About Us - Northwest Quilters, Inc.

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About Us

Northwest Quilters Guild
Northwest Quilters, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes.

The guild works to:

encourage others to quilt and provide information about quilting;
assist quilter with information about supply sources for materials, patterns, equipment and publications;
organize shows and demonstrations for the general public;
cooperate with schools and other non-profit organizations by furnishing displays and demonstrations;
provide assistance to charitable projects for the community.

The guild meets the second Monday of each month except July:

In even-numbered months the meeting starts at 7:00 pm with social time beginning at 6:15 pm.
In odd-numbered months the meeting starts at 9:30 am with social time beginning at 8:45.
The pre-meeting social time is a great opportunity to make new friends, chat with old friends, visit the library, check out the free table, look through all the magazines available, and more.

Guild meetings are open to everyone; non-members are requested to pay a $5 guest fee. We invite you to visit us.

The meetings are held at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 7810 SE 15th, Portland, Oregon. Immanuel Lutheran Church

For more information, please contact us.

Our History
It all started with a single quilt.
In the early 1970s, a group of 21 women worked for an entire year to create a commemorative quilt to be presented to Governor Tom McCall and hung in the Capitol in Salem. The quilt featured historic moments and scenes throughout the state of Oregon. Before the quilt was given to the Governor, it was shown to the public for three weeks at Portland Community College in March of 1974. In addition, there were lectures and demonstrations to highlight the artistry of quilting. Over 10,000 people attended.

The Oregon Quilt, presented to Governor Tom McCall, 1974

A sampling of the Oregon blocks ...

The Oregon Quilt detail: Block 19, "Barlow Trail"

The Oregon Quilt detail: Block 6, "Indian Burial Canoe"

The Oregon Quilt detail: Block 10, "State bird" (Western Meadowlark)

The Oregon Quilt detail: Block 14, "First Apple Orchard"

The Oregon Quilt detail: Block 18, "State Capitol"

A guild was born.
This success spurred the creation of a meeting place for quilt lovers. The first meeting was at the Lloyd Center Auditorium on Saturday, May 18, 1974. One hundred and seventy-five people attended that first meeting. One hundred and forty of them joined together and the Northwest Quilters Guild was born. Nancy Wanamaker was the first president and Helen Grigg was the first Vice President.

Initially there were two meetings per year at the Sellwood Community Center. One was a workshop in the fall, and another was a quilt show in the spring, with smaller local groups meeting in people’s homes monthly.

Our first official quilt show was in 1975.
Admission was $1 and seniors over 60 were free. The shows have been held annually until the 2020 pandemic shut it down for a few years. Past quilt shows were held at the Old Church on SW 11th & Clay, at Portland State University, Multnomah University, and the Portland Expo Center.

In 1977, the guild peaked at more than 1700 “members”. This was mostly because everyone who attended the quilt show was put on a mailing list for the same $1 and was sent a monthly copy of the Patchword. Eventually this practice proved unsustainable as the mailing took over 10,200 sheets of paper (20 reams), and a yearly membership fee needed to be established ($1 unless over 60 years old).

NWQ's success spurred the formation of other guilds.
As time went on, many new guilds were formed based on location and focus, and our membership was divided amongst them. Currently there are 43 guilds in Oregon. There are approximately 7 guilds in the Portland area (which includes Vancouver).