We kicked off 2025 with a fun sew day and meeting at Home Inn and Suites! Don’t forget to renew your membership by January 31 if you’d like to continue as a member—we have a big waiting list! Be sure to stay connected with us through our website at https://saskatoonmqg.com, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages. We also have a private Facebook chat for members. If you’re having trouble finding us on social media, reach out to Laura for assistance.

At the meeting, we spent some extra time planning for an exciting year ahead! Our volunteers are working hard to make 2025 fantastic, and we can’t wait for all the education topics Roxanne has lined up and for our retreat in March. Our remaining meeting dates for the year are as follows: Feb. 23, Mar 23 and 24 (retreat), April 27, May 25, June 17 (Tues), July 15 (Tues), Aug. 12 (Tues), Sept. 28, Oct. 26, Nov .16 (Nov 23 not available), and Dec.14. We hope to add a workshop in the Fall, so stay tuned. 

We started a bit of optional homework at the meeting (no pressure!):

• Wrapped Door Prize for Feb. 23: Bring a wrapped gift with a maximum value of $15. It should be something you’d love to receive, like quilting items, plants, books, chocolates (just after Valentine’s Day!), etc.
• Block Lotto for April 27: Make a modern improv block using solid black, solid white, and one additional solid color. The block size should be 10.5 inches square. If you weren’t at the meeting to draw a block name from Laura’s cute bag, you can pick one next month or choose any traditional block you’d like to make modern.
• “Dreamlines” Improv Line Quilt: Start your first strip for this improv quilt inspired by Brenda Gael Smith. Roxanne gave a demo on the first line, and if you missed it, you can grab the printout at the next meeting.

A big thank you to Patty and Roxanne for their fantastic inset circles demo! A few tips to remember are that the circles should be cut 1” bigger than the hole. Iron both the background and circle into quarters to help with alignment. Make the background square a bit oversized so that you can trim the block to the correct size once its complete. It is amazing how perfectly the circle fits into the hole! Fiskars has a Fabric Circle Cutter Kit that works great for cutting the circular shapes.

A few books shared were Circle Play by Reynola Pakusich, Joyful Daily Stitching by Valerie Bothell and Kantha by Ekta Kaul. And lastly, there were so many stunning projects on display at the meeting! Check out the photos below to see the beautiful creations from our talented members.

We met via Zoom due to a snowstorm, but that didn’t stop us from having a productive meeting! During our AGM, we extended a big thank you to Laura for stepping into the Co-Chair role. It has been an honor to serve as Co-Chair for the past five years, and I deeply appreciate the trust you’ve placed in me.

We’re grateful to Margaret, who will continue as treasurer, and to Anne, who will join Laura as Co-Chair. I will step into the vacant secretary role, while Sherry will continue as social leader, Roxanne as education lead, and Andrea as retreat lead. Several volunteered to help Andrea too. It’s wonderful to see all these volunteer roles filled—thank you to everyone for your commitment!

We also had the reveal of the word and box challenges, showcasing so many beautiful projects. Unfortunately, the photos I captured on Zoom are a bit blurry, but we encourage everyone to bring their projects to the December Christmas social so we can admire them in person!

Looking Ahead

Our final gathering of the year will be on December 15, and it promises to be a festive and fun-filled day. The sew day will begin at 9 a.m., followed by our meeting, which will start at 1:00 p.m., an hour earlier than usual.

If you’d like to participate in the gift exchange, please bring a handmade, wrapped gift. Don’t forget to bring some treats to share, and most importantly, bring any work you’d like to showcase—especially your word and box challenge projects. We’re excited to see your creations up close!

We look forward to wrapping up the year with creativity, camaraderie, and celebration. See you there!