HOW TO WIN TICKETS:
The Langley Quilters' Guild has teamed up with the Langley Advance to give away tickets to the Threads that Bind Us quilt show.
A pair of lucky readers will win two tickets each to the quilt show.
How do you win?
• Click on the live link in the story about quilt show at www.langleyadvance.com, and tell us why you want to attend this show. You will be entered into the draw. Preference will be given to Langley residents.
Postings must be received prior to 5 p.m. on May 2, and the winner will be notified by email and must pick up the tickets at the Advance office. No staff or family of the Langley Advance or Black Press are eligible. This giveaway is restricted to online participants, 19 years or older only. Must include name and phone number.
PHOTO: Guild members Darlene Muench and Rita Raun iron pieces during a visit to Harrison Landing. (Heather Colpitts)
Quilted works of art by a longtime local sewer originally from Portgugal, pieces created by Langley students in a special youth program and much more are on display at the 2016 Quilt Show.
Every two years the Langley Quilters Guild holds the fundraising show, filling the George Preston Recreation Centre.
The guild has 218 members and it’s been a long time since quilting was about cutting up scrap clothing to make bed covers.
“These are pieces of art,” said president Lana Kettley.
This year, in addition to the more than 350 quilts on display, artist Maria DaSilva is the guest artist displaying her elaborate pieces which involve a lot of hand applique. Her sister is expected to visit from Portugal just for her exhibit.
DaSilva’s quilts are very hopeful and are about looking to the future, understandable since she is a transplant survivor.
For guild members, quilting is a very social activity and a way to connect with others much more than being about assembling pieces or matching threads.
“We have such a lot of fun,” said guild member Rita Raun.
Guild members have a wide range of talents and levels of experience, so they share and teach each other.
“The making of it is what I love,” said Kettley.
Like most longtime quilters, she gives away more than she keeps.
The list of groups that haven’t received quilts from the guild may be shorter than the list that has. Much of the fabric is donated but fundraisers like the quilt show help cover supplies.
“Last year we gave away over 200 quilts,” Raun said.
The guild has given to Ishtar Transition Housing Society, seniors facilities, the Gateway of Hope, Victims’ Services, Meals on Wheels, Langley’s Best Babies and the Langley Pos-Abilities Society. Members have made special items for the Quilts of Valour program (for injured soldiers, police officers and firefighters) and the BC Ambulance Helicopter Infant Transport team. Their works went to flood victims in Calgary,
The natural extension of giving people a quilt is to then teach them to quilt and the guild has many community endeavours.
On Thursdays guild members can often be found at Harrison Landing, doing quilting and fabric arts with residents of the seniors complex in the Sit & Stitch program.
Grace Jones is a guild members and Harrison resident who started sewing at the age of 10. She crochets and has made four children’s quilts and other quilted items.
Now at 86 and due to health issues, she can’t do all fabric arts but still joins in when the guild visits, hand stitching little felt teddy bears which will be sold at Harrison’s fall bazaar.
She has one word when asked why she enjoys the guild visits: “friendly.”
The guild also helps share a love of quilting through its program, Tomorrow’s Quilters. Guild members worked with students to colour fabric panels by painting, stencilling, marbelling or other means. Those panels were then assembled into quilts which will be on display May 6 and 7. The guild hopes to expand the program and have students do sewing as well.
The show runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 6 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 7.
Need some help or have a question? All the guild members will be wearing blue T-shirts at the show. Also check out langleyquiltersguild.com.
When it’s time to sit and relax, there’s the tea room and demonstrations by guild members and vendors.
Admission is $6 and if people want refreshments and snacks, $3 for the tea room. The venue has ample parking and is wheelchair accessible. There will be Kids Quilts, a merchant mall with about 16 vendors and a gift shop.
A special part of the show is the challenge. There will be about 30 entries and there are strict rules.
“The challenge this year is you had to use your birthstone and your birth flower,” Kettley explained.
PHOTO: Louise Butler, 83, lives at Harrison Landing and has been a member of the Langley Quilters’ Guild for more than a decade. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)