April 2020 Newsletter Blog
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY QUILTERS!! I want to send out a special thank you to Sue Stephenson who has coordinated so many meaningful activities for us during this time when we can’t see one another face to face. Thank you all for responding to the communities’ needs, whether you are making masks, pillowcases, community or veteran quilts or any of the other activities we do and support. Thanks as well Maria Hunter for heading up a sewing group for much needed surgical caps and masks. You can get information about it in our last post update. Look under Blog/Archives/March 2020.
I heard some very hopeful news this morning about our state. Because our governor took such swift action on a “stay in place” order, the virus curve in Oregon may not be as high as first predicted. A friend in California who is a retired Labor and Delivery nurse and who always manages to make light of things, told me the other day, “You know, there will be a lot of babies born next year. They’ll be the “Corona Generation”. She’s right. Those little ones will be the world’s light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, I asked Nan to give us all some words of encouragement during this unusual time. Please read her note and enjoy her cute pics at the end of the newsletter.
Take care and keep sewing,
Melissa
May Program
Peggy Gelbrich is scheduled to be the featured guest quilter with a trunk show and talk about her work with Coffee Creek Quilting.
Jane and Janet
May Workshop
Glorious Clams
If we are back to meetings in May we will have a workshop on May 15, with a Peggy Gelbrich. The Glorious Clam Quilt workshop has a few openings, $55 including pattern. If we have to cancel due to limited contact, then refunds will be given.
Jane Szabo
GUILD LOGO CLOTHING
Many members have been asking when guild logo clothing will once again be available for purchase. Well, it’s been at least two years since logo clothing has been available. The clothing has most recently featured the specially commissioned images developed to publicize the quilt show: the quilted sailing ship and quilted lighthouse, both designed by Dennis McGregor. This year, Dennis has a new design featuring Yaquina Bay Bridge (with quilts flying from its span).
Because of the new design, the Merchandising Committee has voted to undertake the planning, ordering, sale, stocking, and distribution of guild logo clothing in addition to printing fabric panels of the new bridge design.
To help the Merchandising Committee plan, we’d like a rough idea of what clothing members are interested in. So we’d like you to tell us which of the following items you’d most likely actually purchase.
Keep in mind, however, that we’re only a small group of volunteers and have very little storage space, so we have to offer only a small range of merchandise. Colors and final selections will be limited. Note also that this survey is only to gauge interest and is not your actual order form. At a future guild meeting, we’ll have samples to try on, final prices, and order forms.
If you have any questions, please call or email Becky Mershon or Judy McCoy.
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GUILD LOGO CLOTHING SURVEY
Look at the list of the items below and email Judy McCoy (jmccoy@peak.org) the quantity, the size(s), and the item name(s) (see bold type below) that you’d actually purchase. Please reply by April 14. Your response can be short, for example:
• •
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
2 (two) XL Denim shirts; and 1 (one) XL T shirt
Prices are rough estimates based on our last order. All designs will feature the new guild bridge design. M=Medium; L=Large; XL=Extra Large; 2X= XXL; 3X=XXXL; 4X=XXXXL; 5X=XXXXXL
DENIM SHIRT—WITH SMALL EMBROIDERY ON LEFT CHEST (long sleeve, women’s sizes, cotton) c. $40
___M ___ L ___XL ___2X ___3X ___4X SWEATSHIRT—CREW NECK, WITH SMALL EMBROIDERY ON LEFT CHEST (long sleeve, adult men’s sizes, poly/cotton) c. $40
___M ___L ___XL ___2X ___3X ___4X ___5X
FULL-ZIP HOODED SWEATSHIRT—WITH SMALL EMBROIDERY ON LEFT CHEST (long sleeve, adult men’s sizes, poly/cotton) c. $45
___M ___L ___XL ___2X ___3X ___4X ___5X T SHIRT—CREW NECK, WITH LARGE SILKSCREENED LOGO (short sleeve, adult men’s sizes, 100% cotton) c. $30
___M ___L ___XL ___2X ___3X ___4X ___5X OTHER (please describe)
SABLE
SABLE for April was to be “April Showers.” If members want to turn that in at the May meeting, assuming we can have one, we could do 2 separate drawings – one for April and one for May. May SABLE will be “May Flowers.”
