submitted by the Kemptville Quilters Guild
The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Kemptville Quilters’ Guild culminated on Monday, October 26, with the donation of $1,385 to the Kemptville Youth Centre. The celebration activities kicked off in 2019 at the September meeting with a birthday cake which was made by one of the members, and a special traditional bed-turning demonstration. Among the special guests invited were former presidents of the guild.
Various special activities were held throughout the months until the pandemic interrupted the planned events. A collection of sewing related items were donated by numerous businesses and gathered into baskets to be raffled off every month, with the intention of the proceeds being given to a charity voted on by the membership.
The Guild members have always been very generous, and donate their time and materials to create quilts for Family and Children’s Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville. During the past year, 142 quilts were donated, which is a record in the 20 years that the Guild has existed. The Guild’s Outreach Committee collects donations of fabric and puts together kits for members to take home and sew into quilts. Most often, smaller sized quilts are created, so one of the 20-year celebration events was to create a couple of larger sized quilts. Two different specified patterns were chosen for members to use to create blocks.
In order to encourage participation, members were offered one free raffle for each block completed. Even though many raffles were offered free for the blocks, the challenge still managed to raise a sizeable amount to donate. Three local charities were chosen and voted on. Not only do our members sew quilts, but they also donate home made pillow cases and cloth masks to the organization.
We hold monthly meetings from September to June, with guest speakers, and hold a variety of workshops. At the moment, the meetings are being conducted through Zoom until a time when we can meet in person again. We are open to new members. If you would like to get involved, we can be contacted through our blog: http://kemptvillequilters.blogspot.com/, or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/K0GQuilters.
If you are interested in becoming a member, you can email teresa.harrison@gmail.com for information.