July 2021 Newsletter

 President's Message

Welcome Summer, 

I have a confession to make -- I am obsessed with Pop Song "Watermelon Sugar" By Harry Stiles -- Seriously obsessed.  So now I am buying watermelons on everything.  See my photos! I even have a watermelon in my fish tank.  Of course that means I need to make a watermelon quilt.  I bought Victoria Findley Wolf's book 15 minutes of play that creates fabric from scraps sewn together and you only need 15 minutes of time which is about all I have these days.  It is an older book but a fun technique.  What are you quilters working on these days!  Is summer influencing your color choices?

Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts A one-of-a-kind Quilt shop of Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Fabrics, patterns, templates, notions, books. Quilting, Q...

Happy Quilting,

Robin

Quilt Fair

I know many of you are collecting items from your house for the quilt fair and you would like to get them to someone.  Marianne is collecting all the quilting sewing related items but that is a small portion of the types of items we would like to sell.  Does anyone in the membership have space to hold items for the sale so that members can get the stuff out of their house.  I myself do not have the space but if anyone has space to offer up it would really help the sale be successful.  We would request that the membership arrange a good time to drop off the items and then the Friday of the sale - we would have a group of members willing to drive over and help bring the items from your home to the church.  It would be so nice to have that option and your guild really needs the help.  

Items we are collecting:

• Fabric, books, patterns -- Marianne is collecting those
• Home Décor -- Pictures, vases, collectibles etc
• Kids Craft supplies kits, stickers, books, 
• Sewing notions buttons, binding, zippers, tools, scissors, rulers – Marianne is collecting
• Kitchen and Dining -- dishes, kitchen gadgets, glasses
  
• Jewelry and Accessories - scarfs, bags, personal items

Please email me at marianne@thecaporales.us and we can make pickup/drop-off arrangements. It looks like we are going to have a great variety of items for sale. The committee would much appreciate that you don’t hold on to the above donations until September since it is quite a feat for us to organize and price them! Pickup can easily be arranged, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not the totality of items we want to sell. Please continue to save other items such as yarn, other craft supplies, household goods, etc. for the sale. Await further instructions on collections of those items. 

If you have any questions, please reach out.

Marianne Caporale

Attention Quilt Fair Consigners!

Get your items ready! We will be sending out forms to list your goods to sell. And as we have done in the past, Penn Oaks’ commission will be 20% of the sold price. Please price accordingly to get the amount you want from the sale. Don’t worry about putting price tags on your items, we will take care of that.

If you have any questions about consigning, please contact me.

Helen Hofbauer

A Shout Out and Thanks

I never thought I would see it in my lifetime, but we are going to have a real, live meeting in 

September-Maybe, I hope. If we do, you should give a big shout out and thanks to the new 

board members.

President: Robin McMillen

Membership: Elizabeth Young and Sarah Reindel

Corresponding Sec: Marianne Caporale     

Recording Sec: Angela Brant

Programs: Jen Burke

Asst. to Programs: Donna Daley

Treasurer: Ellen McMillen

Ways and Means: Elaine Egan

2020 Quilt Guild Challenge - Angela Brant

Editor Update:  We will finally do the Challenge at the September meeting.

By now, you should have queen size quilt to display!

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, this is my favorite time of all

Pick a season and make a small quilt or wall hanging that strongly evokes that season

Quilts/wall hangings will be judged by fellow quilt members in several categories:

1. Best evokes season
2. Best use of color
3. Most original
4. Best quilting

Basic Rules of the Challenge:

• #1 RULE: HAVE FUN!!! Use your imagination! Your creation can be traditional or contemporary.

• Item Selection: Your challenge must be a small quilt or wall hanging, not a tote bag, pocket book, vest or jacket, etc.

• Finished Size: Your challenge can be any finished size you want.
• • Methods of Construction: You are free to use whatever construction or quilting methods work best for your creation (i.e., machine piece, hand piece, paper piece, machine appliqué, hand appliqué, machine or hand quilt, etc.). We encourage you to challenge yourself and be creative.

