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Great Lakes, Great Quilts

Michigan State University Museum is the home of the Great Lakes Quilt Center, a Regional Center for the Quilt in partnership with The Alliance for American Quilts. For the festival, the Great Lakes Quilt Center coordinates a number of quilt-related activities, including:

• A Meet the Artist/Great Lakes Quilters Save Our Stories area where, on a small stage and in front of an audience, quilters can share and have recorded the stories of their experiences. Quilters Save Our Stories is part of a national effort, in collaboration with The Alliance for American Quilts, to document the wonderful stories that have accompanied the tens of thousands of quilts made in this country. This year we are pleased to have some of the top award-winning quilters (and their quilts) from our state.
• A Children’s Story Book Quilt program where members of The Quilt Guild of Metro Detroit who have made quilts illustrating children’s books will read the stories and show their quilts.
• A Quilt Care and First Aid area where festival visitors can view simple archival materials and conservation techniques for caring for and displaying textiles in their home. Members of the Piecemakers Guild of Saginaw will demonstrate quilt restoration techniques and give advice on home quilt care.
• A Michigan Quilt Project Inventory area where quilt owners can register their quilts in the state quilt inventory and thereby join thousands of others across the country in helping to create and maintain a record of this wonderful artistic heritage. Sales and demonstrations of quilting by members of the Flint African American Quilt Guild and Lula Williams, recipient of a 1997 Michigan Heritage Award.

At the 2002 festival, Mary Schafer, one of Michigan’s outstanding quilters and quilt educators will be honored with a 2002 Michigan Heritage Award at a ceremony on Saturday.

These activities are hosted by the Capitol City Quilt Guild, the Canadian Lakes Quilters, the Michigan Quilt Network, individuals quilters from around the state, and this year’s following featured guilds.

Genesee Star Quilters
Genesee County Michigan

The Genesee Star Quilters is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to unite quilters through furthering the art of quilting. Founded by twelve individuals in 1985, the group now numbers over 150 quilters. The group meets on the third Friday of each month in the Family Center of the South Flint Church of the Nazarene and a special “Quilter’s Night Out” is scheduled the first Tuesday of each month at the same location to learn a new technique or just “sit ’n’ stitch.” The guild sponsors educational activities for their members such as lectures, discussions, workshops, seminars, and quilt shows. The 2002 quilt show will be held at the Flushing Depot on September 27, 28, and 29 in conjunction with a larger show called “Quilts at the Crossroads.”
In 1995, the guild made it a priority to donate quilts to charities and have subsequently provided over 1600 quilts to individuals and organizations in the Genesee County community, including Hurley Hospital, Eastside Mission, YWCA Women’s Shelter, and the Flint Crisis Pregnancy Center. In 2000, the Genesee Star Quilters joined three teachers at Dowdall School in Kearsley to teach youth the fundamentals of quilting and, on March 16, National Quilting Day, rewarded the students with a pizza lunch for their dedication and hard work.

Piecemakers Guild of Saginaw
Saginaw, Michigan

The Piecemakers Guild of Saginaw began with 12 members in the spring of 1981. Now, in their 21st year, they are 225 members strong. They meet the third Wednesday of the month at the Second Presbyterian Church in Saginaw and several times a year bring in professional quilters as guest speakers and workshop instructors. Guild activities include swapping charm squares and friendship blocks and holding many small quilting bees, show and tell sessions, an Underground Railroad bee, spring and fall retreats, mini round robins, clothing round robins, and social events such as summer picnics and “secret pal” programs. Piecemakers has a quilt education and preservation committee and maintains a large lending library of quilt books. The guild also engages in activities that support local nonprofit organizations and educational activities, including Underground Railroad and hospice programs, Hidden Harvest, the Castle Museum (where they regularly hold quilt shows) and the Hartley Outdoor Nature Center.

Quilt Guild of Metro Detroit
Detroit, Michigan

The Quilt Guild of Metro Detroit, established in 1980, has approximately 140 members. The purpose of the guild is to promote cooperation and interchange of ideas among those who are engaged or interested in quilting, to stimulate an interest in quilting, to promote and advance the art of quilt making, and to present educational programs and services in the design and techniques of quilt making. The Quilt Guild sponsors a biannual quilt show.
One of the special activities of the guild is the development of a library of over 80 children’s books about quilts and the development of a collection of quilts, made by members, to accompany the books. The books and quilts are loaned to schools and libraries where they are shared with children. Recently guild members reproduced the quilts in Mary Hickey’s Pioneer Story Quilts Book and a portion of this collection will be shared with children at this year’s festival.
The guild also has an ongoing project to benefit the Children’s Home of Detroit. To date over 125 twin bed-sized quilts have been donated to the home.

Scrapbaggers of Owosso
Owosso, Michigan

The Scrapbaggers of Owosso was founded in 1987 with 10 members, two of whom are still active. Current membership is at 23 and the group’s small size makes theguild like a family. The Scrapbaggers meet twice a month at the Community Church located in rural Owosso and members enjoy activities such as making “mystery” and “challenge” quilts, going on organized road trips, hosting guest speakers, studying quilt history, and holding a quilt show every few years.
Recipients of their many charity quilts include the Salvation Army, the Ronald McDonald House, Women’s Crises Center, the Baby Pantry, homeless shelter, and fire victims. They also make and raffle off quilts and then donate the proceeds tocharities.

West Michigan Quilters Guild
Grand Rapids, Michigan

The West Michigan Quilters Guild is one of the largest and most active guilds in thestate. With over 400 members this guild covers a wide geographic area from Traverse City to Kalamazoo and the group includes many quilters who have won local, state, and national awards for their work. For members who also want a smaller group experience, the guild hosts 49 active quilting bees who meet regularly. The guild belongs to the Michigan Quilt Network and the National Quilt Association.
Guild members work closely with the Van Andel Public Museum to document quilts, to raise money for special exhibits, to care for their quilt collection, and, to celebrate National Quilt Day by giving quilt demonstrations at the museum. Guild meetings, held at the Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, include lectures with guest speakers, special workshops, and opportunities for members to use the guild’s extensive library. Special projects of the guild include holding “stitch-ins,” block parties, making doll quilts and quilts for neonatal babies, making quilts to raffle off to raise funds for various causes, and holding Michigan Quilt Project documentation days. One of their largest annual activities is their quilt show. The 2002 show will beheld September 21–22 to coincide with the Michigan Quilt Network’s annual showcase to be held in Grand Rapids.