Submitted by Carol B., Secretary

*Delay in posting is the webmaster’s issue – so sorry for the delay!

Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild met December 3,  2024 at Christ Lutheran Church with 40 members attending in person, and 20 members on zoom in attendance.

President Kelly C. called the meeting to order and thanked Paula M., Dee W., Jamie W., Pam T. and Sandy W. for the hospitality treats. Kelly C. shared that we want our members to be uplifting to one another as we are a group of people with shared interest. Laurie S. reported the balances of our funds which can be found on our web page in the members only section.

Leslie S., Program Chair, introduced M.J. Kinman to speak on Gems and Joy. She reminded the group that the workshop on December 4^th is on Bite Size Gems and there are 2 open spots.

M. K. Kinman’s talk included a trunk show of various sized quilts that she made creating gemstone figures. She spoke a little about her background and the day she quit her job and began focusing on gemstone design for her quilts. She visited several locations to see real gems and photograph their patterns. When she began focusing on quilting gemstone patterns, she indicated that it was frightening but eventually very rewarding. She has been sought to make large gemstone quilts for several businesses. M. K. said that initially she was robbing herself of joy by trying to exactly duplicate gems. Once she began to bring joy to her work and expects good work of herself and others, but no longer expects perfection.  M. J. was encouraging about creating your gems pieces carefully, but not to the extent of perfection in copying the gem.

After our break, Kelly announced the winners of the fabric raffle (Kathy Cook) and the survey design (Linda Lambert).

Nancy P. introduced (via Zoom) Karen Bolan who will be on the January program and will lead a workshop on Design Your Own Quilt February 1^st, from 10 am to 4 pm.

The monthly Mystery blocks winners were: Brenda S. and Barb S.  Noemi B. announced Nicolas Fall new books Ornament and Artists and Studies. M. J. Kinman then donated a copy of her book for our library. There was mention of several opportunities to submit quilts for judging. Leslie S. asked the members to bring the names of quilters that they follow and a link to their websites.

The evening ended with Show and Tell with many beautiful quilts of various sizes.