Hello all, Mary Ellen back again.

I’ll admit I took a gulp when I wrote that heading. As soon as we enter 2013 we will begin the process of preparing the seminar brochure. We have our one national teacher signed, Pat Sloan. This will be the first time, I believe, that there is only one national teacher. It will help us cut our expenses considerably-but the gamble is whether it will also cut our attendance. We certainly hope not! Pat is out and about in the quilting and sewing world, a definite presence on the internet, and a pattern and fabric designer. There is a brand new free pattern designed by Pat over at the moda bakeshop. I would love to see a bunch of Pat’s designs in a show and share during seminar. Our guild library has recently added some of her books, and she has many freebies available at her own site.

We also will shortly be starting the recruiting of our local teachers. If you have any good ideas, names of teachers whose classes you or your friends have enjoyed, please let us know. To be honest the enrollment in our local teacher classes has been disappointing-and we’re trying to find out why that is. Please contact me, Jan Reilly, or Marija Vujcic if you have suggestions for teachers, or any other ideas that you think might help us fill those chairs. We are planning to bring the local teacher tuition down a bit this year. We will never be able to get it in line with what our local quilt shops charge though. They are able to fund their classes through the purchases you make of supplies for the class, or buying the eye candy while you’re in their shop. We don’t have a “retail” item on which we can make our profit.

How are your holiday preparations coming along? I’m into the home stretch on my sister’s long overdue signature quilt. Just needs its label and binding. All of the other quilted presents are finished. Shopped today for the ingredients for the yearly cookie baking extravaganza. On Saturday the twins (the 5 year olds I write about) are coming over to help MeMe decorate cut out cookies. I suspect the dog is going to have a hey-day cleaning up the floor. I hope I survive! Tomorrow is the annual field trip to East Aurora and Vidlers. Hopefully the crowds during the week are going to be less that what I’ve seen in weekend news coverage.

TTFN!