• Fabric Requirement: You can use whatever fabrics you want in your challenge. There is also no limit to the total number of fabrics or kinds of fabrics used in your challenge.

• Embellishments: Embellishments are optional.

• Label: Make sure you put a label with your name on the back of your challenge. Give credit to the source that inspired you. Please cover up your label with a piece of paper before handing it in for voting at our guild meeting so it’s a secret as to who made it.

• Due Date: Finished challenges are due at our June, 2020 guild meeting for judging by your quilt guild peers. All guild members attending the meeting will have the opportunity to vote anonymously for their favorite challenge quilt.

• ALL QUILTS ENTERED IN THE CHALLENGE WILL BE DISPLAYED.If you have any questions about the challenge please contact Angela Brant at angelalendenbrant@gmail.com or 484-682-3871.

 Membership - Sara Reindel and Elizabeth Young

We received a whole bunch of membership forms, but there is

still more to come. Please send to: 

                              The DeCarli's

                              15 Windemere Ct.

                               Downingtown, PA 19335

Penn Oaks Sunshine

If you know of a guild member who could use some well wishes or encouragement because of a sickness or life event, please contact me at marianne@thecaporales.us.  I will make sure, as the in-coming Corresponding Secretary, to send our collective good thoughts to our fellow member.

Marianne Caporale

2022 Getaway

As we emerge from the chaos of the pandemic one of the many things we have to look forward to is our winter Getaway. We will continue to hold our Getaway at the Amish View Inn & Suites at 3125 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand. Next year, the Getaway dates are February 23-27. We will take the Getaway reservations at the October meeting. This will allow everyone time to make their plans, and give our new members the opportunity to find out about this fun event. The sewing room has the capacity to hold 28 quilters, allowing one 6 foot long table per quilter. However, the final number of attendees will be determined closer to the October meeting based on current CDC and Amish View Inn guidelines.  The sewing room fee is $500 plus 6% tax; this amount will be shared equally by all attendees. The room rates (including tax) for a single/double room will be $125.43 for Wednesday/Thursday nights, and $177.60 for Friday/Saturday nights. A deposit of $100.00 per room will hold your reservation. Come for one night, two, three or all four nights to sew, shop and visit with your fellow members. Just a reminder, the POQ Getaway is completely self-funded. Members are responsible for finding their own roommate and for sharing the room cost. Our contract is for the Double Queen Rooms. Take a look at the Amish View Inn web site ( www.AmishViewInn.com) to learn about this wonderful venue. We'll have more information as we get closer to our event date. Please contact us with any questions.

Ellen McMillen (ejmcmillen@verizon.net) and Cindy Vognetz (cvognetz@hotmail.com) 2022 Getaway Co-Chairs 

June 2021 Newsletter

 President's Message

 Hallelujah, we made it through this year, intact!

 I am looking forward to our June meeting and seeing everyone in person! Don’t forget your show and tell and challenge items.

 My Thank You's To; 

·         The membership for putting their trust in me to guide us this past year.

·         Kelly for keeping us updated with our newsletter for the past 12 years and informing us of other guild and quilt shop news.

·         Kelly for keeping concise minutes at the board and regular meetings.

·         Kelly for being my go to person for support this year. 

·         Maureen for our new website, what a lot of work! It is beautiful.

·         Maureen for continual monitoring and updating our website.

·         Maureen for keeping us up to date on correspondence and anyone in need of cheering up.

·         Jamie for creating events for each month so POQ has a facebook presence.

·         Jen for setting up all the speakers for zoom presentations this year. I enjoyed them all.

·         Ellen for keeping track of all our financial comings and goings.

·         Kathy, Bob, and Marianne for keeping track of our membership and encouraging guests to become a member.

·         Kathy and Bob for having a door prize at each meeting.

·         Robin for volunteering her home for our 1^st in person meeting this year! I can hardly wait.

·         Robin and the Quilt Sale Committee - (Elaine Egan, Jen Burke, Elizabeth Young, Sarah Reindel, Marianne Caporale and Helen Hofbauer for collecting and organizing sale items, etc.

