Our August Meeting is next week, August 22nd – social time starting at 5:30 pm CST, meeting starting at 6:00 pm CST at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal. This will also be a dual meeting, the zoom invite will be sent out on Sunday or Monday to all members.

Don’t forget to bring any sold Raffle Tickets to the August meeting! We will be drawing the winner at the meeting.

Our Raffle Quilt, “Into the Light” was a big success. Many thanks to all of the members who helped to create it and have sold raffle tickets!

I can’t wait to see the final tally of how much we have raised for The Midwest Food Bank and our parent organization The Modern Quilt Guild’s charities!

Our speaker this month is our very own Linda Lambert, who is a Certified Laura Heine Instructor!. Her lecture is titled “Collage Quilting on Your Brain” – she will discuss the Laura Heine method and how quilting is good for our brains! Guest tickets are available on our Event and Workshops tab, as always members attend the lecture for free.

Linda is also hosting a workshop for us on September 9th “Collage Quilts – Pattern: The Dress”.

Seats are still available on our Event and Workshops tab (scroll down for the workshop) or workshop tickets will be available at our August meeting.

Linda will have kits and supplies for the workshop available at our August meeting for workshop attendees.

August is also the BNMQG Anniversary month! It is our 11th Anniversary – there will be cake! Please wear BNMQG gear if you have it. We will be taking a group photo towards the start of the meeting. It was fun when we did it last year and thought we should make it a tradition!

We will be voting on the slate of officers for the 2023-24 guild year. Our slate of officers:

Speaking of BNMQG gear – we will have a new opportunity to purchase BNMQG shirts, hoodies, etc starting at the end of August.

We need your design skills! We are looking for a one color design to be used as a screen print on the tote bags. If you have a design idea, please send them to the BNMQGPresident gmail account (not linking it to lower the amount of spam!).

Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

It was Christmas in July at the Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild meeting on July 25, 2023.  President Lisa B. welcomed the 55 members attending in person as well as the 10 members attending via Zoom.  Prior to the meeting delicious treats were provided by Ary A., Betty W., Paula M., and Ann U.

Membership chairman, Noemi, reported that we currently have 134 members.

Many hands make light work – we so appreciate our board members, committee chairs and committee members who do so much to bring us such great meetings!

For our July meeting on Tuesday, July 25th – we are doing Christmas in July as our theme! Our meeting will be a dual meeting – via zoom and in person at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal. Social time starts at 5:30pm CST, with our meeting starting at 6:00 pm CST. Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before the meeting.

BNMQG members will be demonstrating some fun, fast things you can do to start getting ready for Christmas (or any gift giving occasion)! We will have stations for serged re-useable fabric for gift wrapping, bitty bags, folded stars, fabric gift bags, credit card wallets, and thumb pin cushions! We will have any handouts available on the Member’s page after the meeting.

If you haven’t already provided your quilt for the Decatur Art Gallery exhibit, please make sure to bring it to the meeting. If your quilt was over 20″ wide, please remember to bring your dowel or something similar for hanging your quilt. It will be so fun to see all of them hanging in the great gallery space! Reception is August 4th from 5 to 7 pm at the Anne Lloyd Gallery, 125 N. Water Street, Decatur, IL 62523.

Our new guild year of 2023-24 starts in September, so we will begin taking guild membership payments at our July meeting. You can also pay via PayPal – see links on the side bar. All members need to complete a membership form.

Don’t forget to bring in your Shop Hop Passport! There will be a prize drawing for those who have participated!

Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

The Bloomington Normal Modern Quilt Guild met on June 27, 2023.  As in past years, this meeting was a social meeting with a potluck dinner and a short business meeting.   President Lisa B. welcomed everyone.  Members then enjoyed a delicious potluck dinner and it’s safe to say no one went away hungry.  

Following dinner, the members were each told to write down something about themselves that most did not know about them.   It did not have to be quilting related.   Each individual table would then look at the results and choose one to be presented to the group.  Lisa read each selection and the group tried to guess which member it represented.  Everyone enjoyed trying to figure out the clue.

