Quilters ready to host show at college

By Lethbridge Herald on June 15, 2023.

Steffanie Costigan
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Local Centennial Quilters Guild is hosting its sixth biennial quilt show, The Festival of Quilts 2023, at the Lethbridge College. 

The Festival of Quilts will run Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and again on Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. 

Quilt show public relations person Jackie Mignault shared the enjoyment she feels the community will experience at the quilt festival and the inspiration she feels people may get from viewing it.

“Anybody that enjoys anything that’s handmade and artistic is really going to find it worth the time to come to the show this year. They’ll be inspired, it’ll make you smile,” said Mignault. 

Admission for the quilt show will be $10 per person at the door. It is anticipated there will be 30 booths and around 20 different merchants.

 Judy Barnett, a member of the quilt show executive, noted the beauty behind the quilts and said she thinks the quilts this year are works of art. 

“The quilts are absolutely spectacular. I cannot express enough how spectacular the quilts are. They’re every bit as good as Heritage Park. I think they’re better than Heritage Park. They’re really awesome works of art,” said Barnett.

Quilts showcased at the festival will be judged by spectators in what is called Viewer’s Choice. 

Each spectator will receive a voting ballot to pick their favourite quilts; near noon on Saturday, the spectators will be able to see which quilts have won from the Viewers’ Choice. Barnett noted the charitable work members of the quilters guild do for charities around the community.

“We do dolly quilts for the Salvation Army to give out at Christmas time, we do crib quilts. Just all kinds of stuff that helps the community. . . It’s unbelievable.”

The Festival of Quilts will be showcasing 178 quilts, with 12 being Indigenous works.

 The quilt show chairperson, Val Beasley, said the money raised from the show goes towards making quilts which are donated. 

“What the quilt guild does with the money that we raised from the show is we as a group, make community quilts, which we donate to various organizations throughout the city during the year. So, whether it be women’s shelters or like anything in the hospital,” shared Beasley.

The quilters guild donates quilts to around 10 different organizations. The Lethbridge Barnett said the quilt show is a place for people to enjoy themselves and take pictures of quilts they like. Over the years, guild members have donated more than 3,300 community quilts to people and organizations in the city and across the province as well as B.C, and Saskatchewan,

“People just enjoying being able to sit and chat and visit about what they’ve seen and then do another pass. And have another look to go and look at you know a favourite quilt take a picture. People are welcome to take pictures at the quilt show.”

A special exhibit Fibre Arts Network will be on display, as well. The “For the Birds” exhibition features 88  8.5 x 11-inch works.  FAN is a co-operative of self defined artists based in Western Canada, says the guild.

The guild’s roots go back to 1984 when a group of city quilters joined forces to make a quilt commemmorating the centennial of Lethbirdge. This lead to the formation of the guild in 1985.

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