Special Update March 2020

Welcome to this special update.  It is only days since we promoted so many exciting events for March and in that time, so much has changed due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This is to give you details of how QuiltNSW is responding in the short term and to advise of cancellations or postponements to previously advertised events. At this time, the Committee has put in place arrangements to the end of April and for our General Meeting in May. We will monitor the situation as it unfolds and continue to change our plans in response. The Committee has considered very carefully the health and wellbeing of volunteers and members in making decisions about what should continue at this time.  We have agreed that everyone's health and wellbeing should be our primary focus.  For that reason, the Committee has determined that the office will be closed to members and office volunteers until the end of April.  We understand that this will cause service disruption to members and for this we apologise. However, we ask for your understanding in the circumstances. The Committee has also decided that it is not prudent to host gatherings of members in the short-term, particularly large gatherings.  Some events will be cancelled while others, wherever possible, will be rescheduled to later in the year.  The first to be postponed is the 'away meeting' that was to be hosted next weekend by the Novocastrian Quilters - a new date will be planned. For March and April, we won't be hosting Friday Showcase, Community Quilts, Appraisals or Pop Up Sewing Days. In these uncertain times, there are likely to be further event postponements and cancellations.  We will communicate with members regularly and as accurately as we can.  Special email updates will be sent to members when we have news to share, so I encourage you to read and share this news with members who might not have access to email.  We will also use Instagram and Facebook and endeavour to keep the calendar and QuiltNSW website up to date. Your may be wondering whether the 2020 Sydney Quilt Show will go ahead?  The Committee is in close contact with Expertise Events, organiser of the overall event, and as soon as there is information to share, we will let you know. Member groups who wish to use these special updates to communicate changes to their forthcoming exhibitions or events, should please send details to Andrea Beattie. You can also get in contact with Mandie Tyler. Take care, Mandie Tyler, President Read on for details Member events and meetings - changes to dates   Novocastrian Quilters were to host the the Away meeting on Saturday 21 March. This meeting will be rescheduled to later in the year.  The new date will be advised when it is confirmed. QuiltNSW Office - closed until end of April. The QuiltNSW office in Pitt Street Sydney, normally staffed Monday - Friday, will not re-open until the end of April. We understand that this will cause some disruption to services, however the decision has been taken in the interests of the health and wellbeing of our volunteers.  If you need to contact the office, you can email office@quiltnsw.com or you can call on 02 92833733  and leave a message.  Emails and telephone messages will be checked regularly and responded to. The library will not be able to be used during this time. If you have books on loan, please hold on to them until the office re-opens or someone contacts you to return them. Quilt appraisals will also not take place. The next scheduled appraisal day was 10 April. This has been cancelled. General meeting, Saturday 16 May - cancelled. Our next general meeting was to be held in mid-May. We know that some members travel to attend and make arrangements in advance. It is a large gathering in normal circumstances, and therefore unlikely to be able to go ahead in the current environment, hence this early cancellation notice. Community Quilts - Saturday 28 March - cancelled. Jenny Haynes Trunk Show - Friday 27 March, Powerhouse Museum and workshops with Jenny Haynes - Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 March, Powerhouse Museum. At this time we are not able to provide information about these events. Further information will be available soon. Quilt and textile exhibitions - changes to dates Australasian Quilt Convention - Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne - postponed to 20-23 August. 'My World of Colour in Pathwork & Quilting' Exhibition - Moran Gallery, Sylvania - closed.Life Member, Lynn Hewitt has advised that her solo exhibition at Moran Gallery, with dates from 12 February to 5 April is closed until further notice due to the health risk to residents of the nursing home adjacent to the gallery. Sydney Royal Easter Show - cancelled. The organisers of the Sydney Royal Easter Show have cancelled this year's event. Any members who were participating as exhibitors will be contacted directly by Show organisers.

Bushfire & Drought Relief: Message from the President

Calling all QuiltNSW members: We have had numerous enquiries about how we, as a community, can help the bushfire victims, especially those who have lost everything. Whilst there may be occasion to donate quilts at a later date, we believe donations of money is the immediate need, which is indeed currently suggested by the RFS. So here’s how we can help:

• Raffle a quilt on behalf of your group
• Donate the money directly to the charity
• Email me the details of your group and of your donation and we will keep a running total.

On the flip side of this, we should not forget the victims of drought, so maybe raffle one quilt for the bushfire victims and one quilt for those affected by drought.For donations to bushfire victims, the RFS website suggests the following for donations:

• Australian Red Cross Disaster Recovery and Relief
• St Vincent De Paul Society Bushfire Appeal (NSW)
• Salvation Army Disaster Appeal

For donations to drought victims please see CWA of NSW Drought Aid.
We will, as a committee, reach out to several organisations, advising that we can help with quilts when they are required. If you know of any local need or QuiltNSW members that need help please let me know.

Stay Safe.

Mandie Tyler
QuiltNSW President
president@quiltnsw.com

Christmas Greetings

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Here's hoping that 2016 is happy, creative and filled with opportunities to socialise and share our love of all things stitched.

A reminder that the Quilt NSW  office will be closed from Friday 11th December  to Monday 11th January 2016.

See you at the Volunteers Lunch on January 30th?

New Management Committee Positions

Following our AGM, Amanda Daly has moved into the President’s position with 3 new committee members, Chris Jurd, Jan Foster and Dale Cox taking up committee positions.

We welcome the new committee members on board and look forward to a full and rewarding year ahead.

President – Amanda Daly

Vice-President – Dale Cox

Treasurer – Megan Manwaring

Secretary – Di Tramontana

Minute Secretary – Robin Allan

Exhibition Secretary – Sandra Harvey

Template Editor – Jan Foster

Publicity and Sponsorship – to be advised

Meeting Coordinator – Salley Govey

Membership Secretary – Chris Jurd

There are always many volunteers needed to fill a variety of jobs both long and short term, please contact a committee member if you would like to help.

Moving forward ……we are now ready.

Following the article “Moving Forward…..Is The Guild ready?  written by outgoing President, Linda Butcher and placed in the August 2015 issue of The Template, we have received only positive comments. 

This was reflected in the overwhelmingly affirmative vote when members were asked to pass the motion to adopt our new operating name at the AGM.

The management committee is committed to help our organisation to flourish and move forward into the future with a fresh new image. We are looking forward to increased membership, the development of new programs, more younger quilters amongst the membership and new methods of communication taking us into the 21^st century.

The new name is short, easy to say and it honours the tradition of our Guild while looking to the future.

While we will be known in the future as “Quilt NSW” (the spoken version of this is “Quilt New South Wales”), we will still retain our official registered business name of “The Quilters’ Guild of NSW Inc.

Please note the logo/name as shown above is a non-professional draft copy only. A streamlined new one has been commissioned.

The change over will take a while to complete, so please adopt “Quilt NSW” as our new name straight away and you will notice the new name alongside the existing logo starting to appear over the coming months.

Amanda Daly

President

Quilt NSW

president@quiltersguildnsw.com

Office Holiday Closure

The Office of the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will be unattended from 3pm December 12 2014 until 10am January 12 2015.

All postal mail will be kept back by Australia Post.
All Library books should be retained until the office re-opens. 
Please do not leave LIbrary books at the door of the office. 
Please do not post Library books to 'The Guild'.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Festive Season.

Incoming 2015 Committee update.

The choice of Stitch Bar in Sydney's CBD was inspirational for an initial social gathering of the newly elected committee of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc.

Surrounded by rows and rows of old treadles bolted to walls, exotic wall art and dress pattern wallpaper, and tempted by a flamboyant cocktails menu, the President Linda Butcher and Vice President Amanda Daly ensured that the fresh Office holders felt like this was the start of a new adventure and that all would be inspired to move the guild forward within the Australian quilting fraternity.

There is a large turnover of personel this year, all coming to to their positions with a wide range of skills, both creative and organisational.

Congratulations to all elected members upon accepting the challenge to administrate this busy and flourishing guild.

