Happy New Year everyone !!
Welcome 2016 !

In accordance with our new By-Laws, annual dues of $20 are payable in January. To borrow from our July, 2015 newsletter, your dues support our charity projects; they pay guest speakers; they help us budget programs for the year; they let us go on field trips and hold workshops, and they give you voting privileges. Your dues do matter !

News:
The proposed By-Laws were approved at the December meeting, and election of officers was held with the following result. Welcome our new officers, who will hold office for a two (2) year period.

Officers:
President – Kathy Woods
Vice President – Kathy Wickham
Secretary – Janice Taylor
Treasurer – Louise Jargowsky

Volunteer Committee lists were handed in. Committee volunteers may remain in place for two (2) years, or as long as they desire. If you would like to volunteer on a committee, please let Loretta Twiford know.

 Committees:
Programs – Kathy Wickham, Tina Dietz
Publicity – Carolyn Zaleski
Membership – Ann Ware, Victoria Person, Louise Jargowsky, Claire Hightower
*Historian – __________
Newsletter – Loretta Twiford
Nominating – appointed by President
Audit – Cynthia Luedtke, Claire Hightower

*There is still a need for an Historian (picture taker).

From the Program Committee:
In January, a program on Round Robin will give you a chance to think about participating in the round robin beginning in February. If you have participated in a previous round robin, please bring your completed project.
Tina will present an idea for February and we will be talking about ideas for the rest of the year (gee, the wording makes it sound like a lot of talking, doesn’t it?).

Who, me?
Think about joining a committee, helping with program ideas,  presenting a program, or if you know someone who would like to present a program, share your ideas with Kathy Wickham or Tina Dietz.
Your help is needed for the upcoming Sampler Blocks of the Month; if you would like to provide two block patterns to share with guild members one month, please let Program Committee members know.
Bring in a favorite quilting related item that you got for Christmas for share and tell. Let your items spur some ideas for future guild meetings.
Welcome new members
The dues for Blue Ridge Quilters Guild is $20 annually, payable in January. For new members joining after June, dues for the remainder of the year will be $10.

Community quilt project
Stay tuned for updates as to time and place for a Sew-In.

Upcoming shows and events
Not quite a quilting occasion, but you may remember him . . .

The Botetourt VFW Hall will host an Elvis Birthday Show on Friday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. Elvis would have been 81 years old if he had lived.

Also, our very own Jo Bell will be having a birthday on January 8th. We wish you a very happy birthday, Jo, and many happy returns !!

Virginia Quilt Museum – February 2 – May 7, 2016
Quilt Exhibits at the Virginia Quilt Museum
Three Decades of a Quilting Friendship
Well-known quiltmakers and fabric designers from northern Virginia, Constance Norton and Violet Cavazos curate this exhibit of quilts they have designed together over the past 30 years.

Quilt Study of Civil War Era Quilts
by the American Quilt Study Group (November through mid-March 2016) Responding to the 2014 theme of the American Civil War, quiltmakers created quilts copied from, or inspired by, existing Civil War quilts.

Mary Spitzer Etter Collection
A graduate of James Madison University and a local school teacher in Rockingham County for four decades, Mary Spitzer Etter was not only a quiltmaker but an inspiration to countless young students.

Virginia Quilt Museum, 301 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg,VA 22801
(read more here: http://www.vaquiltmuseum.org/upcoming-exhibits/ )
Now through January 2016
Welcome to My World of Color
Gwen Goepel’s eclectic style comes from utilizing numerous techniques, often including surface design, thread sketching/painting and dense machine quilting. A recurring ‘theme’ in her work is her exciting use of Color!
She prefers to work with an improvisational approach, creating as she goes! Gwen is open to experimentation and ‘what’s new’, yet also includes tried and true ‘traditional’ quilting approaches, constantly educating and challenging herself to improve.
Her inspiration is widespread… in everyday ordinary things, nature, photographs, museums, her travels, publications, the Internet and all types of Art in general.
Oddfellas Cantina, 110 N. Locust St., Floyd, VA
To keep abreast of all the quilt news and happenings in SW Virginia, go to http://www.brqfestival.com and sign up for their email newsletter.

Tips
From Pat Sloan:
From *my online classroom a GREAT hack* for old calendars! (Christy M)
I was going around the house changing the calendars. My granddaughter was there and I shared the pictures from the calendar with her. Then, a lighting bolt hit me, yep, still standing. If I cut all the numbers out of the calendars, I will have a way to organize the block pieces, blocks, and rows of a quilt. Just like the alphabet that is sold for the same purpose. Then, I took it a step further and cut out the months to use to pin to projects I want to do during that month. I think I will find a cute jelly jar to put them in when not in use. Happy New Year to all!

In Closing
Remember to check our website, http://www.blueridgequilters.wordpress.com to keep up with what’s coming up and what has already happened. If you click on the little blue button in the bottom right corner and type in your email address, you will receive an email any time the site is updated. Saves typing that long address each time. Whew !!

 A true friend inspires you
 to believe the best of yourself,
 to keep pursuing your deepest dreams.
(From Shine on, Beautiful Soul)