About Us - Our History

On November 24, 1997 a ‘Getting Organized’ meeting was held with 14 quilters in attendance.  There was a general discussion on goals and objectives, and nominations for the first executive.
The elections resulted in the following executive:

President Gail R.
Vice President Val W.
Secretasry Naomi B.
Treasurer Nadine S.
Planning Committee Kim M.
  Lil G.
  Maryanne C.
  Susan M.

The remaining founding members consisted of Donna W., Bea C., Anna A., Penny W., Yvonne W. and Pat C.

The decision to join the Canadian Quilters Association was made at the January 12, 1998 meeting.  The name NORTHERN LIGHTS QUILTERS GUILD was accepted at the February 9, 1998 meeting and the announcement of Official Membership in CQA (# 4624) was made at the April 6, 1998 meeting.

Meetings were set to be held the second and fourth Monday of each month at Greely Road School; with one being a business meeting and the other an instructional meeting.  Annual Membership was set at $20.00 a year.

The membership immediately got to work with; in-house demonstrations, instruction, and mentoring, show and tell, advertising, fabric discounts for Guild Members, and charitable donations to various causes. By the end of April 1998, the Planning Committee consisted of 11 members.

By 2003, membership had grown to over 40. Throughout the past 5 years, instructors from other sources were being invited to teach interesting techniques and workshops. The Planning Committee kept coming up with new and unique ideas to keep the quilters quilting and also developed a UFO (UnFinished Objects) Contract to keep projects from stacking up. Members were meeting at the Haxton Centre for friendship and a place to work on their UFO's on Wednesday mornings, and on occasion meet at the Cozy Corner for coffee and chit chat. The Guild was also very involved in Charity events such as the Festival of the Trees, and making quilts for Angel Manor.

The guild was meeting at the Bob Lamb Building at Keyano College on the second and fourth Monday of each month, with a break in July and August, although informal gatherings continued throughout the summer on Wednesday mornings. Annual Membership fees were $24.00.

In 2008, our Guild has a membership of 30+.  We have experienced much transition over the years, however we still hang on to our eldest and founding member, Yvonne Whelton.  We changed our venue a few years ago to Heritage Park, due to out-growing the meeting space at the Bob Lamb Centre.  We continue meeting the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month and membership fees have increased to $50.00 a year plus 2 fat quarters (used as gifts for members leaving town).  The planning committee continues with course offerings from teachers in and out of town as well as meeting activities such as mystery quilt projects and Block of the Meeting; the charity committee organizes the projects for donations to different organizations/causes; while the Social Committee plans for celebrations throughout the year with gift exchanges and potlucks.  We now have a website that replaces our monthly newsletter, keeping members (old and new) up-to-date and also increasing our visibility for those who are new to Fort McMurray and want to join in the fun.       

Since the beginning and still today, The NORTHERN LIGHTS QUILTERS GUILD provides an environment of sharing and appreciation for the art of quilting for quilters of all levels.