President                        Linda Butcher

Vice President               Amanda Daly

Treasurer                       Megan Manwaring

Secretary                       Di Tramontana 

Exhibition Secretary       Sandra Harvey 

Meeting Co-ordinator      Salley Govey

Membership                  Sue Rowles

Minute Secretary           Robin Allan 

Template Editor             Michelle Jacobs

Publicity / Sponsorship   Robyn Shipton

Training Day in the Guild Office

On Monday volunteer stalwarts and newcomers alike were treated to an in-depth expose of the inner workings of the Guild Office.
Led by the very organised and patient Office Manager, Jane Gibson, the gathered quilters learnt or were reminded of the responsibilities and procedures involved, that if followed correctly, ensure this large organisation functions without hiccup.  

Jane Gibson explaining the checklist of Office Duties. 

Current quilts on the Office walls show the the client quilts and machine quilting expertise of Christy Wang, 

the most recent Friday Showcase presenter.

This training day was extremely valuable in light of the fact that the next few weeks will be particularly busy in the office.

Membership renewals are due soon, there are still many queries to field regarding the July Sydney Quilt Show, The Template is to be posted, and Raffle ticket monies will be arriving.

All members are reminded that the office duties administered by the enthusiastic volunteers under Jane's charge, are made all the easier to manage when members have read Flyers, The Template  and forms and documents, carefully, and proof read all personal details on returning forms and cheques. 

The training session wasn't all "heads down". A most welcome and tasty luncheon arrived for the participants, accompanied by the mirth and friendship that eventuates when quilting volunteers are gathered!

Please contact Jane should you be able to offer your time as a volunteer. She is more than happy to give individual help to anyone who missed out on attending Monday's session.

Office Holiday Closure

The Office of the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will be unattended from 3pm December 13 2013 until 10am January 13 2014.

All postal mail will be kept back by Australia Post.
All phone messages to the office will be accessed periodically.
All Library books should be retained until the office re-opens.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.

Guild Meeting Nov 2013

The final 2013 General Meeting of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will be held on Saturday 30 November.

Please be advised:

• A different way of conducting meetings is to be trialled. During the "Business" part of the 1pm component, an update of what the committee have been doing since the previous meeting will be briefed, with verbal reports from Committee and Subcommittee members being given only if there is something important to relay. All reports of a general nature will be displayed for individual perusal on a notice board at the function room. There will be opportunity during the meeting for matters regarding the reports, to be raised, if required. This format is a Trial Only. Fine tuning and changes can be made for future meetings.

• The Constitution Subcommittee  will be presenting the new Constitution and advising upon recommended changes, with any questions and queries to be addressed. 

Date : Saturday November 30
Programme :
                   11 am : Thread Painting Demonstration by Cathy Jack Coupland
                    1 pm  :  General Meeting
                    Guest Speaker : Sue Cody
                    Featured Shop: Fabric Garden
                    Guest Group : Rosemount Quilters
Venue : "The Dome"
              Burwood RSL
              Shaftsbury Rd, Burwood

All welcome!

Draft Guild Constitution for Comment

A Guild subcommittee is working on a new constitution for the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc.  The draft references the existing constitution, the model constitution under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 (NSW) and the special requirements of the Guild. Guild members are invited to review and comment on the draft constitution.  Download:

• Draft constitution (225KB PDF)
• Summary of proposed changes to the constitution (100KB PDF)

The subcommittee will give a presentation on the draft constitution at the 30 November general meeting of the Guild and be available to answer questions.

Any comments on the draft must be submitted to the Guild secretary by 16 December 2013.

The Committee will then settle the draft to submit to members so that the constitution and resolution for approval will be sent to members with the Template quarterly newsletter in February 2014. The resolution will be tabled for approval at the April general meeting of the Guild.

Your input is welcome. This is an opportunity for members to participate in the development of the new constitution and to ensure the new constitution addresses the Guild’s current and future needs.

President published!

Australian Quilters Companion recently published  Issue No.4 of Great Australian Quilts.
This particular issue includes interviews and quilts to make from not only quilters well known to members of The NSW Quilters' Guild Inc, but also a quilt by our current President, Cath Babidge.

