Ankeny Area Quilters' Guild

Happy 2012 everyone!

I hope the New Year is treating you well and you are having a wonderful time planning and creating in your sewing rooms.  As we discussed (and a reminder for you) at the January meeting, our annual quilt show has been moved up a week and is now the first week in July and will NOT be held in conjunction with Ankeny Summerfest.  This is a change from previous years; so please be certain to mark your calendars.

Many thanks to those of you that entered the trivia contest last month; I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.  Look for this month’s trivia question…

Shelly Burge is teaching a class Saturday, February 11th and there are still openings for the class.  If you are interested, please contact Janet, our wonderful program chair and she’ll see that you get all the information you need to join this fun class!

Our next Meeting is Tuesday, February 14th; don’t forget to bring your completed President’s challenge (Window to the West – original design with embellishment(s); no size limitations but please have your entry completed.)  Please bring your entry to the meeting in a bag of some type so we can hang them and do a viewer’s choice vote.  I can’t wait to see what you all have been creating!

The guild has received an email reminding us of the Kalona Quilt show and sale is scheduled for April 26th through April 29th; located in the Kalona Community Center, on the corner of 6th and D Avenue in Kalona, IA.

The board is traveling to Hen and Chicks Studio in Conrad for a mini retreat!  It should be a fun time quilting, eating, and shopping.  Hopefully, we will also have a couple laughs alone the way!

As always, thanks so much for all your support!  Take care and see you at the February meeting, if not before!

Tamara Watts-McPhail

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m a little late getting my ‘column’ out on the website. Where has the month of December gone? I feel like it is wheezing right by me, but yet, I don’t feel like it should be time for Christmas! Guess it must be the lack of snow! (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wishing for any snow. I’m not up for any shoveling!) J

Thanks so much for the wonderful potluck we had in the December meeting and for the competitive bidding on the Dutch auction. I heard some amazing stories about how some people were not going to give up on take some precious items home with them! Thanks again to Deb taking over the meeting for me.

You will notice something new on the website; a trivia contest. If you have the answer for the trivia question; please write your answer on a piece of paper, along with your name and all the correct answers will placed in a drawing for a wonderful prize! Good luck!

Don’t forget the President’s challenge is due in February, 2012. This must be an finished project that is an original design and uses some type of embellishment….no size limitations! The possibilities are endless!! I hope inspiration strikes you!

It isn’t too early to start thinking about your entries for the 2012 Window to the East Quilt Show…what will you enter??

Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and we’ll see you in 2012!

Tamara Watts-McPhail
President

Thank you so much for venturing out in the dreary, wet, and rainy November night for our meeting this week. What a surprise to wake up on Wednesday and discover the rain had turned our world into a winter wonderland! I think hearing Darlene Zimmerman’s talk was well worth the time! She was a wonderful speaker and her quilts were just beautiful! I’m really enjoying all my treasures that I purchased from her!

Also thank you to Anita and Marilyn for volunteering to be our Program Chair Elects! They will learn a lot from Janet and I know they are eager to get started. If you have any ideas on who would like to see give a program at the guild, please let them know. Who knows, you dream might come true! J

Don’t forget we are having a sew night/day at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church this Friday, 11.11.11 starting at 11 am and going until 11 pm for 11 + 1 hours of sewing, fun, laughter and maybe some projects will get accomplished also! I know there will be prizes handed out so come ready to have fun! Also don’t forget to bring everything that you will need to bring everything with you – extension cords, irons, cutting mats, snacks, etc because nothing will be furnished. We are so lucky that the Lutheran Church is letting us use their wonderful facility!

Jenna, Janet, Sharon, and I will not be able to make to the December membership meeting so Deb has graciously offered to lead the meeting that night. Thanks Deb, I truly appreciate you doing this!

Hope to see a lot of you at the sew night this Friday night. Take care and stay warm!

Tamara Watts-McPhail
President
Ankeny Area Quilter’s Guild

Hello everyone!

