The History of Peace by Piecing Quilt Guild
Peace by Piecing Quilt Guild (PBPQG) came about as the brainchild of Rhonda Geddis. With the help of 11 other founding members, she laid out the steps needed to create a quilt guild in the Humble/Atascocita area. Today the remaining founding members are Wanda Nesloney, LaPaula Alberto and Karen Hudson. The first PBPQG meeting was held on August 5, 2008, and opening comments were presented by Karen Hudson.
The first year (2008 – 2009) the Founders contributed a lot of financial support and performed multiple jobs to keep the guild running – Rhonda Geddis acted as President, La Paula Alberto headed Programs and assisted Misty Fain with door prizes. Karyl Wilson coordinated refreshments and the facility. Elizabeth McKnight headed fund-raising efforts. Karen Hudson was the Treasurer and photographer. As new members signed up, they also began to serve in one capacity or another.
The first year the guild didn’t have funds to afford to pay for speakers to teach quilting techniques. Treasurer Karen Hudson estimated the 2009 budget would total $600, so the members got creative. Meetings were:
· sew-ins
· apron and tote bag contests
· free speakers on woman’s issues
· free speakers from local shops
· local quilters
· member demonstrations
Peace by Piecing was created to be a guild of quilters at all skill levels including non-quilters. The purpose of the guild is to provide an atmosphere of learning, sharing and fellowship. Another difference is that meetings always open with prayer.
The first big event was in June 2009. The meeting was opened to the public and presented Dr. Locke’s The Supper Quilt. This meeting also held the first silent auction and hit the 50th member milestone.
The first Board was elected in 2010 with Elizabeth McKnight serving as the first official President of PBPQG. Since the first election, 9 outstanding ladies have served as guild President:
- Elizabeth McKnight 2010 & 2011
- Misty Fain 2012 & 2013
- Liz Richardson 2014
- La Paula Alberto 2015 & 2016
- Kay McKinney 2017
- Karen Hudson 2018 & 2019
- Cathy DeWoody 2020 & 2021
- Lisa Taylor 2022
- Diane Shults 2023 & 2024
The creation of the guild was started in Second Baptist church. Meetings were held at the Lake Houston Church for a short period before returning to Second Baptist church. In 2018 the guild moved its meetings to Lamb of God Lutheran Church. The meetings were scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month, but elections caused meetings to be rescheduled on election days. To address this, meetings were moved permanently to the third Tuesday of the month. During 2023, the guild moved its meeting location to Atascocita Lutheran Church due to rising rental costs at Lamb of God.
The guild’s first retreat was in 2010 at Aunt Faye’s Country Retreat. Over the years the guild has retreated to places like the Red Barn, Camp Allen, and 12 Pines, to name a few. The guild has offered road trips to Quilt Shops, the Texas Quilt Museum and area quilt shows.
Through the bees and the membership, the guild has supported a variety of charities over the years. The first charity was the Humble ISD Pregnancy Related Services where baby quilts were provided for high school new moms. The guild also supported Meals on Wheels with placemats, Humble Area Assistance Ministry (HAAM) with can goods and school supplies, Quilt of Valor with quilts for veterans, totes for Children’s Shriner, adult bibs for Village Center, Teddy Bears and Blankets for Fire Stations, and quilts for the Harris Health System.
As of January 2024, we support the following charities:
- Creativity Shell
- Harris County Health BUSY BEE
- Humble ISD New Mom’s
- Quilts of Valor
- Ronald McDonald House
- Ryan’s Case for Smiles
- Star of Hope
Thanks to our dedicated board and guild members, we were able to persevere during the COVID pandemic which began in 2020 and continued into 2021. The government decided to shut down the country in March 2020, so being creative President Cathy DeWoody started using ZOOM to hold monthly meetings. In June 2020, members met in person and Facebook LIVE was used to broadcast the meeting. However, shortly after the meeting one member tested positive for COVID. All members were notified of the positive results and the July meeting was held using the ZOOM platform to protect the members. In August, meetings were held in-person again and broadcast on Facebook LIVE for all members to view. A Members Only Facebook page was created to broadcast the Facebook Livestream to members. For the rest of 2020 and all of 2021, the guild met in-person and via Facebook LIVE, which allowed everyone to juggle positive COVID tests while remaining active in the guild. At each meeting, members made their own decision about whether to wear a mask. ALSO, numerous guild members were busy at home making cloth masks due to the shortage within the medical field.
The guild has grown since 2008 both in membership and fellowship. We’ve shared our love of quilting, grew in our knowledge and craft, shared each other’s joyous moments and held each other up through hard times. We have come together to: 1) promote quilting; 2) increase knowledge; 3) encourage ideas; and 4) serve the community. By staying true to the original purpose of this guild, we can only continue to grow – the sky is the limit, and this is a guild for all quilters.
