This is a list of customs that MVAQN usually follows.
- Meetings: Meetings are usually held on the third Saturday of the month from 1:30-3:30 pm. Sometimes they run longer; sometimes shorter. They are currently held at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 6430 Far Hills Ave, opposite Bethany Lutheran Village and just north of the I-675 exit.. They usually include a business meeting, maybe a demo, and show and tell. There is always time for conversation and sharing. . We have social meetings—parties—at least twice a year, usually one in January to brighten the winter days and one in the summer. The January party includes a “quiltette” exchange. We define a quiltette as a small quilt. The parties are pot luck; so you can expect the food the be varied and excellent..
- 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:
- 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.
- It can be any size, or any material. You name it. It's your piece, not ours.
- 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.
- Can it be something we were working on earlier? Absolutely! Even using this as an opportunity to finish a partially finished project is wonderful!
- Is it graded (i.e. critiqued)? No, unless you want it to be.
- 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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