Letter from the President – Carolyn Cosgriff

It is a joy to be involved with such an active guild! 

The impact in our community and beyond is heartwarming.  Deb Lockwood, one of our long-distance members, will say a few words at the March meeting about the comfort we have offered to the victims of the Kerrville flood.

Susan Brubaker Knapp motivated me to be more adventuresome.  Joyce Hughes will take dimensional thread painting to another level.  And, she’s offering the first workshop of 2026 on Friday.

The Show is building momentum.  Registration is open. T-Shirts are almost all sold.  The large vendor booths are sold.  And, we are already booked into the Plano Event Center for 2027!  It’s unusual for the City to offer us firm dates over a year in advance. 

Further, we’re bound to see some fabulous work come back from the Tanglewood retreat—and hear about all the fun the rest of us missed. 

Just in case you thought we’d given up—a few pages of the web site are now visible on a small screen—AKA your phone.   We have no idea how it got wonky, but fixing it is an extremely time-consuming process.  Just one of many things going on behind the scenes to keep the guild functioning.  

Help Needed:

Newsletter Coordinator:  This person pushes a template reminder to the Board on the 20th of each month.  On the 25th, takes the submitted articles and massages them into the newsletter which is automatically published on the first of each month.   It requires about 5 hours a month.  A newsletter is a critical communication avenue for our membership.  This important role needs to be filled or we won’t have a newsletter soon! President@qgplano.org 

Raffle Quilt 2028: Producing an eye-catching raffle quilt is a labor of love.  The 2027 quilt top is in the final stages.  Then, it will need to be quilted, bound and probably blocked before the show in August.  It’s time to start designing and gathering fabrics for the 2028 quilt.  Get your quilting buddies together and create a fabulous quilt.  I’d love to see your design ideas!  President@qgplano.org

Backup meeting AV Assistant:  It takes two to juggle the meeting technology in both the room and the Zoom attendees.  We need to train a person or two on how to point the camera, etc.  It’s not hard and you still get to be in the room for the entire meeting.  President@qgplano.org 

Please email president@qgplano.org if interested in learning more.

Important Dates

Mar 1–Quilt Show entries open

Mar 10—-Sew Day (Community Service) @ Plano Sewing Center 10-2

Mar 12—–Guild meeting–Wear your QGP lanyard for an extra door prize ticket! 

    — At the Community Service table, donate items for the PISD expectant students–diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, and of course quilts!

Mar 30–Community Service Work Day @ Ready, Set, Quilt (1101 Ohio Dr. Plano) 9–4

April 24 & 25  Tyler Quilt Show, Stitched in the Stars 

May 14–destash your sewing room and bring your unwanted, unfinished items for the Bones Table

If you are new to quilting and would like to spend some time learning the basics, please join Linda Chappell and Donna Petrick in a new venture to mentor beginning quilters.  You will get acquainted with terms and gain the confidence to join in with other groups or the guild workshops.  We have a form we are asking you to complete to see the times everyone will be available and what you are interested in learning. 

Reach out to Donna or Linda for more information.

Membership

Christi Ables and Anna Marie Larrabee

There is a new Zoom link for the monthly meetings.  Find it here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82144960765

FEBRUARY MEMBERSHIP RECAP

109 members attended the February meeting in person or on Zoom.          

We also want to welcome our guests:

• Renee Burson

• Gelene Johnson

DUES WERE DUE BY OCTOBER 1! It’s not too late to renew your membership.

Renew online or come see us at the Membership table at the next meeting.

You don’t want to miss all the great programs, workshops and community service opportunities we have planned for the upcoming year!

Current Members be sure to wear your new black Quilters Guild of Plano neck I.D. You will receive two (2) door prize tickets!

Special Drawing

Fabric Cafe – Snuggly Bug Kit

March Birthdays

Mar 2    Jeanne Vogel

Mar 3    Deb Lockwood

Mar 4    Nancy Minnich

Mar 5    Cathy Daigle

Mar 8    Barbara Collins

Mar 9    Janet Medlock

Mar 11  Patti Griffith

Mar 11  Susan Marshall

Mar 11  Evelyn Meany

Mar 14  Raj Aggarwal

Mar 15  Denise Green

Mar 17  Karen Freeman

Mar 17  Jana McBroom

Mar 18  Karen Woodard

Mar 19  Linda Chappell

Mar 19  Alice Payn

Mar 19  Pam Walsh

Mar 22  Fran Casey

Mar 24  Lorelle Chambers

Mar 25  Lisa Vines

Mar 27  Ashley Stovall

Mar 28  Denise Castelli

Quilt Plano Show 2026 — Carol Truscott

August 14-15, 2026!

Enter your quilt into this year’s show!!

The link is open and ready for you to enter your quilts!! I can’t wait to see what everyone has been working on this past year!!

Our Raffle quilt visited the McKinney Guild in February! If you would like to be part of our Raffle Quilt Road show, get in touch with me. Raffle ticket sales are a big part of our fundraiser for the guild.

Show T-Shirts are flying off the shelf- we are almost sold out!! Contact Fran Levy if you want a shirt before they are gone! Fran Levy-805-298-9743 to reserve yours.

Vendors and Sponsor spots are filling up fast as well!! We may have to start a wait list for some of our booth sizes! 

Who remembers how many mini quilts Kaye said we need for March????

It takes all of us helping to make our show a success, so be on the lookout for news from Dolores about signing up to volunteer. Remember that if you volunteer for the show in any area, you will receive a special charm….Well this year, there might be something special happening with our charms!! Just Saying ….

We have lots of opportunities to help with the show, reach out to me so I can help you get plugged in!!

One last thing- remember to turn in your volunteer hours to Donna Petrick so that you can get a  bar to hang your charm on! 

Don’t forget~~

To honor the Semiquincentennial celebration of the United States, the Quilters Guild of Plano will feature a special judged category for the Quilt Plano 2026 show sponsored by the James Billingsley Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.The 250th celebration committee are: Tisha Harms, Carolyn Cosgriff, Carol Truscott, Bonnie Landon and Roxy Gross, contact any one of us with questions.

ShowChair@QGPlano.org

Guild Activities – Donna Allenbaugh & Sally Pitre

Coming to you “live” from Tanglewood Resort on Lake Texoma—where we’re enjoying fabulous weather at the Plano Quilt Guild Annual Retreat!

In our next newsletter, we’ll share highlights of the many projects completed, started, and created for community service. Right now, we’re in the thick of games, door prizes, treasures from our pop-up shop, and fun finds at the Bones Table!

Please bring your completed pieced tops from the community service challenge  “Shop: Bag or Roll” to the March meeting.  We will have a quick photo opportunity featuring more than 45 quilt tops created by our members to support the community. Our amazing Community Service volunteers will be adding backings, quilting, and binding before these quilts are donated to our partner organizations.

The March meeting will also feature a fun Match Game night showcasing many of the new fabrics launching in the next six months!

Speaking of challenges, April brings the Apron Challenge! If you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to stop by the Activities table. Make an apron and join the gift exchange at the April meeting!

Contact: activities@qgplano.org with any questions.

Education – Debbie Burns and Deanna Tucker

We have planned some helpful tips, fun blocks and creative sewing and quilting demos for 2026.  

At the February meeting, Debbie Burns showed how to make a cute and simple heart block using half square triangles.  Download the Heart Block pattern.

March 12 will be a fun demo on how to “BLING” up your quilts and wallhangings presented by Donna Petrick. 

April 9 we will learn how to make vinyl project bags with Carol Esch.    

If you have any suggestions, ideas and /or would like to present a demo, please stop by the Education table and let us know.

Debbie Burns and Deanna Tucker

education@qgplano.org

Programs and Workshops — Kim Iverson and Andrea McMahan

March is an exciting month as it brings with it our first workshop of 2026.  We will welcome Joyce Hughes to our March meeting as she shares with us inspiring details of her journey to Art Quilting.  Friday’s workshop will be a creative approach to quilting using thread painting.

Please remember to sign up for the upcoming workshop that catches your eye.  We are seeing a pickup in registration activity and want to be sure your seat is reserved.

Upcoming Programs

March – Joyce Hughes presenting Dimensional Thread Painting & Sketch, Color and Quilt, March 13th and March 14th.

April – Rob Appell presenting Quilts from the Sea and Beyond April 9th

June – Allie McCathren presenting Seaglass Quilting June 11th.

October – Diane Harris presenting StarQuar Scrap Quilts October 9th and Fowl Play a three October 8th.  Workshop details coming soon!

Check out the details for these workshops or register at https://www.qgplano.org/activities/programs/ or stop by the Programs table to check out the other 2026 offerings.  We look forward to chatting with you!

Upcoming Workshops

March is our first workshop of the year! Joyce Hughes presenting Dimensional Thread Painting & Sketch, Color and Quilt, March 13th.

April brings 2 Rob Appell workshops:

Friday, April 10: Scrap Masters

Saturday, April 11: Tumbling Blocks

BOTH DAYS ALMOST FULL!  SIGN UP TODAY!

In June, Allie McCathren will lead her Seaglass workshop on Friday, June 12th

For more information about our workshops or to sign up online, check out our webpage here: https://www.qgplano.org/activities/programs/

Community Service – Jeanne Vogel and Susie Luttrell

First a big Thank You to all those that emptied our bins of quilts to be quilted/bound/or pillowcases kits. Thank you!!   

In January, we began distributing kits for the Guild Activities, and we already have two tops turned in! This activity will provide the guild with numerous tops, so if you have coordinating backing fabric in your stash, we would greatly appreciate it if you could contribute that as well — and make the binding from your leftover strips.

March and April are our months to collect items for the PISD students who are expecting a baby while still in high school. They welcome diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, bottles and of course quilted bibs, burp cloths and quilts.

We are partnering with the Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) of Dallas and Ft Worth. TRAC supports young people ages 16–24 who are transitioning from foster care into adulthood. Serving youth across a 19-county region of North Texas: Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Collin, Ellis, Cooke, Parker, Johnson, Hood, Erath, Palo Pinto, Somervell, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall counties. About 86% of all the youth served  come from Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Parker County.  About 70% of the young women they serve are pregnant or parenting by the age of 21, many welcoming their first child while building a stable home for the first time.

TRAC is  assembling New Parent Kits to support these young families, and would love to include a handmade baby quilt in each one. Their goal is to collect 50 baby quilts each year. So visit our Community Service table to pick up a baby quilt kit. The director of TRAC is coming to speak to us at the May meeting and take home the baby quilts, made with the love of the members of QGP.

Great news! You no longer have to wait for the next guild meeting to drop off your completed donations. We now have donation bins available for your convenience:

🧵 Plano Sewing Center   2070 W Spring Creek Pkwy, Plano, TX 75023
🕘 Hours: 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM

🧵Ready, Set, Quilt  1101 Ohio Dr., Suite 108, Plano, TX 75093

🕘 Hours: 9 AM – 4 PM; Sat. 9AM-2PM

Thank you for helping support our community through your generosity!

Jeanne & Susie

communityservice@qgplano.org

Quilts of Valor – Carolyn Cosgriff & Donna Petrick

Four quilts were awarded to Viet Nam Purple Heart recipients on February 21, two Army, one Air Force and one Marine veteran. 

All four remember the day they were injured with explicit clarity.  It re-enforces the scars left by war. 

These quilts were made by Adrienne Poppe, LuGay Chiang, Valerie Salter, Richard Larson, Dianne Cronenberg, Patricia Kopek, Sue McCormick and Monica Hendewerk.   Many thanks to all who contribute!

Show and Tell

Mission (not) Impossible

Thanks you to everyone who participated!  Here are just a few of the quilts made from the 1 1/2 pounds of coordinating fabric with no instructions included.  

Meetings on Zoom

Hoop it Up Bee

1st Monday from 10am – 12pm

Donna Petrick

Hoop It Up!

Come join us for a machine embroidery Zoom meeting

Contact donna.petrick@gmail.com

Chicks with Feathers

3rd Saturday from 1pm – 3pm

Dana Braden

Sit & sew at home with your Singer Featherweight.  Tips, tricks, and advice to make straight stitch sewing simple and precise.

If you have not previously notified me, please email: pickincotton26@verizon.net to get the invitation to join the Zoom meeting.

In Person Meetings

Sew Happy Quilters

Aurora Chancy

achancy@msn.com

1st and 3rd Thursday 9am-4pm

• Sam Johnson Recreation Cetner @ 401 W. 16th St. Plano

• Bring your own project, sewing machine, and supplies

• We have lunch together at the Gazebo Cafe for $5 or less

Fourth Friday Featherweight Friends

Jeanne Vogel

pickincotton26@verizon.net

We’ve branched into 2 locations – so reservations are needed!

March 20th:

Meeting at the Best Little Retreat Center in Texas from 9am – 9pm

— Singer featherweight sewing machines were we share tips for caring for the machine, our best notions and have several members experienced with problem-solving solutions

Make your reservation by calling 469-708-2378 or email: info@blrcit.com

March 27:

Meeting in Plano at Ready, Set, Quilt at 1101 Ohio Dr.

— Sewing from 9am-4pm

— Make your reservation by emailing pickincotton26@verizon.net

Sit N Sew Community Service Day

Susie Luttrell &       Jeanne Vogel

communityservice@qgplano.org

2nd Tuesday 10am – 2pm

• Plano Sewing Center, 2070 Spring Creek Pkwy #326, Plano

• Bring your sewing machine and sewing supplies

Turn your treasured tees into a cozy quilt!  Our custom T-Shirt quilts are perfect for preserving memories.

Longarm edge-to-edge and custom quilting available.  Call for more information.

Liz’s Quilting Corner

Allen, Tx

214-532-1394