Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild met virtually on January 23, 2024 with 67 members dialing in. President, Vivian H., called the meeting to order and briefly reviewed a few of the housekeeping details relating to attending meeting virtually. These included making sure you mute yourself unless you are addressing the group.

Nancy P. then introduced the evening’s speaker, Emilie Trahan. She is a self taught quilter, who is also a physician from Canada. In 2021 she won “Best in Show” at Quilt Con. Most of her quilting is done with upcycled fabrics such as sheets, pillow cases and clothing. She mentioned that she may use several different types of fabrics in one quilt. She excels at piecing improvised curves into beautiful modern quilts. Starting with placing pieces of fabric on her studio floor, she maneuvers the fabric until it is a completed beautiful quilt. Emilie is on Instagram @mili.tra Emilie will have 2 quilts hanging at QuiltCon this year. Judging by the comments afterward, the members enjoyed her presentation.

Following a short break, Vice President Linda L. recognized our members who have had quilts accepted into the upcoming Quiltcon. They are: Karla M.(Linearity:Points and Counterpoints); Kathy C. (More Than Most); Dawn P. (Pink House); Teresa A. (Lines of Travel); and Judy Z. (Boing-f). Congratulations and best wishes to the members representing BNMQG.

Carol F. will be conducting “BNMQG Tech Day” on Thursday, February 15th, at 1 o’clock and again at 6 o’clock. The topic will be an overview of EQ8. Members can sign up through this Sign Up Genius – this is also linked on the Member’s Only page. The Zoom link will be sent out to registered participants.

Linda L. briefly discussed the 2024 Quiltcon. New this year, members can purchase a pass to allow them to live stream the lectures. If interested, visit the Quiltcon 2024 Streaming Lecture Pass page to sign up. The cost is $265.

Linda asked if there were any questions or comments regarding the upcoming changes to the guild by-laws. Being none it was moved by Pam T and seconded by Danna M. that we vote to accept the by laws.

Voting was as follows:  Yes : 85%  No: 0%  Abstain: 15%

Motion carried to accept the amended by laws.

Members then enjoyed show and tell. The following quilts were from the David Owen Hastings workshop on January 20. They were completed by: Sheila R, Susan W, Leslie S, Paula M, Karla M. Interestingly, even though these quilters all attended the same class, the completed quilts were completely different. Noemi B. then showed a purse she made from a class in St. Louis this past week end. Purple of course !! Vivian H showed a beautiful blue and green quilt she made from the Krista Moser class. Leslie S. showed a quilt she made from the Yellow Brick Road pattern noting it is the first time she has ever made a quilt from a pattern. Pictures of show and tell that were uploaded to the FaceBook album:

Several quilts from the Block Studies program through the MQG were displayed. They included:

Sheila R.	Organic Diamonds
Vivian H	Puzzle Patch
Marion T	Geese Gone Wild
Rhonda D	Layered Triangles

Members are urged to participate in this program. Log into the MQG website, then use the link to MQG Resource Library on the top menu bar. Then use the search bar to search for “block study”. If you complete a block (or a quilt) using one of the block studies, please upload to the BNMQG Facebook page Album for Block Studies.

Next Guild meeting with be February 27, 2024. This meeting will be a zoom only meeting. Zoom invites will be sent out to members (and any paid guests) on the Sunday night prior to the meeting.