·         Angel for arranging the food for our in person meeting.

·         Angela for chairing and organizing the challenge for this year. Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall, what is your favorite season of all. Remember to bring it to the June meeting.

·         Dolores for diligently creating and distributing quilts of valor over the years. Please contact her if you have one to donate.

·         Elaine Mayer for collecting quilts and pillowcases for charitable donations. She will gladly give your donation a deserving home.

·         All members that have donated quilts to charitable organizations other than the ones POQ supports.

Let's welcome our incoming POQ board. Thank you for volunteering.

 

President: Robin McMillen

Membership: Elizabeth Young and Sarah Reindel

Corresponding Sec: Marianne Caporale     

Recording Sec: Angela Brant

Programs: Jen Burke

Asst. to Programs: Donna Daley

Treasurer: Ellen McMillen

Ways and Means: Elaine Egan

 

I wish everyone a wonderful summer and year.

Lynn Telson

Newsletter Editor - Kelly Meanix

I want to give a big shout out to Lynn Telson for moving Heaven and Earth to keep things together this year. No one could have predicted how this pandemic would affect our lives for over a year. Through her leadership and the board, we did what we could to keep you all entertained and connected. As a result I think it went better than any of us expected! Jen Burke in particular worked very hard to find Zoom speakers so that every month you would have a little piece of Penn Oaks to hold onto when the world spun out of control. 

We have wonderful people in the guild who stepped up when we needed them.  Remember that next year when they are looking to fill up positions on the board or for committees. We all make a difference and we all have something to offer. My hat's off to our amazing guild!

I also want to thank you all for the nice emails you sent about my "retirement". I think Bob DeCarli will do a wonderful job and make sure to get your newsletter articles to him on time!

2020 Quilt Guild Challenge - Angela Brant

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, this is my favorite time of all

Pick a season and make a small quilt or wall hanging that strongly evokes that season

Quilts/wall hangings will be judged by fellow quilt members in several categories:

1. Best evokes season
2. Best use of color
3. Most original
4. Best quilting

Basic Rules of the Challenge:

• #1 RULE: HAVE FUN!!! Use your imagination! Your creation can be traditional or contemporary.

• Item Selection: Your challenge must be a small quilt or wall hanging, not a tote bag, pocket book, vest or jacket, etc.

• Finished Size: Your challenge can be any finished size you want.
• • Methods of Construction: You are free to use whatever construction or quilting methods work best for your creation (i.e., machine piece, hand piece, paper piece, machine appliqué, hand appliqué, machine or hand quilt, etc.). We encourage you to challenge yourself and be creative.

• Fabric Requirement: You can use whatever fabrics you want in your challenge. There is also no limit to the total number of fabrics or kinds of fabrics used in your challenge.

• Embellishments: Embellishments are optional.

• Label: Make sure you put a label with your name on the back of your challenge. Give credit to the source that inspired you. Please cover up your label with a piece of paper before handing it in for voting at our guild meeting so it’s a secret as to who made it.

• Due Date: Finished challenges are due at our June, 2020 guild meeting for judging by your quilt guild peers. All guild members attending the meeting will have the opportunity to vote anonymously for their favorite challenge quilt.

• ALL QUILTS ENTERED IN THE CHALLENGE WILL BE DISPLAYED.If you have any questions about the challenge please contact Angela Brant at angelalendenbrant@gmail.com or 484-682-3871.

 

Membership - Bob & Kathy DeCarli and Marianne Caporale

Please remember your membership forms are due by the end of June. Please send them to Bob and Kathy. The new year for the guild starts July 1st! At that time you will send them into Sarah Reindel and Elizabeth Young.

From Robin McMillen

June 14th meeting is in my yard weather permitting.  Here are the details and protocols.  

