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| It all began in 1980. |
In 1980 Llewellyn George returned to Louisiana from northern
Virginia. She had been a member of the
quilting guild in northern Virginia, and so she began to look around for
quilting friends.
On November 12, 1980, a quilting demonstration was presented
in Monroe by Gerry Rohuer of Tucson, Arizona.
At this event, Llewellyn announced that a local quilter’s group would be
formed, and she took names of those interested.
She had also been in contact with Margaret Hayes of the LSU Extension
Service. Margaret had given her other
names and had told her that the Agriculture Building Auditorium on Cypress
Street in West Monroe was available as a meeting place.
With a meeting date set for December 11, Llewellyn began to
contact those on her lists. Several
people were asked to serve on a steering committee. This committee met for several hours in the
morning preceding the afternoon meeting at 1:00. Approximately thirty people attended that
first meeting. Many brought quilting
projects for a “show-and-tell” session.
This showing of projects and sharing of techniques has remained an
important part of all guild meetings to this day.
Since some interested people could not attend a
daytime meeting, the second session was scheduled for 7:00 PM on January 8,
1981. A film entitled “Granny’s Quilts”
was shown, and a demonstration of the Cathedral Windows quilting technique was
presented. At that time, it was decided
that two chapters of the group would be formed:
(1) a day chapter meeting at 1:00 PM on the second Thursday of each
month; and (2) an evening chapter meeting at 7:00 PM on the first
Thursday. Both groups met at the Agriculture
Building.
The day group chose the name
Sunshine. Several months later the
evening group chose to be called Moonlight.
An early newsletter says it was chosen because of their meeting time and
also because it had the connotation of “moonlighting” – taking on an extra job
– as most of their members work during the day.
Both groups now meet on the first Thursday of the month.
A third chapter, Morning Stars, was organized in 1992. It meets on the first Tuesday at 9:30 AM at
the West Ouachita Senior Center on North 7th Street in West Monroe.
In 2019, a fourth chapter, The Grateful Threads was formed. They meet the first Monday at 5:30 p.m. for a bag supper at the Council on Aging in Monroe, Louisiana.
The steering committee served to direct the guild until
officers were elected in June, 1981 at the first annual meeting. The committee was: Director, Llewellyn George;
Assistant Director, Harriet Walker; Secretary, Marilyn Gray; Treasurer, Bobbie
Cox; Newsletter, Carla Owen; Program and Projects, Kate Everitt, Pat Tynes,
Lois Scharf; Supervisor at Evening Chapter, Catherine Claytor. Bobbie, Catherine, Harriet and Llewellyn also
served on the Constitution and By-Laws Committee.
North Louisiana Quilter’s Guild was chosen as the name for
the group from among twenty names proposed.
Members did not want a name which would limit the guild to the Monroe
Area. It was concluded that “North Louisiana” best identified the
geographic location, and that “Quilter’s Guild” best identifies the
organization: a group banded together to
promote and preserve the art of quilting.
The Pine Tree block was chosen as the guild symbol, as pine trees are typical
of this area. |
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