Thimble & Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis

Volume 42, No. 6 June 2018

Welcome to Thimble & Thread Quilt Guild

We hope you will join us at one of our monthly meetings, a workshop, a retreat or even a quilt

show. Explore our web site http://www.thimbleandthreadstl.org to see some of the quilt-related

things going on in St. Louis, our Guild and elsewhere.

We meet at Concordia Lutheran Church, 505 South Kirkwood Road at 7:00 pm on the second

Friday of each month, unless changes are announced in the newsletter or on the website.

Doors open at 6:30 pm. Guild meetings are open to non-members, free for the first visit (unless

the program involves a national speaker), and $3 per visit thereafter. A $5 fee is charged

whenever a national speaker gives the program. Membership dues are $30 per year.

A pre-meeting dinner is held at O’Charley’s restaurant, 1242 South Kirkwood Road, starting

between 5:00 and 5:15 pm. If you decide to join us, please let the staff at O’Charley’s know you

are with “the quilters”

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From the Prez

The Right Thing

As spring has settled in, we contemplate the future of our guild. We have nominations for the

four elected Board positions and elections will occur at the June meeting. Still lacking are most

of the chairs of the standing committees. These must also be filled by volunteers in order for the

guild to remain viable. By-laws require a quorum of seven at board meetings in order for voting,

and therefore business of the guild, to be conducted. No quorum, no voting, no guild. We will be

looking for members to fill these positions in June as well. Please consider stepping up for one of

the jobs.

I would like to thank the board members who have served with me the past two years. They are

all strong, capable, and intelligent people that have enabled us to enjoy our guild. Without them

that would have not been possible. Please take the opportunity to thank them. It means a lot to

feel appreciated, especially when the job they are doing has no financial reward. In a sense, your

thanks is a way of compensating them for their hard work on our behalf.

I look forward to the future with a degree of hopefulness that frankly I did not have a few weeks

ago. The guild needs to modernize its approach to remain viable. Time marches on and as the

saying goes, waits for no one. The next generation is far more tech savvy than the current one

and more invested in social media. To remain viable we need to acknowledge these changes and

accommodate them. The guild needs to reach out to the community and reignite the mission of

promoting quilting in the larger society. This in turn, will make the guild visible to a different

population that may never have considered quilting, or had the resources to try it. While this

should be our main concern as the right thing to do, I cannot help but think this approach will

also serve to sustain the guild by possibly attracting members from this demographic.

We will have two programs later this year that embrace this theme. Perennial, a re-make non-

profit in the City, and the “Once We Were Refugees” organization. We have also had requests

from the Girl Scouts to help them fulfill badge requirements that involve sewing. We have not

had interest from membership to honor their request in the past. Let’s change this attitude. We

can do it. It’s the right thing to do; no further justification is needed. Let the legacy of this guild

be that “they stepped up. They did what was needed when asked. They did the right thing.”

Piece Out,

Mary Ellen

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An Open Letter to the Membership

By now, most of you know that 3 of the 4 incoming Elected Officers resigned before taking

office. As a result, nominations to fill those positions were made at the May meeting and will be

voted on at the June meeting.

That being said, the Guild will also be in need of volunteers to fill the Standing Committee Chair

positions. Per the By-Laws, Chairs are appointed and/or approved by the Executive Committee

for a term of one year. Most of us holding these positions have done so for more than one year

and some of us have held back-to-back different Committee Chair positions. Furthermore, per

the By-Laws, we are term limited, that is, no member may serve more than two consecutive

years on the Board of Directors in a particular position. The Executive Committee may approve

(and have) a waiver to permit a member to serve longer.

So, for this Guild to continue, volunteers are needed to fill Committee Chair positions. Complete

descriptions of the duties of each committee are in Standing Rules. Below is a synopsis of each

committee’s responsibility.

Membership – Volunteers have already come forward for this committee.

Newsletter – Edits, publishes, and distributes newsletter to all members. Currently the

newsletter is sent to the Web Master in a PDF format to be posted to our web site.

Outreach – Plans all education and community service projects (the comfort quilts we

currently are making).

Historian – Maintains historical files of the Guild and submits appropriate files to the

Missouri Historical Society for preservation.

Ways and Means – Plans and executes all revenue generating activities including

overseeing Fabric Raffle and Optional Block. This would also include any other revenue

generating activity as the Board directs. We will need volunteers to handle Fabric Raffle

and Optional Block.

Workshop – Assists the Vice President with coordinating workshops, signing up

attendees, collecting fees, and assisting the Workshop presenter during the workshop.

They may also plan other workshops, seminars, or instructional events.

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Quilt Show - Plans and organizes the biennial “T&T Expo” Quilt Show.

There are also activities involved in running the Guild which are not part of any committee.

These may be done by a current Board Member or a volunteer.

Facebook Administrator – Volunteer has already come forward.

