822-3599, carole.marti@gmail.com), Pam Ranowiecki (703-430-7515, pamran@verizon.net, Suzie Buck (703-536-5211, suziebuck@aol.com), Julia Rouse (703-536-5349, mommyrouse75@hotmail.com), Geri Hirai (703-864-9181, gerihirai@aol.com), & Leigh Albert (703-242-3999, leighalbert@gmail.com)

Bees: Nancy Fallone (703-533-3907, nnfallone@verizon.net)

Challenges: Nancy Fallone (703-533-3907, nnfallone@verizon.net)

Communications: Angela Vollertsen (703-448-1783, vollertsen@msn.com)

Day Trips: Ginny McConnell (703-764-2775, vmcconnell1@verizon.net)

Food Sign-up: Suzie Buck (703-536-5211, suziebuck@aol.com)

Good Bye Hearts: Lura Alsalam (703-356-6032, lura.alsalam@gmail.com) & Lesa Schmidt (703-716-4275, elles2958@gmail.com)

Greeters/ New Members: Mary Beth Willmore (703-304-9248, mbwillmore@cox.net), Marge Hughes (703-759-2013, vze3342k@verizon.net), Leigh Albert (703-242-3999, leighalbert@gmail.com), & Kathleen Criner (703-442-0405, crinerkm@gmailmcom)

Hospitality: Sarah Bidigare (703-243-1412, sarah@bidigare.me)

Library: Pat Blood (703-356-4557, bloodpm@gmail.com) & Nancy Ingrisano (703-356-5538, mingnan@juno.com)

Membership: Cindy Wilson (703-790-2616, cindy@SLOFLT.com)

Name Tags: Gayle Ropp (703-527-6983, gayleropp@verizon.net)

Newsletter Editor: Sarah Bidigare (703-243-1412, sarah@bidigare.me)

Newsletter Mailer: Cathy Eckbreth (703-534-4402, cwe5409@verizon.net)

Nominating: Geri Hirai (703-864-9181, gerihirai@aol.com) & Lesa Schmidt (703-716-4275, elles2958@gmail.com)

Outreach: Cindy Wilson (703-790-2616, cindy@SLOFLT.com)

Programs: Vikkey Anderson (703-528-7039, vikkeya22207@gmail.com) & Carol Marti (703-822-3599, carole.marti@gmail.com)

QU Show Boutique: Diane Kirkhart (703-749-4645, dlkirkhart@gmail.com)

QU Show Lead: Joan Trabandt (703-532-3595, jtrabandt@comcast.net), Alcy Frelick (703-532-3137, alcy.frelick@gmail.com), Gerry Vaughan (703-356-0454, quiltsbygerry@gmail.com)

Quilt Collector: Jenny Emry (703-528-1366, jennifer.emry@gmail.com) & Joan Hannas (703-768-6526, joanhannas1944@gmail.com)

Service Projects: Karen Avil (703-406-7840, avilfamily@aol.com), Cheryl Rounds (703-938-5893, roundsrc@verizon.net) & Marge Hughes (703-759-2013, vze3342k@verizon.net)

Sunshine: Marianne May (703-901-8152, Mariannemay@gmail.com)

Web Master: Joan Trabandt (703-532-3595, jtrabandt@comcast.net)

The Pieceful News March/April 20206