Cath has her original quilt "Boab Tree" showcased, with piecing and applique instructions included.

Further news of Cath's quilting prowess is that she has "Red Centre" included in the SAQA Benefit Auction 2013

As a member of SAQA Oceania, Cath has donated a quilt that pays homage to the Australian Wagga, and this will be auctioned at The International Quilt Festival in Houston.

Congratulations Cath!

However, Cath, after three busy and productive years,  will be going off Guild Management Committee at the October General Meeting of The NSW Quilters' Guild Inc on 19th October. 

This means the President's role will be vacant.

All committee positions will be declared vacant, thus should you be interested in nominating for a position, then please contact the President if you would like further details.   

October Quilt Valuation Day - postponed

Notice to members of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc is hereby given of the cancellation of the proposed forthcoming October Quilt Valuation Day.

No longer to be held on Friday 11th October, as listed in The Template August 2013 Issue, this event will now be scheduled for Friday 8th November.
Apologies for any inconvenience to interested members.

Membership Reminder

Did you know that you can renew your membership to The Quilters' Guild of NSW whilst at the Sydney Quilt Show next week?

At the Guild's Information Table there will be banking facilities to make your renewal easy if membership fees havent yet been mailed in to the Guild Office.

Membership is from 1 July to 30 June the following year.
Payment is required now from all current members to ensure continuity of  membership.

Stitches & Craft Show: Still Seeking Volunteers

Thank you to everyone that responded to the previous call for volunteers. The Guild still seeks volunteers to staff the Guild booth and demonstrate BYO sewing at:

Stitches and Craft Show 

Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney

7-10 March 2013

10am -4.30pm each day

(Free tickets provided by Expertise Events)

Please e-mail  the Guild President if you are able to assist to promote the Guild at this event.

Seeking New Guild Secretary

The Guild is seeking a new Secretary to join the management committee.  Margo-Lynne Lee has stepped down as Guild Secretary to complete her fine arts studies. She will be around to give any assistance. Please consider volunteering for this position.  E-mail the Guild President for further information.

Secretary Duties:

• Attend monthly committee meetings
• Reply to all correspondence as directed by the committee 
• Carry out any instructions given by the committee
• Take minutes of meetings if Minute Secretary is unable to attend
• Update list of committee and contacts
• Maintain calendar of Guild activities
• Attend Judging Day and set-up day of the Annual Quilt Show (if  available) 
• Be available for duty at the Quilt Show 
• Arrange Gala Dinner in June

Stitches & Craft Show: Call for Volunteers

The Guild seeks 3-4 member volunteers per day to staff the Guild booth and demonstrate BYO sewing at:

Stitches and Craft Show 

Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney

7-10 March 2013

10am -4.30pm each day

(Free tickets provided by Expertise Events)

Please e-mail  the Guild President if you are able to assist to promote the Guild at this event.

Office Summer Closing Dates

The Office of The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc will close for business on the afternoon of Friday 14th December.
Business will resume after the summer break on Monday January 14th 2013 at 10am.

Please do not return any Library books until 14 January.
Wishing all members a happy and safe Festive Season.

Quilt Images : Policy.

Many quilt enthusiasts visited this years Quilt Show accompanied by their camera!
The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc. approves the desire to take photos of the exhibition for one's own records only.
There is a Photographic Policy that States :

Quilt photography is permitted for personal use only.  Images must NOT be published online or in other media unless you have the consent of the relevant quilt maker.  If you wish to photograph and publish for commercial purposes, please apply to the Membership Desk for special permission.

Many online media users (Facebook and Bloggers) are accompanying Quilt Show reports with photos of quilts plus a snap of the accompanying swing tag showing Maker's name and Quilt Inspiration / construction details alongside.

The addition of these details in another photo does not negate the policy that quilt images must not be used.

All quiltmakers must have given personal approval for any image of their quilt being journalised in any public on-line forum.

Office hours

The Guild office closes Friday 9 December for the summer break.

The office will reopen on Monday 16 January 2012.