Looks like whether we are ready for it or not, the wonderful fall weather we have been enjoying has decided to leave us and winter has arrived. I still had flowers blooming outside on November 1st; what a totally different story on November 2nd! I don’t think they knew what hit them!

Your board has been working hard to make the meetings fun and enjoyable for you and any guests that you choose to bring with you. We hope you can make it to the guild meeting next week to hear all about the fun plans for our next sew night; the spring retreat, the yummy treats and of course, the fun program! Who knows, there might be a fun activity where you get to meet some new people!

We would like to thank Marilyn and Anita for agreeing to co-chair the Program Elect position! Officially we still need to vote them into office (and we will do that next week at the November meeting) and hopefully every member will be as thrilled as I am to have them in that position. Marilyn and Anita will be working closely with Janet to learn the ropes and being to schedule their series of programs! I can’t wait to see what they come up with! Thanks again Marilyn and Anita for volunteering to do this position!

Just a reminder, if you haven’t paid your dues, please do so. We have several exciting things planned for the upcoming year and we would hate for you to miss out by not being a member!

Don’t forget the fat quarter lottery for November is orange flowers! What a fun fabric idea to be looking for; and for all of those who plan ahead, in December the fat quarter drawing will be RED flowers!

I’ve been talked into presenting a president’s challenge so I will be presenting the game plan at our November meeting. I hope you will it to be a fun and worthwhile project.

Hope to see everyone next week at the November Meeting. Come ready to have some fun!!

Take care and stay warm!

Tamara Watts-McPhail
President

Happy October Everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying this wonderful fall weather. My gardens are just loving the cool nights and warm days. If only we could get a bit of rain, that would help everything, wouldn’t it?
Do you all have an opportunity to enjoy the Des Moines AQS show last weekend? What talent we have in the Des Moines/Ankeny Area, especially a couple members of our own guild…Gloria House being one. Way to go Gloria! I know I spent a lot of time looking at the quilting and quilts and hoped that some of their talent would rub off on me!

I hope you will join us at our guild meeting next Tuesday, the 11th of October at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Ankeny. We have Linda Hungerford as our speaker and Janeen is ready to unveil all of her plans for our 2012 quilt show. I think you will be surprised and pleased with everything she has done.

As always if you have any questions or concerns don’t be afraid to contact anyone on the board and let us know what you are thinking.

P.S. We are still looking for a Program Chair Elect. Won’t you please think about joining us on the board??

See you Tuesday!
Tamara Watts-McPhail

The Quilt Show was great again as always.  Since

I was working hospitality I got to meet all the

vendors and talk with their customers, what a

great time talking and learning things from all

of them.

It is time to elect our board for next year and

if you want to get to know the members and

meet great people, please consider being on

the board.  If you are interested please call or

talk to a board member at the meeting July 19th.

We will be doing our Quilt Show wrap up on the

19th of   July so see you all there.

Keep the pieces

Louise Whitlow

We had an awesome meeting last night.   As

always we had a great program and got to see

many beautiful works of art.

We took nominations for the Mary Conkel award

and we will vote in April and make the presentation

in May.  If you did not attend last night and want

to nominate a person, please email us with your

nomination before April 1st.

We have 43 quilters signed up for the May

challenge, if you were not at either the Feb. or March

meeting and are interested please e mail us.

Keep quilting and pieces be with you all.

