THE HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO QUILTERS

By Sally Clouse

In May of 1995 Shirley Arthur and a group of quilting friends placed an ad in the local paper inviting quilters who were interested in starting a quilt guild to meet at the Hayden Lake library. Twenty-nine people showed up and by the end of the meeting, North Idaho Quilters was born.

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The guild met monthly at the Kootenai County Extension building located at Dalton and Gov’t Way in CDA. These ladies were ambitious and in four months they had:

• Named the newsletter “A Common Thread” with the tag line “Our love of Quilts is what brings us together!”

• Sent out a survey for input on numerous ideas to incorporate into the guild

• Established bylaws, with the help of Lois Grutta, and a mission statement to promote quilting and improve quilting skills among its members

• Established General Business Meetings on odd numbered months and Activity Meetings on even numbered months

• Held a Logo Block contest which Karla Harris won. The rest of the blocks submitted were assembled into a quilt top by Joan Domangue and hand quilted by members. The quilt is known as the Logo Quilt

• Put forth a slate of officers

• Started a raffle quilt

• Ran a membership campaign which was led by Sally Clouse

 

All before the first official meeting!

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The guild’s first official meeting was Sept. 25, 1995. Officers were elected and the bylaws were adopted. All members who joined during the first year were charter members - there were 88. In 2.5 years, membership had grown to 171.  Our membership is now 200.

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Membership dues started at $15 and were raised to $20 in Sept. 2004.  They are currently $25.

Nineteen women have served as president, with some serving 2 consecutive terms and Carlene Litz serving in 2005 – 2007 and again from 2013 to 2015.

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The General Meeting has been held at four locations: Kootenai County Extension Building until Jan. 1996. Then the meeting was moved to Christ the King Lutheran Church on Penn. Ave in CDA; in Nov. 2000 it was moved to Lake City Senior Center on Lakewood Dr, CDA. This seemed to be working well until May 2007 when we arrived at the center only to find they had also scheduled another event. With the help of one of our members that meeting was moved to Lake City High School. This prompted the board to look for a new meeting location and in Jan. 2008 we moved to the Shriner’s Event Center, where we currently meet every other month. Only 2 meetings have been cancelled due to weather. 2020 brought its challenges with the pandemic and we were not able to meet in person.  The guild was able to hold some meetings with Zoom and have continued with Zoom for a few of our board meetings and will be offering a Zoom speaker presentation.

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Activity Day was originally designed to move from one community to another to involve others and to be held on Sat. so our working members could attend. The first Activity Day was held Oct. 28, 1995 at the Bayview Community Center with 30 in attendance. In 1998 the Vice President position was created and put in charge of Activity Day. Our first Activity Day at Friends Church in Hayden was in Dec. 1998. Activity Day is still held every other month at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Post Falls. We have done mystery quilt blocks in the past and now have a block lotto each time with completed blocks going into a lotto drawing for those who participated.  The finished quilts from these blocks are often donated to community service.

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The guild has produced yearly raffle quilts, selling tickets within the guild and at the North Idaho Fair.  During quilt show years, we have the additional opportunity to sell tickets at the quilt show.  This continues to be a good fundraiser and showcases the skills of the guild members.

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The NIQ library checked out its first books at the March 1996 meeting.  The library is offered at our guild meetings and is kept updated with current donations and new printings of books.  Older books moved out of circulation are offered to members at very minimal cost.

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Our first quilt retreat was held at Lutherhaven in Sept. 1996. The retreats were held both spring and fall and were well attended until 2003. Interest fell off and retreats were cancelled until 2011. Then we held a retreat each fall until the pandemic changed things.  We now host two sewing retreats a year, spring and fall, at the Eagles Center in Hayden.  The retreats are popular and well attended.

The Basket Auction and potluck was started in July 1998 as a fund raiser to help pay for guest speakers and have continued every year since. Because the guild was on a tight budget for several years, members brought their potluck dish, their own plates and silverware! Over the years the items have varied from baskets and small quilts, to larger quilts and to a weekend get-a-way for a group of friends. Other fundraising activities have included logo pins, a small Christmas tree decorated with hand-made ornaments; fat quarters for sale for $1, silent auctions, the cookbook, and 50/50 drawing.

Besides our quilt show the guild has organized quilt displays for the public several times. Mother’s Day 1997 at Duncan’s Garden Center.  We also displayed quilts for Mother’s Day at the Silver Lake Mall in 1998 and 1999. The first-place quilts from the 2001 NIQ Quilt Show were shown at the Coeur d’Alene Library. In 2014, Idaho themed quilts were displayed at the JACC in Post Falls, and several of those were chosen for a special event at the Capitol Building in Boise. In Fall of 2015 we had a display at Hayden City Hall.

