Florida Quilt Network - Newsletter #258

www.FloridaQuiltNetwork.com

June 4, 2020

 

Quilting Friends,

 

Well!  If you keep up with my monthly newsletters, you may have just noticed….I haven’t published one since March 5.  I have lots of excuses, pick one: 

A. too busy making masks,

B. nothing new to report,

C. I’ve been in a bit of a funk.

D. All of the above

 

If you chose D, you win! This pandemic has us at a new normal, and I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda sick of it.  I really shouldn’t complain as I get to sew as much as I want, but I’m used to every day being different and exciting and challenging.  Not so much these days, right?  I AM grateful that I’m spending 24/7 with the love of my life, and I’m also grateful that he leaves our little apartment 2 or 3 times a day to work on our property.  We’ll finally be building a house on it this year, and he’s getting the landscape ready for the construction onslaught. So we have quality time together, but not too much. Yay!

 

I’m also continuing to make sample quilts for my local fabric store, where normally I teach lots of quilting classes.  During the pandemic we are still presenting my monthly lecture series “Tips, Tools & Techniques Club”… but we’re doing it on Facebook Live, which means we’re getting participation from all over the country!  I love it and hope we can continue with the online portion of it once we crank up the in-person portion of it again. If you get this newsletter, you’re getting my announcements with a link.  Remember, you DON’T have to have a Facebook account to watch.

 

I bet you’ve been finishing UFOs, I know I have!  Here are a few, I’ll have more next month.


(click to enlarge) This is the pattern
Scattered made with my sister’s favorite batiks.  She loves it on her bed in Arizona.


(click to enlarge) I love this ‘Zookeeper Prism’ alphabet panel that I cut up and bordered.  Gifted to my latest grand-niece in Seattle.

 

 

Here’s a timely reminder: if you are finishing UFOs, you might be looking for a LongArm quilter.  Check out my LongArm page on the website.  I try to keep it updated, and I hear that it really works…it’s helping to connect longarmers with new customers.  If your favorite LongArmer is not on the list, let her/him know to send me info so I can get them listed.



Stacy McEachern has a message for you:

Florida Quilters, Come Quilt a Story with Us

Mary-Jeanine has been kind enough to let me share an idea with you that I hope will joyfully tug at your heartstrings like it has for me.

The idea and my hope is to honor the hearts and hands of quilters and seamstresses who have come before – our Moms and Grandmothers, Aunts and Sisters, friends and mentors. Let us honor their quiet wisdom...their strength and courage...their humor and humility...and their grounding lessons that fed our souls and balanced our lives. And without always even knowing, they taught us the art of living while we were learning the art of quilting.

Like a quilters version of what Tom Brokaw so lovingly did in his “Greatest Generation” book that honored World War II veterans, I hope to gather stories layered with those “to-live-by” phrases, cherished conversations and timeless views of life. Stories of how they patched us through the hard times and truly made us better people by simply having these humble heroes in our lives.

I invite all of you -- the story-keepers of those dear story-tellers -- to join with me in celebrating the voices of their hands.

And I hope, in this socially-distancing time of COVID-19, that this endeavor will bring us all closer and, in this current time of division, may our piecemaker's stories from the past bring some peace to us today.

Please write me at voicesoftheirhands@yahoo.com with your story or just your interest in learning more. This is a beginning and a work in progress, so let me hear from you.

Thanks and best,

Stacy McEachern

 

If you’re a fairly new reader of this newsletter, you may not know that the Calendar page on the website is a quick way to view upcoming events all over the state.  Give it a look-see.

Happy Quilting, 

      Mary-Jeanine

PS: I’d love to hear from you, so drop me a line sometime.

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 CALENDAR OF EVENTS: (Newsletter number follows)

 

2020

 

June 15-19 Kids Quilt Camp in Satellite Beach  CANCELLED www.brevardcoastalquilters.com  (#256)

 

Sept 17-19 Quilt Show in Jacksonville www.quiltfestjax.com MOVED TO MAY 13-15, 2021

 

Oct 8-9 Ricky Tims Quilt Event in The Villages rickytims.com (#254)

 

Oct 28-29 Shannon Brinkley Lecture & Workshops in Satellite Beach www.seasidepiecemakers.com (#244)

 

Nov 6-7 Quilt Show in Ocala www.CRQocala.com (#256)

 

Nov 13-14 Quilt Show in Lake County www.lakequiltguild.com (#257)

           

Nov 15-22 Quilting Cruise with Judy Hansen www.quiltshopofdeland.com  (#254)

 

2021

 

Jan 22-23 Quilt Show in The Villages

 

May 13-15 Quilt Show in Jacksonville www.quiltfestjax.com (#258)

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QUILT GUILD MEETINGS??

I don’t know of ANY quilt guilds that continue to meet in-person during this pandemic.  If you are, let me know.   But I would highly recommend Zoom-ing, its fun to connect in a new way…online!

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QUILT SHOW IN JACKSONVILLE HAS MOVED FROM SEPTEMBER TO MAY

 

Hello Quilters!


We're looking forward to having your lovely quilts in our show again.  Because of the coronavirus, we have had to postpone the show from September to May 13-15, 2021. It will be another beautiful show.  Once we have all of our ducks in a row about the dates, I will email again with specific dates for Registration, Show Dates, Take-In and Shipping.
 

Even though it will be 2021, our theme will remain "2020 Sew Perfect" (if the Olympics can do it, so can we) and there will be some gorgeous raffle quilts made by the Seven Sister Guilds, as well as special exhibits, door prizes, a food court, lots of vendors and beautiful, creative quilts to see.  Come join us, and be sure your quilt is on display!  As always, the Challenge quilts will enchant and mystify us (how did they do THAT?).

All quilts must be registered to be displayed, including Young Quiltmakers and Challenge Quilts.  Both of these categories are exempt from the entry fee, but you still must send in the registration form.  Because of the later date, registration will not close until probably March--so you have extra time to finish your quilts!

In addition, we will have a brand new website including, I hope, online registration.  I'll send you the details at a later date, but you will be able to register online, by downloading the registration form and sending it in as before, or by emailing me for a form which I will send to you in whatever way you prefer.

So keep quilting and watch for more news of The Jacksonville Quilt Show 2020.  I'll email again when the dates are finalized.

In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy.  And keep making those quilts!

Thank you, and Happy Quilting!  See you in the Spring.


Kathryn Metzger
Registration

 

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