On September 28th, the ACQ Charity Sewing Bee was held at the Columbine Library from 9:30 - 12:30. We received many donations in both yardage and “fiddley bits”...items that can be put into fidget quilts. Several backs were cut for quilts by those who attended, as well as kits that were cut for CPNLS. Next month we will be meeting at the Koebel Library on Thursday, October 26th, from 9:00 - 12 noon. Further details are listed below. 

Join us if you can! It’s a great way to meet and get to know one another while providing comfort and warmth to those in need...many who have lost everything. Help spread LOVE and CHEER in your community! 

The location for the ACQ Charity Sewing Bee for OCTOBER is Koelbel Library at 5955 S. Holly Street in Centennial on Thursday, October 26th from 9:00 - 12 noon. Please note the NEW TIME. We will be meeting in Room B on the First Floor of the library. Room Capacity 7-70. 

submitted by Doreen Mortimer

Programs, Classes, and Workshops coming to Arapahoe County Quilters

JANUARY- Charles Cameron Lecture – 11th - “An Engineer’s Guide to Color Value and Placement in Your Quilts” – As an engineer, Charles approaches color selection and placement in his quilts in a very methodical way. In this talk, he’ll discuss several strategies for selecting fabric colors and their placement when planning your quilt to add interest and depth. Includes a PowerPoint slide presentation with photos and instruction.

FEBRUARY - Courtney Kimball (One Common Thread) Lecture – 8th - “Empowering Women in Poverty” – Courtney will discuss their mission of establishing “One Common Thread” by empowering women of poverty in Honduras the opportunity to work and earn an income making English Paper Piecing kits; thus, developing self-worth, improving their living conditions, and the power to better both theirs, and their children’s, lives.

MARCH - Veruschka Karate (Pride and Joy Quilting) Lecture – 14th - “Finding Pride and Joy in Quilting: My Journey” – Veruschka’s presentation will detail her journey from traditional piecing into the world of Foundation Paper Piece Quilting and Designing. We’ll explore many of the tips, tricks, and pitfalls within FPP construction and design, choice of fabrics and color selection, thread, tools, and more. Includes a Virtual Trunk Show.

Workshop – 15th - “Foundation Paper Piecing: Fundamentals” – This workshop will focus on Foundation Paper Piecing Fundamentals while completing the pattern, “Windows to the Soul”, otherwise known as “The Eye”. This pattern is perfect for beginners and consists of only ONE Paper Piece with NO SEAMS and a combination of straight-line sewing.

APRIL- David Taylor Lecture – 11th - “Artistry through Applique” – David will relate, through a digital slide show, how he creates his art quilts that look more like paintings. From his unique pattern-drawing method to fabric selection, quilting, and binding...his entire process is covered. He will keep you enraptured with his humerous anecdotes!

Workshop – 13th - “Pictorial Hand Applique” – This workshop demonstrates David’s layered, handapplique techniques with simple applique shapes using freezer paper templates and liquid starch. You will be learning the layered freezer paper applique process and how to get beautiful details by letting the fabric choices do all the work. Demonstrations include pre-turned edge technique, eliminating shadowing, and invisible hand-stitch. 

Fall is Here

The autumn equinox occurred on September 23rd this year, marking the first day of Fall. While it may not bring cooler days, I’m beginning to see the change of season in my garden and trees. I made my first pot of Fall soup last night, serving it with crusty bread and crackers. I’m having to wear my hoodie when I take my morning walk. We’re able to enjoy the fire pit a bit earlier each evening.

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I enjoyed being with my Mom while she canned the garden harvest. I spent many hours in front of the TV shelling beans and pecans. Our school’s homecoming was the anticipated event as it was the kickoff to the Fall and Holiday season. I grew up in a very small town. The event was more for the community than just the school. There were pep rallies and events the entire week leading up to the bonfire which was always my favorite. This, of course, was held the night before the big game and the crowning of the Homecoming queen. After the big game, most would head to the Dairy Queen to finish the evening visiting with family, friends and alumni. It was the one event that brought the community together.

In October, we are hosting an “OPEN HOUSE” to showcase all that our guild has to offer. The event is open to everyone who would like to spend an evening learning about the guild. We will hear from our Charity partners and Business Members. Our program schedule for 2024 will be announced, as well.

Also, our big event for the evening is the start of the FALL AUCTION. This year’s auction has 100+items and will run until October 22. You don’t want to miss seeing (and bidding) on all of the wonderful items that will be available for purchase!

