Meeting Minutes

You can follow our journey by reading about our monthly meetings on this page.

STATUS REPORT OF OFFICIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Global Action Award for Girl Scout Seniors

Girls complete one or more activity to receive the award.  This is the activity we chose was Title IX and we also completed part of completing a Peace Survey since our GIRLtopia survey overlapped this issue.

Explore “Title IX,” the law passed in 1972 requiring gender equity for boys and girls in educational programs that receive federal funding. Research how this law has affected women and sports. Then arrange for a roundtable discussion where women of different generations share which sports/activities/teams were and were not available to girls in their elementary and high schools. Talk about how change was implemented and what you still think needs to be changed to make life equal for both genders.

We also did part of the Peace Survey in terms of discussing conflict in other nations.  Our discussion followed the viewing of Intended Consequences.

The Senior Visionary Award

• Create It:  Create a unique vision and artistic representation of an ideal world and then share it with others. Through a GIRLtopia survey, the troop selected 16 themes and each girl is assigned one or two blocks to design.  Each girl had free reign to design their own interpretation of the theme.
• Guide It:  Guide a mini-discussion or group activity that engages other girls in thinking about visionary leadership.  The girls each presented their research about their quilt block including a history of the theme, the present world, as well as what needs to change in the future.  In addition, the troop had several discussions related to various videos watched together as a troop including the themes of Title IX, Cambodian families living in garbage dumps in Phnom Penh, and the 1994 Rwanda genocide stories in Intended Consequences.
• Change It:  Do a Take-Action Project that moves the world (or a community) one step closer to ideal.  The troop published their survey results on a blog and used the blog to document the year-long project of their GIRLtopia quilt.  The quilt will include descriptions of each block and will be permanently displayed by the Killingworth Historical Society.

The 12 steps of the Take-Action Project:

• What are the issues?  We spoke to the girls at our Silver Ceremony about the possible journeys we could complete and it was unanimous to pursue GIRLtopia.
• Which issue are you choosing?  Through a survey, the girls narrowed down the 16 most important issues.  Rather than choose one overarching topic, the girls decided to tackle the 16 as a troop.
• What are possible solutions?  The troop elected to create a GIRLtopia quilt with each block representing one of the themes previously identified; they also committed to documenting the project via a WordPress blog.
• Which solution are you choosing?   Many of the girls were most interested in the Justice theme; however, after some discussion the girls amicably divided the themes.  The three adults became responsible for the remaining 3 themes.
• How will you know when you’ve succeeded?  The blog has received numerous comments and hits from quilter and other viewers worldwide from dozens of countries!  That alone is a success.  However, our goal is a finished quilt hanging in the Killingworth Historical Society building.
• Create a time line or calendar.  We have decided to spend the entire year working on the quilt.
• What resources will you need?  We need money for fabric and access to sewing machines.  We have enough money for the quilt block fabric but may need donations/dues to buy the batting and backing fabric.  We will hold off until after cookie season because we may earn enough then.
• Who can help?  All of the moms in our troop are willing to help.  Those than cannot sew have been willing to initially help iron fabric and generally supervise, provide support, and often snacks!  In addition, we have enlisted local artist Sandy Smith to come to a few meetings and share her quilting expertise with the girls.
• Who will do what?  As stated earlier, each of the girls is responsible for at least one block.  Many have two and some of the girls are sharing their second block.
• Do!  The majority of the year has been spent on sewing the blocks.  It is time-consuming but the end-products are turning out beautiful.
• Evaluate.  An art project requires no evaluation.  Each of the girl has an individual interpretation of the theme which is explained on an accompanying placard for display with the quilt.  The blog has been a huge success.  The leaders may need to assist in piecing the blocks together.  We are up in the air whether the quilt will be hand quilted or tied.
• Reflect and celebrate!  Not sure what the girls want to do.  Waiting until quilt is finished.