• Who: For simplicity sake Members Only
• Where: 1379 Pennsridge Place, Downingtown.  I live on a cul-de-sac so there is plenty of parking.  You will see the tent on the left side of my yard
• What do I need to bring: Challenge Quilt if you made one, a chair, show and tell quilts, membership forms and dues
• What if it rains? I will be putting the tent up on Sunday before and if it calls for significant rain and/or storms I will email everyone and we will put together a zoom call.  
• Covid guidance:  I am following CDC Guidelines here, we are outside and if you are vaccinated you don't need to wear a mask but of course you are welcome to if you prefer.  Unvaccinated folks should wear a mask, I am counting on honesty**.  There will be food that you can choose to partake in or not.  We will pole the membership when it get's closer so that Angel knows how many diners she needs to prepare for.  
• If anything should change regarding Covid Guidelines. I will send a follow up email to the membership

**Since I am opening my home to the membership, I feel that I can share my feelings on the vaccine.  If you are vaccinated -- great feel free to skip over this but if not.....

"What does your doctor advise regarding the vaccine?"

When you have an illness (any illness), you go to the doctor because she knows better than you. If your doctor is advising you to get vaccinated you should do so.  I was sick for 24 hours after the shot but to me that is worth the trouble when I know that I won't end up in the hospital (or worse) and I won't be spreading this virus around to others.  I don't think you should get the shot because I am telling you to but because it is the brave and caring thing to do to protect yourself and others.  

Link to CDC Guidelines

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html

Robin McMillen

Instagram @sew_whimzy

(610)836-1363

Ways & Means

Penn Oaks Quilt Fair Donations

 

Since we are able to finally meet again for our June meeting, please consider bringing your donations of the following quilting items for the Quilt Fair to Robin’s house.

 

• Fabric
• Magazines – can be sewing, crochet & knitting in addition to quilting
• Books
• Patterns
• Other goodies – rulers, etc.

 

I will be collecting them there and at future meetings. If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

If you will not be making the June meeting and have items that you wish to donate, please email me at marianne@thecaporales.us and we can make pickup/drop-off arrangements.

 

This is not the totality of items we want to sell. Please continue to save other items such as yarn, other craft supplies, household goods, etc. for the sale. Await further instructions on collections of those items. 

 

Thanks! Marianne Caporale

2022 Getaway

As we emerge from the chaos of the pandemic one of the many things we have to look forward to is our winter Getaway. We will continue to hold our Getaway at the Amish View Inn & Suites at 3125 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand. Next year, the Getaway dates are February 23-27. We will take the Getaway reservations at the October meeting. This will allow everyone time to make their plans, and give our new members the opportunity to find out about this fun event. The sewing room has the capacity to hold 28 quilters, allowing one 6 foot long table per quilter. However, the final number of attendees will be determined closer to the October meeting based on current CDC and Amish View Inn guidelines.  The sewing room fee is $500 plus 6% tax; this amount will be shared equally by all attendees. The room rates (including tax) for a single/double room will be $125.43 for Wednesday/Thursday nights, and $177.60 for Friday/Saturday nights. A deposit of $100.00 per room will hold your reservation. Come for one night, two, three or all four nights to sew, shop and visit with your fellow members. Just a reminder, the POQ Getaway is completely self-funded. Members are responsible for finding their own roommate and for sharing the room cost. Our contract is for the Double Queen Rooms. Take a look at the Amish View Inn web site ( www.AmishViewInn.com) to learn about this wonderful venue. We'll have more information as we get closer to our event date. Please contact us with any questions.

Ellen McMillen (ejmcmillen@verizon.net) and Cindy Vognetz (cvognetz@hotmail.com) 2022 Getaway Co-Chairs 

Attention Quilt Fair Consigners!

Get your items ready! We will be sending out forms to list your goods to sell. And as we have done in the past, Penn Oaks’ commission will be 20% of the sold price. Please price accordingly to get the amount you want from the sale. Don’t worry about putting price tags on your items, we will take care of that.

If you have any questions about consigning, please contact me.

Helen Hofbauer

May 2021 Newsletter

 President's Message

I want to thank Jen for arranging the April speaker, Maureen Logan. We had approximately 30 members attend.

