Inflation Hits Everywhere

Prices for daily goods and services seem to be going up these days - and the quilt guild is not immune to price increases either.  There has been a lot of discussion about meeting in person versus meeting online, and the direction that the guild will be going in the future.  In our August meeting we tested out a hybrid solution, allowing for our guests to join either in person or online. Thanks to Carolyn Morris, Deb Roth, Nancy Conklin, Barb Pond and Kathy Wasilewski - this was a success!  

As we look forward, we strive to continue our mission of teaching, sharing and giving.  Part of this means being good stewards of our financial resources.  With costs going up - it now takes 37 annual members to pay for one month rental for our current in-person meeting place.  This does not include the costs to bring in a guest speaker or workshops.  Your board has looked into other recommended spaces, but have thus far not found anything suitable at a lower cost.  In 2023, we are committed to 4 in-person meetings (including the quilt show).  We are hoping that this will help fill the need for our members who prefer in-person meetings, while being cost-conscious.

We plan on continuing our pop-up events to augment our meetings, and provide member meet-ups to pick up and drop off charity quilts, newborn loss blankets, and support other events going on throughout the year.  For 2023, it will take 4 annual memberships to pay for the use of the drive-through area at our current meeting location.  We are looking for alternate locations that may be conducive to pop-ups, such as member businesses, and welcome ideas that you may have as well.

Lastly, as we look forward to 2023, we are excited to be bringing back the Festival of Quilts!  This bi-annual event was postponed due to the pandemic, and we are eager to see all the beautiful creations that our members have been up to the past several years.  More information will be forthcoming - just keep in mind that members get first chance at registering their quilts for the event!  We are hoping for a full house of lovely quilts showcasing our talented members to the greater quilting community!

Submitted by Jen Dietz, President

The Fall Auction begins in just a couple of weeks on Thursday, October 13^th – Saturday, October 22, 2022.  The auction will be held online through “Auctria”, same as last year. This is our main fund-raiser for ACQ.

Why do we have a Fall Auction? ---

The main purpose of the auction is to raise funds for our charity projects.  While the dues defray expenses for our programs and rental fees, the auction is the main way the guild raises funds to pay for batting and backing for our charity quilts and all the materials to make the CPNLS quilts.  Each average lap size quilt costs $40 or more for backing fabric and about $23 for batting.  We can get 3 CPNLS blankets out of a yard of flannel plus the cost of 2.5 yards of lace.

I want to thank the following members for one or more donations to the auction:

Beth Taggert                                       Martha Wells

Nancy Conklin                                     Doreen Mortimer

Linda Starkey                                      Alma Lee (former member)

Ashley McNeese                                Linda Mazunik

Jody Charmatz                                   Kate Colleran

Laura Eley                                            Nathlia Holtz

Lori Hansen                                         Jean Gibson

Carolyn Morris                                    Jen Dietz

Carol Haines                                        Barb Pond

Lucy Rognes                                        Kathy Wasilewski

Louise Helton

Also thanks to Carol Kiser and Terri Shelgren for volunteering to collect and distribute items on two Saturdays and to Nancy Conklin and Ann Roman for helping distribue items on October 29^th from 10-12 noon.

How can you help?

You can share the link for the auction to your friends through your social media sites such as Facebook and also through our www.acqcolorado.org website—which you can share.

In addition, you can purchase items in the auction or make a donation to the guild, (which is tax deductable) through Auctria,.

Contact Barb Pond at vicepresident@acqcolorado.org or text/call at 303-910-2572.  Thanks for your support!

Submitted by Barb Pond, VP

Mark your calendar to join us as we celebrate the Holidays at our December Social and Meeting. Plans are being made for our Santa’s “Sack Dinner” with a small gift exchange, as well as our meeting including Installation of Officers, Show-n-Tell Extravaganza, Drawing for the UFO’s Challenge, and informative Guest Speakers who will be sharing what judges look for when judging a quilt.  With our upcoming Quilt Show next year, you won’t want to miss it!   Full details will be coming soon.

Submitted by Kathy Wasilewski, VP Programs 2022

Take a look and see what is happening in 2023

JANUARY - Michele Crawford of Flower Box Quilts

• Lecture - 12^th   Just Cut the Scrap  -  Michele will be giving us tips and tricks to get our scraps under control as well as sharing many of her quilts with us.
• Morning Workshop -  14th -  Crumb quilting – learn how to put all those strange shaped scraps together to make blocks of any size.
• Afternoon Workshop – 14^th -  Spontaneous Log Cabin – Michele will use her own pattern for a Log Cabin quilt which uses scrap strips of all kinds.

