Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

BNMQG met August 22, 2023 with 62 members and 2 guests present in person. There were 25 members in attendance by zoom.  Because it was our 11th anniversary meeting, Ray Silva took a picture of those in attendance.   It was so fun last year to take a group picture that we want to make it a tradition!

President Lisa B. welcomed everyone and thanked the hospitality servers for the treats prior to the meeting.   They were Connie C., Nancy D., and Mary W.

The speaker for the evening was Linda Lambert who presented a most enjoyable and informative program “Collage Quilting on Your Brain”.  

Linda is a certified instructor in the Laura Heine method of collage.  Several samples of collage were shown.   Linda will be teaching a collage class on September 9, 2023.  The pattern is “The Dress” from the Group #1 – Dress-Fish-Elephant pattern. Members were given the opportunity to sign up for the class and purchase kits, patterns or supplies for the workshop.

A few spots are still available, but the PayPal link on the Meetings and Events page is broken currently – Lisa’s fault. Until it can get fixed, please send an email to BNMQGprograms at gmail.com if you want to sign up for the workshop.

Noemi reported that we currently have 138 members.   Members who have not paid their dues for the coming year were reminded they must be paid by October 31.   Anyone who has not paid by that time will not have access to the web site password for the coming year and will be removed from the private BNMQG Facebook page.   It was also noted again that the dues for the coming year are $45.00.  

Being the anniversary year of the BNMQG, anniversary pins were presented to those who have belonged for 10 years.   The recipients were Gwen B., Connie B., and LeAnn F.

Stormy H. reminded everyone to turn in their ballots during the break for the coming year officers.   Lisa thanked the nominating committee of Stormy H., Carol Lou E., and Ann U. for securing a slate of officers. They were given a set of BNMQG rulers in appreciation.

Pat S. and Kathy C. then presented Lisa B. with gifts in honor of her two years serving as President   She was given a beautiful quilt and a framed print of pelicans on Lake Bloomington, as well as a book signed by members.  As imagined, there were a few tears as well as thank you’s for her excellent leadership and hard work.

A short break then was taken and members enjoyed cake to celebrate the guild’s anniversary of 11 years.

The fabric raffle was won by Pam C.

Maria C. won the drawing for the survey question.  This month’s survey question was “What is your preference for sew days?”  Results were 26 preferred sew days to be in person while 6 preferred zoom.  Twenty four preferred the sew days be held during the week and 11 preferred them on weekends.   Pat S. will notify members of the sew days when they are scheduled   She will take the results of the survey into consideration when scheduling.

Lisa then presented her outgoing board members, officers, hospitality chairman, and membership committee with a beautiful handmade stained glass window hanging in a quilt pattern in the BNMQG logo colors.

Several members will be attending Quilt Con in Raleigh, N.C.  Lisa reminded them to use link they received in MQG email if they need to make any changes to their registration.

The ballots were counted and with a unanimous vote the slate of officers became the elected officers.  They are:

As the Community Outreach quilt raffle has now ended,  it was time to draw the winner of the quilt.  

The winner of the raffle quilt was Donna Phillips.  Congratulations Donna P.!! Donna has informed the BNMQG Board that the quilt is already on her bed!

It was noted that the money from the sale of the raffle tickets was $3150 which will be given to the Midwest Food Bank. There will be a presentation of the check to Midwest Food Bank in the near future.

Several members showed their quilts and other projects during Show and Tell.

Our 2023-24 guild year kicks off at our September 2023 meeting. We will be getting to know our new board members, how to get the most out of our BNMQG website and all of the wonderful resources available on The Modern Quilt Guild website!

Please check out the Block Study posts available on the MQG resources page prior to the meeting. You will need to log into the website to have access to the resources page. Your login for The Modern Quilt Guild website is the email address that you gave to BNMQG and a password that you set up. If you don’t remember your password, use the password reset option on the login page.

Lots of fun to come in the next guild year – Speakers will be Libs Elliott in November, Emilie Trahan in January, and Timna Tarr in May! We have a workshop coming from David Owen Hastings in January!