Interested in learning to quilt? Blair County has one quilt guild — The Chimney Rocks Quilt Guild started in June 2024 and will soon celebrate its first anniversary.

Organized by Helen Seidel of Altoona, with assistance from Connie Shaw of Duncansville, The Chimney Rocks Quilt Guild offers education and resources to those who desire to improve their quilting skills. It has about 20 members who participate in community projects. This guild partners with the Blair Children & Youth Program for foster children. Some of the volunteers involved in Quilts of Valor belong to the quilt guild.

A guild is a more formal organization than a quilt sewing group, Seidel said, as it has bylaws, rules members must follow, and various committees . Its officers are Helen Seidel, president; Connie Shaw and Laurel Snyder, as vice presidents; Dee Bradfield, secretary; Lottie Ebersole, parliamentarian and Vickie Butler, Sunshine Committee chair.

Members pay annual dues of $20. Members meet each month on the third Monday at the Duncansville Evangelical Lutheran Church at Fourth Avenue and 12th Street in Duncansville. They work on small projects during the meetings and plan events.

In late February, the new guild hosted a quilt display and sale in the Sanctuary of ArtsAltoona that raised awareness of quilting, the quilt guild and National Quilt Day. The guild gained several new members for their efforts, Seidel said.

In addition to the Chimney Rocks Guild, The Redbud Quilt Guild meets at 6 p.m. the second Monday of the month at the Huntingdon Arts Center, 12th and Mifflin streets in Huntingdon. It was formed in 1992, according to past president Janet Dunlap.

The Centre Pieces Quilt Guild of State College has more than 80 members, according to the website Quiltinghub.com.

Many quilters belong to more than one guild as they strive to continuously improve their technique, learn new patterns and network with other quilters.

“We have activities and retreats and we sew together,” Dunlap said. “It’s inspiring to see what other quilters are working on. There is a very good camaraderie that comes from sharing a common interest.”

Seidel was first involved with the Redbud Quilt Guild in Huntingdon. She decided to create a new guild to offer quilters learning opportunities in Blair County. She took her first quilting class in the 1980s when it was offered through a program at the hospital where she worked as a registered nurse. After a break, she returned to quilting about 12 years ago. Seidel took machine quilting lessons at Zimmerman Bernina Sewing Shop in New Enterprise. She attends quilting retreats and cruises.

“I enjoy the creativity of it,” Seidel said. “It’s the focus on whatever I am working on that I find peaceful. It’s piecework but it’s very peaceful.”

Quilters of all skill levels are invited to attend meetings of the Chimney Rocks Guild, she said. Those interested can request more information by emailing her at Helenrn2500@gmail.com and following the guild’s Facebook page.

For anyone interested in the Redbud Quilt Guild, visit www.redbudquiltguild.weebly.com and their Facebook page.