Our Guild and What We Do

The Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilt Guild was officially organized in October 1979 with 6 members and has grown to approximately 250 members. Some of our members have won awards in both national and international quilt competitions and several members have been featured in national quilt publications. Annual dues are $20.00 and include admission to all meetings and lectures, the KLCQ Member Directory and twelve issues of the KLCQ Newsletter.

We are a very diverse group of all ages. We come from all walks of life, possess various levels of experience, and love to encourage and assist new quilters. The group provides motivation and additional educational opportunities for all members, experienced and novice.

Our monthly meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1515 Helen Avenue which is easily accessible from I-94. From I-94 take the Portage Road exit (#78) and head south on Portage Road. Turn right onto Helen Street just north of Bravo restaurant and across the street from Fields Fabrics. Doors open a 6:30 pm and the meeting begins at 7:00 pm.

Each year, we invite national quilt artists and/or authors to conduct classes and lectures. Since guests are always welcomed at our meetings, the lectures may be attended by the general public as well as by our members. A nominal fee is assessed to attend as a guest when we have a national speaker. The workshops open first to Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilt members and then to other quilters that are interested. We also feature workshops and lectures by members of our own group.

In addition to our regular monthly meetings for our complete membership, we have several small groups, who meet weekly or monthly to work on projects, exchange ideas, share patterns, and create "friendship" quilts for each other. One of the most popular segments of our general monthly meeting is our "show and tell", where we get an opportunity to see each other's work in progress or completed.

As a way of "giving back" to the community, each year we organize and complete two "Service Projects". In the spring we make quilts for various organizations such as hospices, shelters, nursing homes.  At Christmas, we make small quilts wrapped around a stuffed animal for children in crisis at shelters for women and children.

We maintain a Library of quilting publications for our members so that we can keep up on trends and changes in quilting and piecing styles. We have about 250 books and magazines in our library, and are adding new publications on a continuing basis.

We also offer other activities to our members such as an annual weekend retreat and bus trips to special quilt showings or other related exhibits.

We keep our members up to date on our activities by publishing a monthly newsletter which lists items of interest, upcoming projects of the group, progress reports on continuing projects, news of our members achievements, openings of new quilt shops, and news of other groups shows and special exhibits.

Every two years, we have a Quilt Show of our own where the members of Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilters display their work. Included in the show is a display of our "Challenge Quilts" where we are encouraged to challenge ourselves with the making of a special themed quilt. Our next show will be held in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2011.