Early in 1991, Ardith Winters, an enthusiastic quilter, offered some quilting classes to be held at Riordan Hall. These classes resulted in many new excited quilters, eager to learn more. Friendships grew and it was decided to form a “Club.”

They decided to call themselves the Bella Vista Calico Cut-Ups Quilt Guild, with Ardith leading the group and Margeann Ahnquist as her assistant. When Ardith was out of the Village and Margeann found other commitments interfered, Betty Schmidt took over the reigns, keeping the group together, meeting regularly, and teaching each other as the group grew.

In the fall of 1992, Betty Schmidt insisted she be relieved of her duties, resulting in the first elected group of officers.

Mary Pumphrey was the 1993 President, and by the end of the year, the Guild had a total of 77 members.

In October of 1996, the Guild had its very first Quilt Show at the Boys and Girls Club in Bentonville. Mary Pumphrey and Dorothy Day were Co-Chairpersons of the successful show.

In 1997, with 149 members, we had outgrown our meeting room at Riordan Hall, and moved to Sengel Hall, the large fellowship hall at St. Theodore’s Episcopal Church.

In 1998, we had our second successful Quilt Show. Linda Hurt was the Chairwoman. Our donation quilt was a fantastic fund raiser.

In 1999, two “work days” produced 80+ quilts for charity.

In 2000, a third superb Quilt Show was held. The donation quilt was such a great fundraiser that we were able to give $1,500 each to the Bella Vista Library and the Village House and add to our education fund.

In 2001, about 100 charity quilts were made at the “work days.”

Our fourth Quilt Show was held at Riordan Hall in October 2002.

In 2003, we had many wonderful speakers and workshops. Charm Squares were started and the Block of the Month was a wonderful Christmas quilt. The Fifth Monday workdays made a total of 104 quilts and 45 tote bags that were given to various charities. A quilt was made for the Bella Vista Animal Shelter for them to use as a fundraiser donation quilt. This year our Guild hosted the Regional Quilt Congress. For the second year in a row, we participated in the Holiday Fantasy by decorating a tree.

In 2004, we were blessed to have speakers and workshops that presented us with new information, motivation and challenges. This year’s Block of the Month was a Mystery Garden Wall Hanging. The Challenge theme was “Up, Up, and Away.” Many participated in the Charm Squares exchange. The “Secret Sisters” were active all year long. The Fifth Monday workdays made a total of 72 quilts, and 47 new member fabric folders, and 35 tote bags were given to the Women’s and Children’s Shelter. Thirteen small groups were active within our Guild. We hosted a “Quilt Turning” fundraiser and gave The Village House, Bella Vista Library and our guild’s Educational Fund each $550. Our donation quilt was completed for the 2005 Quilt Show. Members participated in additional volunteer quilt-related activities throughout the year.

We received 37 new members in 2005 and had 64 visitors at our meetings during the year. The block of the month was a Mystery Wall Hanging. The Challenge for the year was 16” pillow covers which were given to Restoration Village. In 2005, the Fifth Monday Workday quilters produced 124 quilts which were donated to area charities and hurricane victims. The highlight of our fourth Quilt Show was a drawing for a beautiful donation quilt. The Quilt Show was held in September at St. Bernard Catholic Church and brought in $3,150 which was donated to The Bella Vista Library and The Village House. Secret Sisters, Charm Squares exchange and small groups rounded out our Guild activities for the year. A new website was instituted and can be accessed at www.calicocutups.org for up-to-the-minute news about the Guild.

We ended 2006 with 206 members. Thirty-four new members joined throughout the year and we had 79 visitors at our meetings. We saved hundreds of dollars by making the monthly newsletter available on our website each month (www.calicocutups.org) and only mailing it to those without Internet access. Each month, we waited with great anticipation for the next installment of instructions for our Mystery Quilt and the resulting quilts were shown at our January 2007 meeting. The Challenge for the year was a 12” by 36” holiday table runner. First prize went to Sharon Sue Harvey. In 2006, the fifth Monday Workday quilters produced 120 quilts which were donated to the Sunshine School, Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, area hospitals and the Women’s Shelter. They also produced 4 totes and 15 new member bags. We contributed 18 quilts plus 339 blocks to the Quilts of Valor project for wounded soldiers coming out of ICU in Germany and received recognition for our contribution of cancer turbans to NARTI.

One of the greatest moments of our 2007 year was when we exceeded making and sending 100 Quilts of Valor to wounded service personnel overseas and in the United  States under the inspiring leadership of Donna Rosche. Our other projects did well, also. Our third Thursday workdays met at Village Quilting and supplied over 200 quilts to area shelters, police and fire departments, Habitat for Humanity homes and other area charities. We also made cancer turbans again this year. Our Block of the Month was variations on the card trick pattern with members showing their finished (or nearly finished) projects at our January 2008 meeting. The Challenge was to make a 22” square wall hanging from a bag of unusual (a nice way of saying ugly) fabric. We hosted a successful Card Party as a fundraiser early in the year and began working in earnest on the Quilt Show scheduled for April 2008. We added 43 new members, ending the year with 207 members and a move to a new meeting place—First United Methodist Church of Bella Vista.