At the beginning and the first few years…

The Quilters Guild of Greater Kansas City held its first meeting in January 1975, at The Quilting Bee, a quilt shop in Westport owned by Terry Thompson. It was Terry’s idea to organize a guild. When she presented the idea to her customers, it was very well received. Posters were printed and distributed to interested shops, and 20 women attended that first meeting.

By February 1975, a meeting place and day of the month had been secured at the Garden Center at Loose Park, second Tuesdays. Bylaws were drafted, and in March dues were charged. In April, the bylaws were adopted, officers were elected, and QGGKC was officially chartered with 20 members.

During the next several months, more posters were printed and notices placed in area newspapers. By December of 1975, membership doubled to 40 members. The first edition of the newsletter was printed, and the guild began a collection of quilt blocks. A guild logo was designed by Cindy Clark, a member artist.

1976 saw the introduction of Show & Tell at monthly meetings, and a fabric exchange was started. Membership grew steadily, and the guild was asked to supply volunteer quilting demos at the State Line Antiques Show in June and at Missouri Town in July. Plans were made to have the first guild quilt show in October, but it was not until June of 1977 that a place was finally found to have the show.

QGGKC’s first quilt show was held in September 1977 at the Swope Interpretive Center in Swope Park. The rooms were small but decorated beautifully, and the show was a great success. By February 1978, there were 80 members.

A second show was held at the Center in September 1978, and membership increased so much that by June 1979, a new meeting place had to be found. During June, July & August, the guild met at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and in September moved to the Roanoke Presbyterian Church.

Plans were begun in August of 1979 to sew a guild-owned Kansas-Missouri quilt. New bylaws were written and adopted, and the guild’s block collection (which had grown from 20 to over 100) was carefully catalogued and photographed. In September the guild presented its third quilt show, again at the Swope Interpretive Center, and attendance was over 3,000. At this time, a guild library was started with just two books.

The 1980 quilt show was held at The Meeting Place in Crown Center with over 12,000 visitors attending. The guild’s Kansas and Missouri quilts made their first appearance at this show and were also requested for hanging by various groups afterwards. The Missouri quilt hung in the Kansas City, MO, City Hall during the months of January and February of 1981, and the Kansas quilt hung in the governor’s office in Topeka during February and March 1981.

As of June 1981, the guild’s membership was 230 with an average attendance of 100 at its monthly meetings. Another quilt show was planned for October 3-11, 1981, again at Crown Center.