ABC's of MMQG

Misty Mountain Quilters' Guild was founded in May, 1984 to “educate, share, promote and keep alive the craft and traditions of quilting.” We have close to 200 members, most of who live in Fannin, Towns and Union counties in Georgia, and Cherokee and Clay counties in North Carolina.

Membership dues are set annually by the Executive Board and must be paid between June 1 and June 30. There is a $5 late fee for dues paid after June 30. Members are entitled to the following:

• admission to monthly meetings, many of which feature well-known speakers;

• participation in all guild activities such as the Sewcial, workshops, bees, retreat and more (some will have additional fees);

• an information packed website;

• an electronic membership roster;

•  the opportunity to meet quilters of all skill levels and become inspired;

•  the opportunity to learn new and varied quilting skills;

•  the opportunity to volunteer your time and talent to make our guild all it can be.

Membership Terms:

1.  As a member of the Misty Mountain Quilters' Guild, in addition to paying your annual membership dues, you agree to abide by the guild’s By-Laws, which may be found on the Forms & Reports page (see sidebar menu).

2. You agree to make a Moon over the Mountain name tag & wear it at all general meetings.

3. You agree to bring refreshments for sharing to at least one meeting a year in your birthday month (not including luncheons).

4. You agree to participate in at least one Outreach Project per year.

5. You agree to be a part of fund raising efforts that the guild sponsors. This includes selling raffle tickets for the guild’s raffle quilt and may sometimes include other fund raisers.

6. You agree to participate in the guild’s quilt shows. You will be asked to sign up for at least one task at the quilt show. You are encouraged to enter your work in the quilt show but are not required to do so.

7. You agree to follow the rules of the meeting places.

8. No member may use, sell, distribute or give away the guild’s membership roster information for personal gain.

Membership form is at the bottom of this page.

MEETINGS

General guild meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of every month (except December) at First United Methodist Church of Blairsville. We gather at 12:30 PM for refreshments and conversation. The meeting begins at 1:00 PM and consists of a short business session and a program with a regional or national speaker. This is followed by awarding of door prizes, raffle drawings, and Show & Tell by our members.

Our June meeting is a pot-luck luncheon and memorial service. The December general meeting is on the 2nd Tuesday and is a Christmas pot-luck luncheon.

Bees, Classes & Workshops (must be a member to participate except where noted)

Workshops on various topics are offered by the guild during the year. Generally the workshop will be led by the program speaker for that month and is usually held on the Wednesday after the general guild meeting. Workshop times and locations will be announced for each event. Classes may be held one day a week for several weeks; i.e. beginning or intermediate quilting. For workshops and classes there is usually a fee and additional costs for patterns and materials.

Other quilting groups:

Hugs & Kisses meets at the Civic Center in Blairsville (165 Wellborn Street) on the 3rd Thursday of each month. We meet from 10:00 until 2:00. Bring your lunch and essential sewing supplies. You do not need to be a member to participate in this group.

Heart to Heart 

WEBSITE

Information about the guild and its current activities is available at www.mistymountainquiltguild.org and is updated each month shortly after the general meeting.

NAME TAGS:

Our logo is the Moon over the Mountain block. A pattern & instructions are included in New Member Kits. We encourage you to make your name tag as quickly as possible and wear it to MMQG meetings so we can get to know you! A 25 cent fine is levied for not wearing your name tag at the general meeting.

Name Tag instruction sheet
is at the bottom of this page.

PROJECTS:

Comfort Quilts creates lap quilts for our members who have a life-altering illness. Members may make blocks at the request of the committee or participate by donating backing, batting, offering to quilt, or delivering the finished quilt.

OUTREACH PROJECTS:

Hugs and Kisses is MMQG’s equivalent of Project Linus. Quilts are made by MMQG members and donated to neglected, abused and seriously ill children in the surrounding counties. These donations are made by requests from organizations such as S.A.F.E, Reach, and DFACS.

Heart-to-Heart makes lap quilts, walker bags and other items needed by the area nursing homes.

Quilts of Valor stitches quilts with love, prayers and healing thoughts for those who have been touched by war. We meet the 1st Thursday and 3rd Wednesday of every month, 9:30 to 1:30, at Coosa UMC in Blairsville, GA, and welcome any who would like to participate in this effort.

QUILT CAMP:

More information on the above Projects or Outreach Projects may be obtained by contacting the individual committee chairmen found on our Leaders page.

ANNUAL RETREAT:

A 3-day quilting retreat is held each year for current guild members. Classes are offered in a wide range of quilting techniques & skills. The cost of the retreat includes your room and board. Class fees & supplies are extra. Games are played, challenges offered, and door prizes awarded. Come join us in a few days of sewing, quilting, eating & playing. This is a wonderful way to get to know your quilting sisters!

QUILTFEST:

Misty Mountain Quilters' Guild holds a quilt show in the odd numbered years (2015, 2017), normally in October. The show has over 150 quilts which range in size from bed quilts to miniatures within several quilting categories. Quilts are judged with ribbons and monetary awards given to winners. We also have a boutique filled with items made by guild members, several vendors and a raffle quilt for which part of the proceeds also go to a local charity. The success of QuiltFest is entirely dependent on the participation of guild members.