FEBRUARY -  Beth Sullivan

• Lecture - 9^th Memory Quilts -  Beth will be showing us how she takes unusual fabrics and embellishments to design meaningful Memory quilts
• Morning Workshop -  Preparing your treasured pieces to be arranged later into your own Memory quilt.

MARCH  -   Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill

• Lecture - 9th -  Approaching Quilting as a Graphic Designer    - Sheri will talk about how she put her skills as a graphic designer to use to design her patterns quilts.
• Lecture - 11^th  - Piecing Curves with confidence – Don’t fear the curve! Students will learn tips and tricks to create a fantastic curve while making blocks needed for the Picnic Petals quilt, designed by Sheri. 

APRIL – Pat Syta (workshop) Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum (Lecture) 

• Workshop - 1^st  Pat will teach us her Brilliance quilt pattern in a full day workshop at Holly’s Quilt Cabin.  Come learn from this master quilt maker and member of ACQ.  Check out Pat’s website for the pattern and possible kit.
• Lecture - 13^th – – we will have a Trunk show of the Red and White quilts that are part of the Quilt Museum’s collection in Golden.  If you have a Red & White quilt, bring it for show and tell.

MAY -  Jenny Kae

• Lecture –  11^th  -  Color Courage for the Fabric Phobic  Jenny will share several examples from her own work and offers practical methods to select colors and fabrics for your next project. 

JUNE – Quilt Show

No meeting or workshop

JULY - 13^th    Margaret Willingham 

• Lecture 13^th - Quilting: A Creative Journey We will get a glimpse into the interplay of color, pattern and design and Margaret shows us ways to trust our creative instincts. 
• Workshop - 15^th  This workshop is all about applique and reverse applique.  We will be using Margaret’s Shooting Stars table runner pattern at Wooden Spools.

AUGUST  

• Social Event– we will car pool to the Quilt Museum in Golden to attend their annual garage sale, take a tour of the Museum and then some shopping and lunch in downtown Golden.  Watch for dates and more information as the year goes forward.

SEPTEMBER – Dana Jones 

• Lecture – 14^th Japanese Fabric from Vintage to Contemporary Dana will share her experiences from working with multiple generations of Japanese quilt-makers, using Japanese fabrics from indigo to taupe and beyond.   You will learn how master Japanese quilters select and design fabric as well as see up close and personal some of the quilts from Dana’s collection.  
• Morning Workshop - 16^thFabulous FreeformDana will teach us improvisational cutting and piecing techniques which are fun and quick. 
• Afternoon Workshop - 16^th Circling Charley:   We will  how to set in circles by machine.

OCTOBER – Sheri Noel

• Lecture 12^th  Finding My Quilting Voice   Sheri will share her designs and reflect on how her quilting evolved for her one quilt at a time. 
• Morning workshop - 14^th  Making Madawaska mittens  We will spend the morning learning how to make the cutest mittens ever.  You will be inspired to make them for all your family and friends.  Save any old wool sweaters or head to the thrift store to find wonderful old sweaters to use.

NOVEMBER -  Carl Hentsch

• Lecture 9^th  How Amish Quilting has influenced Modern Designs  Living only a short distance from an old order Amish community has allowed Carl to know and respect Amish quilters and their ability to create beautiful quilts without the use of electricity. He will explore their use of color and design using modern fabrics and techniques. 

DECEMBER  - Pot Luck and Holiday Celebration

Submitted by Linda Starkey, VP Programs 2023

2023 Membership Renewal

It is hard to believe that we are now in the last quarter of 2022. Halloween, Thanksgiving and the December holidays are just around the corner. 2023 will be here before we know it.

Keep your eyes open for the ACQ email that addresses the membership renewal process for 2023.  This email should be in your in-box in early November.  We hope you have enjoyed all of the wonderful programs, workshops, activities that have been available during 2022.  We have a wonderful ACQ community. Linda Starkey has been working on arrangements for some exciting programs and workshops for 2023.  2023 will be just as fun and rewarding as 2022.  Plus, there is the quilt show! Be sure to renew your membership for 2023 to join in all of the fun.

We also have a favor to ask.  If you are part of a quilt bee, could you please reach out to any bee members who were past ACQ members or who have never joined ACQ.  Share with them what you like about ACQ.  We would love to welcome returning and new members to ACQ.

Calling ACQ Volunteers – This is the broken record speaking… We need your help! We are repeating this article from the August and September Newsletters. Please consider stepping up and volunteering to help.

