Join us in May 2024 for the Niagara Modern Quilt Expo as we celebrate our guild’s 10^th anniversary!

Our history

The Niagara Modern Quilt Guild was founded in May 2014 with fourteen members seeking to adopt a modern esthetic of quilt making.  This collective of like-minded individuals created a supportive, welcoming and open community with Susan Bowslaugh, an accomplished modern quilter, as our inaugural President. 

The first meetings were hosted at Modern Bee, a former quilt shop in Niagara-on-the Lake.  Our fledgling guild announced its arrival by holding a concurrent exhibit at Quilt Canada in June 2014 right here in Niagara.  As we grew in numbers meetings relocated to Stitch, a former local quilt shop in the town of Lincoln, and a short time later moved to a larger space at Bethany Community Church in St. Catharines.  In 2022, after nearly two years of exclusively virtual gatherings, we resumed in-person meetings at a new location in the Meridian Community Centre in Fonthill, with nearly 70 members encompassing all twelve local municipalities in the Niagara Region. Some members regularly travel from Oakville and Burlington, while others participate virtually from significant distances including Pembroke, Elliot Lake and even Quebec. Our guild continues to attract new members, both locally and outside of Niagara, by offering educational and collaborative modern quilting content through Zoom.

We have members providing learning opportunities and encouraging the art of modern quilting by presenting trunk shows and teaching workshops, as well as quilt pattern designers with international sales. 

Quilts made by our members have been exhibited and won awards at QuiltCon, the prestigious juried modern quilt show hosted annually by the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG) in the United States and at the Quilt Canada National Juried Show presented annually by the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA). 

Charitable quilting is an important element of our guild program. Through “Quilting Kindness” our generous members make quilts for distribution to local agencies that provide emergency shelter, transitional housing and other supports for individuals and families in crisis. Many of our members support other charitable organizations including Project Linus, Project Noah, Project Smile, Quilts for Survivors, Quilts of Valour, Victoria’s Quilts, and many more.  Donated quilts are also provided to fundraising raffles and auctions in support of local initiatives.

The Niagara Modern Quilt Guild is thrilled to be one of nearly 200 guilds and over 16,000 members worldwide affiliated with the Modern Quilt Guild (MQG).  We are also a proud member guild of the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA).  Members of these organizations have access to extensive resources relating to modern quilting.  Learn more about these thriving communities by visiting www.themodernquiltguild.com and www.canadianquilter.com.

We look forward to welcoming you to Niagara and sharing the work of our talented creators!