Coachella Valley Quilt Guild

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I was reading the October 2021 edition of Smithsonian Magazine, when I came across a brief article about an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  The exhibit now showing is called “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories”.  The exhibit includes quilts from the 1800’s right up to today.  While quilt makers may not intend this — especially those early quilters making quilts for their family — but as the curator of the exhibit, Jennifer Swope, is quoted in the article — “Quilts bear witness.” While many quilts are made for comfort and utility, they are still much more than that.  We all need to keep that in mind as we make quilts with love and skill.  (To see more about this exhibit, visit mfa.org)

It has been wonderful to see what some of our guild members are making in our virtual show and share.  Please keep sending your photos to Annie Houston and after the meetings check out what was shown on our website.  We also have some finished quilts from our “Faces” that will be presented at the November meeting.  I can hardly wait to see those.  If yours isn’t finished, please let us see it when it is.

Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, 2022, we will all get a chance to see not only what our guild has been doing but what members of Pass Patchers and Cactus Sewables have been doing at our Desert Guilds Quilt Show at Pavilions in Palm Springs.  Make sure you put those dates on your calendar and invite your family, friends and their friends.  We would love a huge turnout to celebrate the art of quilting.  (More information elsewhere in the newsletter and on the website.)

Well, we are going to do it — finally.  Our November meeting is going to be a hybrid meeting — we will be able to have up to 40 members attend the meeting in person at UCR and others can Zoom in to see the program.  Watch your email blasts for information on how to register to attend the meeting in person.  Those who will join via Zoom will use our usual Zoom link which will be sent out the Friday before the meeting.

For our Holiday Party, we will be doing a total Zoom meeting with a game with prizes, end of the year show and share, and the finish of the online Silent Auction.  More information in the newsletter, on the website and in your email blasts.  

I hope you will be joining us for these last two meetings of the guild for 2021 and looking ahead to what 2022 will hold  — more hybrid meetings, virtual classes, quilt show, and much much more.

Kathleen Herring, President

Help make the guild’s show a success by entering quilts in the various areas — Main Entry, Challenge and Miniatures, making items for the boutique, offering quilts for sale, and by volunteering at the show. 

In the Main Entry you can enter a wall hanging, throw, bed  quilt, art quilt, etc.  If you have never entered a quilt show this is an opportunity to do that.  You just need to fill out an application, take a picture of your quilt (3 copies needed) and yourself and send it in along with $5.  You need to be one of the first 40 people from our guild to enter to have your quilt accepted to the show. We already have one person who has entered their quilt. The entry form is on the Desert Guilds Quilt Show website and on our website.

If you renew your membership or join for 2022 by December 1, you will automatically be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous gift basket valued at $200! The gift basket includes:

• New Release Book, “Strip Your Stash” by Gudrun Erla
• Kaffe Fassett 8 pc. Fat Quarter Bundle
• Oh Sew Organized Stash ’n Store
• Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Scissors (Small Size)
• 1 pkg. of Schmetz Topstitch Needles
• 1 pkg. of Schmetz Universal Needles
• 1 Fabric Panel of Colorful Succulents
• 4-3/8 yards of Greige Print Fabric
• 1 $25 Gift Certificate to Ralph’s Sewing & Vacuum
• 1 $25 Gift Certificate to The Quilter’s Faire

Click here to download the membership form and mail it in with your payment, or pay via PayPal. Do it now! The prize winner will be announced at the December meeting.

Tony  DeZego, Membership Chair

 As the administrator and page manager for our Facebook page I get to see how many people visit the Coachella Valley Quilt Guild page. I want to share some recent data concerning these visits. From September 18th through October 18th  a total of 18,603 visits took place. Of these visits 1,697 engaged. Only 26 times was “liked” clicked. Though posts may not be “liked “they are reaching folks. One of the purposes of social media is to share experience. We have a great guild and hope to add more members. A simple tool at your disposal with Facebook is to “share” a post. The more posts that are shared the more people are reached and the more people learn about our guild not to mention being exposed to quilting. 

