History of the Joplin Area Town & Country Quilt Guild

In the early 1980’s, Betty Bridges ran a quilt shop in Webb City offering a wide variety of quilting classes with a loyal clientele. When she closed the shop, she and several customers began meeting in her home to discuss forming a group of interested quilters. The group began meeting with 12 members for food, fun, and quilting fellowship with Betty teaching a new quilt block each month culminating in the creation of a sampler quilt.

After several months, the group decided to create a name and elect officers, and in October 1985, the first official meeting of the Town & Country Quilters was held. The following October, the group held a quilt show to showcase their efforts and invited other local quilt clubs to attend. The quilt show was held annually for four years before moving to a biannual event.

To support the club, a fundraiser quilt was made each year. Additionally, the group began donating quilts to local charitable organizations, quilting supplies to area nursing homes, and quilting books to the Webb City library. In 1991, one such quilt entitled, “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” was accepted into the National Quilt Show in Padacuh, Kentucky.

Membership has continued to grow, and the guild has moved into larger and larger meeting spaces. In 2017, the guild became a 501c3 charitable organization and the name was officially changed to the Joplin Area Town & Country Quilters when it was learned that there was already a Town & Country Quilters group registered in Missouri.

In 2025, the guild will celebrate 40 years of friendship, service to community, and expanding quilt knowledge.