Meeting #11, May19, 2013

• We met at the Catholic Church hall for the final push to finish the blocks.
• Mrs. S brought snacks.
• We had three working sewing machines so everyone got right down to business.
• Mrs. S finished her Happiness block.
• Sydney finished her Forgiveness block.
• Katie added a cloud to her Safety block and finished the applique for her Independence/Individuality block.
• Mrs. W finished the tail end of Sydney and Lindsay W’s Respect block.
• Mrs. W finished Lindsay N’s Education block.
• Lindsay N sent in her finished Freedom block.
• Mrs. T and Mrs. W brought their completed Career/Hobbies and Friendship blocks.
• Mrs. T agreed to finish the last bit of chain stitch on Lindsay’s Justice/Equality block.
• Megan sent in her completed Peace block and her almost-completed Love block.  Megan and/or Mrs. T will make sure the block is completed this week.
• Annelise sent in her completed Shelter/Home-life block and her almost-completed Conservation block.
• Annelise and/or Mrs. W will make sure that block is completed this week.
• Adrienne sent in her finished Courage and Unity/Togetherness blocks.
• Mrs. S and Mrs. T spent a good amount of time aligning the blocks and arranging them to make sure each block is highlighted and that no block takes away from another block.  They separated the trees and the hearts and spaced the browns away from each other.  They looked for blocks that picked up the colors from other blocks.  And it looks great!
• We discussed purchasing a large frame and arranging the girls

Attendees:  Katie, Sydney, Mrs. S., Mrs. T., and Mrs. W.

Absent:  Annelise, Megan, Adrienne, Lindsay W, Lindsay N

Meeting #10, May, 2013

• We met at the Congregational Church but got off to a late start due to a miscommunication and a missing key.
• Mrs. S brought snack as usual.
• We had a shortage of sewing machines and several girls who needed to applique.  So . . . some of the girls took to embellishing with embroidery stitches.  Mrs. S helped them with their work.
• Sydney decided to embroider some dates on her block.  I believe she chose the date of Title IX and the date Girl Scouts began?  Not sure.
• Lindsay W embroidered some chain stitches to hang her justice scales.
• Annelise appliqued her Home-life/Shelter block but became frustrated and eventually left the meeting early to work on homework instead.
• Mrs. W. worked on a quilt she is making and provided assistance as needed.
• Adrienne finished her Courage block.
• Katie designed her Individuality/Independence block and fused the pieces.

Attendees:  Adrienne, Katie, Sydney, Lindsay W., Annelise, Mrs. S., and Mrs. W.

Absent:  Megan, Lindsay N

 

Meeting #9, April 21, 2013

• We met at the Congregational Church for the second time this week.
• Mrs. S brought popsicles for the girls.
• The girls watched the video “Intended Consequences” and we discussed their thoughts and reactions for a few minutes.
• Megan worked on finalizing her design for the Love block but needed to leave a bit early for a soccer game.
• Lindsay N. started cutting strips and pieces for her Education block.
• Adrienne cut out, fused, and began appliqueing her Courage block.
• Katie finished appliqueing her Safety block.  That makes six completed blocks out of the sixteen.
• Sydney and Lindsay W. cut out and fused the pieces for the Respect block and Lindsay began appliqueing the block.
• Katie taught Sydney the basics of applique on a paper towel.  After Sydney practiced a bit, she started appliqueing her Forgiveness block but time ran out before she got too far.
• Mrs. S. finished her machine applique and then started hand-stitching using embroidery floss around her sheep.
• Mrs. T. worked on a crochet shawl she is making for someone at her church and provided assistance to girls as needed.
• Mrs. W. worked on a quilt she is making and provided assistance as needed.

Attendees:  Megan, Lindsay N., Adrienne, Katie, Sydney, Lindsay W., Mrs. S., Mrs. T., and Mrs. W.

