General

Improv and Thanksgiving – Nov 2023 Meeting


Our November meeting started, as always with introductions and we each shared a Thanksgiving food traditions. We shared both stories of a hundred year old pot with a pudding no one eats and stories of family recipes that get made although no one likes them (Shrimp Pea Wiggle, Cranberries with Orange peel, Rutabagas and Potatoes) and all the amazing sounding deserts, stuffings, and dressings that are loved!

We then voted in new officers, Thank you everyone for your commitment to our guild. With a special thanks to Kate Gawler for her leadership as President for the challenging few years and Carmen for years of work as our VP of Membership. In 2024 Evie and Nancy will be taking over as Co-President, Karen will continue as Treasurer, Mary and Faye Jean, Becky is VP of Special Events, Veronica as VP of Membership, and Mary Ann will continue as VP of programing.

In December we will have our Holiday party which will include a small gift swap, a fat quarter game, and a potluck. If you have been thinking of joining, it would be a great first meeting!
Today was a sew day and we used a few different improv techniques to make 12×12 blocks which we will join into a community quilt – to be shown.

And of course we had a show and tell and shared our Mini #1s (see below).

Meetings, Sew Time, Workshops

No Fooling – April First in Person


Our First in person meeting in 2023 was fantastic. Twenty two of us meet in Westbrook for a great day.

We kicked off the day by talking about what Improv meant to each of us. And following a short business meeting we did our show and tell, highlighting as always the talents of our members. The pictures show a lot of Maria Shell style Linear Block pieces, which makes sense, as she guided Maine Modern Quilters in a workshop many of us did with her in March. Of course, we were not limited to Improv and there were some beautiful quilts and techniques for us to all enjoy.

A focus on Improv continued and Following Show and Tell we had a pair of workshops on improv curves. Members picked from two options. Some went with Mary Ann Cugini showing us Carolina Oneto’s from the Janome America website, you can find the technique here. At the same time Kate Gawler guided others in Maria Shell’s braided curves technique from the Summer 2021 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. Thank you Kate and MaryAnn! It was sew much fun to have a couple hours of sewing with old and new friends.

It was a fantastic Saturday, and we are looking forward to our May sixth meeting where we will have a series of demos on finishing techniques and our June third picnic at Winslow park in Freeport. If you are on the fence about joining, now is a great time!