April 26, 2010

People look at the many quilts on display at Prairie Patches Quilt Guild's show in Davidson April 17.

DAVIDSON-The ladies of Prairie Patches Quilt Guild have been very busy these last two years.

Proof of their efforts was on display at Davidson Community Centre April 17 during the guild's biannual show.

The hall was filled with a colourful and beautiful display of quilted blankets, table runners and wall hangings, all the handiwork of 19 local ladies.
A steady stream of admirers wandered through the aisles created by the row upon row of quilts.

The 115 pieces on display were all made since the guild's last show in 2008.

Many of the quilts were on loan, gifts that were borrowed back by their makers so they would have something to show.

Quilter Cathy Palmer had 10 pieces in the show.

Many were quilts she made for friends and family to celebrate a wedding or the birth of a baby.

"Grandbabies don't go cold," guild member Val McJannet added.

A gift of a quilt is often a treasured item that instantly becomes a family heirloom.

Palmer says much work goes into a quilt, particularly a hand-quilted piece because it requires special care and attention, so she chooses its recipient carefully.

Making a quilt takes much time from choosing or designing a pattern, buying fabric, cutting the pieces and assembling them and then sewing it all together.

Palmer says many members, once they have their tops made, quite often have it commercially long-arm quilted. This is a special, large sewing machine that secures the quilted top pieces to the backing.

Palmer says machine-quilted pieces tend to be more durable than their hand-quilted counterparts and can even be thrown into the washing machine.

A few pieces at the show were hand-quilted, most by Angie Bell.

Bell, Palmer says, has a unique style of quilting and does them on her lap. Bell often is the recipient of guild members' scrap fabric. She takes them and creates beautiful and fanciful quilts reminiscent of the way the craft was practised years ago.

Prairie Patches holds its show every other year, alternating with the show of the quilt guild in the Tugaske/Eyebrow area.

The time between shows is necessary to give members time to construct their pieces, explains Cathy Palmer.

Prairie Patches has been meeting since 2004. They support each other, do group projects and help each other solve quilt-related problems. They get together every Wednesday in the basement of New Life Pentecostal Church in Davidson. Members are from Davidson and district, Kenaston, Craik and Imperial.

The guild offers beginner classes, which may be good news to anyone who attended the show and came away with a case of quilt envy.

They have until 2012 to put something together, just in time for the next show.

The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada.