August 2021 Newsletter

 President's Message

Hello Penn Oaks Quilters,

I have been thinking about why guild is so important to me.  Why join a guild?  I suggest the guild to my sewing friends but they always respond with "Oh no, I am not good enough to join a guild".  That is upside down -- you don't join a guild because you already know so much about quilting, you join to improve and learn and make friends that have the same passion as you have.  Guild is worth it, this community of quilters is important and while it is difficult with the pandemic it is worth the effort and time.  Here are some of my fondest guilt memories.  

1. Myrna Paluba taught me some cool tricks for adding borders so they don't ruffle.  She helped me on one of my first quilts.
2. My favorite speakers Barb Vedder, Pat Sloan and Carol Blevins 
3. The sew-alongs -- Thank you Kelly Meanix
4. Cindy Vognetz and the mystery quilt at the Getaway way back in early 2000s
5. All the great times spent with friends at the Getaway, all the laughter thanks to FayAnn and her stories :)
6. All the Challenges in the past are always so much fun!
7. Time spent with many different generations -- Jean Fox I am talking to you!
8. Fond memories with quilters that have moved away Josephine Sanders comes to mind
9. Time spent with those of us that are no longer with us like Betsy Moses and Gerri Kahill, they are missed.
10. Seeing my quilts hanging at the quilt show. 
11. Making all that Chicken Salad!

Look at all these Happy Quilers!       Robin McMillen

Scraps and Pieces from the Sewing World

1. Makers Showdown is a new craft competition coming to Discover+, hosted by LeAnn Rimes and Chrissy Metz. Polymer clay, soap and candle making and more.

2. Discover+ has all the old Alex Anderson Simply Quilts shows.

3. McCalls Printing Plant to Close By the End of the year.

The McCalls printing plant in Manhattan, Kansas, will shut down at the end of 2021. The plant currently employs 85 people and prints and folds sewing pattern tissue. It has five tissue presses and two folding machines.

“It was a difficult decision to close Manhattan,” says Abbie Small, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Craft at Design Group, the company that has owned McCalls and Simplicity since January 2020. “We are grateful for the dedication and service of our employees there.”

At its height in the 1970s, Simplicity and McCalls combined printed 200 million sewing patterns each year. That number is down to 20-30 million today. The Manhattan, Kansas plant has been in operation for approximately 50 years. It once employed 1200-1300 people, according to a source we spoke with who wished to remain anonymous. Before the pandemic, there was a round of layoffs and last week remaining employees were told of the forthcoming closure. Most will be laid off, while some will do their jobs virtually. 

Printing and folding for pattern tissue will be consolidated to the Simplicity plant in Wisconsin. The pattern envelope printing will be outsourced. Small says the Simplicity printing plant can print on a sturdier tissue. “We had been hearing consumer complaints about the quality of our tissue,” she says. “So this will be an upgrade. Outsourcing the envelope printing will allow for higher print quality and capability as well.” Small says the closure and consolidation are not related to the cyber attack the company faced at the end of 2020 which shut down production for over a month.

Besides printing and folding patterns for the Big 4 pattern brands, the Manhattan plant also prints and folds tissue for many indie sewing pattern companies. Small says they plan to continue these contracts. She says the indie pattern companies will also benefit from the improved quality once the printing services consolidate. The move will not cause a price increase for the contract jobs, although the supply chain and distribution challenges happening worldwide may have an impact at some point.

The printing presses and folding machines at the McCalls plant were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s and are some of the only operating machines of their type in the US. According to the source we spoke with, the machines will not be sold but instead will be scrapped as will the replacement parts.

Small, who returned to DesignGroup in October after a 34-year career at Simplicity, says she’s pulling together a committee now to examine every aspect of the company’s sewing patterns. “Our motto is ‘keep the sewing machines sewing,’” she says. “We’ve seen a huge surge in sewing during the pandemic. Now we’re looking at everything including the back-of-envelope, instructions, and guide sheets to make them the best they can be.”

Penn Oaks Quilt Fair Sewing Donations

If you have donations of the following items:

 ·       Quilting Fabric

 ·       Magazines – can be sewing, crochet & knitting in addition to quilting

·       Books

·       Patterns

·       Other sewing goodies – rulers, buttons, etc.,

Please email me at marianne@thecaporales.us and we can make pickup/drop-off arrangements.

I will be accepting donations of the above listed items until August 28. Pickup can easily be arranged, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thanks everyone who has already made donations. We have a wonderful selection of fabric, scrap bags, kits, and other goodies.

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

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

As of July 25 we have 28 paid members. Please send your membership

info to Kathleen DeCarli. If you have quilting friends interested in joining our friendly group invite them to send us an email. Bob has designed another quilt along that looks like so much fun I may even join the group.

Please send to: 

                              The DeCarli's

                              15 Windemere Ct.

                               Downingtown, PA 19335

Kathy

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-Update

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. At this point in time the Amish View Inn is following CDC and PA State guidelines. Guests who are not vaccinated are expected to wear masks in the public areas, except when eating. In consideration of others, we expect our members to be vaccinated. 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