At the May meeting the membership will be voting on the new board. So please plan to attend. 

Mark your calendars for our June in person meeting. Robin McMillen is hosting at her house, backyard. 😊

Robin and her committee are busy planning the POQ sale in September. We will need all hands on deck. Sign up to work the sale when she asks. 

Looking forward to seeing you at our May meeting.

While in Pittsburgh, Stan and I went to Bicycle Heaven. Below are some very interesting pictures of sewing machine‘s. I have no idea if they were operational at one time.

 

                                                                                                

 Programs - Jen Burke

As a reminder, Lynn has asked us to invite a friend to each of these programs if we can!

May Cyndi McChesney presents Lone Star Quilts.  Lone Star quilts are usually reserved for advanced quilters, but never fear, there are ways to simplify this complicated quilt! In this one-hour trunk show and lecture Cyndi shares a  variety of Lone Star and Lone Star inspired quilts, settings and variations. Get inspired to tackle one of these beauties in a two-day workshop!

I never knew that “may you live in interesting times” was really a curse, but we all felt it this year. May will be our last zoom presentation of this god-awful year of isolation! A big thank you to everyone who gave this newbie some grace and threw some names her way for planning for speakers in completely unprecedented times.  I know it wasn’t the favored model, but seeing pretty things, fabulous speakers, and you all gave me a lot of joy in some pretty bleak times. I’m still looking forward to precedented times, whatever they’ll look like going forward! 

Note From Fox n Socks aka Jean Fox

To all my dear friends in Penn Oaks Quilt Guild:

I would like to thank everyone for the birthday greetings that I received.  I am thanking you this way as I am afraid I would miss someone if I tried to do individual thanks.  Believe me, I would if I did not have this fear.  It was so wonderful to have the birthday greeting from you all.  I could picture each of you as I read your greeting which made it seem like a personal greeting.  It was a very quiet day.  My son and daughter-in-law did treat me with a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant which was very different from the usual Italian. It was a lovely day so we sat outside which is the only way they go  to restaurants these days.  It is hard to believe I have reached 92.  I have a tendency to not think of it.  I miss all of you so much and look forward to the Zoom  meetings.   Thanks again to all who remembered me.   Jean Fox

Note From Rita Marie

Thank You 

Thank you for everything.....your cards, prayers, words of support, flowers, gift cards and the crock pot meals.

We are so appreciative of your kindness and generosity during this difficult and challenging time in our life.

Your thoughtfulness will always be remembered.

Thank you very, very much.     Kent and Rita Marie Smith

This and That From the Quilting World

Encyclopedia of Blocks

Barbara Brackman, the pre-eminent quilt historian, collected block information on index cards and stored them in a shoe box (or so the story goes). When she got to 4,264, she stopped (not clear why) and wondered what to do. What she came up with borders on the brilliant. She partnered with Electric Quilt and published an encyclopedia, "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns". Given that this is a virtual world, they went one step further and developed a stand alone APP, "Block Base +", which contains the entire encyclopedia. Block Base + is a thing of beauty and is easier to use than PayPal! Basically, it is a single screen with pictures of the blocks. Click on a block and get everything you ever wanted to know about the block: all the different names the block goes by, the block history, the block characteristics, and seven quilt layouts using the block. The print capabilities are even better. You can print the block-any size, foundations patterns, templates and a rotary cutting chart. Block Base + is a stand alone program, you do not need Electric Quilt. As a separate activity, they put the encyclopedia in Electric Quilt 8, making EQ even more awesome.

Looking for Penn Oaks Quilt Fair Donations

While you are spring cleaning your quilting stash/library, please consider donating the following items to the Penn Oaks Quilt Fair:

• Fabric
• Magazines – can be sewing, crochet & knitting in addition to quilting
• Books
• Patterns
• Other quilting goodies – rulers, etc.

Feel free to bring them to our June meeting at Robin’s house. I will be collecting them there and at future meetings.

If you will not be making the June meeting and have items that you wish to donate, please email me at marianne@thecaporales.us and we can make pickup/drop-off arrangements.