Web Administrator – Posts information to the Guild’s website, including newsletters,

workshop directions, and general Guild operating information. Take a trip to the website

to see what all is out there.

Mail Chimp Administrator – Responsible for sending via the internet to the members:

memos, reminders, newsletters, and other information as needed.

Annual Fall Retreat Coordinator - Retreat for 2018 is covered. If the Retreat is to

continue, someone will need to volunteer to coordinate the 2019 retreat.

As the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a child” so it takes a village to make your Guild

function. Please consider volunteering for one of the above opportunities.

Susan Sanders

Outreach Chairman

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Election for Thimble and Thread Executive Board

The following members were nominated for positions on the Executive Board of the Thimble

and Thread Quilt Guild for the Fiscal Year 2018-2019:

President – Denise Poepsel, Cindy Neville

Treasurer – Leigh Anne Huckaby

Secretary – Katie Fraizer

The newsletter has received statements from all of the nominees.

President

Denise Poepsel

My name is Denise Poepsel. I have volunteered for the office of President of Thimble and

Thread Quilt Guild. I’ve been a member since 1977, 41 years ago. In the guild’s infancy I held

several offices; President, newsletter (when it was typed on typewriter, xeroxed and mailed),

scheduled first National Speakers, hosted the first one, Fabric Raffle, gave slide show programs

after attending out state quilt shows, Quilt Show Chairman at Maria Center, last 4 quilt shows

was a Committee Member for the Member’s Consignment Boutique, was a member of guild’s

satellite groups: Scrapbag Quilters, and NQA group, St. Louis Gateway Quilters, where I held

offices of President, Secretary, and Treasurer during its existence. I was one of a dozen

members that helped the History Museum catalog their collection of quilts. As working and

family priorities occurred and the guild grew with more members I haven’t taken on positions,

but have continued to attend monthly meetings and participate in guild activities when possible.

The reason I have volunteered for the Presidency is that I have recently retired, whoopee, and

feel that I can give the attention needed to the responsibility of the office.

Having been a member for so long I have made many friends, I won’t classify them as “quilt”

friends, but quilt club has brought us together and I hope to continue meeting wonderful

women and men thru quilting. I hope you will consider me for the office of President of

Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild.

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Cindy Bell Neville

My name is Cindy Bell Neville and I am running for President of the Thimble and Thread Quilt

Guild. I have been a member of the guild since 1989 and I have enjoyed many presentations

through the years as my quilting world has grown from St Louis to throughout the world. I have

made lifelong friends and have been encouraged and supported by them during my quilting

journey. I hope that as President I can open worlds to everyone who shares the passion for

quilting and nurture friendships among them. I want all of our members to have this opportunity

to experience the joy and excitement of quilting.

I have served in several positions in Thimble and Thread including Membership Chair and as

Vice-president/Program Chair. I am currently the Newsletter Editor. I have been involved in

several Thimble and Thread Quilt shows as a committee head. Outside of the quilting world, I

have served as Chairperson of my 35th

and 40th

college reunions. I am familiar with computers

and some social media and stay informed about current events in the quilting community. I am a

member of several quilting groups and will use them as a source for guidance and new ideas for

our guild.

Quilting for me is fun, inspiring and exciting. I embrace new ideas and techniques and seek out

different perspectives and innovative ideas while still appreciating the beauty of traditional

designs. I hope I can convey my passion for quilting to the membership and engage all of you in

this marvelous adventure.

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Treasurer

Leigh Anne Huckaby

We were asked to write a little about why we should be elected to the Board of Thimble and

Thread.

I would like to be considered by the Guild to serve as Treasure for this upcoming term.

First, without a full slate of officers the Guild will no long be able to exist. This is not a

possibility I would like to consider.

Second, I enjoy my time with friends every month, to see what they have accomplished, to hear

about ideas or histories of quilting of which I was not aware and expand my quilting horizons.

Third, as for qualifications, for 15 years I successfully ran production departments for 3 opera

companies all with budgets from $150,00 to $1.5 million dollars and have kept them all within

budget. Since 2005, I have been the bookkeeper for my husband’s small business, American

Locksmiths.

Again I want to see this Guild continue to thrive and I would like to serve as Treasurer to help

assure this future.

Leigh Anne Huckaby

Secretary

Katie Fraizer

My name is Katie Fraizer, and I’m running for the position of Secretary. I first joined the guild as

a child and then rejoined when I came back to St. Louis after college. Several years ago I was

asked to run for the Secretary position, but I told the Nominating Committee that I did not have

time to take the position. I figured there would be someone else able to step up and take the

position. Up until this year, that remained true – there was always someone else able to step up.

The demands on my time are not any less than they were, in fact there may be more, but it is my

turn to step up. If the guild is important to me, and it is, it is time for me to prove it by stepping

up and serving the guild in the Secretary position. I hope to inspire other guild members who

may be hesitant in taking on a leadership position to serve the guild in whatever way they can.