I know many of us are excited to participate in the March 2022 Desert Guilds Quilt Show. I look forward to seeing the undoubtedly inspired Challenge Quilt entries. With our highly creative and talented quilters one can only imagine. If you have any questions about the challenge quilt, please feel free to contact me at lickaretta@yahoo.com

While we prepare for the many holidays taking us to New Years lets pause and reflect how our pursuits and friendship has helped us get through this difficult year. May the new year smile on all of us.

Robert Tucker, Social Media

Holding one of the many beautiful charity quilts is Donna Knight, Head of Volunteers for Family Hospice.  She is very grateful for your quilts which  bring such joy during difficult times.

Thanks to everyone who dropped off quilts this month at Monica’s or at the Sew What Table Event.  This is such a great way to support our communities.  We have received 14 quilts in October.  Ten quilts have been given to Family Hospice and there are more to go to Bristol Hospice.

The Holidays are coming and we have had requests for quilts from both Bristol Hospice and Family Hospice to provide their patients a really special and thoughtful gift.  We are still working to give quilts to The Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center and Olive Crest.

If you have a donation for charity there are drop off dates at Monica’s scheduled for Thursday November 11th and December 2nd between 9 and 10am.  

If you are attending the in-person November General Meeting on November 13th, there will be someone there to take your donation.  Don’t forget to leave your name and number of quilts donated so you can be entered in the November drawing to be announced in December.  The winner will receive a $25 Sew What Table shopping certificate!

Happy quilting, 

Jackie Mason & Judi Moran, Philanthropy Co-Chairpersons 

The Sew What Table on October 16 was a resounding success!  Forty-one shoppers spent more than $2500 and donated over $100 to Joslyn Center and some food for the food bank.  Jackie Mason was there and collected 10 quilts for Philanthropy; and Tony signed up 2 new members and renewed 15!  Everyone had a great time, shoppers and staffers alike!  Thank you, all of you quilters who came to shop, brought friends, brought smiles, brought money, and laughed with us.

Before the Sew What Table, you heard me declare that our storage unit was completely full.  Thanks to you, that’s no longer the case.  We sold well over half the fabric and notions that we had, and we’ve already started receiving new donations.

I’d especially like to thank our great crew for all their efforts before, during and after the event.  It takes a lot of work to pull off an event like this, and everyone pitched in and made it wonderful.  These are the people who worked with me:

Alan Calgaro (new member, signed up at the SWT), Anita Holden, Brian Brown (non-member), Cheryl Taylor, Fran Jones, Holli Hainer, Jackie Mason, Jer Williams,  Judi Brown (non-member), Kim Johnson, Marcia Ulrich, Pene Owens, Steph Beasley,  Tony DeZego, Treese Pflum

Thanks to Joslyn Center as well, for use of the space, the tables, and help setting them up, and especially to Program Director Melanie Lyons for coming in on a Saturday to accommodate us!  This location, indoors, proved to be the perfect venue, as it allowed us lots of room to spread out and shop without regard to the weather.

I’ve already been asked when the next one will be.  Most likely, we’ll wait until January, to receive and process lots of new fabric to offer you, but watch your email.  Depending on how the donations come in, we may change our minds.

Leslie Herbst, leslieherbst@yahoo.com, Sew What Table

Calling all quilters.  Due to a personal family emergency, one of our quilters needs to cancel out of the retreat.  So we have one spot available.  Here are the details:

The dates for the retreat at the Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center, 39300 De Portola Road, Temecula, CA  92592 are Thursday November 11, any time after 2pm, through Sunday November 14 at 12pm.  You can come or leave anytime in between!  The person who cancelled had a double room at $419 per person so you can be in a double room with one of our quilters.  Or if you have your own roommate, both of you can come at $419 per person.   If you would prefer a single room, the rate is $619 per person.  Rates include 8 wonderful meals beginning with Thursday dinner and ending with Sunday brunch.  

It’s not all quilting!  You can visit wonderful fabric shops in Temecula or visit the local wineries.  Please let Alena Callimanis know if you are available, 919 606-6164 or acallimanis@gmail.

Alena Callimanis, CVQG Retreat  Coordinator