Absent:  Annelise

Meeting #8, April 16, 2013

• We met for four hours at the Congregational Church with a dinner/dessert break in the middle.  Thanks to Mrs. S (as usual) for the dessert!
• Lindsay finished piecing her Freedom block and began designing her Education block.
• Megan had already finished her Peace block so she worked on her Love block.  S
• Adrienne finished her Togetherness block and jumped right in to making a template for her Courage block which includes the Chinese symbol for courage.
• Annelise is still cutting out pieces for her Shelter/Homelife block.
• Katie began appliqueing her Safety block.
• Linds arrived late but jumped into designing her Respect block.
• Mrs. T brought her finished Friendship block.
• Mrs. S is started to applique  her Happiness block clouds.  While waiting for a machine to become available, she added French knot embroidery stitches to make her sheep 3-dimensional and woolly.
• Mrs. W lined up the five finished blocks with the red and green sashing so the girls could get a sense of the finished product. 

Attendees:  Lindsay, Megan,  Adrienne, Katherine, Linds, Annelise,  Mrs. S, Mrs. W, and Mrs. T

Absent:  Sydney

Meeting #7, March 17, 2013

• We handed in our Midnight Run donations to a member of the Congregational Church who expressed her gratitude and said that they would be making the trip to New Haven that night.
• Our special guest Sandy Smith attended.  Everyone sat in a large circle and took turns showing the blocks and talking about the progress on each one.  Sandy had some great suggestions for each block.   We got feedback about things like, color suggestions for applique, suggestions for how to create a 3-D effect by doing a technique called “trapunto” and using items on the block like knots, hand stitching and buttons for interest.
• Mrs. T brought a quilt she is currently working on to inspire the girls.
• Annelsie worked on her tree block, figuring out how to attach the leaves for the best effect.
• Linds learned how to applique with guidance from Mrs. T and began doing this with her scales block
• Katie’s progress was stalled due to a limited number of sewing machines capable of satin stitching.  (My machine refused to cooperate without me there!)
• Sydney worked on concepts for her block and got advice from Sandy on how to add text to her block.
• Adrienne continued work on appliqueing the people to her Unity block.
• Megan worked on drawing out her new block, LOVE.
• Sandy made a good point that all the pieces we have fused will, over time, separate from the background fabric unless attached by thread or applique.  I agree!

Attendees:  Lindsay,Sydney, Megan,  Adrienne, Katherine, Linds, Annelise,  Mrs. S, Mrs. T, Mrs. N, and special guest Sandy Smith

Absent:  Mrs. W

Meeting #6, February 19, 2013

• We met at  in the Town Library Meeting Room while the lights flickered off and on and only three working sewing machines at our disposal.  We had an extended meeting tonight (3.5 hours) and took a short dinner break.
• Megan and Adrienne practiced the satin stitch on paper towels. They learned about the different control settings and how they affected the stitch.  They practiced making curves and sharp turns.  They also learned all about threading the machines and making bobbins.
• Katie put the finishing touches on the girl swinging under her tree.
• Annelise started work on cutting pieces for her second block (Global Conservation).
• Eventually, Adrienne started appliqueing her globe while Megan started appliqueing her dove.  It took quite a bit of time for each girl to select the perfect thread.  They discussed the pros and cons of a contrast vs a blend.  
• Adrienne progressed to appliqueing her land masses on her globe while Megan decided to turn over the machine to Katie and begin designing her second block (Love).  Katie took a turn practicing applique on the paper towels and then began sewing the ropes for her swing.  Katie also learned the same lessons as Megan and Adrienne mentioned earlier.
• Mrs. S added sheep to her block which are trying to eat the girl’s flowers!  Upon the arrival of Mrs. T, the third machine became operational and Mrs. S. was able to begin appliqueing.
• Mrs. T showed us her experimentation with asymmetrical free-form sewing on a project she is making for home.

