THURSDAYS AT THE MUSEUM

Community Quilting:  10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Every Thursday, museum staff meets with a talented team of volunteers having a wide range of quilting skills. These women share their time and helpful hints about quilting as well as answer questions about the quilts and techniques in the featured exhibit. Visitors learn about quiltmaking and the museum’s connections with Lowell schools and rapport with the local community organizations.  Together, they spend the day preparing or sewing for a variety of projects:  

• Organizing youth and adult projects for programs in-house and off-site  
• Coordinating quilt projects for partnerships with Lowell schools in accordance with grant funding
• Teaching small groups the FUNdamentals of quilting 
• Assembling raffle quilts to benefit the museum
• Helping to create a quilt commemorating survivors of the Cambodian Genocide in conjunction with Light of Cambodian Children and More Than A Number.
  

The museum is active in a number of citywide events that offer arts and crafts activities for adults and children.  Community Quilting volunteers are key in preparing for and participating in these annual events:

• February:  Winterfest when the museum offers more than 600 children an opportunity to make their own polar fleece scarves
• February:  Kids Week’ when children visit the museum or attend a program at Girls’ Inc of Greater Lowell and complete their own fabric postcards
• March: Lowell Women’s Week where quilters and visitors learn about different quilt patterns and their history as related to the event’s annual theme
• July: Lowell Folk Festival when children complete a summer fan and become “A Fan of the New England Quilt Museum” 

Off-Site Events

Occasionally, Thursdays at the Museum is off-site!  The museum has a presence at various regional quilt shows to promote its exhibitions, resources and educational programs.  Museum staff and Community Quilting volunteers answer questions, recruit new members and volunteers as well as feature materials and information of museum partners. 

Visit the museum’s booth to meet staff and volunteers:       

July 29 - August 1:  Maine Quilts, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, ME www.mainequilts.org

August 12 - 14: Images, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, MA
www.lowellquiltfestival.org

August 19 - 22:  Mancuso World Quilt Show –New England, Radisson Hotel, Manchester, NH
www.quiltfest.com

November 4 – 7: A Quilters’ Gathering, Radisson Hotel, Nashua, NH www.aquiltersgathering.com

Barnes & Noble Bookfair Days support the New England Quilt Museum.  Visit NEQM’s website for a copy of the day’s voucher.  Meet museum staff and volunteers at the Nashua, NH store OR present the voucher at YOUR LOCAL Barnes & Noble.  A percentage of the day’s net sale will be donated to NEQM.  Thank you.

April 29: Barnes & Noble Bookfair Day, Barnes & Noble, Nashua, NH
November 18: Barnes & Noble Bookfair Day, Barnes & Noble, Nashua, NH

Something is always happening on Thursdays at the Museum.  Join us to see our latest projects.  Volunteers are always welcome and schedule their time at their convenience.  “They come when they can, and leave when they must.”  For more information about   Thursdays at the Museum, contact Rhonda Galpern, Outreach Program Manager at outreach@nequiltmuseum.org or 978-452-4207, ext 17.

In addition to Community Quilting, the First and Third Thursdays feature lunchtime programs.  These events are free to members, or included in the price of Admission.

First Thursdays:  Brown Bag Lecture Series 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM  

The Brown Bag lecture series brings a wide range of cultural, arts, health, and community information to museumgoers through convenient lunchtime lectures on everything from breast cancer awareness to organizational management, and, of course, quilting techniques and the person journies of some of New England's more interesting working quilt artists. Drop by with your lunch on the first Thursday of every month and learn something new! For a complete list of 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series topics, click here.

Third Thursdays:  Book Group 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

The titles featured for the 2010 Museum’s book list include fiction and non-fiction selections. Our reading audience has suggested the majority of these titles as they relate to quilting, its history or the camaraderie of women. Join museum staff, volunteers, members and visitors as they share their impressions and reactions to the author’s work. For a complete list of titles the book group is reading in 2010, click here.

If you are not in the Greater Lowell area, consider reading these books and sharing them with friends or your own book group. Let us know your impressions of our selections.

If you have a favorite book that you would like to recommend to our readers, kindly advise. Email your comments to Rhonda Galpern at outreach@nequiltmuseum.org