submitted by Teresa A., Secretary

The March meeting of the Bloomington-Normal Modern Quilt Guild was led by our co-president, Kathy M. and was called to order at 6:00 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal.

Treats were provided by Karen G., Anita T. and Cathie H.  Thank you for the delicious treats!  Our new social time arrangement is for members to bring their own drink, minimizing the need for beverages and plastic cups to be provided by monthly snack providers. During our social time there was a slide show of the many quilts displayed in Nashville at QuiltCon 2019.

We welcomed 2 new members for a total of 43 members in attendance and two guests.

Announcements
Members had the opportunity to sign up for our Kona Color of the Year Mini-Quilt Challenge. There is a $1 charge at sign up to participate.  For more information, see the link on the blog and also on the guild’s Facebook page.  The mini-quilts will be due in July and will be on display at Kelly’s Bakery in downtown Bloomington for the month of August.

Modern Round Robin
Cathie H. updated those participating and they met during half time to trade with the next person in their group.

National Charity Quilt
Our charity quilt was titled “Memories of the Heart” and will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.  Betty W. is checking on the possibility of members from the guild to have an opportunity to buy chances in the raffle from the Alzheimer’s Association.  The Quilt was on display during our meeting this month.  We also took a group photo with the quilt.

Heartbeat Quilts
Kathy M. and Nancy H. are our coordinators for the Heartbeat quilts this year.  Sew Days will be at Christ Lutheran Church:

Block Lotto
The blocks for Block Lotto this month will be donated to the Alabama storm victims.  Kathy C. presented the block design.  Please see the directions here.

The Block Lotto winner was Barb B. – Congratulations!

Show and Tell
As always there were several members with beautiful show and tell items.  Be sure to check out the pictures!

The guild was given six tickets to the Rosemont Quilt Show – March 28 – 30^th.  There was a raffle drawing for any member planning to attend.  The six winners were:

Noemi B., Karen G., Barb S., Penny B., Anita T., Pam L.

The Survey question this month was about accessing the guild blog and the national website.

“Do you access the BNMQG blog?”   YES:  33    NO: 8

“Do you access the National Modern Quilt Guild website?”  YES: 29   NO: 12

Survey Door Prize Winner was Cindy R.  Congratulations!

Fabric Raffle winner was Heather B.  Congratulations!

The program this month was on accessing the local blog and the national website.  Kathy M. presented on how to access the BNMQG blog and gave us a tour of the blog to help with what is available to our members.  You will need a password to access the members section.  If you do not know it, please contact one of the executive board members.

Betty W. gave us a tour on the National Guild website.  In order to access, you will have to sign up.  Your username is your email address you gave the local guild when you became a member.  Once you are signed in, you have access to so many resources for free!

Take some time and browse the local blog and the national website.

The last part of our program was “9 Best Things About QuiltCon” presented by Kathy C.  She shared some interesting facts about this year’s QuiltCon as well as opportunities she has been a participant, such as Mini-Quilt Swap and a volunteer.

Our next meeting will be at the church on Tuesday, April 23^rd.  Social time will be at 5:30 pm. and the meeting at 6:00 pm.

The meeting adjourned after the program

REMINDERS:

There is a new password to the guild blog.  There was an email sent to all guild members with the new password.  IF you did not receive an email, please contact one of the executive board members.  Under the Members section there is the 2017/18 final expenses and the 2018/19 budget information.

On the general website, a downloadable reimbursement form is available for completing and turning in (attach receipts to the back of the form) to Nancy P., our treasurer.

Also, the church will be having a craft sale in November, be thinking of things you might be able to make to donate to their craft sale.