The Nia Quilters’ Guild has aspired to create an environment where interested participants of all skill levels can gather together to deepen their knowledge of the quilting art form, its history, and the unique cultural significance associated with the craft.  The Quilting Guild is a multi-generational project that infuses cultural arts and group interaction with traditional heritage quilting.  The objective of the Guild is to help persons of all ages grow through artistic expression while assisting them in creating their own family traditions using fabric.

The Guild holds introductory quilting classes to those on a beginner level.  Pre-registration is necessary for these introductory sessions which are held in 4 to 8 week s increments.  Guild members meet weekly for individual projects as well as group endeavors such as creating and gifting quilts to non-profits for resale as fundraisers, participating in exhibits and quilt shows, donating baby quilts to the Project Lynus for young mothers, and as a community resource for documentation and preservation of heritage quilts.

The Guild sponsors an annual art exhibit to display fabric art created by Guild members and crafts produced by children participating in Saturday School quilt classes.  Future plans for the Guild include investigating national model programs that successfully utilize quilting for individual economic development and/or creating a marketing mechanism for fabric products.

The Quilters’ Guild has received generous funding from The Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise (PACE) and Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (PCA).  If you are interested in registering for this program or would like to be added to our event mailing list, click the Send Us an Email link found under the Contact Us button on the navigation bar and type Quilters’ Guild in the subject line.

Master quilter and North Side neighborhood resident Ruth Ward is a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (PCA) Folk Arts Fellow, Master Artist in the PCA Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program, and a resident artist through the PCA AIE (Arts In Education) Program.  The Guild, along with quilting classes, forms a community of creativity that allows Mrs. Ward to be a catalyst for artistic development.