Merry Christmas! Elizabeth designed this mini quilt for us, as a thank-you for being a member of the Raincross Quilt Guild in 2023. The checkered block is titled Round the Corner, and we felt it was about right as we come to the end of 2023 and round the corner into 2024. 

Our meeting this next week has a different start time. Please keep reading.

The Goeske Center is transitioning to its Holiday Hours (usually closing at 4 p.m.) but will still allow the Raincross Quilt Guild to have our meeting Tuesday December 19th. The Goeske Center will reopen at 5:30 for our members–if you arrive before 5:30 stay around as the center will be opened for us. At the end of the evening everyone that can, please assist in the potluck cleanup; it would be much appreciated. Should you have any questions please feel to contact President Jeri Read or Charlotte Byrne.

Please bring your Goeske check-in card, your Raincross Quilt Guild badge, Show-and-Share (both regular and Christmasy/Holiday) and a delicious dish to share at our potluck that night. We’ll have our meal first, then go to our Show-and-Share, door prizes and Mystery prize.

• HOLIDAYS, HOLIDAYS, HOLIDAYS!  It doesn’t matter which religious, ethnic or family holiday you celebrate in December, I wish you all peace and joy and love!  Yet, along with the holiday season, we tend to feel some stress and anxiety over shopping or finishing those gifts for our family and friends.  I’m sure you can all relate to that!  So, let’s remember to SMILE:
• S – Sleep at least 6-8 hours every night!
• M – Meditate, pray, have a quiet time and be mindful of what you are grateful for. Take time for yourself to keep stress managed and keep yourself energised!
• I – Interact with like minded friends (quilters) and build relationships with them.
• L – Learn a new technique, or try new color choices or learn a new block . Creativity sparks joy!
• E – Eat healthy.
• During this holiday season and the coming 2024, continue to be kind to each other. We don’t always know the hardships and struggles people are experiencing in their lives.  I love our guild. Connecting  with all of you on the 3rd Tuesday of the month  brings me great joy!

The December potluck is right around the corner, I hope to see you all on December 19th! Please try to bring something for Show and Share. What a great night it will be if everyone brings something!!
May all your stitches be blessed!
Jeri

Dawn Meade, our Membership Chair, reports that as of this month “We have 90 members with 50 attending our November meeting. There were 3 visitors former member Sharon Gilbreath, Ronda Gilbert and Sarah Mwihaki.” Welcome to our visitors and members!

Hi Members,
Just a short note to share some treasurers’ information with you. Our current general account balance available is $3348.32.  This is the money we have available for speakers and other events. 

We also have $2890.74 in our Charity account, this is used for Quilts of Valor and Happy Bags.  We build this account with the sales of tickets for the Mystery box or bag.  Thank you Pam for taking on the challenge of creating this FUN for our members.  Pam is not using the budget available and is contributing all the items for the mystery box.  I’m sure she would accept any items you would like to share.  

In retreat deposits we currently have $1422.  This is because we have to pay retreat deposits before we have collected money from members.  At this time we hold $1600 maximum to use for deposits. 

The total amount of all combined is $7661.06.
Shelly Niles, Treasurer

This year our Guild members enjoyed two retreats.  

In May, our Spring retreat at Vina de Lestonac in Temecula hosted 13 participants.  It’s a beautiful venue, overlooking a grand vista of rolling hills and vineyards. Everyone got their own 6′ table, plus some extra space. The weather and the food were perfect and I think everyone got a lot accomplished. Kelly Crittle brought her popup fabric store and we had lots of fun shopping.  Most of us made a very cute zippered bag as a make-n-take project. 

In October,  we found ourselves back at the beach in Oceanside. We had 17 participants who all enjoyed the beach scenery, rock hunting, Kelly’s popup shop, and listening to the waves crashing on the rocks at night.  Everyone made a mad rush to the back patio and upper deck every evening as the sun went down to get amazing sunset pictures.  [Picture are up on the Activities Tab.] And we DID get a lot of sewing done. Menus and food purchase was handled by Jeri and Barbara, and everyone took turns preparing the meals and cleaning up as “many hands make light work!” This time we had everyone bring their own breakfast, which I think worked well. A grand time was had by all.

Future Retreats

We are currently taking $100 (or more) deposits for the Spring Retreat at Vina, May 3 – 5, 2024. The total cost is $385, which includes all meals. We have reserved 10 rooms for 20 participants, so get your deposit in soon – don’t get left out!
The Board has decided at this time not to reserve the Oceanside venue for the Fall.
Barbara Mathews,  Retreat Coordinator 

To keep track of all our outside activities, please refer to our Activities Tab, in our Header above. This will hold all the details for retreats, field trips, etc. Currently, there are some beautiful photos of the recent Beach Retreat, as well as fun ones from the Hoffman Tour. If you are hosting an activity, or know of one we should be aware of (yes, Quilts of Valor ceremonies too!), please send an email to raincrossqg@gmail.com.

Since Charlotte Byrne, our BOM Chair, dislocated her elbow, no sewing is possible. But check out the tab, above, for a look at the quilt we are making. She write to say; “Arm should be back closer to normal after Christmas and I will have the next block ready for January. After January two blocks remain, then makers can plan to put the blocks together as they like. 2024 BOM is nearly finished and I will have that ready to show the guild in April.”

If you are making the Block of the Month along with us, bring your tops in April for a fun show and share!

We received two letters with notices of things people are giving away or selling. This was posted in November, but it’s probably worth posting again:

#1 I have a couple of boxes of fabric to donate.  I cannot come to your meeting on Tuesday, but I can take them somewhere during the day to a member or… There is a little Christmas fabric in stash.  (from Barbara C.)
NOTE: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS, YOU’LL NEED TO CONTACT HER DIRECTLY. SEE MEMBERS’ CORNER FOR HER EMAIL ADDRESS.

#2 I am helping a friend sell her Mid Arm Quilting machine.  Please see attached pictures and if you are interested or have any questions, please contact her (Pam O’bier) directly at (951) 662-3616.  She will consider all offers. Thank you so much for sharing this information with your quilting groups!
NOTE: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS, YOU’LL NEED TO CONTACT HER DIRECTLY. SEE MEMBERS’ CORNER FOR HER PHONE NUMBER & PHOTOS OF THE MACHINE.

The info for these two items will remain up through the end of December in Members Only, so if you are interested, take down the numbers/email.

If you have news for our Guild, or something of interest from the greater quilt world, the deadline for our next post is WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2024, AT 9 A.M.
It’s always okay to send it early.
Send any items to our guild email: raincrossqg@gmail.com 
If you miss the deadline (it happens), we’ll put it on the next post.

We’ll see you next year!