Etowah Valley Quilt Guild

The Etowah Valley Quilt Guild began back in 1990 when a beginner’s quilting class was conducted at the Etowah Art Gallery on Wall Street in Cartersville, GA. There were 12 students in the hand piecing class taught by Shelby Morris, over a six week period. After the class ended, students would occasionally call to ask if we could meet again to answer questions or solve problems they incurred as they ventured into learning new piecing and quilting techniques. We often met in the homes of class members and after a few months we thought it would be a good idea to call ourselves a guild and elect officers. Because a few of us were already members of the East Cobb Quilter’s Guild in Marietta, GA, it seemed appropriate that we pattern our meetings and our by-laws after theirs. As time went on and we gained a few more people, we continued to meet in homes.

Wanda Ingram was elected the first president of the guild and she took her office seriously. She started a newsletter that was sent out quarterly; organized fabric exchanges; issued challenge quilt rules; called for “show and tell” items to be brought in to share at the meetings; organized classes, just to name a few.

For the first decade, the guild seemed to maintain between 10 to 20 people at any given time. In 1998 we were asked to hang a quilt show at the Etowah Art Gallery. It was a resounding success and through the exposure of that show we gained several new members. Our numbers have steadily increased since that time. At the time of this writing, (2007) we have 55 members. Of the original class, only the teacher (Shelby Morris) and one student (Rochelle Moore) are still members. Our membership is made up of ladies of all ages, all backgrounds and all levels of quilting ability. We welcome anyone who makes quilts, wants to make quilts, or anyone who just loves them and simply wants to “hang out with quilters.”

The stated purpose of the guild is “to promote and perpetuate the art of quilting” and we do that by having quilt shows, teaching classes, having speakers at the meetings, attending retreats and quilt camps, and by sharing information and patterns within our membership. “Show and Tell” is a feature that everyone enjoys at our meetings.

As a part of the Cartersville Recreation Department, we are involved each year in a community service project. To date we have given to Habitat for Humanity, Hickory Log, Tranquility House, the local area Kindergarten program, Advocates for Bartow’s Children, Hospice and many other worthy organizations.