Monthly Meetings
When: We meet the second (2nd) Thursday of every month except August. January and February are online by Zoom Only.
Time: Room opens at 6:30 pm for fellowship. Meetings start at 7:00 PM
Where: Meridian Community Centre, 100 Meridian Way, Fonthill, Ontario
Guest fee: $5.00 Featured Speaker $10.00
Let's Be Friends
Dedicated to making our NMQG inclusive and welcoming. We organize regular social quilty gatherings, called BeeHives, in Niagara locations and on Zoom.Our BeeHives hope to grow existing and inspire new friendships. We’ll share conversation, ideas, skills and more.
Quilting Kindness
Comprised of guild members who make and deliver quilts to those in need across Niagara region. Donations of supplies is always appreciated.
Yearly we donate many quilts and other items to Charities in need. This is greatly appreciated by the many recipients and organizations
This year (2025) we have donated over 60 quilts to Birchway Niagara, Port Cares, Wainfleet Lions, Port Colborne Legion and Pelham Cares.
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, Birchway Niagara Children and Family Service 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 18,000 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.
In 2024 Expo of Modern Quilting was staged at the Meridian Centre in Fonthill. It was a very successful exhibit showcasing members quilts, vendors, a guild shop and a sewing demo space. Members donated time for 2 years for the organizing committee, and many hours before the show and during the show. This was the vision to raise awareness of Modern Quilting in the Region and support the Guilds activities. We thank all those whose vision has created and sustained the guild. And look forward to many years of creating.