November Meeting Recap

2017 Guild Leaders

We are pleased to announce our enthusiastic and dynamic leadership team for next year! Looking ahead, our officers will be:

Kelly Spell, President, plus Social Media manager

Denise Ohlman, Secretary, plus keeper of the key and opener of the building

Jean Larson, Treasurer, plus Habitat Quilt organizer extraordinaire

Also on the Steering Committee will be:

Veronica Hofman-Ortega, Guild Directory Creator 

Mary Keasler, Workshop Organizer 

Sandi Suggs, Advisor and General Contributor (I can't box this one!)

Audrey Workman, Past President and writer of our Blog

If you need information, ask any of these people. 

On Our Calendar

November

19    Habitat Dedication Ceremony

December

3      Final collection of President's Challenge quilts (details will be emailed to members)

10    Next Meeting, Christmas Party, President's Challenge Quilt Show

17    Habitat Dedication Ceremony

Dues for 2017 will be $35 per member.

The National MQG assesses our fees based on our number of members and we pay them about half of what we collect from our dues. We considered several factors and asked our members for a small increase. Why? We expect to need more money in 2017. We will continue to buy some materials for the Habitat quilts plus we would like to offer our long-arm volunteers a small gift for their generous contributions. We will no longer have income from our AQS volunteer hours (until they come back someday!). We have chosen to practice good stewardship and write an annual check to the church that offers us a place to meet every month. And we hope to offer more workshops and fun things next year.

Members thereby voted to increase our annual dues from $30 to $35 for 2017. You may write your check payable to ChattMQG and get it to Jean Larson ASAP. Thank you!

Habitat for Humanity 

We have two more quilts to go for the year. Vanessa has offered to donate one that she made (thank you Vanessa!) and the last one is in the works. See the Calendar above for the dedication ceremony dates. We are hoping to put together a small band of volunteers who will sew blocks into tops next year as their Habitat contribution, if you are interested please talk to Jean.

Brainstorming Session

Veronica led us in another inspiring and informative shout-it-out round of ideas. She followed that up by asking each member which idea they ranked most desirable. Our 2017 Steering Committee will be using that information to figure out our best options for programs and workshops. Sign-up sheets will be ready at the December meeting so you can sign up for a topic and get your creative wheels turning early.

Christmas Party and President's Challenge Quilt Show

FOOD! Mark your calendars now for our December 10 meeting. Please plan to bring finger food to share. Vanessa will contribute drinks and ice; Ann will bring cups, plates, napkins and cutlery. 

FRIENDS! You are welcome to bring a guest.

FUN! We will have a gift exchange for those who want to participate. Bring something handmade and play in the Chinese auction to sort-of choose what you will take home, if your luck holds out.

PRIZES! Vote for your favorite three quilts in the show and the winners will each get a prize.

Yes, of course we will have December Show and Tell! See you there!

Show and Tell

And the survey says... Modern Quilting Confidence Quotient increases in 2016

At the November guild meeting, the Chattanooga Modern Quilters held a brainstorming session to generate ideas for programs, workshops and activities for the upcoming 2017 year. This is the second year members participated in this group planning session.

At the commencement of the session, guild members were asked what they felt their individual level of experience or confidence was with modern quilting. "We're calling this our 'Modern Quilting Confidence Quotient,'" said Veronica, the moderator of the brainstorming session. Using data collected from last year's session, the survey revealed positive results.

2016 Chattanooga MQG "Confidence Quotient" survey results.
Data collected represents those in attendance at the 2015 and 2016 November guild meetings.

As seen in the chart, there was a shift from members feeling they were absolute newbies in the realm of modern quilting to having a better understanding of the concepts, techniques and aesthetics of modern quilting. From 2015 data, the Newbies category decreased 18 percentage points while Confident Beginners increased 2 points, Intermediate Quilters increased 4 points and members feeling they had a solid command of modern quilting—at an Advanced level—increased from 0 in 2015 to 12% in 2016.

For the members of the Chattanooga Modern Quilt Guild, the 2016 year was filled with a number of programs and hands-on activities that covered patchwork basics and general quiltmaking techniques as well as the core concepts of modern quilting. Judging from another robust list of suggestions and ideas that emerged from the November brainstorming session, next year will be just as promising for building quiltmaking confidence as this year was.