Conejo Valley Quilters
where modern meets traditional
Creating Community Giving Quilts
The Conejo Valley Quilters has provided Quilts and cash to nonprofits in the Conejo Valley, thanks to our generous members and others in the community who support our work.
The CVQ Guild supports organizations that are annually nominated, voted, approved by Guild members.
The following are the currently approved organizations:
Remember quilting a quilt for our "Community Giving" program is a great opportunity to fine tune your quilting skills. You can either free-motion quilt, straight line quilt or a combination of both techniques.
Pat Anderson
Barri Breeden
Your Chance to Make a Difference
The year just concluded was a great year for CVQ donations to its two charities, Many Mansions and James Storehouse. These donations included quilts, as well as table toppers, table runners, pillow cases, placemats and some wall hangings. All brighten the homes and lives of those who receive them, and add some color and love—and they brighten our lives as well when we understand that our efforts to sew each and every project make a difference to those in our community who receive them.
While quilts of all sizes continue to be in great demand for both organizations, smaller items are also needed. They add small splashes of color and love and are very welcome. These include table toppers/runners, pillow cases and placemats—which are perfect for members who wish to make items that are easy to manage and quilt.
Community Giving can offer kits, ideas and some patterns for these. Visit a Community Giving workshop on the first Monday of each month at Cotton & Chocolate to see what’s available. If what you’re looking for isn’t there, let us know what you would like to work on.
Make one of your resolutions for 2025 to help CVQ make a difference in our community with your quilts and other projects.
Many thanks for all your efforts and we look forward to a bright and colorful project-filled new year—
Pat and Barri
James Storehouse
CVQ’s Community Giving made its final donation for 2024 in early November to James Storehouse in Newbury Park.
Included were 21 quilts and one soft book, which were greeted with smiles and an effusive thank you from the donations staff. Jackie, who happily helped unload the quilts and stack them in a receiving cart, sends a message of appreciation on behalf of James Storehouse to CVQ and its members who made this donation possible.
Many Mansions
Remember the red, white and blue placemats CVQ members made during the virtual retreat in August?
Many of them were donated to Community Giving, and the last batch, sent from the Bay Area by Janice J. and delivered by Janine M. at the monthly workshop on November 4, arrived just in time to spark an idea for a very special donation to Many Mansions...
A total of 25 placemats had been received.
Many Mansions was hosting the 5th anniversary of the opening of its Ormand Beach facility in Oxnard, which houses 40 veterans, on Wednesday, November 13. With Veterans Day officially having been observed just two days prior on November 11, it was the perfect time and place to honor the vets and assist Many Mansions by donating the placemats and four red, white and blue quilts recently made by members. Two quilts had been completed by members from Community Giving kits. Pat Anderson also donated two quilts she had made but not yet privately presented to veterans, and with only a few days time before the event, hurried to make 15 more placemats to add to the 25 members had made so that each of the 40 veterans housed at Ormand Beach would get one.
Photos taken at the event by Many Mansions’ staff are heartwarming reminders of how the quilts CVQ sews and donates touch people’s lives and serves as inspiration to continue the guild’s mission to make quilts for our community.
Year-End Donations for Many Mansions:
Community Giving delivered a large variety of quilts and items to Many Mansions in November to clear its coffers and prepare for 2025 donations. It included a record 77 placemats (many made during the August virtual retreat), 4 pillow cases, 3 wallhangings, 9 table toppers/table runners and 14 quilts.
JAMES STOREHOUSE' 10TH ANNUAL "BACK TO SCHOOL" BASH
James Storehouse contacted Conejo Valley Quilters in mid May asking if it would be possible for Conejo Valley Quilters to help them with this year’s “Back to School Bash 2024”. The guild provides quilts to two chosen local charities each year. One is James Storehouse, which serves foster children and young adults in the community.
Each year, James Storehouse holds an event to provide brand new shoes, backpacks, school supplies and quilts to the foster children they serve, as well as young adult who have aged out of foster care. CVQ put out the word to our members and Cotton & Chocolate Quilt Company, as well as reach out to the surrounding community through our website and social media. Quilters from the entire community busily finished quilts they had started and completed many more from scratch. Members of the community dropped off their quilts at Cotton & Chocolate at our July 1 workshop and on two Wednesdays: July 17 and July 24. On those last two dates, there were constant streams of quilters who came in to donate their quilts, and many talked with us. They were eager to participate and help the community. One quilter donated 26 quilts.
In less than 8 weeks, our Community Giving Program collected 190 quilts, 4 backpacks, 8 reading pillows and 22 pillowcases from guild members and other quilters in the community! A special thank you goes to Marilyn and Jerry Peterson and the staff of Cotton & Chocolate Quilt Company, who helped spread the word and provided a great collection site.
It truly takes a village to achieve results like this. The success of this event wouldn’t have been possible without the many CVQ members who contributed their time, efforts and quilts they made. They include the following (apologies if a name has been inadvertently omitted): Barri Breeden, Rena Holmes, Kathy Dobner, Janet Hinderer, Lynn Jurss, Alison Rowe, Charlene Van Ommeren, Cindy Nirenberg, Julie Snow, Monica Sayre, Laura Murphy, Barbara Magnuson, Chris Cole, Peggie Eichhorn, Pat Anderson.
Reading Pillows
CVQ members have made many reading pillows for our charities.
If you are interested in making a reading pillow, you will find the pattern, by Single Girl's DIY, by clicking on the picture!
Check Out What CVQ Members Have Made For Our Two Charities!
Our second annual Community Giving Quilt Presentation took place Monday, OCTOBER 16, 2023 at the
Thousand Oaks Grant R. Brimhall Library
Please go to our Photo Gallery HERE for pictures of the event.
Conejo Valley Quilters and their guests gathered for an afternoon of friendship. Our "Second Annual Quilt Presentation to MANY MANSIONS and JAMES STOREHOUSE" took place at our October 16 General Meeting. All of the quilts in Monday’s presentation during the in-person guild meeting at the Thousand Oaks Library have been delivered to Many Mansions and James Storehouse. Pat Anderson and Barri Breeden dropped off nearly 50 quilts to Angie Milne, Community Engagement Coordinator for Many Mansions, and another nearly 50 to Elizabeth Crisp, Donations Manager at James Storehouse.
CVQ's "Village Quilt Project"
CVQ members continue to work on the "Village Quilt Project." To date, two large quilts have been completed. Blocks are being collected to be put together into additional quilts with a house theme—clusters of colorful houses and trees with a village feel. These quilts will be donated to Many Mansions (visit manymansions.org for information on the organization) for residents living in and moving into their affordable housing units in the local area. The house motif is designed to provide a warm welcome and a feeling of home to recipients. We would love to make as many "Village Quilts" as possible and therefore invite all members to keep making those blocks! You can find instructions by clicking HERE.
