March 2017 Board Meeting Minutes

IEMQG Board Meeting
March 27, 2017
Joann’s Fabrics Classroom, 4470 Ontario Mills Parkway, Ontario, CA

Present: Laura Greene, President; Gayle Bennett, Treasurer; Cindy Chrisler, Secretary; Michele Nichols, Past President; Tricia Williams, Membership, Candace Kimball, Raffle Chair. Donna Gaston, Rachel McGee, and Jessica Cook were unable to attend. The meeting was called to order at 6:30. The minutes of the last meeting (February 21, 2017) were approved (Gayle, Michele).

Secretary: Cindy had no report. The next meeting was set for April 17 at 6:30 at the same location.

Past President: Michele congratulated Laura for doing a good job this year.

Membership: Tricia has updated the membership list. Debbie Ulray has requested to be removed from the membership list. Tricia forgot the MQG pins at the last general meeting but will make sure to bring them to the next meeting and give them to those who signed up last time. Laura will send a welcoming email to new members and make sure they are enrolled in the national guild.

Raffle: Candace was given information about a cutting system (QuiltCut2) that is being donated by a member to raffle off at the guild. This is a high price item (estimated at over $200), so the raffle will be conducted over three months (April, May, June). People will write their name and phone number on the ticket, and they do not have to be present to win. The winning ticket will be pulled at the end of the June meeting. Other raffle ideas include directed raffles if the guild has several items. The budget for the raffle is $20 per month. Candace will work with the challenge themes for some raffle items. Raffle tickets will be $1 each or 6/$5 for all raffles conducted by the guild.

Challenges: After discussion, the board decided on the following themes for the next two challenges. The challenge due in September will have the theme “go big” and the challenge due in December will be “quilting in negative space.”

Treasurer: the guild has a little over $1500 in the checking account. Gayle reported that Jessica’s sale of her purged items was very successful and raised almost all the remaining money needed to cover the fee for the June speaker. Other fund raising ideas include an opportunity quilt and selling quilts and other items donated by members to the public via social media or public venues (craft shows, fairs, etc). Gayle will look into venues in Ontario where we can sell items without having to pay for a booth. Discussion for selling items through Facebook and Instagram were discussed. The Board would like to create a position for outside sales and find a coordinator for the position. Latifah Saafir has not yet returned her contract to the guild.

Hospitality: members have signed up for refreshments for next month, but we may need more water bottles.

Charity: Jessica and Rachel did not attend; no report.

Sale Table: Michele will run the Sale Table for the April meeting.

Block Lotto: Donna was unable to attend. There is some confusion about the sizes of fabric to bring for the swap. Laura will ask Donna for clarification and send a blast out to members and post it on the guild’s Facebook page.

Programs: The April meeting will feature Lynn Hanna presenting her pictures from QuiltCon East. A projector and screen have been secured for the meeting. The Spotlight Quilter will be Joe Cunningham; Laura has a nice video clip of him to share. Laura would like to have a new segment at the meetings featuring “transitional quilters” in the guild who will use 3 – 4 of their own quilts to show their transition from “traditional” quilts to “modern” quilts. Gayle will be the April Transitional Quilter; Jessica Cook will be asked to present in May; the June meeting is full and this will not be on the program; other members will be approached at meetings as potential Transitional Quilters.

Future programs include Andres Rosales from MQG for May. However, he is not the most motivational speaker and his topic would be general information about MQG and how to navigate their website. Laura will ask Robin Grube to speak in May on the use of the color wheel and general color and design of quilts. Laura will ask Kim Wingert to present a talk on Amish quilts for the July meeting (Kim is giving a talk on quilts at the Upland Library on Tuesday, March 28). Michele suggested contacting Robert Tucker of Coachella Valley Quilt Guild to speak, he is their webmaster and may speak for a minimal fee (lunch, transportation), and Laura will contact him. Gayle will contact Needle in a Fabric Stash for July and The Batty Lady, possibly for August; Tricia will contact Kathy Lee of the Redlands Sewing Center as a potential speaker; and the guild may offer mini-tutorials for a meeting program.

Laura asked the Board members to look at the membership list and select potential program chairs. Names selected include Amiee French, Jaimie Kozaki, Ginger Gabriel, Judee Koda, Cat Wallace, Lisa Homes, and Carleen Drake. Cindy suggested that the position be filled by co-chairs.

The next Sit ‘n Sew will be held on April 22 at the community room of the trailer park at 12830 6th St. in Yucaipa (Rachel McGee’s trailer park). It will be held from 9 a.m. until 3:00ish and lunch will be a pot luck.

The sandwich board discussion is tabled until the next meeting.

The June meeting will be the guild’s “birthday.” Laura suggested having cake and birthday decorations.

Communications: Rachel Rogers has agreed to be the VP of Communications.

The next meeting will be on Monday, April 17 at 6:30 at the Joann’s Fabrics in Ontario. Cindy will call and reserve the room.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05.
Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Chrisler, Secretary