This is not the totality of items we want to sell. Please continue to save other items such as yarn, other craft supplies, household goods, etc. for the sale. Await further instructions on collections of those items. 

If anyone is interested in working with me in preparing these items for the September sale, please let me know. Thanks! Marianne

Membership - Kathy and Bob DeCarli and Marianne Caporale

We hope everyone has received the Membership form. Please get it to us either by snail mail or bring to the June meeting at Robin's. If you did not get the form, please email us. We are done with membership. Elizabeth Young and Sara Reindel will take over. 

It looks like we may be able to get together at the June meeting at Robin McMillen's. Wouldn't that be nice! We haven't been out for thirteen months but since we had the shots, we ventured out for Pizza last week. It was wonderful seeing all the staff at the pizza place and the pizza was equally wonderful. See you soon-we hope. BobKat

SOLDIER QUILTS - Delores Holzwarth

Our guild began making soldier quilts in 2005 for wounded military. The quilts are made of patriotic fabrics and are approximately 45"x72". I have made more than 260 and a friend quilts them on her professional machine. We worked with "Quilts of Valor" and mailed them to military bases all over the U.S. When the postage became too high, we began taking them to our local VA in Coatesville. Some have gone to the Wounded Warrior Clinic in Washington D.C. If you have any questions or if you would like to make one, feel free to contact me.

Charitable Gifts - Elaine Mayer

 Various projects I’ve been doing over the last year, to try to give back to the community. These are easy projects that use up extra fabric:

Scrappy quilts that go to the women’s shelter in North Philadelphia. I also make children’s quilts, baby quilts and fun pillowcases for the children ( these pillow cases do not have to be the guidelines of the chemo pillowcases). I also will make little zipper bags , or Velcro, and fill them with some personal items.

I always have a flannel pocket (one side or two ) 18x18 square near my cutting table to fill with little scraps of fabric and batting. When it is full( not stuffed tight), I sew it up and have another bed for the no kill shelters. These beds go with the rescue to their forever homes.  I did donate 20 to the SPCA, when they brought up the 200 rescued from Houston.

I would love any beds that anyone could make as they sew. You and Maureen have been great with helping .

Marti

Ways & Means - Robin McMillen

Hi Quilters

The 2021 Quilt Fair is taking shape.  We have reserved the space at Covenant Presbyterian Church.  They have a lovely out building with ample parking, easy access and room for the different events.  Here is what the committee is working on as part of our Quilt Fair and we will need all your help.  

1. Youth Sewing Contest (Organized by Elizabeth Young)
2. Guild Sign-up Table with examples of our quilted work 
3. Quilting demonstrations (more to come, just want to use one of the three smaller rooms for sewing demonstrations)
4. Sale Space Items for sale, including a children's craft corner and a Christmas corner
5. Consignment items for sale (Helen Hofbauer)
6. Bake Sale 

We have a great committee assembled that are motivated and energized.  Please hold onto your items you want to donate, quilting fabric, books, patterns, magazines, yarn, anything crafty as well as household items and anything else you think others would like to purchase.  

Looking forward to promoting our guild and raising some funds!  The intent of the Penn Oaks Quilt Fair is to share our passion for quilting, promote benefits of belonging to a guild and raise funds to support guild activities.  

Robin

Robin McMillen

Instagram @sewwhimzy

(610)836-1363

Nominating Committee Report

We would like to thank the members who have volunteered to serve on our executive board. The vote to confirm this slate will be taken at the May meeting.

Here is the slate of candidates for the 2021-2022 guild year.

President:                            Robin McMillen

Membership:                        Elizabeth Young and Sarah Reindel

Corresponding Sec:              Marianne Caporale     

Recording Sec:                     Angela Brant

Programs:                           Jen Burke

Asst. to Programs:               Donna Daley

Treasurer:                           Ellen McMillen

Ways and Means:                 Elaine Egan

Jen Burke, Ellen McMillen and Suzanne Stiverson - Nominating Committee