Welcome

The year 2026 marks the 45th Anniversary of the Kawartha Quiltmakers’ Guild.  The history of the Kawartha Quiltmakers’ Guild began with an idea and has flourished into a large enthusiastic group of sharing, caring quiltmakers.

The History of the Kawartha Quiltmakers’ Guild

Without Joyce Armstrong, there likely would not be a KAWARTHA QUILTMAKERS’ GUILD (KQG).
On the first Wednesday of every month (except July and August), most of our 140+ membership
meet in Westdale Church Hall in Peterborough, to share, show and admire. Usually we are treated to a trunk show or presentation by a skilled and talented quilter.

A teacher, wife, mother, and accomplished quilter herself, Joyce has inspired, coached and
encouraged many of the early members, who caught “the quilting bug.” She began by sharing her
expertise with new quilters many years ago, while raising a family, helping on the farm and
volunteering in her church (the fudge she made to fundraise for her church became famous, and
was eagerly anticipated when she made it for Guild luncheons). Her quilts appeared in years past
in Country Woman magazine, and Canada Quilts, and some of her quilts were sold and shipped all
over the world.

Joyce’s sense of humour is most endearing. She recalled being “in a stew” when asked to speak at
the YORK HERITAGE GUILD, but during the presentation, the “words just came out,” and after she
had finished she thought, “that wasn’t so bad. I’ll do it again!” which she did several times. Her son created a CD called “Joyce’s Passion” to honour her art. Now in her 90s, Joyce is our honorary President, and our monthly meetings begin with a timely, often humorous reading from Joyce’s reading collection. Most months she would have a quilt finished to donate to our sponsored charity and she sometimes taught a workshop for beginning quilters. Until she was widowed, she often opened her home to any who wished to come for help or advice on a quilt.

In 2013 her intent, with the help of guild member Lisa Weagle, was to photograph and learn the
names of every guild member. By the end of the year she had mastered that goal! Written below is her ‘history’ of our Guild, presented at our June 2014 meeting.

“More years ago than I care to mention, I became addicted to the ‘quilt hobby.’ The local Lions
Club asked me to put on a display at their annual Craft Day. Through this annual event I became
known, and Sir Sanford Fleming (Peterborough) asked me to teach the ‘Art of Quiltmaking’ at the
College.”

“Now at this point in time, I never had even one lesson in quiltmaking. However, my teacher
training prodded me to try it. I managed this for several years and really enjoyed meeting the
women. Up until this time, my work had mostly been raising our four children and helping with
farm work. I never did learn to enjoy milking cows!”

“Good teaching to me included a great deal of concrete material, and I got weary of carrying so
much of this into classes, so I decided to teach at home. After all, there was lots of room in the
farm house and how much time could teaching one class possibly take? Hopefully my good husband
would decide he didn’t need help to milk those cows on teaching day. That was wishful thinking
and never happened!” However, I must say, Doug was a great help, pulling (vehicles) out when stuck in snow. City drivers aren’t good on snowy roads. Also, he did a lot of boosting of batteries.”

“Now I guess I wasn’t a very good teacher as my students never did graduate. They came back
year after year and brought friends with them. My one class turned into four, taking up two full
days a week. I recall how our sons didn’t appreciate all those women when they got home from
school. They would sneak up the front stairs knowing there would be chocolate chip cookies in their
bedrooms. Bribery I guess you would call it! Our daughters, on the other hand, had been making
quilt tops for me to eventually sell. Thus, they were really intrigued by the class effort.”

“I insisted that the students’ quilts be finished and displayed at the Craft Day each year. Many of the women demonstrated various techniques there. Quilt shows then were few and far between. “Classes became too full and too many. I clearly remember the day I said to them, “You don’t need me, you just need a place to meet and share your ideas.” I told them that any who had been there for two classes could not come back the following year.”

“Time passed and the year was coming to an end. Marlene Brown’s husband was going hunting, so
Marlene decided to have a meeting at her house while Keith was away. Marlene lived in the city,
so we couldn’t get stuck. We were surprised that about 20 ladies showed up. “We met in homes for a while and did some quilting and, of course, a lot of sharing. Most of the group continued to help me with Craft Day, until I retired from this. As we grew larger in numbers, we met first in Lakefield, then Queen Alexandra Community Centre, Mark Street United Church and eventually here, at our present location: St. Anne’s Church hall. We have always met in the mornings.”

“For a long time, many of us fought organization. We felt we didn’t want to get too big, to have
too many people or have a constitution. So, if some of you say we are getting too crowded,
remember we might have cut off membership at 25. What would have happened to some of you? I
know I would have missed meeting some wonderful people. At the same time, we thought of ourselves as a group—not a guild. However, you can’t stop change and hopefully progress. We became KAWARTHA QUILTMAKERS’ GUILD. We thought of Liftlock and Peterborough, but we wanted to include a wider territory than just the city, and yes,
we did create a constitution.”

“I continued to teach and milk those cows until 1986. Finally Doug decided to get rid of his
beloved Holsteins. I was really excited. Doug had always loved travelling. However, after 15 years
of travelling, I decided that what I liked best was coming home to start the next quilt.”

“As I look back over the years, I realize that that meeting at Marlene’s was really the first
meeting of KQG, but we did not see it at that time. We were simply a group of friends, with a
common interest that brought us together.”

“In 1989, the guild recognized me as the Founder of KQG and awarded me a plaque and life
membership. In 2006, at the guild’s 25th anniversary, life memberships were also awarded to
Brenda Bolton, Marlene Brown, Ruth Hunter, Yvonne McMahon, Jean Mundell, Anna Northey, Grace
Riedel and Muriel Wilson… all founding members of the guild. The founding members have formed
great friendships. Occasionally we meet in a home for a time of laughter, comradeship and
recalling great memories.”

“I feel my life over the last 32 years has been greatly enriched by KQG, and the many friends I
have found here throughout the entire Guild. Thank you one and all.”