• Attendees: Megan, Adrienne, Katherine, Annelise,  Mrs. S,  Mrs. W, and Mrs. T
• Absent:  Lyndsay, Linds, Sydney

Meeting #5, January 20, 2013

• We met at our usual location.
• Mrs. We made snack for the girls.  Thank you!
• The girls watched a short video about Title IX and the girls and moms in attendance discussed the meaning of title IX and how it has affected all of our lives.
• The girls continued to work on their blocks.  Most are still in the stage of fusing their fabric; however, as Lindsay is doing a pieced block, she starting joining her pieces together into a block.
• Mrs. T chose fabric from the block of each girl to incorporate into her block.
• Mrs. S continued to work on her  block.
• Mrs. W, Mrs. N, and Mrs. Sch helped the girls as needed.
• Sydney and Lindz started planning the block they are working on together.
• Mrs. S talked about future plans to participate in a program to help provide PJs to needy girls as well as donations to the homeless in New Haven.
• Since we are a tad behind where we had intended to be at this time, we plan to meet twice in March.

Attendees: Sydney,  Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Linds, Annelise,  Mrs. S, the other Mrs. S, Mrs. W, Mrs. N, Mrs. T

Absent:  Megan

Meeting #4, December 30, 2012

• We intended to meet at our usual location but alas, we had no key so we moved across the street where Mrs. S had access to an alternative location.
• Mrs. W made fabric trefoils for the Connecticut Trefoil Project to honor the 8 girls lost in the Sandy Hook tragedy.  Mrs. S and the other Mrs. S strung the trefoils on the heart-shaped hanger.  The girls made notes of remembrance and/or encouragement to go inside each trefoil pocket.  Mrs. W will mail to the Hartford Service Unit.
• The girls took a break to eat snack (provided by Mrs. S and the other Mrs. S) and to chit chat and reconnect with each other.
• Annelise worked on her Shelter/Homelife block.
• Katie worked on her Safety block and successfully published her first post on our blog.
• Lindsay worked on her Freedom block.
• Adrienne worked on her Togetherness block.
• Linds worked on her Justice block.
• Mrs. S worked on her Happiness block.
• The other Mrs. S  ironed and ironed and ironed.
• Mrs. W wandered around proud of the girls and amazed at their creations.

Attendees:  Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Linds, Annelise,  Mrs. S, the other Mrs. S, Mrs. W

Absent:  Sydney, Megan

Meeting #3, November 18, 2012

• We met at the middle school and divided into two carpooling groups.
• Adrienne, Annelise, Sydney, and Katie turned in their Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge and have successfully created WordPress accounts as authors on the troop blog.  Megan is registered as an author but needs to turn in an Girl Scout Internet Safety pledge.  Linds and Lindsay have yet to accept the author invitation and still need to turn in the pledges.
• We met at Joanne Fabrics in (the BIG one) and successfully purchased the fabric for the quilt face.  The girls did an excellent job of narrowing down the choices, looking for complementary fabrics, and ultimately voting as a democracy.  They picked a dark green vine print for the sashing, a creamy bone color for the background, and a cranberry vine print for the small contrasting blocks to join the sashing.  The girls also selected about 36 fat quarters to share for the remainder of their block fabric.
• We were unable to locate a suitable fusible webbing for the applique.  We also need to purchase thread, backing, batting, and embroidery floss.  Mrs. T may look for sales over the weekend and the troop will reimburse.
• Mrs. T also brought along a supply of fabric she is willing to let the girls use at our next meeting.
• Mrs. S had called the store in advance to broker a multiple-coupon deal.  We were able to use four 40% off single-cut coupons, one 20% off total price coupon, and our tax-exempt ID card.  We bought 3 yards of the green sashing, 3 yards of the cream background, 1.5 yards of the red contrast, and 36 fat quarters for under $82!