I hope that you will join us for both events. Our “Open House” will be IN-PERSON with livestreaming available on Zoom, so invite your friends and neighbors to attend either one, or both, of these fun festivities. This is the time to share our guild with our community.

submitted by Diane Sheriff

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS Can you believe it’s September already? We’re now ramping up for next year and need volunteers to guide and help on our guild board. There are THREE positions where we need help!

Our most critical need is VICE PRESIDENT OF CHARITY. This is a very crucial position as it leads our charity efforts. Responsibilities include organizing materials and volunteers to complete charitable requests. They also receive and manage donations of fabric and batting; working as well to build and distribute kits to our members. The final step is to work with organizations to donate and supply completed quilts.

We also need VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP for 2024 – 2025 to work with Cathy Zirkelbach. This role organizes and maintains our membership roster. They work greeting and registering members for our guild meetings. They also help members with the purchase and payment of name badges. Show and Tell is an important part of our guild meetings. Membership is responsible for organizing it and selecting door prize winners during the events.

The final open position is VICE PRESIDENT which guides Membership and Charitable Activities. They coordinate our monthly guild meetings and setup of facilities. Coordinating door prizes each month for both in person and online is part of this role. They oversee fundraising events and the Fall Auction which is the largest of our events.

All of these roles are extremely important to our guild! Do you know of someone who would be interested? How about YOU? Please reach out to me or anyone on the board to find out more! We want to find team members to make next year fun and successful!

- submitted by Diane Sheriff

Are you ready for the Fall Auction to raise funds for our charity projects? The dates for this year’s auction are Thursday, October 12 – Sunday, October 22, 2023. The auction will be held online through “Auctria”... the same as last year. This is our main fund-raiser for ACQ.

Submit your project forms on the www.acqcolorado.org website NOW. Go to the Members Page, look for Fall Auction and click on the link. Please print a copy of the form to turn in with your item. You can bring your “drop-off” items to the September meeting on September 14th, OR, you can bring them to Barb Pond’s home by September 30th at the latest.

Most of all, once “Auctria” is set up, we will need everyone’s help in publicizing the event to attract LOTS of potential buyers! We will have images that can be shared on social media and with your friends to help promote the event.

I also need people to help organize items at my home in October AFTER the auction is done, as well as people willing to distribute the goods to the winners at a Pop-Up event on October 28th from 10 am to 12 noon. Contact Barb Pond to help. This is a short-term commitment. Thanks!

Together we can make this a successful event for ACQ! Contact Barb Pond at vicepresident@acqcolorado.org, or text / call Barb at (303) 910-2572.

submitted by Barb Pond

"Wrapping Up the Year"

I know it will be a while before we're wrapping presents and decorating for the holidays.  The first part of the year flew by with the excitement of the "Festival of Quilts" and moving to our new location. There's still a few months and many events left on our calendar that you won't want to miss!

I am so thankful for everyone who works on ... and supports ... our events. It takes many hours of planning to ensure all details come together successfully. From guild meetings, to presentations, to workshops, or to other miscellaneous events themselves, we want top rovide programs and content that inspire you. Our member's contributions have been invaluable to create this success!!

We want our guild to grow, not only in membership, but in new ideas! Your help and participation are essential to make this happen. If you have a passion for organizing events, feel inspired to start a "bee", wish to contribute your skills to the Board, or simply have suggestions that would enhance more involvement with ACQ, we warmly encourage you to step forward and get involved.

We each have a "gift". Let's start unwrapping them!

                                                    - submitted by Diane Sheriff

 SEPTEMBER 14th - Guild Meeting: "Japanese Fabrics from Vintage to Contemporary" with Dana Jones - 6:30 pm Dana will be sharing her knowledge and experience with Japanese fabrics from Vintage to Contemporary. IN PERSON and LIVESTREAMED. https://www.danajonesquilts.com

SEPTEMBER 16th - Half-Day Workshop - "Fabulous Freeform" with Dana Jones - 9 am - 12 noon ONLINE from Dana's studio, learn how to create fabric using your scraps.

SEPTEMBER 16th - Half-Day Workshop - "Circling Charlie" - 1-4 pm ONLINE from Dana's studio, learn how to inset circles while making a table or bed-runner. You'll be amazed how easy it is to do! Using a technique developed by Cheryl Phillips that requires minimal pinning no matter the size of the circle.

OCTOBER 12 - Guild Meeting 6:30 pm:  Guild Meeting will be an OPEN HOUSE focusing on several areas of our guild. Our speakers will be representatives from the different charities that we support with a short presentation from each one. Come and Shop 'til You Drop with our "Fill-A-Bag" Sale! Meet our Business members as we invite them to share what they do. IN PERSON and LIVE-STREAMED. Friends and guests are welcome to attend at NO COST and are encouraged to join us as we share what ACQ is all about and what it has to offer.