Louise

Our Feb. 8th meeting was great. We voted on the Presidents Challenge, Color My Name. We had 7 beautiful entries and the winner was Karen Brockelsby with her embellished twister
wall hanging. The hand appliqued quilts by Angela were beautiful and I would encourage everyone to sign up for her class. She assures me that even I could become an applique person and I am one that is intimated by the small stitching and intricate work. She did inspire me to give it a try.
The May Challenge was presented and it should be a fun time to see what everyone comes up with for their project. You can still get your color and sign up at the March meeting. The challenge is to pick a crayola and use 3 other colors. (black, white and one other color) in addition to the color of your crayola.
Fairfield donated 8, 120/120 quilt batting for us to use for donation quilts.
Thank you Fairfield.
Pieces with you and keeping sewing.
Louise

Hi Everyone:
Are we all enjoying this lovely winter weather? I have to admit I do like the beauty of the snow and when the sun shines it really sparkles. It is a good time to sit and work on those projects you have been meaning to get done. When it is warm outside my mind wonders to the outside more.
We will be doing the Presidents challenge at our February meeting so I am hoping for lots of projects to see at our Feb. meeting…”Color Your Name”.
Make sure you put your name on the back of your project with the names of the colors used to spell your name.
If you haven’t signed up yet for retreat be sure you do soon. I am excited to go and am looking forward to it.
Hope the weather cooperated Tuesday the 8th and we can all attend the meeting.
Happy sewing
Louise

Hi and Happy New Year to Everyone!!

I hope everyone had a joyful holiday season and are not ready to
get some serious sewing going for all those projects we have piled
up in our sewing room. I have decided to Color Outside the Line and do something really different for me to take to the Quilt Show.
I hope all of you will give it some serious thought and get going on something for the quilt show…remember there is a first time category and we are not judged.
I am trying to get my Color My Name project done for the February meeting and I hope all of you have been working on yours.
I will refresh you on the Color My Name challenge: you are to make something with the colors in it that will spell our your first name. I went to the crayola web site and found all the colors in my project that spell my name. If you have any questions let me know.

We have an exciting year ahead of us and I am hoping all of you are looking forward to it as much as I am.

Join us for our Guild meeting Tuesday, Jan. 11th at 7:00 P.M.
Best of Show is our program.

Happy sewing and “piece” be with you.

Louise Whitlow
President, Ankeny Area Quilters Guild

Hi Quilters:

Thank you to everyone that made pillowcases for the soldiers.  Wow

what a great response in such a short time, you all deserve a pat on

the back.  Well here it is already the end of th year and I have so many

projects to get done for the holiday and for guild.  I was hoping for

a snow day to sit and work on them.  This nice weather makes me

think I should be outside walking etc.  

Dont foget the Dutch auction at our December meeting, Iam anxious

to see what everyone brings. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend time

with family.

See you at the December meeting/potluck/auction.

Louise Whitlow

Hi Everyone

Here we are in November already and 50 days to Christmas.

Okay it is Polka Dot challenge month and Iam excited to see all of

your projects. So do not forget them Nov. 9th.  Iam going to make

another challenge, everyone that has any polka dot clothing wear it

that night.  Needless to say Iam having trouble finding anything

to wear that has polka dots. 

We will be voting on the budget this month so if you have any

questions give me a call.

We have had a  little bookkeeping snafu so if you did not get a

budget in the mail let us know immediately and we would like

everyone to check the membership list at Guild Tuesday night

and make sure your registration got logged and that your address

is  correct. So because of that we will not have the membership

booklets available this month, we feel it would be better to wait

a month and make sure e veryone gets in it correctly. Sorry

for the inconvience but I am sure it will all be okay.

We will have more on the Quilt show to present to you Tuesday

so don’t miss out.  Also we will discuss the December meeting

potluck and we will be trying something different.

I went to the Crazy Quilt exhibit at the Historical Building and

the stiching on some of them was impressive and I got an ideal

for using up some of my stuff… O boy another project.

Don’t forget to bring the pillowcases you have made for the

soldiers so they can be shipped off in time to get to them for

Christmas.  I put notes in mine.

Keep sewing and see you all November 9th at the meeting.

Louise Whitlow, Pres.

