Coachella Valley Quilt Guild

Happy New Year, Quilters!

I hope you all stayed safe and healthy over these past holidays and found something positive to enjoy. We are so lucky to have quilting as a pastime. It is amazing what one can create with material, thread, and a sewing machine or needle.  We certainly have seen the results of this during our show and share, the mystery quilt reveal, the mask making and the surgical caps project.  I can hardly wait to see what has been created for our Beatles Challenge.

It has been very gratifying to me and other board members to hear all the positive comments about our Zoom meetings. They really have been successful.  I am glad you are enjoying them since it looks like they are going to be part of our foreseeable future.  We still have no idea when UCR will re-open or more importantly when it would be safe for us to conduct physical meetings.  The Board is planning for Zoom meetings and classes through April and probably until at least September.  Our Program VP’s Annie Houston and Heather Keenan are thinking about what Zoom meetings we can have over summer 2021.  Historically we have been dark in July and August since so many members were out of town.  However with Zoom it doesn’t matter where you are and our snowbirds and other quilters outside of the Coachella Valley can join us like they did this past summer.

That being said, if you have quilting friends locally or in other parts of the country that might be interested in joining us for a meeting, feel free to invite them. They can either pay the guest fee for the meeting they want to attend. Or they can join the guild — especially since membership is at a discounted rate this coming year — and attend as many meeting as they want. We would love to have them join us either way. It is wonderful to share the art of quilting. 

To find out what is coming up in 2021, check out the program section of the newsletter or look at our Programs 2021 page. I think you will find the programs cover a variety of topics and there might be a class that will pique your interest.

Join us for a fun and inspiring year. 

Kathleen Herring, President

January's meeting is going to be full of color and design with our guest lecturer, Lynn Koolish.  Her topic  Confessions of an Eclectic Quilter is sure to be full of color.   We had a surge of registrations for Lynn's ColorPOP Quilt class on  Sunday, January 10 ColorPOP Quilt. There is room for more!  Register and pay for the online class on the Programs page. 

Remember to send in your Show and Share pictures for our January meeting to hahaannie@aol.com.  We love to see everything you have been working on while staying safe at home! Treese Pflum will be doing our Quilter to Quilter Hints on working with your longarm quilter. 

Our February 13th meeting features Jean Impey’s lecture, “Cre-a-tiv-i-ty and has Someone Stolen Yours,” which will give you the newest tools and technology to make quilts and make your work both quicker and better.  On Sunday, February 14 and Sunday, February 21*, is her workshop “Basket Case,” teaching fun and simple and teaches you new improvisational techniques that you will continue to use in other quilts you make.  It also comes together fast and fabulous.  A great skill you will learn is how to make blocks of difference sizes and dimensions go together cohesively into one quilt.  We still have plenty of spots in the workshop, to join go to our programs page. *UPDATE: this class is being split into two morning sessions to give you time to make some baskets during the week and come back together to share and assemble.

Our March meeting speaker is Latifah Saafir, “Being True to Your Inner Artist.”  Latifah is known for her bold and innovative modern quilts.  She is also offering a workshop, “Glam Clam Quilt,” which is a modern twist on the classic clamshell shape, as well as an updated method to piecing it all together.  Space is still available in this workshop and you can register through our programs page.

Congratulations to our winner, member Cheri Coryell!  The opportunity quilt "Beads on a String” was machine Pieced by Sharon Rooker and custom quilted by Treese Pflum.  The winner was drawn live during our December Zoom meeting on December 12, 2020. 

Happy New Year. I am looking forward to 2021 being a better year than the last one.  A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who renewed early.  A very large basket of goodies was won by Kathy Dunham. Believe it or not, this was the first time Kathy has won anything at a guild meeting.  Woo-hoo!  In keeping with the 2021 being better I have a terrific door prize for the January meeting:

If you haven't renewed yet, renew by Jan.8, 2021 and attend the Jan. 9 Zoom Meeting and I will put two tickets in for you for a chance to win the membership door prize. You can renew online by going to the guild website: RENEW HERE.  New members can use the same link just look for the NEW button. You can pay with a credit card or use your PayPal account.  If you prefer the more traditional version, download the form, fill it out and mail it with a check to:

Coachella Valley Quilt Guild

Attn: Membership

P.O. Box 3121

Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

If you run into any problems renewing feel free to email me at membership@cvquiltguild.org.

Last but not least the new directory will be coming out in February.  To be included members must renew by January 30, 2021. 

Photo is of  my grandson Paul reading a quilting magazine. He really liked the patterns and colors.  Starting him early.

Treese Pflum, Membership Chair

It isn’t too early to start planning what you would like to enter in our quilt show March 4 & 5, 2022.  Remember we have 40 entries for our guild in the main entry category and then there are the miniature quilt and miniature art quilt categories and finally, the challenge quilt.  This show’s challenge will be revealed at the February meeting and then be on the website.  So save the show dates in 2022 and start sewing!

Shown here is CVQG member Helen Anderson, Viewers' Choice Quilt Showcase "Pieces of My Heart" from the 2020 Show

I wanted to take this opportunity to start the donation drive for the 2022 Desert Quilt Guilds Show Boutique. Planning has begun and we are counting on our talented group to come up with beautiful hand made items for  our booth. As many of you are aware the funds from the sale of these items goes directly back to support the event and future programs. 

Now that the holidays are over you may consider using your scraps to create some bowl cozies. I took left over blocks and  scraps from my stash to do holiday gifts this year and barely made a dent in my fabric supply. This is a fun easy project that creates a very useful item. Using all 100% cotton fabric, batting and thread make the bowls microwave safe and a great way to enjoy a hot meal in front of the tv. You can just type in “ free bowl cozy pattern” on google and many instruction options will pop up. I used a template I found at Monica’s which made this project even easier and created a rounded corner on the bowl. 

So happy sewing everyone. I look forward to seeing all of your beautiful items. Let’s make this the most successful boutique ever. 

Theresa Hanada, Boutique Chair

Necchi 3537 ... This was purchased new about 5 years ago, and never used, but sat in the garage. It has just been professionally serviced and declared to be in full operating condition. Nothing fancy about this, not computerized, but a great machine for someone learning to sew or who just needs to do some basic sewing.  New models comparable to this are selling for about $350. I'm asking $35 - contact me to make an offer.

Viking 6440 ... This was in use for quilting until just recently when a former Guild member treated herself to a new machine.  It comes with the desk that it fits into, and works like a charm.  Original manual and lots of accessories are included. This sold for $848 when it was new (1976). I'm asking $100 - contact me to make an offer.

Bernina Activa 130 ... The photo is from the internet, but looks just like the one we have.  It sat unused for a long time and was just professionally serviced and works well.  Used models identical to this are listed on ebay for about $400.  I'm asking $100 - contact me to make an offer.