OCTOBER 21 - Half Day Workshop:  Sheri Noel of "Rebecca Mae Designs" (our speaker from August) will show us how to make these adorable mittens. These will make wonderful Christmas presents! Check out Goodwill or ARP for sweaters you can use. Class will be virtual via ZOOM.https://www.rebeccamaedesigns.com/

NOVEMBER 9 - Guild Meeting - "Amish Inspired Quilts for Today". Carl Hentsch of "3 Dog Design Co." will show how the Amish use of color and design has influenced modern quilting. Meeting will be IN PERSON with Carl joining us via ZOOM for his presentation. Meeting will also be LIVE-STREAMED.

DECEMBER 14 - Guild Meeting - HOLIDAY PARTY.  Details to Follow

- submitted by Linda Starkey

We're looking forward to our first meeting at Our Father Lutheran Church on July 13, 2023. Please return completed tops and quilts at that time. We will have items to keep you busy sewing, quilting, and binding until our next meeting.

On July 27th, the 4th Thursday of this month, we will be at Columbine Library from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM MDT. The library is located at 7706 W Bowles Ave., Littleton CO 80123. Please come and join us as it's a lovely time to connect and share stories, as well as work on Charity and CPNLS quilts together. Our last ACQ Charity Quilt / CPNLS "Blanket Bee" in June at Koelbel Library was a lot of fun...at least until the hail came in! 

Cathy Zirkelbach and I will be delivering quilts to Children's Hospital before the end of the month. Let's help fill her car with quilts!

submitted by Sheila Clark

CALLING ALL QUILTERS and BAG LADIES for our Fall Auction!

ACQ is once again planning a Fall Auction to raise funds for our charity projects. After viewing the incredible quilts at the recent Festival of Quilts, word is spreading that ACQ has great talents in our guild and we are hoping that it will carry over to the Fall Auction. We need your help to make the auction a BIG success! The dates for this year's auction are Thursday, October 12th - Sunday, October 22nd 2023. The auction will be held online through Auctria...the same as last year. This is our main fund-raiser for ACQ We need to start planning NOW!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We need items for the auction. These can be wall-hangings, lap quilts, table toppers, runners, placemats, totes, zippered bags, etc...just to name a few. The guild is looking for hand-crafted items. Holiday items are always a hit with bidders! If you are planning to donate items, you can either sign up at the July meeting or contact Barb Pond at vicepresident@acqcolorado.org. 

You can submit your project forms on the ACQ website starting August 1st. Once you have completed the submission form, you may drop off items to Barb Pond or bring them to our August and September guild meetings. I want to give you plenty of time to get something made by September!

We will also need people to help with marketing the auction, including descriptions that entice people to buy the items (sales pitch), people who have photography skills to make photos for the website, and people willing to distribute the goods to the winners after the auction ends. Contact Barb Pond if you are able to help out. This is a short time commitment. 

Help support one of our guild's primary purposes....Charity Quilts includingCPNLS....by helping with the fund raiser. This is the only event wesponsor as a guild to raise funds for batting, thread, backing fabric, plusfabric and lace for the CPNLS blankets. Please consider a contribution tohelp the cause. Contact Barb Pond at vicepresident@acqcolorado.org, or text / call Barb at (303) 910-2572. 

submitted by Barb Pond

What a Quilt Show! I hope that you were able to attend the Festival of Quilts held earlier this month. An INCREDIBLE event with so many BEAUTIFUL quilts! We had 100+ quilts and a great turnout of over 400 attendees! Make sure to look on the website to see the amazing quilts which were honored with ribbons. Special THANKS to Nancy, Jan, and everyone on the Quilt Committee who made the show a success!

Our New Home!  As you've seen and heard, we are moving to a NEW meeting location THIS MONTH! We will now hold our in-person meetings at Our Father Lutheran Church on Holly Street in Centennial. The team took time last week to review the location and work on the logistics for the upcoming meeting. We hope that you will join us for the Guild Meeting on July 13th, 6:30 p.m., at our NEW location.  Our Father Lutheran Church 6335 S. Holly Street Centennial (between Arapahoe and Orchard Roads)

New Events! Do you have an event or an idea for a new event? Would you like to participate or help lead an event? Give me a call! We are looking for volunteers to help with events. We want to create events that our members are excited to attend. We need your help to find new events and volunteers. The team is working diligently on upcoming events for the remainder of the year. Please contact me if you have an idea. I love hearing from our members!

I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying summer. Don't forget to be thinking, planning, or making items for our FALL AUCTION. It will be here before you know it! Have a Safe and Wonderful 4th of July! I look forward to visiting with you soon!

submitted by Diane Sheriff