My ears and email (frogadelic@earthlink.net) are always open for member questions and

concerns.

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PROGRAMS

June 8, 2018, Janine Adams, CPO®, founder of Peace of Mind Organizing LLC, who has

appeared on TV shows such as A&E’s “Hoarders”, TLC’s “Hoarding: Buried Alive”, and

KMOV’s “Great Day St. Louis”, will present her lecture, “More Glitter, Less Clutter”, to help

you figure out how to organize all your quilting supplies to make it easy for you to find what you

need and put items away. She’ll teach you organizing principles that will make it easier for you

to get your quilting space organized and keep it that way so that you can shop from your stash

and put your hands on your supplies whenever you need them. Check out her website

http://www.peaceofmindorganizing.com/

July 13, 2018, Julie Sefton, a.k.a.“quiltdivajulie”, will present her lecture and trunk show,

“Color Saturated Scrap Quilts”. Learn more here http://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com

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August 10, 2018, Tara Morton, Perennial-Program Manager, will share with our group the

mission of Perennial and then lead us in a fun reMAKE project.

Perennial is a community workshop and store in St. Louis, MO that offers educational

programming in creative reuse to diverse populations and sells handmade DIY kits and tools for

reuse projects. We turn trash in to amazing items and teach the community to do the same!

Established in 2011, Perennial is a non-profit dedicated to creative reuse—the process of

artistically transforming discarded goods into objects of worth. The concept for Perennial

developed from the work of community artist and educator, Jenny Murphy, after creating

numerous projects and programs leading diverse populations through the process of creative

reuse. With the help of a passionate grassroots board, Perennial was established as a resource for

the St. Louis community to discover ways to reuse objects, reduce waste, and live a sustainable

and self-sufficient lifestyle through the power of their personal creativity.

Website: www.perennialstl.org

News article from St. Louis Post Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/perennial-turns-

something-old-into-something-new-at-south-st/article_5b7c76fd-9ab5-5f14-b542-

337eba4e09d5.html

September 14, 2018, Rev. William Say will provide information about the “Once We Were

Refugees” project (www.oncewewererefugees.org), background information on the refugees

themselves, and tell us how he and his wife, Ann, got into this project. Ann Say will present

information about their sewing/quilting project and tell individual stories about the refugee

students, using a slideshow presentation.

IMPORTANT: They do not charge for the program, especially when it is a quilt guild. Instead,

they ask that we donate as we are able from our stashes (cotton or cotton blend fabrics in 1 yard

or larger pieces; thread; and natural fiber batting or insulbright type batting), for the students

projects. They already have a source for polyester batting for the refugee quilts that go back to

the camps, but they make several small projects for sale that require small pieces of batting (off

cuts from making quilts). These are for making items like potholders and microwave bowls, so

pieces of batting 10 inches square or larger are great! Let’s generously support this cause!

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WORKSHOPS

July 14, 2018, Julie Sefton, a.k.a.“quiltdivajulie”, will present the “Lynne’s Liberated Birds”

workshop. This is NOT a paper piecing technique! Learn more here

http://quiltdivajulie.blogspot.com If interested in signing up for this workshop, contact Lynda

Hendren (Workshop Chairperson) to sign up, participants will be limited to 12. This workshop

will be held at the American Legion Post 156, 314 S Clay, Kirkwood, MO.

Nancy Hamilton

Membership

May 15, 2018

There were 55 people in attendance at the March meeting including a visitor, Sara Seagrist. We

hope to see you again. Richard Ameduri joined the guild. We now have 132 members.

Submitted by,

Kathy Sherrick & Jeanette Oesterly

Membership Committee 2017-2018

Thimble and Threads Quilt Guild Minutes

May 11, 2018

The meeting was called to order by Mary Ellen Adams, President.

Old Business:

April minutes were approved by the membership as printed in the May newsletter.

New Business:

Motion to censure Jean Ameduri for conduct at the April 13, 2018 meeting.

Patty Thompson read the motion recommended by the Board. (This motion was printed

in the May newsletter for member review.)

Membership was given the opportunity to voice their concerns, support , or objections to this

motion regardless of whether or not they were in attendance to witness the conduct of Jean

Ameduri's conduct at the April 2018 meeting. A 2 minute limit was given per person. Jean

Oesterly timed each member.

The following members participated:

Richard Amerduri

Leigh Anne Huckaby

Debby Logan

Nancy Hamilton

Patty Thompson

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Mary Anne Wachtel

Deborah Carnes

Suzanne Galli Koenen

Delores Keaton

Jean Amerduri

Susan Sanders

Jeanette Oesterly

Rosemary Krupski

A second opportunity was given to members as a follow up.

