New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild
in Memory of Jennifer Marks
Jennifer had a long and successful career as a software testing engineer, but her true passion was quilting. She was a dedicated quilt artist, and just as importantly, she was deeply committed to the quilting communities she became part of throughout her life.
Jennifer actually came to quilting in a rather unexpected way. She was looking for a hobby, and one night she dreamed about quilting. The next day, she dove right in. Before long, she was sewing and quilting for hours a day, every day, and she continued doing that for the next 35 years.
Jennifer was always challenging herself. She took on increasingly difficult patterns and techniques and created some incredibly intricate and beautiful quilts. She was never afraid to learn something new or push herself a little further.
But what made Jennifer especially special was that she didn't keep her talents to herself. She gave generously to the quilting communities around her, serving in leadership roles with the Souhegan Quilt Guild, the Sandhills Quilt Guild in North Carolina and our own New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild.
While she was in North Carolina, she also started a modern quilt group within the Sandhills Quilt Guild, creating new opportunities for people who were interested in modern quilting to learn, share ideas, and find their own community.
Jennifer gave so much of her time, her creativity and her knowledge to fellow quilters and to the craft she loved. She made a difference in a lot of quilting lives, and she will be greatly missed.
Honoring Jennifer's legacy
As some of you know, Jennifer was also a very enthusiastic shopper. Whether at quilt shops, quilt shows, or online shopping—she invested in her stash and tools. She left behind a wonderful studio filled with beautiful, high-quality fabrics, notions, patterns, threads, machines and lots of other treasures.
We are planning a quilting estate sale in about a month, and many of those things will be available for other quilters to enjoy and put to good use.
The proceeds from the sale will be used to establish a scholarship in Jennifer's name. It's a wonderful way to carry forward something that was so important to her—her love of quilting, her commitment to learning, and her generosity toward the quilting community.
We'll send the details of the sale by email. I hope many of you will be able to come, find a few treasures for your own studios and, in the process, help us honor Jennifer's memory and continue her legacy.
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September 10, 2026 General Membership Meeting Recap
The meeting was led by Stephanie.
There were 37 members and two guests in attendance.
Thank you to members who helped monitor the door and welcome table and brought delicious snacks.
Raffle Winners
- Laurie B won the door prize, a Purple Thang and a seam ripper.
- Amanda won the raffle for the Fat Quarter bundle.
- Gail C won the raffle for the Big Board.
Guild Business
Secretary (Mary Lou): Nothing new to worry about.
Treasurer (Laurie B): Everything is moving along smoothly.
Events and Programming (Raya):
- Secret Quilt Buddies Project. The November meeting will feature the quilt reveals and swaps.
- Library Quilt Show. If you haven’t already, stop by the Nashua Public Library to see our quilts in the display area on the ground floor. Quilts will be returned to members at the next meeting.
- Second fabric ice dying workshop. The workshop will be held September 19th, 10 AM to 2 PM (rain date September 26th). A couple spots are open. Contact Raya is you want to attend..
- MQG Challenge Quilt. Please get any remaining blocks and leftover fabric to Raya or Ophelia by this coming Saturday, when she will start laying out and assembling the quilt at Ophelia’s.
- Our budget is tight. We need to come up with Fundraising activities. One thing we are going to try is renting a table at the next Greeley park Art Show and sell small quilting items. Raya would love help organizing sewing sessions to make items.
Retreats (Sarah):
- Fall Retreat. We are going back to the St. Methodios Center. Dates are Thursday, Nov. 5th through Sunday Nov. 8th. The retreat will start at 11 AM on Thursday.
- We have a handful of spots open. Please see Sarah is you want to attend.
Communications and Membership (Amanda)
- Membership. Amanda sent around handout and explained the Board’s proposals for changing membership requirements. She led a full group discussion of proposed changes, and various options and issues offered by members in attendance.
Given the following. Currently, we have reached the new membership cap of 75, and have 10 people on our waitlist. We have been getting membership requests at the rate of 1-2 per month. With the historical end-of-year turnover of 1-2 people, it would take 5+ years to admit members on the current waitlist.
