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Next Meeting:
September 20, 2008
Cedar Heights Community Center
1200 Glen Willow Drive
Seat Pleasant, MD

  Agenda:

  11:00 a.m.
  Business Meeting
  12:00 noon
  Regular Meeting
  1:30 p.m.
  Refreshments
  2:00 p.m.
  - Show & Tell;
- Collection of Quilts for Chantilly
 

Note:  Please turn all cell phones to vibrate during the meeting.

Remember your nametag!!

Coordinator's Message

September 2008

Thanks to Sarita Brewer who will be organizing workshops and programs for the guild. Welcome to new member Dawna Parker who also caught the spirit and volunteered to help with newsletter and refreshments on her first day!

If this “Corner” reads a lot like last month’s “Corner,” it is because we have several important projects and events stacked there.

Mark your calendars for October 2 - 4, 2008. Uhuru will be exhibiting at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Chantilly, VA. In exchange for serving 24 “volunteer days” or as volunteer ambassadors (set up/take down hands, ticket takers, classroom angels, white glovers, etc.), we will be able to exhibit -- at no cost to us -- quilts and set up a table for selling raffle tickets and recruiting members. Quilts must have a 4 – 5” sleeve. Quilts exhibited at this venue in 2007 are not eligible. Download from the Uhuru website and bring a completed Quilt Registration form for each quilt. Quilts for this venue will be collected at the September meeting. For more information, go to www.sewingexpo.com. If you wish to volunteer as an ambassador, please contact Terri Sheetz, Volunteer Coordinator. Her number is 301-384-7414. Once you have a schedule with Terri, then contact me.

For future reference: (1) Don’t forget the county fairs which began in August. (2) Jennifer Morris and Delores Johnson are heading up the committee for an exhibit at the State House in Annapolis for February 2009. (3) Display of Christmas quilts at the Community Center in December. (4) Also in February we are scheduled to do a trunk show again at the Largo-Kettering Library.

Officers and committee chairs (Hospitality, Membership, Door Prize, Community Service, Block of the Month, Charm Squares, Website & Newsletter, Exhibits, Challenge, Programs & Workshops, Raffle Quilt, and Library), please gather up receipts for reimbursement and draft a report of this year’s activities. I would like to provide the guild with a complete financial report this year.

Because our retreat weekend (November 13 – 16) includes our regular meeting date, Uhuru’s elections will take place in December. Uhuru will not meet at the Cedar Heights Community Center on November 15. If you are not with us in Front Royal, create your own retreat at home. Put your family on automatic pilot, let the house clean itself, the car run the errands. Be creative. Make a commitment to finish a UFO or two.

As you can see from our calendar, we need quilts!

Sewfully,
Carol

To quilt or not to quilt ... DUH!

Raffle Quilt Committee Report

Raffle Quilt Tickets on Sale

At our August 16th meeting, raffle quilt tickets were distributed to those members present; if you are an active member and were not present at the meeting, your tickets will be mailed to you. We are asking that each Uhuru member either sell or buy at least 20 tickets at $1.00 each, they are not being sold "six for $5.00" this year. Please submit checks made payable to Uhuru Quilters Guild to Sara Knox or Tammie Morrow before the December 20 meeting. If you need more tickets, they will be available at the next Guild meeting.

Carol Williams can use some help selling tickets at SewExpo in Chantilly, Oct. 2-4. Raffle quilt ticket sales help support the Guild's activities throughout the year. We need everyone's cooperation.

The Charm Exchange Jackie Tyson-Hope, Chair

We are exchanging BACK TO SCHOOL for September, with 15 participants: Jackie Stafford, Willie Miller, Yvonne, Nadine, Dolores Johnson, Denise Davis, Myra, Mia, Dawn Felix, Jayne Hirst, Pat Johnson, Mia Baker, Jocelyn Herbert, Diamond Herbert, Shirley Hodge.

Cut 6-1/2” (six-and-one-half-inch) squares of 100% pre-washed cotton (please make sure that the size and quality of your squares are what you yourself would like to receive). Please remember to cut off the selvedges before you cut your squares. Place squares in a baggie with your name on it, and put it in the "Charm Squares" basket or hand them to Jackie.

If you signed up but are unable to come to the meeting, please mail your squares to Jackie or have someone bring them to the meeting. Please e-mail or telephone Jackie if you have questions.

Block of the Month Cornelia Carter-Sykes, Chair

For September we're making the County Fair BLock (http://www.quilterscache.com/C/CountyFairBlock.html)from Quilter's Cache. Remember our "each one teach one" motto, so if you find you have a suggestion or pointer for completing the block, please share it with your fellow quilters.

Just Sew You Know...

Two Upcoming Activities at Maryland Sew & Vac Center, 8847 Branch Avenue, Clinton, MD:

Ronke L. Boone Trunk Show on September 27

Ronke L. Boone is a fashion and handbag designer and author of the book, African Fabrics. Infuse your style with a touch of the exotic! This seminar gives you great ideas for contemporary fashion for men, women, children, and home decor. You’ll see great designs for the most popular African textiles on the market today: mudcloth, Kuba cloth, Korhogo cloth, fancy prints, wax prints, and Kente cloth. You’ll learn about the history and culture of these great fabrics; learn all the tips, tricks & techniques to successfully use and care for African fabrics.

Intro to Frame Quilting, November 15

This workshop is for anyone who is interested in learning about how to machine quilt using a quilting frame. Geri will show you how to prepare a quilt using one frame, discuss quilt backings and battings, how to load the quilt on the Grace Pinnacle frame, how to use pantograms and the laser light. This free workshop is open to all, but you must sign up for the seminar as seating is limited.

For more info, call 301-856-7200. 

Congratulations to Linda McKenzie (your esteemed editor!) for contributing a haiku to Gyleen Fitzgerald's just-released mini-book, "In This House." Haiku is a simple form of poetry consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. For ordering information for this and Gyleen's other works, visit her website at www.colourfulstitches.com.

Sew Help Me... Tips to boost your creativity

• Here's another way to take that perfectly pressed block to class or guild meeting. Take an empty paper-towel or wrapping-paper tube and wrap a piece of batting around it; whipstitch to secure. Now you can roll your block around the tube without fold creases or wrinkles.

• Caring for your Olfa Rotary Mat - In order to clean and condition your green Olfa rotary mat, you can actually give it a bath! Put your mat in the bathtub and use 1/4 cup white vinegar to a gallon of tepid (not hot) water, and a couple of drops of a mild dishwashing soap. Using a soft bristle brush, create a lather and gently clean and condition your mat. Rinse the mat and let air dry or dry with a Turkish towel. The mats love moisture, it helps keep them supple. Be sure to store them flat and out of direct sunlight.

Birthday/Hospitality Dawn Felix, Jocelyn Herbert, Pat Johnson	A Happy September Birthday to Elsie Houston (2nd); Janice Reece (12th); Pansy Lovelace (17th); Tammie Morrow (18th); Sheryl Smith (21st); Judy Williams (23rd); Barara Brown (27th); and Lou Nell Badgett (30th)	You are "Sew" Welcome! New member Dawna Parker.
The Hospitality Committee is asking for refreshment donations from members (sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit, salads/vegetable tray, water, light/regular beverages and desserts). Please e-mail Dawn at least one week before the meeting so we can make sure that a variety of refreshments are offered.