News & Updates

Updated August 29, 2010

Make an online donation to Minnesota Quilters: giveMN.org

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Button: The Member Mgmt. button can be used to renew your MQ membership or request a new membership. More >>

Volunteer at the State Fair: read more ...
State fair news - what are they judging, also check out #5 in the photos of the week

New Office Hours: For financial reasons, the hours of the Business Manager and Show Coordinator have been reduced. Since their hours have been reduced, the Minnesota Quilters office hours have changed. The new office hours will be posted on the door, but please call ahead to make sure the office is open.
New Tentative Hours are:
Tuesday – 9 to 5, Wednesday – 9 to 5, Thursday - 9 to 3

MN Quilters Action Planning 2011-2015: read more ...

Fall Getaway: Thursday Oct 7, 2010 - Sunday Oct 10, 2010 at the Cloquet Forestry Center. View the event invitation.

Notice: The 2009-2010 Annual Report is now available.

Raffle Quilt Winner: Our 2010 raffle quilt was won by Judy Dawson of Birmingham Al. Click here to read the article about Judy.
If you have any tickets left – sold or unsold – please bring them to a meeting or send them to Becky at the MQ office. We need to account for all our tickets. So far we have 3541 tickets sold. The three winners of the drawing of those selling tickets are: Nancy Hall, Jean Back and Jill Schultz. As board and standing committee members, Nancy and Jill donated their prizes back to Minnesota Quilters. Many thanks to all of you who sold tickets – you are very much appreciated

September Meeting: Thursday September 2 and Saturday September 4. See the meeting page for more information.

Block of the Month
- Block of the month will start again with information in the September newsletter.
- Enter up to three blocks each month
- Drawings will be held at meetings. If there are more than 24 blocks, the drawing will be split into two. More than 36 blocks will be split into three drawings.
- We will keep one size for a year so you may want to make an extra block with your favorite colors and make your own sampler at the end of the year.
- For 2010-11, the blocks will be 12" (12 1/2" unfinished)
- Coordinators are Kathie Simon Frank (kathie@umn.edu and Jeanne LaMoore (jlamoore@gmail.com)
- We will include a "Quick Tip" each month in the newsletter. Please send yours in to us!
- BOM patterns have been archived on the website. Kudos to Joanne Holzknecht for her excellent leadership!

Fat Quarter Drawings: future themes
Sept – Purple
Oct – Non-red/non-green Christmas fabrics

Contribute up to three fat quarters (approximately 18” x 22”) of quilt-shop quality 100% cotton fabric in the theme of the month and
we’ll enter your name in the drawing for that month (one entry for each fat quarter, up to a maximum of 3). Attach your name, address,
and phone number to each fat quarter. Bring fat quarters to meetings or mail them to the MQ offi ce, 3000 University Avenue SE #120,
Mpls, MN 55414. Fat quarters should arrive before the Saturday meeting. Label the envelope “FQ Drawing.” We draw one name at the
start of the Saturday meetings. You need not be present to win.

Volunteer Opportunities: Check out the MQ Volunteer page for current volunteer positions within the organization. We need you, and it's fun!

Minnesota Quilt Project news: The Minnesota Quilt Project has documented over 4,000 quilts in the state of Minnesota . We have been working with The Quilt Index to make these available for you to view. The Quilt Index is a growing, national research and reference tool designed to provide unprecedented access to information and images about quilts held in private and public hands. To see the Minnesota quilts, use this direct link: http://www.quiltindex.org/minnesotaquiltproject.php. The link is also on the Minnesota Quilt Project, Photo Gallery page on our website.

President's Block: MQ has a tradition of presenting our president with “thank you” blocks for their year in term. President Char Wenger has requested cat blocks, 6", 9", or 12" finished.

It's not to late to present past-President Mary Brandt with a block. She has requested stars made with batiks, with the star being dark and the background light. The size can vary, 6”, 9” or 12” finished.

Quilt Documentation Reminder: Members of the Minnesota Quilt Project (MQP), a standing committee of MQ, are available at the Saturday MQ meetings to document your quilts. Documentation will be performed during the coffee break and immediately following the meeting. It takes about 10 minutes per quilt to complete. Forms and instructions are available on line if you are not able to attend a meeting and would like to document your quilts on your own. MQP is interested in any quilt, regardless of age. Bring a recently-completed quilt, a family treasure, or a thrift-shop find. MQP members will document details about the quilt and photograph it. You will provide whatever knowledge you have about the quilt's history. Appointments are not necessary.

Additional Parking: Parking informationFree parking is available for MQ meetings in the fenced lot behind the Minnesota Teamsters building at the corner of 30 th Avenue and University Avenue, across the street and just east of the Textile Center. There is a stoplight at the intersection of Malcolm and University to help you cross University safely! You can park in this lot only after 5pm on weekdays, and any time on weekends . You must enter this code as you drive into the lot: 7755. To enter the lot to get your car out, go through the people gate and enter 77755. The gate opens automatically when you drive out.

Important Parking Reminders: When you attend an MQ meeting you can park (legally!) in the Ostvold parking lot, accessed by the alley off of Arthur street just west of the Textile Center. In case you don't know where that is, here is a diagram.

Remember, you cannot park in the business lots across University Avenue from the Textile Center or in the Nano Computer lot in the back. They will tow!

Quilts of Valor: Offer comfort and express thanks to wounded service men and women. For more information about how to help, visit the web site www.qovf-um.org or contact Marcia at MStevens@brainerd.net or Page Johnson at pagej@frontiernet.net

Home of the Brave Quilt Project
The Home of the Brave Quilt Project is an effort to make and deliver a quilt to every family that has lost a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. For more information on the project, see www.HomeoftheBraveMN.org

Library Notes
Please contact the MQ librarian if you would like to suggest books to be purchased for the library. Anything quilt-related, including fiction, history, and children's books will be considered.

Library hours: Monday: 9am - 1pm and 5pm - 7pm; Tuesday: 9am - 7pm; Wednesday: 9am - 1pm; Thursday: 9am - 1pm and 5pm - 7pm; Friday: 9am - 1pm; Saturday: Noon - 4pm

The Textile Center Library space is available for textile exhibits. There is wall space and a locking display cabinet for small items. The space is available to all participating member organizations. If you are interested in having a library exhibit, please contact the MQ librarian.

The Textile Center Library contains thousands of books and periodicals about quilting and all of the other textile arts. As a member of Minnesota Quilters, you may check out any materials for one month.

Minnesota Quilters, Inc. (MQ) is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to the celebration of quilting. Our activities and events are structured to honor the past, celebrate the present, and nurture the future of this time-honored traditional craft in all its forms.