Customs of Miami Valley Art Quilt Network HOME

This is a list of customs that MVAQN usually follows.

· Meetings: Meetings are usually held on the third Sunday of the month from 1:15-3:30 pm. Sometimes they run longer; sometimes shorter. They are currently held at Appalachian Quilts, 7577 Dayton-Springfield Road, Rt 444, Enon, Ohio, 937-863-0070. They usually include a business meeting, maybe a demo, and show and tell. There is always time for conversation and sharing. Cynthia Faccenda, member and shop owner, opens the shop about 12:45, and will make sales to attendees before and after the meeting. We have social meetings—parties—at least twice a year, usually one in December for the holidays and one in the summer. The December holiday party includes a “quiltette” exchange. We define a quiltette as a small quilt. It can, but does not have to have, a holiday theme.

· Active Membership: Members are expected to take an active part in the meetings and in supporting the organization by accepting offices and doing whatever needs to be done on the group’s projects. Without this commitment to active membership we will not be able to achieve our goals of improving our work and supporting each other.

· Challenges: Every other month a topic is drawn from “the hat” and that topic becomes the theme for our challenge (homework) for the next two months. Special challenges may be extended for a longer period. Each of us works on a quilt project that reflects our interpretation of the theme. For example, one past theme was “masks”, another “innovation” and another “autumn colors.” Challenges are not meant to be an onerous task. Our original intention was to make us "go outside the box" --or maybe just our own boxes, in accordance with our mission statement. This could be exploring a concept we haven't looked into, or materials, or layout, or...you name it. They are meant to be easily done, and not a burden. However, we recognize that a by-product of this exercise is that we will make a body of small works which have a common theme.

While the homework is "due" every two months, the following applies:

1. It doesn't have to be completely finished at the "reveal" meeting. Even if the member has shown the project at a previous meeting, the challenge piece should be brought to the “reveal” meeting.

2. It can be any size, or any material. You name it. It's your piece, not ours.

3. It can just be what you worked on conceptually. That is to say, perhaps you just did some doodles,

sketches, or even paper layouts on the theme. That works. If you don't want to make a huge time investment

of it (let's face it, most of us have more ideas than we can actually accomplish in one lifetime), that's fine. But,

our goal is to tickle the imagination. These pieces of "homework" are meant to inspire, not create a burden. By

comparing our pieces, or even just talking about them, we can stretch our minds a little bit further to see other

ways of looking at the same theme.

4. Can it be something we were working on earlier? Absolutely! Even using this as an opportunity to finish a partially finished project is wonderful!

5. Is it graded (i.e. critiqued)? No, unless you want it to be.

6. It is intended, however to be fun, as well as giving us a little push into what might be unfamiliar territory.

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