OFFICERS/EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Guild officers are President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice president, Secretary and Treasurer and are elected by the membership. In addition to duties stated in the Bylaws, the 1st Vice President is responsible for membership, and a new member orientation to be held as announced. The 2nd Vice President‘s duties include the Sewcial. These officers and the committee chairmen make up the Executive Committee. A list of current officers, committee chairmen and Guild Bylaws are available by clicking on the appropriate tabs above.

COMMITTEES:

The numerous activities of MMQG are conducted by committees. We encourage you to contact the committees of interest to you since volunteerism is the heart of the Guild and is one of the best ways to meet new people. From time to time, there will be opportunities to volunteer for various projects and activities mentioned at the monthly meetings and on the website.

Comfort Quilts: The purpose of this committee is to show the guild’s love & support to our members who may have a difficult health related issue by coordinating the creation of a lap size quilt or tote with personal items and cards. Committee members will notify all guild members of needs to create these items.

Education: Identifies on-going classes to be taught through the guild (Beginning or Intermediate Quilting), secures instructors, arranges for the facility and assists instructors as needed.

Email messenger: This is usually 1 person, with 1 or 2 more people as backup, who sends emails to all members concerning items of general interest (meeting changes, illness, death, etc.)

Greeters: This committee of at least 3 greets members and guests at all general meetings. The MMQG banner is to be displayed on the outside door of the building. There should be a sign-in sheet for members & guests, along with blank name tags, pens and a box for the no-name tag fines. The sign-in sheets are given to the President who introduces the guests. The member sign-in sheet is used for door prizes. Both sign-in sheets should be given to the Secretary for filing with the minutes. A bulletin board is also available for members to post messages & items for sale.

Heart to Heart:  This committee makes lap quilts, walker bags and other items needed by the area nursing homes.

Historian: This person will keep all papers concerning history of the Guild, both past & present. Photo albums/scrapbooks will be kept up to date. Historian will share information with the Guild as appropriate.

Hostesses: Duties are to sign-up people to bring refreshments each month and have a sign-up sheet for those who plan to attend the luncheons in June & December. This committee is responsible for securing refreshment supplies for each meeting, setting up & decorating tables for refreshments, making coffee. Refreshment area & kitchen must be cleaned at close of meetings.

Hugs and Kisses: This committee coordinates the making of children’s quilts for the Hugs & Kisses project. Responsibilities may include cutting fabric for kits, sewing & sandwiching quilts, assisting guild members in making quilts. Committee members are usually available on the 3rd Thursdays at the Civic Center in Blairsville. This committee also makes arrangements with various organizations in the area to provide the completed quilts to those in need.

Programs/workshops: The programs/workshops committee is responsible for finding and booking guest speakers or planning other activities for the program portion of the monthly meetings and is also responsible for making housing arrangements for the guest speaker, getting information to the speaker regarding the meetings, making sure the speaker has directions to the meeting location, and then introducing the speaker at the meeting. The committee makes announcements at the monthly meeting regarding upcoming programs/workshops and sends updates to the webmaster for future programs/workshops. Other duties include scheduling workshops, registering members for workshops and collecting money from the registrants. Someone from the committee should be present at all workshops to set up the room, assist the workshop instructor in any way possible and put away all supplies after the workshop. The committee is responsible for ensuring the programs/workshops stay within budget.

Publicity: The purpose of this committee is to inform the surrounding communities of the projects, programs and activities of our guild through photos & articles placed in area newspapers and other publications as needed.

QuiltFest: The coordinator's for QuiltFest are responsible for planning and overseeing the organization of our biennial quilt show. They select, supervise and advise a variety of committees to plan, facilitate and bring the show to fruition. This includes rules, guidelines, publicity, set up, vendors, boutique, judges, insurance, decorations, raffle quilt & ticket sales among others.

Quilts of Valor: Quilts of Valor groups around the country have stitched quilts with love, prayers and healing thoughts since 2003 when Catherine Roberts founded the Quilts of Valor Foundation (www.qovf.org). This national volunteer organization is not about politics, it is about people! A carefully made, pieced and quilted Quilt of Valor is awarded to those who have been touched by war. It says "Thank you for your service, sacrifice and valor" in serving our nation and truly making it the "Land of the Free, because of the Brave." Misty Mountain Quilters' Guild has proudly registered as a new Quilts of Valor group as part of Region 8 which includes Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

Raffle: This committee purchases items for a monthly raffle held at the guild’s general meeting and sets up the raffle table with prizes and materials needed for entering and drawing names. During the drawing, someone from the committee supervises the prize table. The money collected is spent on prizes for the next month’s raffle. The committee keeps records on money collected and spent.

Retreat: The retreat committee finds a venue for the retreat and negotiates a contract. The committee then registers members for the retreat, plans classes, games and activities, purchases prizes and solicits donated prizes from local businesses. The committee will work with the event coordinator for whatever venue is chosen to decide the best use of available space, and then oversees the retreat while it is in session.

Webmaster: The webmaster is responsible for updating our webpage every month based on information received from various committee chairmen. The update is usually completed within a week after the general meeting.

Please feel free to contact any officer or committee chairman should you have questions about the guild or if you wish to volunteer to serve on a committee.

MEMBERSHIP FORM:   NAME TAG INSTRUCTIONS: