February 2026 Newsletter
- Claire Paul
- Feb 14
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 15
OUR NEXT MEETING:
Tuesday, February 24 at 6:30 pm
St Catharine Catholic Church, 500 S Gould Rd, Bexley
Please remember to renew your guild membership. This does not happen automatically. To be included in the membership roster, you must renew by the February meeting. Here is the link:
FEBRUARY MEETING:
Becky Campbell from Sewforever Quilting will be our speaker for the February meeting and workshop. Her quilting patterns and products make complicated, time-consuming techniques doable, helping you make the most of your creative time. Becky created her flagship products, Innovative Appliqué and English Paper Piecing Made Easy, after thinking, “There just has to be an easier way to do this!”
Innovative Applique Workshop on Wednesday, February 25 from 1:30 - 5 at the Pataskala Library. Workshop fee: $40 Supply kit: $12
RAFFLE QUILT:
Packets for making blocks for the 2026 Raffle Quilt will be distributed at our February guild meeting. We are asking everyone to participate! This is a quilt made by our guild members to be raffled for our 2026 Quilt Show. The packet includes the pieces for 5 blocks and instructions for making the blocks. The finished blocks must be returned at our March guild meeting. Any questions can be sent to the raffle quilt committee members. If you are not at the February meeting and want a packet, please contact a committee member. The monies made from this raffle will be used to support future programs for our guild. Our committee would like to thank everyone who donated the fabric and time for this quilt.
Committee members
Laurie Nichols
Janice Pryor
Gayle Vargo
Claire Paul
Karen Besselievre
Mary Hoffman
Teresa Witt
Melanie Megias
Tina Siddle
Catie Gynn
Cheryl Nash
MONTHLY FAT QUARTER RAFFLE:
Open to everyone. Receive a raffle ticket for each FQ you donate! Bring green fat quarters to the next meeting.
February - Greens
March - Black & White Prints
April - Tiny Florals
May - Yellows
June - Patriotic
July - Low Volumes
August - Reds
September - Blenders
October - Polka Dots
November – Blues
BIRTHDAY FAT QUARTER SWAP:
The final swap list was emailed to everyone on February 10th. Please stop by the swap table before the meeting to pick up your packet with the labels so that we can attach them to your FQ’s when you turn them in. Because we met via Zoom in January, please bring your January and February FQ’s to the February meeting. If you have any questions, or did not receive the final list, please contact Betsy Zimmerman.
BYLAWS REVISIONS:
The Board has recently revised the Bylaws. Please review the Bylaws attached to this newsletter. We will also hand out copies at the February meeting. We will vote on the changes at the March meeting.
TREASURER’S UPDATE:
Membership dues are rolling in, the final 2025 check cleared, and the 2026 expenses are starting to clear (room rent). As of February 8th, the account balance was $6,750.35. If you have a membership check, please get it to Valerie Rake (Membership) at the February meeting. Betsy will be out of town but will collect everything from Valerie that weekend after. Currently, there are 67 paid memberships for 2026; people who have registered by the February meeting will be included in the member roster.
If you need reimbursed for an expense, please complete the expense form on the guild website and email it to Betsy at elizabeth.truex@gmail.com. The expense form is linked on the Guild Documents page.
OUT OF TOWN RETREATS:
The Spring Retreat will be April 30 - May 3,2026 - Berlin Inn and Resort, Millersburg, Ohio
Spring retreat sign ups will begin at the February meeting.
BRING YOUR CHECKBOOK IN ORDER TO SAVE ON CREDIT CARD FEES!
You must be a paid member by the date of the February meeting to sign up for the retreat.
Shortcut! If you will be paying by check, print this page and complete it at home. Bring it with your check to the February meeting!
A note from Sam and Monique:
Sorry for the delay in publishing this 2026 out of town retreat information. We were still working on the Spring retreat and plans were fluid until last Friday.