The Board proposed the following changes:
- Change the By-Laws (Section 2.1) to require members to attend at least 3 meetings per year to maintain their membership. (Currently it is 1.)
- Remove the sentence exempting former Board members from the meeting requirement.
- These changes require a majority vote by the membership.
In support of the above changes, amend our Policy and Procedures Document:
- Allow past members and any current members who drop their memberships to remain eligible for retreats and workshops at member prices.
- Allow guests on the waitlist to attend as many meeting as they like, with a charge after the first meeting. (We currently limit attendance to 2 meetings. Many other guilds allow more.)
- We will create an opt-in list for past members and people on the waitlist, and will send them notices of retreats and workshops.
Members raised some important issues:
- We initially suggested that priority for retreats would go members, then past members on the opt-in list, then people on the waitlist, then non-officiated guests. Many members suggested putting members and past-members on an equal level with current members, and the Board agreed.
- Does our insurance cover guests at meetings and retreats? Yes. We carry two different insurance policies: a “Directors and Officers” policy, which protects Officers if sued for mismanagement. A separate “General Liability” policy covers all guild-sponsored activities, wherever they are held. It covers a broad range of potential suits – for personal injury, property damages, etc.
- Ophelia asked about the burden of keeping attendance. We already do this to comply with MQG reporting. requirements.
- Chelsea asked if there was a possibility of switching to a new venue for meetings if these changes result in many new people attending meetings. Current and recent Board members replied that over the past three years we have tried to find alternative meeting space but have not been able to find a reasonable-cost alternative. We could try again. We know parking is tight. We can actively promote carpooling.
- One member asked about holding two meetings per month instead of our single meeting, perhaps adding one during the morning. Other large guilds do this. We have maintained the weekday evening meeting time to remain accessible to both working members and retired members. Doubling the cost of meeting space is not feasible within our budget. Perhaps we could offer smaller group get-togethers during weekdays?
- One member asked about adding a Zoom link for members to attend meetings remotely. This is doable – we tried this during COVID. Our approach then was clunky, but we could probably come up with a better system.
- Show and Tell is getting long. The Board agrees, and that is one reason we have been scheduling it after the activity of the month. We could explore ways to better manage our time at meetings. A couple members offered that S&T is the main reason they come to meetings. One suggestion was to create a meeting agenda with a set time for S&T to begin so members could either come for the whole meeting or just S&T.
Community Outreach (Robin):
- Robin announced that she is the main contact for Community Outreach for the next two months while Carol is traveling.
- One of our quilts will be donated to the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter for use in their fundraising raffle.
MEETING ACTIVITY:
Marty Livesay showed us how she made quilted cards and postcards, using various fabrics, stitches, and embellishments. Raya said that cards would be a great addition to our Art Show items for sale.
Announcements
Helen made a sad announcement that member Jennifer Marks recently passed away, having lost her battle with cancer. We will all miss her cheerful presence and service to the Guild.
Gail C told us that quilter/teacher Tara Faughnan is opening another online “Block Collective”6-month workshop on playing with color and design with small projects. Gail and Raya have both participated and enjoyed the workshop. See her website for details.
Beth announced the upcoming quilt show by the Merrimack Valley Quilters guild will be held September 24-25, 2026 in Newburyport. See their website for details.
Show & Tell:
Shelly
Cathy
Robin
Lisa J
Joy -
Sarah
Ophelia
Ashley
Suzanne
Chelsea
Patty M
RESOURCES
Please post quilts, questions, and any other quilt-related information on our private member FaceBook group: New Hampshire Modern Quilt Guild Members. To join, click here.
Keep in touch with other guild members using our private Membership Directory.
Check out our new Member Resources page on our website. Send us your favorites using the email below.
The Guild email address is: nhmodernquilt@gmail.com.
Our Guild mailing address is: PO Box 7206, Nashua, NH 03060.
Be sure to check out all the resources available from the Modern Quilt Guild, a benefit of your membership with us!
See you next month!
--Amanda, Laurie B, and Mary Lou
