Our in-person meetings will be held at the Chanhassen Recreation Center, 2310 Coulter Blvd., Chanhassen, MN. The regular meeting night will be the second Monday of the month. See the individual meeting information for any changes to time or place for special meetings. Our meetings social time starts at 6:30 pm, the business portion starts at 7pm unless listed otherwise for an individual meeting. Some in-person meetings will feature a speaker presentation over Zoom.
NOTE: If the Eastern Carver County School District calls a snow day, the Community Center is closed, and our meeting will be canceled.
Meeting News
Upcoming 2025 Meetings
April 14th meeting Comfort Quilt Night 6pm start time
May 12th meeting featured speaker Penny Kaspzak
June 9th meeting featured speaker Debbie Boyles
July 14th meeting Picnic in the Park
August 11th meeting featured speaker Jean McElvain
September 15th meeting featured speaker Jeremy Chavis
October 13th meeting featured speaker M.J. Kinman
November 10th meeting featured speaker Tom Maidl
December 8th meeting Holiday Party
2025 Meeting Details
April 14th meeting This meeting will be our annual Comfort Quilt Work Night with special 6pm start time. Join fellow members in stitching quilts that will make their way into the hands of refugees, abuse victims, veterans, elder care residents, and children who are severely sick or injured.
Here's how comfort quilt work night works:
• Come with your sewing machine, an extension cord and basic supplies, ready to sew together a quilt top along with several other members.
• Ironing boards and irons are also needed.
• If you prefer not to bring a machine, you can serve as an assistant to the sewers, helping to cut, pin and press.
• The committee will bring batting and fabric from the club’s comfort quilt stash, as well as kits made from the comfort quilt blocks you’ve turned in over the last few months. Pick from kits, bundles or loose fabric to make something that evening or to take home to finish later.
• You can also stop by just to pick up fabric. Many club members like to use their stash to make a comfort quilt but rely on the club to supply backing and batting. Come browse our selection.
• Throughout the evening, we will have a few prize drawings.
Our inventory of backing fabric is getting low, so if members have pieces of fabric of at least 1½ yards taking up space in their closet, consider donating the yardage to the club. Neutral or blender fabrics are best, but we can use it all!
To help us better plan for the evening, please email Carolyn S. at the address in the newsletter if you plan to bring a sewing machine and/or an ironing board. We look forward to seeing everyone! Please, remember that start time is 6 pm.
Note: A reminder for any persons who attended the January club retreat and took pre-cut X-blocks to make for our Comfort Quilts, please bring them to the April sewing night (completed or not) so that they can be added to the blocks already turned in. They were from a coordinated fat quarter pack so we would like to finish the 12-block quilt. If not able to attend the meeting, please contact Sharyn R. at the information in the newsletter to make arrangements to get them to Sharyn convenient time. Thanks much.
Check out the newsletter for more information on the following:
WANTED: 2024 Blue Explosion Denim Quilts
Minnesota Quilters is interested in creating a SPECIAL EXHIBIT, at the St Cloud Show in June 2025, with your works of arts created for our 2024 Blue Explosion Challenge. The MQ exhibit will link with one of their show teachers who will be working with denim.
You do NOT have to register your quilt, it will be a Group registration, that Paulette M. will handle.
Paulette will be collecting the quilts, transporting them to St. Cloud, and bringing them back to Chaska. The exhibit will be part of the larger group of Special Exhibits that is being put together. If you are interested in showing your denim quilt, please contact Paulette. Her contact information is in the April newsletter.
Comfort Quilt News:
The club has had a special request for quilts (patriotic, if possible, or masculine in color) to give to homeless veterans. “The Hopkins Elks does a lot of work here in the Twin Cities getting homeless veterans into housing and they put together “Welcome Home Kits”. They do about 150 kits per year and have helped find housing for approximately 1200 veterans in the last nine years. They would be thrilled to have quilts to put into their welcome home kits, if we have any to give them, especially patriotic, but ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated.”
These quilts are not Quilts of Valor as that organization has specific parameters that their quilts must meet. The Comfort Quilt Committee is accepting any pattern or size quilt, although lap to twin size would be preferred. Several members took patriotic fabric kits home in February and the committee will have a bit more red, white, and blue fabric available at the March meeting. Members are welcome to take this fabric to use in quilts for this important cause.
This year we will be using the Crosscut block in our comfort quilts. Use your scrappy stash and stitch up a few blocks to turn in at the February – April meetings. We’ll use the blocks to make quilts kits for sewing at our Comfort Quilt sew night in April. Instructions for making a block can be downloaded here. Please consider making a few blocks using a bright print and black and white printed or solid backgrounds made with the Crosscut pattern.
If you want a bigger project, check out the kits brought to the meetings or contact Sharyn R. She can provide batting, backing, kits and bundles. Her contact information is in the newsletter.
