About Us
Meetings
Meetings are held the 4TH Monday of every month except December, when there is no meeting. We meet at 9:00am at the Presbyterian Church, 1501 SE Hwy 19, Crystal River.
Join us. Bring your lunch and a project to work on. Enjoy show and tell as member show off completed projects and work in progress. If you are interested in membership you can contact us at membership@heart-in-hand.org or attend a meeting as a guest. You may attend twice as a guest before you must sign up as a member. Come check us out!
Our History
Mabel has a Dream
In June of 1999 Mabel Toth placed sign up sheets for those who were interested in forming a Chapter of "The Appliqué Society" , TAS, with the local Guilds and Tomorrows Treasures Quilt Store. There was enough interest so an organizational meeting was held on Monday August 30, 1999. There were 38 in attendance and 37 joined that day.
At the organizational meeting Mabel stated that this was the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, and that she also had a dream. Her dream was to meet once a month as a TAS member in our own Chapter and have one gigantic Sewing Bee!! To keep our business to the very minimum. Leave Outreach programs, Raffle Quilts, Sunshine Committees and Boards of Directors to our respective Guilds, which do a great job with those activities. Another part of "Mabel's Dream" is anything affecting our chapter will be discussed and voted upon by the membership and the majority vote counts. No boards or committees deciding anything for the Chapter.
Everyone was very helpful with feedback. All business issues were voted upon and the majority ruled. Everyone felt they had contributed something and the chapter was formed. Aren't all Quilters the Greatest!!
"Heart-In-Hand" Chapter is Born
A Contest was held to select a name for our Chapter. It ran for two months and the winner received a prize donated by Tomorrows Treasurers. We set our dues at $10.00 per year. We sent in our Chapter Application form so that we officially began in September, thereafter Chapter dues would be due in September. Meetings would consist of a short business meeting, announcements, show and tell, dicussion of future plans and programs, lunch and the most important part appliqué.
We Spawned more Chapters
Several members came from Belleview for some time and we enjoyed having them. They started their own Chapter, "Quilts In Bloom", and over the years they have blossomed! They absorbed the Ocala Chapter and now have members join them from Leesburg.
Suzy Gardner Collins and Mildred Dort visited from Clearwater to see how we worked. They went on to start the "Hidden Stitches" Chapter.
Oldest Chapter in Florida
There was one other TAS Chapter from Florida before "Heart In Hand" was founded, it is no longer in existence. That makes US the oldest Chapter in Florida! Our current membership of over 30 includes 8 charter members and 1 honorary member.
TAS National Show Recognitation
At the 2005 National Show in Denver Debbie Techentin won 2ND place with her Baltimore Album Quilt.
In 2007 TAS held their national show in Tampa hosted by the "Feather Princesses" Chapter. Our "Heart-In-Hand" Chapter supported the show by working the judging floor. Our Quilt "Nature Coast Symphony" created by Chapter members under the design and direction of Trish Bendler took a 3RD place in the group category.
The Future
As we enter our ninth year as a TAS chapter we look forward to improving our appliqué skills by have more classes and workshops which refresh old techniques and teach new techniques, viewing members projects and enjoying camaraderie.