I think we can all agree that ACQ is an amazing organization that provides supportive, creative and educational opportunities for quilters.  This success over 30 plus years did not just blindly happen.  It is the result of contributions and help of our members.  And we are seeking your help again.  Please consider volunteering to be a Membership Co-Chair.  Trust me (Ann Roman) when I say, if I can do this, anyone can do this.  Let me tell you a little bit about Membership responsibilities.

The Membership Co-Chair is a 2-year position.  The first year of the term is a training year where you learn and assist the senior Membership Chair.  Then during the second year you assume the lead on membership activities.  Your main responsibility is ensuring the members can easily renew their membership and new members can join ACQ.  This process is fully automated on the ACQ web page.  Additional responsibilities include attending monthly ACQ board meeting (these are currently being held via ZOOM); preparing newsletter articles as needed; and monitoring/granting access to the ACQ Community Facebook page.  We have “manuals” that describe and document the membership process and the steps and time lines involved.  Most importantly, there are numerous prior Membership Co-Chairs who are valuable resources and are very happy to assist new co-chairs.  I have enjoyed my time as Membership Co-Chair; I learned a lot from Deb Roth and have enjoyed training and working with Louise Helton.  She will be a great lead in 2023. It has also been fun working with the ACQ board and leadership team.  It is a great team. 

So, I hope you will consider volunteering your time (generally only a couple of hours a month) and talents to the membership function of ACQ.  Louise and I would be happy to answer any questions and share more information with you.  Please reach out to either one of us at annroman8858@icloud.com and redwee@hotmail.com.

Submitted by Ann Roman & Louise Helton

As we enter a new season, it is time to play with more colors. I was so happy to deliver a few Halloween quilts to the VOA Family motel. We are still collecting red, white and blue quilts for Clermont Commons and quilts for Children’s Hospital. 

So far this year ACQ has donated 435 quilts. 

222      Marshall Fire Victims 

160      VOA Family Motel (Previously homeless families) 

  25      VOA Clermont Commons (Women Veterans) 

  28      Children’s Hospital 

We thank you all for your continued support of and dedication to the Charitable Quilts projects.  If you have questions or comments, please contact us by phone, text, or email. 

Sheila Clark 720.300.0973     

This is the end…maybe

I know that many of you are tired of hearing us ask for volunteers…that being said, our guild runs entirely by volunteers. This means that all of the programming, opportunities to get together with fellow quilters, and using our gifts to bless others in our community are all organized and supported by volunteer work.  Unfortunately, without volunteers to take on the planning of these activities, the guild cannot continue.

Next year we are in need of a President, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Programs, and Vice President of Communications and Marketing. The last three are two year terms, with the first year (2023) as a supporting role to the current VP. Although traditionally held by one person, they could also be shared among a couple dedicated individuals to share the work.

If you have enjoyed participating in guild meetings, learning from lecturers and workshops, or making new quilting friends…consider stepping up to volunteer next year. If you have questions, all of our current board members are available to discuss the opportunities.

Submitted by Jen Dietz

Take a look and see what is happening in 2023.

Our 2023 programming is shaping up to be diverse and exciting with a variety of both in-person and virtual presentations.  The ability to have virtual meetings has allowed us to book internationally known teachers and really opened up what is available for us.   Here are some details about our programs for the first quarter of 2023 and some sneak peaks of what is coming for the rest of the year.  Our January thru March meetings and workshops will be virtual.

Just Cut the Scrap featuring Michelle Crawford of Flower Box Quilts.  (www.flowerboxquilts.com) 

Memory Quilts with Beth Sullivan. (https://m.facebook.com/BethSullivanDesigns/)  

Content, Concepts & Quilts: Approaching Quilting as a Graphic Designer by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill of Whole Circle Studio  (www.wholecirclestudio.com).  

From April through September will be in-person workshops and Lectures by Colorado teachers with virtual lectures and workshops again in October and November.. 

Pat Syta www.boundtobequilting.com  

The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum www.rmqm.org

Jenny Kai, (www.jennykaequilts.com) 

June – Quilt show

Margaret Willingham ofEye of the Beholder Quilts.  (www.eobquiltdesign.com )  

Dana Jones (www.danajonesquilts.com) 

Sheri Noel of Rebecca Mae designs  (www.rebeccamaedesigns.com )   

Carl Hentcsh of 3dogdesigns  (www.3dogdesigns.com), 

Submitted by Linda Starkey, VP Programs 2023