Our June meeting will be a social night with games and a potluck.  Bring an item to share – it does not have to be enough to share with everyone.  A suggestion of what to bring based on your last name is below, but it is a suggestion so that we get a wide variety of items.  Plates, napkins and utensils will be provided.  This meeting may be best attended in person.  We will have Zoom running, but you don’t want to miss the tasty treats!

Social time starts at 5:30 pm CST, with meeting starting at 6:00 pm CST.

Our slate of officers for 2023-24 will be announced.

Hope to see everyone!

Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

The meeting of the BNMQG was held both virtually and in person on May 23,  2023.  President Lisa B. opened the meeting thanking the refreshment committee for  the evening:   Nancy P., Ann C., Debbie P., and Mary Jane B. 

Co-chairman, Mary Rose H. noted that we still need a volunteer for the July meeting and one volunteer for the August meeting to help with refreshments. Our Sign Up Genius for hospitality is linked on our Member’s Only page.

Can you believe our BNMQG meeting is next week already?!? It seems early, but with 5 Tuesday’s in May, it is almost time!

Our meeting on May 23rd will be a dual meeting – in person at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal as well as via Zoom. Social time will start at 5:30 pm CST and the meeting will begin at 6:00 pm CST.

Our very own Laurie S. (aka “The Bag Lady”) will be our featured speaker. Laurie will be sharing with us the basics of bag making – stabilizers, hardware, etc., along with a trunk show.

We will also be choosing the bag pattern for the workshop that Laurie is teaching on July 8th. Workshop signups will be available at the meeting and also via our Events and Workshops page.

If you have a spot signed up for the retreat, don’t forget that your deposit of $50 or the full amount is due at our May meeting. If you are out of town, please mail it to our post office box. BNMQG, PO Box 154, Normal, IL 61761.

If payment is not received by the May meeting, your spot is forfeited and will be given to the next person on the waiting list.

If you are not signed up yet, please grab a spot on the waitlist on SignUp Genius.

Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

Prior to the start of the meeting, members enjoyed shopping the Destash Sale with items brought in by various members.  The April meeting of the Bloomington  Normal Modern Quilt Guild was then called to order by President Lisa B   There were 54 members in person and 16 attending virtually.  One guest was present.  We currently have 124 members. 

Lisa noted that there were no treats at tonight’s meeting because members failed to sign up.  She asked for a show of hands if members were interested in continuing the refreshments. The majority raised hands that they enjoyed having treats. This is an easy way to support our guild – treats do not need to be fancy.   Those volunteering to bring treats should sign up on Sign Up Genius under hospitality.

Submitted by Barb S., Secretary

The BNMQG meeting was called to order by President Lisa B.  She welcomed the members and guests as well as our speaker.

Sarah Ruiz presented an interesting program called “100 Days of Creative Bliss”. Sarah shared some of her background including working at NASA on the space shuttle program. She reminded everyone that we are the boss when doing a 100 days program – do what works for you. That could be doing 1 day at a time or catching up doing a week at a time or mix it up during the 100 days. Sarah also graciously included a discount code for BNMQG members, that code expired on April 2nd.

Following the program Lisa thanked the volunteers who provided the treats tonight:   Barb B., Kathy C., Erin H. and Nancy B. 

Mary Rose H., co-chairman of the hospitality committee, mentioned that we need one more person to provide treats for the April meeting as well as several for upcoming meetings.   Treats do not have to be elaborate – store bought is fine.

Those willing to bring treats can sign up on Sign up Genius.

This is a way to be part of the village – it takes a village to keep the quilt guild up and running!

Our March meeting will be back to a dual meeting, so we will be in person at Christ Lutheran Church, but Zoom will still be available. It will be great to see many of you in person again! Social time will begin at 5:30 pm CST, with our meeting starting at 6:00 pm CST.

Our speaker, Sarah Ruiz, is joining us via Zoom. Her lecture is “100 Days to Creative Bliss”. Sarah will discuss the benefits of daily of a daily practice and explore what she has learned about creativity from 10+ years of 100 day projects and similar creative goal-setting. Whether you are looking for renewed focus and motivation in your quilting work, planning to practice a new skill, or simply wanting a bit of daily joy, this lecture will help get you started!

Visit Sarah’s website: saroy.net
Follow Sarah on Instagram: @saroy
On Facebook, follow SarahRuizQuilts