President’s Message – October 2018

One of the hardest things about being guild president – at least for me – is coming up with topics for this column every month. This month was supposed to be easy – I was going to be able to write about the Mystery Hop! Alas, the best-laid plans… A few days before the hop, I started having cold symptoms, and by Saturday morning they were severe enough that I had to admit I was too sick to join the group (and Terry Simon kindly stepped up to take over as Mystery guide – thanks, Terry!).

It turned out that I wasn’t the only one having a bad day. Just a few days before the hop, we had found out that the online advertised time for the rental van pickup was incorrect – instead of 7 AM, we wouldn’t be able to get the vans until 8 AM, and so the start time had to be pushed back by an hour. On the day of the hop, the start was pushed back by another hour because of mechanical problems with one of the rented vans. Many, many thanks to Susan Winnie and Cindy Caldera who offered their own vehicles to ferry half the group! The hop couldn’t have happened without you, and I’m hoping that, despite the two-hour delay which wreaked havoc with the planned itinerary, people still managed to have some fun on the hop.

But all of this left me with no topic for my column, and still swarming with too many viral particles to think particularly clearly. So instead of a past event, let’s talk about an upcoming one.

From November 1-4, the Pasadena Convention Center will be hosting “Stitches,” a multi-fiber-art expo with exhibits and vendors of interest to quilters, knitters, crocheters, and more. WFQG has been offered a free booth at the expo, where we’ll have a chance to promote the guild to lots and lots of show attendees! We have also been offered discounted admission, and discounts on classes at the events. (If you are on the guild email list, check your email – the card that you’ll need to show for your discount, plus the link to the class list and the class discount code, were emailed to you a few weeks ago. If you don’t receive email, we’ll have some copies of the flyer available at the next guild meeting.) Their promo promises “over 100 vendors offering the latest fabric, yarn, crafting supplies, book signings and [a] new Crafters Playground with free demonstrations and opportunities to try equipment and learn new techniques.” It sounds like this could be a lot of fun!

Of course, if we’re going to have a booth, we need to staff it. The response to the announcement about this at the last guild meeting was quite positive, but we still need a few more booth-sitters: we have one slot open on Friday, Nov. 2, from 4:00-6:00; one slot open on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 12:00-2:00; and two slots open on Sunday, Nov. 4, from 10:00-12:00. We could also use some help with the booth setup on Thursday, Nov. 1, from 3:00-5:00. If you can help, please let me know (pjwnmd@gmail.com).

You can find out more about the show (including our booth location!) at www.knittinguniverse.com/SoCal2018.

See you at the meeting.