Hi All Quilters:
I hope you alll got the opportunity to go to AQS show this past week. It was so good. I am in awe of the beautiful quilts and such talents is inspiring. I have already tried a new technique I learned there. It is a great information sharing event. I ran into fellow guild members working on their Name Presidents challenge.
Okay this months meeting is another thrilling one so you won’t want to miss it. The 2011 Quilt Show info will be rolled out to all and I am so excited. We have a great program planned as always. Tammy, Vice Presiddent has put it out there that she would like the guild to help her get 400-500 pillowcases for her brothers division in Afghanistan. She would like to send them for Christmas so everyone pitch in and do 4 or 5 and we will have the number she needs. Thanks for your help on this, I know they will be appreciated.
Also this month is flu shots at the meeting and registration so come early get your flu shot and register if you haven’t already done so.
See you at the meeting and keeping quilting.
Louise Whitlow

I

Hi

We had a great meeting and the program was so inspiring I think I will give designing a try.
Okay here are the President’s Challenges for this year:
The first one is due at the November meeting and it is to be anything made with polka dots..the more dots the better. It can be something as simple as a table topper or bag or an entire quilt.

The second challenge is a little harder for some. You are to use your name and find a color that starts with the letters in your name and make something like a quilt or bag or any project of your choice with these colors.
I went to the crayola web site and found my letters. You could also go to a paint store and look at paint chips that you like for your color scheme or I suppose you could make up your own color names. Your name with the color names is to be pinned on the back of your project out of sight. This challenge will be due Feb. 2011.
Have fun and I am looking forward to what you all come up with for the projects.
Happy quilting and may you always find time to sew. They will always remember your quilt they have, but they will never remember if your house was clean.

Louise Whitlow

Hi Everyone

Well our new year has begun. We have many new and exciting things going on in our Guild this year. Because of that you wont want to miss a meeting or check out our website for what is going on from month to month.
We will be having quilt buddies to answer questions at the meetings. Kay Huntimer will be available to answer any questions you might have about the quild. She will also have a couple people floating around to answer questions. Please feel free to ask any questions we want all new or old members to be in the know.
We will be having 2 Presidents quilt challenges this year and one is easy and one is a little harder. I will announce them at the Sept meeting and then post it on the websit afterward.
We will be offering 15 schoolarships for membership to the guild. It is 50% off or $15.00. If you are interested in seeking one of these, please put your name and phone on a sheet of paper or e mail me. If there are more than 15 request I will draw names. I will be the only one to handle the request so it will be confidential.
Registration will be held the months of September and October the fee is $30.00. Please get your registrations in before Oct 15th so the membership book can be printed.
Also there will flu shots available at the Oct 12 meeting so plan accordingly. They are covered by Medicare or it is $20.00.

Sorry this got long but there is alot things to cover.

See you at the meeting.
Louise Whitlow

Hello all!

My year has come to an end.  It has gone so fast!  I want to thank you all for a great year; it was a wonderful learning experience and I have truly enjoyed getting to know each of you better.  The board has been so supportive and I am truly blessed to have worked with them for the past two years.  I wish Louise the best of luck this year as she becomes president.

Thanks!

Laura

I can’t believe that August is here.

The summer seems to go so fast. There is so much planning and anticipation and then it just seems to fly by! Vacations
are coming to a close and school will soon be starting. The quilt show is over as well. I think it turned out wonderfully and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the beautiful quilts and great vendors. I also loved seeing the generosity of our guild members as they volunteered in different areas of the show. It has truly been an honor to lead such wonderful, generous people who love their hobby enough to want to inspire others. Thanks for inspiring me.

 Laura

Happy summer! The first official day of summer has
just arrived and it already seems like the summer is
going too fast. I can’t believe how quickly June has
gone; the quilt show is fast approaching. I will finally
be able to enter something in the show for the first
time in three years. I wish I could say that I have been
extremely productive recently, but the truth is that I
finally just got around to binding a quilt I made over
two years ago! At least it is finally finished. I can’t
wait to show it and then start using it! I hope each of
you is finding time to finish up your UFOs as well. I
can’t wait to see all of your wonderful quilts at the

Happy Sewing!
Laura