The annual Quilt Show, hosted by the Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild, is shaping up to be another successful showcase of talented quilters.
Held at the Exhibition Grounds on May 3 & 4, the show has entries from all over in their judged quilt show and expects somewhere around 1,000 to 1,500 visitors again this year.
With a building full of quilt work on display, vendors, and even a live demo, the weekend show is a great opportunity to experience what the guild gets to do every day.
“Our theme this year is ‘everything old is new again.’ So you're going to see some older quilts and you're going to see things that people have tried to use an older theme and make it into a new quilt,” said guild president Colleen Lawrence.
The show takes entries from anyone, not just guild members, and Lawrence says often they have people from outside Moose Jaw send them their work to enter; there’s no shortage of things to see at the show.
“We have a group of about 14 ladies. . . they are doing a demo all weekend long of hand quilting in one of the buildings and they will have a lot of their hand-quilted quilts on display in that building,” said Lawrence. “In the other building, there are 175-ish entries into the quilt show.”
It’s not just quilts that come from outside of Moose Jaw to attend the show; Lawrence expects a busload of quilters from Saskatoon and even Calgary, as well as a number of friends from other parts of the province.
“I went to Weyburn a few weeks ago and they had what we call a gathering of the guilds,” said Lawrence. “So we kind of talked up our quilt show there and so a lot of those people are coming, from an hour and a half away type of thing, to come to the quilt show.”
The guild has put together a raffle quilt, with proceeds going towards the Women’s Health Unit at the hospital — only one of the ways the Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild gives back to their community.
Members of the guild pitch in for a number charity projects for those in need; making quilts for victims of tragedy, sending homemade pillowcases to the children’s ward at the hospital, and making placemats for patients in the hospital and for home care residents.
“Any kind of tragedy, we try to make sure that the people at least have a quilt to wrap themselves in,” said Lawrence.
Lawrence encourages everyone to stop by at the quilt show to support the guild, but also to experience the beauty of quilting.
“People are so surprised when they come and see the quilts,” said Lawrence. “It's just not like your grandmother's quilting from 100 years ago. It's totally different and anybody can do it. I don't care what anybody says, they can do it if they try.”
The show will be happening on May 3, from 9am to 7pm, and May 4, from 9am to 4pm, at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds. Admission is $10 at the door.
