A Member Group of the Osoyoos & District Arts Council
The Osoyoos Quilters Guild
“Quilting is Our Therapy”
The Osoyoos Quilters Guild was formed in 1986 with a mandate to provide comfort quilts to community members and to provide a forum for quilters and stitchers to meet, learn and exchange ideas.
Everyone is welcome, we have had folks join so they could learn to quilt and some have joined having not sewn since high school. We also have many amazing quilters and sewers who are always willing to share their knowledge and skills. We even have few members who don’t even quilt, they just come out and join us while they work on their own handwork projects.
We meet every Tuesday from the beginning of September through to the middle of May in at the Elks Hall, 8506 92nd Avenue in Osoyoos. Come and check us out – 10:00am on Tuesdays in the basement of the Elks Hall. Most days are open sew days, you work on your own projects, the doors open at 9:30, we usually get going by 10:00am to about 3:00pm with a brief stop for lunch.
We have a meeting the morning of the first Tuesday of the month, and then have lunch and work on projects for the balance of the afternoon. Sometimes our executive organizes a class or a community project day, but the majority of the non meeting Tuesdays are for our members to work on their own projects and catch up with their guild friends.
Although the majority of time together is spent on our own projects, the members of the Osoyoos Quilters Guild still find the time each year to support various community groups and organizations. Each year, the members create and donate over 50 baby quilts to the Kelowna hospital NICU, we make and donate over 80 kitty pillows for the SPCA or local cat rescue groups, we quilt and donate bed quilts for the residents of Country Squire Villa in Osoyoos, we create and donate a quilt to the Osoyoos Elementary School Roots of Empathy program, we donate to the Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre and donate comfort quilts whenever we hear of a resident experiencing tragedy.
Membership is usually around 40 members, a quarter of them are Snowbirds from across Canada. We just love seeing our Snowbirds return every year, some have been coming to Osoyoos for years. We are very grateful for their ongoing friendship and support, and look forward each year to renewing old friendships and meeting new friends.
We now have our own Facebook group for guild members only, it is a great tool for sharing projects, links to patterns or instructions, looking for help or just keeping in touch.
We always welcome folks who are curious about what we do to drop in on a Tuesday and check us out! The coffee is usually on and the members are always happy to answer any questions and show what they are working on.
Tuesdays 10:00am September through to mid May at the Elks Hall, Osoyoos.
For more information, please contact us at osoyoosquiltersguild@gmail.com.