Attendees:  Sydney, Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Megan, Linds, Annelise,  Mrs. S, Mrs. T, Mrs. W, Mrs. W (the other Mrs. W)

Absent:  none

Meeting #2, October 21, 2012

• Mrs. S introduced Mrs. Sandy Smith, award-winning quilter and member of the Killingworth Historical Society.
• Each girl presented her sketch or block idea, along with any research, to the group.  Mrs. W, Mrs. T, and Mrs. S also presented their ideas.  Mrs. Smith made suggestions about fabric, applique, piecing, and trapunto to each participant.  Mrs. Smith also suggested we refrain from using the hand-quilting thread marketed in stores but use simple cotton thread.  She also presented each girl with a set of “medium sharps” she recommends for hand quilting.
• Mrs. Smith distributed packets about notable women in Killingworth’s history.  She then passed around hand-made dolls she had sewn for a fundraiser for the Killingworth Historical Society.  As each doll was passed around, she told some of the story about the woman represented by the doll.  The girls were most attentive as the lives of these women were so different from their own lives.
• Mrs. Smith brought several of her quilts and described the quilt’s history, her fabric choices, her symmetry decisions, and the methodology of construction.
• Mrs. Smith suggested that although our project will have unique styles and colors that we should choose two to three fabrics in order to have a unifying look.  We all agreed upon a cream/beige background with medium-to-dark green sashing.  She also suggested we try to incorporate some red into each piece since red and green are opposite colors.
• Mrs. Smith left after encouraging the girls to remain true to their ideas no matter if one block is very different from all the others.  She also agreed to return to a meeting in a few months to see how the girls are progressing.

Attendees:  Sydney, Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Megan, Linds, Annelise, Mrs. N, Mrs. S, Mrs. T, Mrs. W

Guest:  Sandy Smith

Absent:  none

Meeting #1, September 16, 2012

• Mrs. S explained the GIRLtopia journey requirements and presented information about the typical lifestyle of a middle-class female living in the Northeast during Colonial times.
• Mrs. N also asked us questions to get us thinking about family life during Colonial times and captured our attention with the fact that many girls their age would already have been married and some already with children of their own.
• Katie discussed her themes of Safety and Independence and presented the results of her research.  She had particularly grim statistics about abuse to females not only around the world but in our own country and how little government funding is available to assist in the prevention of abuse.
• Annelise discussed her themes of Shelter/Homelife and Global Conservation.  Annelise presented her research into the typical homes in Colonial America and in present day.  She also had some disturbing information about children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where families live in a garbage dump searching for recyclables to sell.  The dump is full of dangerous materials including hypodermic needles and medical waste.  She also presented statistics about National Parks and the need for continued global conservation now and into the future.
• Mrs. W presented each Girl Scout with a project binder including the meeting schedule/agendas, identified GIRLtopia themes and block assignments, the GIRLtopia survey results, sewing tips for machine-pieced blocks and machine-appliqued blocks, and the GSOFCT Gold Award Guide.
• Mrs. W and Mrs. T displayed various quilts they own, have made, or are in the process of completing and highlighted the various techniques (piecing and applique).  They discussed fabrics choices and sashing techniques.  Mrs. T also emphasized the importance of “signing” a quilt with the creator’s name and date so that the quilt itself becomes a part of history.
• We perused dozens and dozens of quilt books and magazines made preliminary sketches of block ideas.  Several of us borrowed books until next meeting.
• Homework:  Sketch/research assigned block/theme.
• Upcoming:  award-winning quilter and member of the Killingworth Historical Society Sandy S will be our guest speaker.

Attendees:  Sydney, Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Megan, Annelise, Mrs. N, Mrs. S, Mrs. T, Mrs. W

Absent:  Linds

Pre-Season Hike, August 20, 2012

We chose a beautiful day to hike the Guilford Bluffs Trail, discuss our survey results, come to an agreement about our desired GIRLtopia Journey, and amicably divvy up the blocks.

Attendees:  Sydney, Linds, Lindsay, Adrienne, Katherine, Annelise, Mrs. S, Mrs. W

Absent:  Megan