We looked at moving the Spring retreat to the Comfort Suites just outside of Parkersburg with a class provided by Brian, The Redneck Quilter from Bolts and Quarters. Monique and I visited the hotel and went to meet Brian last week. The hotel has been under construction for awhile. The renovations are very nice. The conference room would meet our needs. And the room rates are $80.00/night plus tax. Conference room is $500.00 for the 4 days. The hotel staff was really excited to have us come. Brain, from Bolts and Quarters was willing to do a class for us. However, management could not guarantee that the renovations would be complete or that new tables for the conference room would be available. At the current time they have round tables and very old 6 foot tables. There is also no refrigerator available for conference room use. After much discussion and also looking at other hotels in the area, we decided that it would be too risky to schedule the retreat at the Parkersburg Comfort Suites for Spring of 2026.
Out of town retreat schedule for 2026:
To remind everyone the hotel room fees are increasing by approximately $52.00 per night and the sewing rooms for all hotels have increased $300.00 - $500.00, dependent on number of room nights we book. (We have done everything we can do to keep these costs down. If we do not have enough attendees to break even, the retreat will be cancelled per bylaw requirements.)
We have contracts for the following dates.
Spring 2026: April 30 - May 3, 2026 - Berlin Inn and Resort, Millersburg, Ohio
Fall 2026: August 27 - August 30, 2026 - Comfort Suites, Berlin, Ohio
Spring 2027: April 29 - May 3, 2027 - Comfort Suites, Berlin, Ohio *Tentative - location may change to Comfort Suites Parkersburg, West Virginia . If scheduled here, the cost of the retreat will be adjusted.
Fall: 2027: September 9 -12, 2027 - Comfort Suites, Berlin, Ohio
Registration costs:
2 nights - double occupancy: $220.00
3 nights - double occupancy: $310.00
2 nights - single occupancy: $390.00
3 nights - single 0ccupancy: $550.00
Timelines that committee is required to meet under the new contracts: (Again, please note that if we do not have between 36-42 attendees the retreat will be cancelled or the registration fees would need a slight increase. Per the Guild By-laws the retreat is required to break even, which includes the $300.00 deposit for the following year dates.)
Online Registration for Spring Retreat opens: February 24, 2026
Registration closes: March 14, 2026
List of attendees to hotel: March 27,2026
Payment is due to hotel: April 16,2026
If you have any questions please contact Monique Muncy (937) 367-6846 or Sam Chapman (614) 595-2023.
IN TOWN RETREAT:
Spring In Town Retreat - April 17th to 19th
Canal Winchester Community Center
45 E Waterloo St
Canal Winchester OH
Friday night 6:30-10pm
Saturday 9am-9pm
Sunday 9am-3pm
Bring dinner Friday Night
Pizza Provided Saturday Night
Potluck for Breakfast/Lunch Sat and Sunday
Space is limited to 30 at this event.
Cost $45
CHARITY QUILTS:
Our new project for this year is I Spy quilts. Children can look for specific objects, colors, numbers, etc to build language skills. We will primarily use 5.5 inch blocks of novelty prints, in a 6 x 7 block format. Add a border, 3-4 inches. Final quilt top size goal is less than 42 inches on the short side, to eliminate the need to piece a back. Ok to add non-novelty blocks as fillers. Alternatively, you can also use 5-6 inch blocks if you have precuts. I have a good stash of precut squares (thank you Melanie M., Lisa S., and several others who cut FQ or this project) We will assemble kits with 42 squares to distribute. Add your own border from your stash or scraps. Can be 4 different fabrics, because these quilts are colorful.
Contact Jennifer Thurmond Wwaterjen@yahoo.com with questions.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE:
If you become aware of any guild member who is ill, facing surgery, or has had a death in the family, please let Karen Beckley know. Email: karensew@aol.com or text to 614-264-6566, so that a card can be sent out on behalf of all of us.
Also, if you know of any reason to celebrate or receive a pat on the back such as graduation, promotion, or award, we would like to publish it in an upcoming newsletter. Please contact Karen with any celebrations.
Please leave your name and contact info so you can be contacted with any questions.
Comments