I hope everyone stays well.
Ruth Hutmacher
Retreat Info
The contract is signed so we are set. We will be starting signups for the Retreat at the May meeting. The Retreat Committee hopes everyone is well & we are looking forward to giving you another fun Retreat.
Retreat Committee: Georgia, Cyndie W, Gail & Jan McQueen
It’s Time to Quilt!
Since we can’t have guild or other fun times, we’re probably looking around our sewing rooms for potential projects! Now might be a good time to make a small quilt for the quilt show silent auction. Remember, when you turn one in, you can designate a local charity, and your nomination may be chosen to receive half the proceeds from the sale.
As you can see from the enclosed photo, we’ve received four lovely donations already. So fire up those machines and get in on the action! Thanks in advance for your help from Melissa Hollenbeck, Joan Johnson, and Jean Amundson
A Note From Nan
To all my quilting friends…
“How are you doing?” I hope that you have heard that question several times over the last couple of weeks as friends and family call to check in. If you haven’t – now you have heard it from me. I am heartened by the genuine caring of members of the guild. You are an amazing group of people!
This isolation is hard because we thrive on being together, but it is so important if we are to “flatten the curve” of this pandemic and potentially save thousands of lives conceivably even our own. I urge you to stay connected, make phone calls to check on your friends and encourage them. I was looking forward to a trip to Ashville, NC in late April where 10 friends of mine from college were going to gather in a huge rented house and cook and laugh and enjoy being together, but Covid-19 put an end to those plans. Undaunted, we found a way to connect all 10 of us from coast to coast with a 2-hour Zoom meeting from our computers. After we worked through some technical difficulties, we had a ton of fun laughing and sharing stories of how we were coping. Actually, working through the technical problems with ten 73-year-old women was hilarious.
I encourage you to send a short note to Melissa Hollenbeck to share the ways that you are surviving in these days. Perhaps they can be collected and posted in subsequent blogs. To get the ball rolling, I’ll share a few of the things that have helped keep my head above water:
- Make a point to call at least one friend every day – doesn’t have to be a long conversation – maybe it is just a “how are you doing”, but it is an important connection.
- Every morning focus on at least 3 things you are thankful for – write them on a sticky note and put them on your bathroom mirror. That way you will see them every time you wash your hands — and do that frequently too!
-
Daffodils - Open your blinds or curtains to take in the outside world. When I opened the blinds in my sewing room on a recent sunny day, I could see a cheery bunch of daffodils in my neighbor’s yard. When we slow down and pay attention, Nature speaks in meaningful ways.
- Find a passion – something to do for a larger cause – make some medical masks, or community quilts, or volunteer to work from home for a non-profit. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go down to my church in Yachats and help distribute worker relief money collected in the community to the many workers in town who have been laid off because of the virus. I distribute through a sliding window and I am careful to protect myself and practice social distancing, but that simple act brings joy and puts a spring in my step.
- Find and try a new healthy recipe, and if you like it, share it in an e-mail to your friends.
- Establish a routine – wake-up time, bed time, meal time, hobby time so that you get enough sleep and keep your days straight.
- Laugh and share it.
A positive attitude and a good dose of hope will carry us through these hard times. I am convinced that we will come through on the other side stronger, kinder, and more compassionate and we will get there together.
Finally, I would like to share a poem by Dawna Markova that I discovered recently. It was published 20 years ago but so relevant to these days.
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
Untitled [“I Will Not Die an Unlived Life”] by Dawna Markova, from I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion. © Conari Press, 2000.
I love that phrase “I choose to inhabit my days” … May we all inhabit our days and make them count.
Nan
And here’s a little upper from Rose Shaw.
Printable Version: http://www.oregoncoastalquilters.org/PDF/Blog2020-04.pdf