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In accordance with our mission statement to promote quilting, NIQ has made efforts to teach children about sewing and quilting. In the fall of 2007, the guild helped Sorenson School make an All-School Quilt. We have supported the local 4-H program by donating a new serger and in Feb. 2009 we hosted a youth sewing day where 32 children made over 60 pillowcases (one to keep and one to donate to the ConKerr Cancer Project). Later that same year the Hayden Library invited the guild to host a Sew Day for kids. Again, pillowcases were made by 14 children. In 2014 NIQ hosted its first Youth Sewing and Quilting Camp. Thirty children from age 7 to teens participated in the three-day event. Kids Camp continues to be held every summer for one week at the Shriner’s Event Center.  This has become a very popular event with registration filling early and kids completing several sewing projects and a quilt of their own.  Our members volunteer to provide instruction and guidance to the kids.  In 2021 our Kids Camp was featured in the publication Quiltfolk and we now receive free copies of the bimonthly magazine for our library.

In helping its members improve their quilting skills, local, national and international teachers have been invited to present programs and workshops for the guild members to participate in. In July of 1998 the guild hosted “Quilt Kamp” at Templin’s Resort in Post Falls, where Sharyn Craig provided two workshops and was the featured speaker at a dinner. Ala Carte Night has featured guild members teaching specific techniques.

NIQ has produced 14 quilt shows. The first show was in June 1997, only a year and a half after the guild started. Even that first show featured 300 quilts. From the start the guild decided that the quilt show would be a biennial event and viewer’s choice, allowing for a very well-planned show and a large and varied collection of quilts. Each show has featured a quilt artist and most have been members of NIQ. A quilt challenge has also been part of each show. Members are given a theme and guidelines and amazing quilts have been created. The quilt show was held at Lake City High School in 1997, North Idaho College in 1999 and 2001, and Kootenai County Fairgrounds since then. 2005 was the first time the Mayor’s Award was given to a quilt in the show. In 2015 the Mayor’s Award changed to the Featured Quilter’s Award. In 2007, the Ironman bicycle course made it a bit tricky to get to the quilt show on Sunday, so the 2009 show moved to Friday – Sat. to avoid this conflict. Another highlight of our quilt show is the beautiful handmade ribbons that are awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place viewer’s choice. The 2021 quilt show was delayed until 2022 also because of pandemic restrictions, but the show was a success with close to 300 quilts and good attendance.  We have moved to Buildings 1,2 & 3 in the Fairgrounds which allows for better space, lighting and flow.  We consistently draw about 1000 attendees.

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Quilters are generally very generous people. Thus, we have a Community Service committee to help meet the needs of the surrounding communities. The committee was guided by six women for five years, laying a strong foundation of supporting local charities. The first 13 community service quilts were made of 6” squares cut from scraps and used clothing. A second round of quilts was made from bummer blocks. Besides supplying local charities with quilts, NIQ has supported the fundraising efforts of several charities and the Festival of Trees (since 1998) by providing high quality quilts for them to raffle or auction. In May 2000 NIQ was one of four honorees in Idaho for “Make a Difference Day,” an award given by USA Today. After receiving a large amount of donated fabric in 2006, a special community service sew day was held at the Cloverleaf Grange in Post Falls, where guild members cut, sewed, layered and finished quilts. A lot of work and a huge success. In Jan. 2005 Bear Paw Quilting extended an invitation for community service to meet and use its classroom once a month to work on quilts. In 2014 quilts were provided to the nurse’s stations at every public school and in 2015 community service provided quilts to veterans at the Lewiston Nursing Care Facility. Several members have also made quilts for Quilts of Valor. Over the first twenty years of the guild’s existence, more than 1793 quilts were made through community service!  Community Service has expanded its role, adding a sew day once a month along with the quilt tie day once a month.  The sew day is held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Post Falls and the tie day is held at Kootenai Human Rights Center in Coeur d’Alene.  To date, community service is donating 200 quilts a year to various charitable organizations in the community.  In 2023, a special sewing project of Christmas stockings was guided by a member and over 300 stockings were made and donated to local food banks, pediatric hospital units, and charities.  Most recently, 23 lap quilts were donated to the Veteran’s Home in Post Falls.  Our members continue to be generous with their time and donations of quilt tops and finished quilts.

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The guild added a new committee – Stash Collectors, as the calls came in from retiring members and the community for fabric donations to the guild.  This fabric is being sorted, organized and re-sold in 2 guild sales as well as donated to community service, retreats, door prizes and other guild events.  It’s anticipated this committee will continue to be busy as people empty storage units and sewing spaces.  We have an annual yard sale in the fall, offering space for our members to sell items.  This is also a fundraiser for the guild with sales from Stash Collectors.

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The North Idaho State Fair has a quilt barn each year and we sponsor five first and second place ribbons.  Our raffle quilt is on display and our members volunteer to sell tickets for the quilt and help monitor the barn.  We encourage our members and kids camp attendees to enter their quilts in the fair.

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It is our members who make all the above events and opportunities happen. Thank you to those who have volunteered to lead this guild by serving as a board member or a committee chair. Your time, commitment and leadership are appreciated. Thanks also to all our members through the years. Your ideas, hard work and generosity have made an impact on this guild and our community. Together we promote, teach and share our love of quilting!