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 Sewcials, 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 usually 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 remembrance. The December general meeting is on the 2nd Tuesday and is a Holiday pot-luck luncheon.

Workshops on various topics are offered for members 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.

Our Outreach and Groups:

Hugs & 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. This group meets at the Civic Center in Blairsville (165 Wellborn Street) usually 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 makes lap quilts, walker bags and other items needed by the area nursing homes. This group meets at the Civic Center in Blairsville (165 Wellborn Street), usually on the 1st Thursday of each month 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.  This group usually meets on the 1st Thursday, but please check the Guild calendar to be sure nothing has changed.

Community Handwork Group meets at Mountain Quilts in Hiawassee the 2nd Monday of each month.  You do not need to be an MMQG member to attend.  Bring a handwork project - all are welcome.

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. Block kits can be picked up at General Meetings.

Quilts of Valor stitches quilts with love, prayers and healing thoughts for those who have been touched by war. We usually 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 holds week-long sessions for local 4H Club middle and high school students to teach them basic sewing machine operation and complete simple sewing projects. Volunteers are always welcome to come and help these local students get excited about sewing.

Longarm Group meets once a month, usually on the first Tuesday, at the Civic Center in Blairsville (165 Wellborn Street) to discuss topics related to longarm quilting. If you have a longarm machine, or are interested in learning more about them, join this group! 

Art Quilts Group meets once a month to learn to create art quilts. 

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.

ANNUAL RETREAT:

Instead of an overnight retreat, MMQG has started doing occasional "Sleep in yiour own Bed" retreats. Come join us for a few days of sewing, quilting, eating & socializing. 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 , normally in the fall. The show has over 200 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 for 2023-23, elected by the membership:

President: Leslie Boone 

1st Vice President (membership): Nancy Durden

2nd Vice president (facilities scheduling): Shirley Deasy

Secretary: Pat Christ

Treasurer: Sally Montgomery

Committee Chairs:

Art Quilts: Judy Avant

Comfort Quilts: Sarah Sorenson

Education/Quilt Camp: Mary Chamier

Email Messenger: Meredith Warwick

Greeters: Mary Chamier

Heart to Heart: Robin Jones

Historian: Pat Christ

Hostesses: Tracy Phillips

Hugs & Kisses: Tim and Cindy Strike

Longarm Group: Shirley Deasy and Meredith Warwick

Programs & Workshops: Susan Slaton

Publicity/Newsletter: Kathy Traylor

QuiltFest: Tim Strike

Quilts of Valor: Sue Young

Raffle Table: Diane Laslie

Retreat: position open

Webmaster: Kathy Traylor

Committee Descriptions, if not covered above:

Greeters: This committee 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.

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: They are 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.

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 Table: 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.

QUESTIONS? CONTACT US: 

mmqginfo@gmail.com

Mailing address:  P. O. Box 446, Blairsville, GA  30514

MEMBERSHIP FORM:   NAME TAG INSTRUCTIONS: