President’s Message – August 2018

Is everyone enjoying the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer? Speaking for myself, I’m not a huge fan of hot weather, which is one of the reasons I run away for part of the summer. This year, it’s not helping a whole lot – the weather in Maine has been hotter than usual (though not quite as hot as California), with a healthy dose of humidity thrown in, to boot. Not exactly ideal quilting weather! For that reason, if nothing else, fall weather will be welcome when it arrives.

Still, there are ways of coping. One option for dealing with the summer heat is to find a nice, air-conditioned quilt show to attend. As I mentioned last month, late July always brings the Maine state quilt show, where I spent a fun few days (both in the judging room beforehand, and then at the show itself). This year was even more fun than usual, because our membership director Donna Owens, who was in Connecticut at a family event, drove up for the show! She arrived before the show opened, on Wednesday afternoon, and I immediately put her to work, helping hang ribbons and name cards on the judged quilts. It wasn’t all bad for her, because signing her in as a volunteer meant she got free entry to the show the next day! I also introduced her to as many of my Maine quilting friends as I could, because I hold to the theory that there are no strangers – just quilters we haven’t met yet. I hope she had as much fun during her visit as I did. Remember: if you’re planning a summer getaway for next year, Maine during the last week in July is a great place to visit!

Another way to deal with summer is to start making plans for fall. Did you all see the flyers Terry Simon brought to the last guild meeting? Save the date, because on October 6 we’re holding our first Mystery Shop Hop! We’ve reserved a 15-passenger van, and on the morning of the hop you’ll climb aboard with absolutely no idea where we’re headed! (We will bring you back to the starting point at the end of the day, we promise…) All we’ll say is that it’ll involve multiple quilt shops, plus a stop for lunch, and a snack (most likely ice cream, because I’m the one planning this…) before we head home. A mystery adventure and fabric shopping – seriously, it doesn’t get much better than this! We’ll have a sign-up sheet at the August meeting. If we fill the first van, we’ll be happy to rent another one – but we’ll need someone to volunteer to drive it, so be thinking about who you know who might be willing to do that. (Bonus: the driver comes on the hop for free, and gets her/his lunch paid for!)

Stay cool, and see you at the meeting.