Making a comfort quilt at home? Approximate sizes desired
Kid’s size – 40 x 50”
Lap size – 50 x 60”
Twin size – 60 x 70”
Fidget quilts – 18 x 20”
Kid’s/Teen’s pillowcases – Cut 27” WOF and a 9” WOF border
Quilts of Valor – minimum size 55 x 65
Membership News:
Please be sure your dues are up to date so that you do not miss any important information. We have great speakers lined up for 2025 and don’t want you to miss out. Per our bylaws, your name will be removed from our monthly newsletter and monthly meeting roster if your dues are over two months late. However, it is easy to get back on. At our monthly meetings, bring your check or use Clover to electronically renew. If you wish to pay dues with credit card, but cannot attend the meeting, you may request an invoice be sent from membership OR you can send mail a $35 check (made out to CAQC). Send emails to caqcmembership@gmail.com or use the USPS mailing address contained in our monthly newsletters.
Mystery Quilt 2025 News:
Yes, there will be a mystery quilt again this year since it’s a non-show year for the Club. It was supposed to officially kick off in April, but there is pre-kickoff notice in the March newsletter which will describe the quilt and the amount of fabrics needed. The April newsletter mailing will contain at attachment with the cutting directions.
The finished quilt measures 60 x 60 with a medallion type center and several borders, some of which are block rows. It’s not a sampler, but there are several different blocks. The quilt is a straight set, not on point, and has five fabrics – a print, two darks, and two lights. The print should be relatively small, and can be floral, swirly, or just something you like. Then pick out two darker coordinates that will be both parts of blocks, as well as narrow borders, and two lighter fabrics for blocks and background.
March 2025 Newsletter -- contains an intro and fabric requirements
April 2025 Newsletter -- has a cutting instruction attachment
Resolution Quilts News:
Resolution Quilt participants, please listen up. You should receive an email near the end of April. It will include a copy of your list. As you finish items, send a snapshot of your piece to Kim A, and include “Resolution Quilts” in the subject line.
The first drawing for any completed resolution quilt will occur at the May meeting. The drawing prize is for Quilt Haven on Main gift certificate
Small Group News:
Mount Calvary Saturday Group is an open quilting group. RSVP required. – Eva V.
Location- Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Rd. 19, Excelsior, Mn 55331
The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 5 from 9:00-3:00 pm. Attendees can drop in and sew and chat throughout the day. Attendees need to provide their own lunch if they stay all day. Some people often walk across the parking lot to Kowalski's to pick something up.
IMPORTANT - Attendees must RSVP to Eva V. by the Wednesday prior to the meeting if they plan to attend. The meeting will be canceled if there aren't 6 confirmed attendees. Some people handsew and some bring machines, your choice. There is a convenient side door to the room where we sew on the north side of the church on William Street. This group generally meets one Saturday a month. Email Eva V. to be put on the email list to receive emails about future dates. Eva's email address can be found in the newsletter.
Try Something New Group: The postcard challenge was a great success. Many creative examples of postcards worthy of mailing were submitted.
The group voted on their next challenge: Collage. Make a wall hanging, pot holder, block, quilt, tote bag, etc....whatever you'd like, but please include a collage technique in the project. The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 15th, 1-3 pm at the Chanhassen Library. All are welcome to join the meeting, even if you don't complete the challenge.
DAGS Small Group - All CAQC members are welcome to join+.
Meets: 1st Wednesday of the month
Place: Meet at Christ Community Church, 897 3rd Ave, Excelsior, MN 55331, (the gray building)
Time: 10:00-1:30/2:00
Cost: $5.00 Contribution to the church; this is a donation not a requirement.
What to bring: A sewing machine, sewing supplies or hand work and lunch.
Supplies provided: Iron, ironing board, cutting mat, fridge and microwave available for use.
Contact people: Kim S. or Kathy W.
An email will be sent out before the we meeting. Please let Kim or Kathy to be added to the email list. (DAGS has been known to take field trips instead of sewing) All quilting skills are welcomed! Come be inspired by the joy of quilting together. DAGS stands for the Day After Girls, back in the day when they met the day after the CAQC meeting.
Dates to Put on Your Calendar
March 19 through April 11, Dakota County Star Quilters' 30th annual quilt show will be held at the Dakota County Historical Society Museum, 130 3rd Avenue North in South Saint Paul. The museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 am - 5 pm, Thursdays from 9 am- 8 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am -3 pm. Sue Heinz will present a lecture on her precision piecing techniques on April 8 at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For more information, see Dakota County Star Quilters’ website, www.dcsq.org.
March 29 – Raffle quilt block sewing day (more information in April newsletter)
April 5 - Mount Calvary Saturday Group
April 8 – Board Meeting – 5 to 7 at the Chanhassen Library, Wilder room
April 15 -Try Something New Group meeting 1-3 pm at the Chanhassen Library
2026 Quilt Show News:
Needed enthusiastic people to assist with the 2026 Quilt Show, September 25-26, 2026!
• Publicity Committee- A couple of organized people are needed to send out mailings to quilt shops and emails to quilt guilds to advertise the show in 2026. It would be helpful if the publicicommittee could also seek out other places to advertise or get the word out about the show. Penny K, our social media person, will assist with advertising online.
• Facility/Poles and Drapes - A couple people are needed to contract with our Poles and Drapes company and send them information on the needs for setup. At least one person from the committee would need to be at the show Thursday, September 24, 2026, for setup. That person would assist the poles and drapes company as needed and help the volunteers set up tables and chairs as needed around the show. Someone should also be available for takedown Saturday, September 26 to assist in directing volunteers putting tables and chairs away.
Please contact Eva V., Penny K, or Sandi M, your show chairs, for more information or to sign up.