History of the Common Thread Quilt Guild

The Common Thread Quilt Guild was created by a group of women with the need to get together and share quilting. In December 1993, they met at the Orleans United Church to discuss the possibility of creating a quilt guild. By January 1994, there were 80 members. Over the years the numbers have grown, now 320 members, and the location has changed. With this continuous growth, the Guild decided it was an opportune moment to strengthen its organization, and as such became incorporated on July 16, 2003.

The Common Thread Quilt Guild has always had a mandate to give back to the community. In January 1995, the Guild presented the Orleans United Church a large wall quilt based on biblical blocks in gratitude for the free use of the church hall for our meetings. The quilt was hand quilted in the shapes of the hand print of many of the congregation. Since then, we have provided lap-sized quilts for Manitoba flood victims of 1997, created and donated quilts for charity raffles, quilts for shelters and, most recently quilts for the BC victims of wildfires in 2003. Our most consistent charitable work is providing cuddle quilts for babies in the Intensive Care Neo-natal units of the Ottawa Hospital and CHEO. To date we have created more than 1500 of these quilts.

The Common Thread Quilt Guild is proud to be a recipient of a citation from the Ontario Police Patrol for our contribution of quilts to their detachments for the purposes of providing comfort to those in distress. The quilts are put into patrol cars and given away at the discretion of the officer. Our quilts have found their way into the arms of young and old alike in Eastern Ontario.