The following members participated: Richard Amerduri

A motion to vote was called by Patty Thompson from the floor and was seconded by Diane

Corley.

The motion was approved by a show of hands of 45 out of 55.

The censure motion was read again to the membership by President Mary Ellen Adams.

Blank notes were given to all members present. A vote of Yes or No was asked.

Richard Amerduir asked to observe the tallying of votes. No members objected.

Nominations of new officers.

Due to the events of the April meeting three out of four persons resigned from taking their

elected office . Mary Ellen Adams opened the floor for the nomination of President. The

following persons were nominated: Denise Poepsel and Cindy Neville. Leigh Anne Huckaby

was nominated for Treasurer unopposed. Katie Fraizer was nominated for Secretary unopposed.

Voting will take place at the June meeting.

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Committees Reporting:

Retreat - Diane Corley reported that retreat is full. If you want to be placed on a waiting

list please see her during break.

Newsletter - Cindy Neville announced the deadline for the newsletter will be May 21st..

Workshops - Linda Hendren has space available in the July workshop “Lynne's Liberated

Birds”. Cost is $50.00.

Fabric Raffle – Linda Hendren showed spring fabric from Quilted Fox and a sewing

theme that was donated. Raffles were drawn. Fabric raffle was won by Denise Poepsel

and Leigh Anne Huckaby.

Optional Block – New block presented by Kathy Gaynor, called “Purple Twirl”, due at

June meeting. “Midnight Bloom” blocks from May will also be due in June.

Mary Ellen Adams announced vote to censure was Yes 36 and No 19. Censure was approved.

BREAK

Program: Nance Hamilton brought popcorn and we enjoyed a movie called “Threads - Craft In

America.”

Show and Tell

Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

Diane Corley

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Treasury Report

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Optional Block

June's meeting falls after Memorial Day and just before Flag Day on June 14. So I thought it

fitting to plan a red, white, and blue block for my last Optional Block design. I've had a lot of fun

doing Optional Blocks this year and have enjoyed talking to everyone back at the table. I've also

picked up a few patterns that I might try in the future. Remember to come back and pick up

patterns for previous blocks as well as the current block--everything's a quarter.

Kathy Gaynor

kam3@mindspring.com

(314) 845-8257 (h)

(314) 246-7811 (w)

Comfort Quilts – 2017/2018

Thanks to everyone who turned in quilts at the May meeting. There must be several more out

there since I don’t think I’ve seen very many from our January Sew-In. And I keep handing out

labels. I do know of one group (2 people working together) who are working on 10 quilts for

Home Sweet Home. We would still like to make a delivery to Home Sweet Home in June so I

hope to see lots of quilts turned in at the June meeting.

We will not have a Sew Day at Janie Lou’s in June. By now most of you probably know that

Janie Lou’s is closing their retail operation. Perhaps the new Outreach Chairman will be able to

find a location for the monthly Sew Days. And, yes, you have read this correctly – I am retiring

as Outreach Chairman. I do plan to keep making quilts for Nurses for Newborns as it is an item

they need and I enjoy making them. I find it gives me an opportunity to creatively use up a lot of

my scraps or to try out a new block without being committed to a large quilt.

As a reminder, Nurses for Newborns baby quilts will be approximately 24” x 36” and Home

Sweet Home quilts will be lap size (4’ x 5’, 5’ x 6’). And quilts must be washed before turning

them in. They need to be smoke free and animal hair free before we take them to the charities.

Susan Sanders

Outreach Chairman

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From the Members

For SALE: Handiquilter Sweet 16 sit down long-arm machine. The machine includes the

electric sewing cabinet, several ruler sets, couching feet, bobbin winder, Tru -Stitch and more. If

interested contact Jeanette Oesterly 314.413.7875

Newsletter Deadline

The Deadline for the May newsletter is June 18, 2018. Please send articles by email to me, Cindy

Bell Neville: mailto: tandtnewsletterckbn@earthlink.net. and I will forward them to our new

Newsletter editor.

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Officers & Committee Chairs

Officers Standing Committee Chairs

President Mary Ellen Adams Newsletter Cindy Bell Neville

Vice President Nancy Hamilton Outreach Susan Sanders

Secretary Diane Corley Ways & Means

Treasurer Patty Thompson Workshop Lynda Hendren

Parliamentarian Art Kruse Historian Karen Terry

Membership Kathy Sherrick,

Jeanette Oesterly

(The above group represents your Board of Directors)

==================================================================================

Sub-committee Coordinators

Fabric Raffle Terri Weiersmueller & Annie Ruffino

Bonus Raffle Marty Walsh & rotating members

Optional Blocks Kathy Gaynor

Quilt Retreat Diane Corley & Lou Brummet

Comfort Quilts Susan Sanders

Baker’s Dozen Judy Lorino

Website Administrator Mary Ellen Adams