CranbrookQuiltersGuildHistory

Quilt Shows

Gallery

Russ Colombo, Dave Lowing and Barry Beaulac holding frames while Allan McKinnon ties
them together. All husband’s of members helping to set-up the quilt show.
Images courtesy of the Cranbrook Quilters’ Guild (CQG).
Setting up with original quilt show frames made by Terry Leggett, Janet Leggett’s husband. At the College of the Rockies gym. Image courtesy of CQG

Quilt shows opened a world of limitless possibilities to quilters. The journey to the final exhibition of their quilts was one of teamwork, often involving husbands, partners, families, and friends to help with the intricate set-up.

Frames made by Russ Colombo, Joy Colombo’s husband, ready for quilts. At the College of the Rockies gym. Image courtesy of CQG

Gallery Below: From left to right top row: 2015 Quilt Show poster – Mountains of Quilts at Cranbrook Alliance Church gym; Wall hanging: “Circle Play” made by Linda Wesley, 2017 Quilt Show poster – Mountains of Quilts at Cranbrook Alliance Church gym; Bottom row: Frames at the COTR gym constructed by Russ Colombo; Cranbrook Quilters’ Guild 2nd Biennial Quilt Show May 6, 1989 – Images courtesy of CQG.

Margaret Delamont with a viewer’s choice ribbon for the quilt she made from a McKenna Ryan pattern, Pine Needles. (Medium size quilt 2009)
Joy French helping Gloria Francoeur show her winning quilt “Pretty in Pink.” Gloria pieced the top from a photo and Joy quilted it on her APQS Millie longarm.
Cranbrook Quilters Guild display at the Cranbrook Public Library (October 2023). Committee: Linda Wesley, Betty Wardle, Mary Lindquist, Elaine Ransom.
Top Photo: Unknown viewer admiring quilts at a quilt show. Quilts are Scrappy Fan block, Pineapple Block and Scrappy Star block. Bottom Photo: Viewer’s Choice Award – Images courtesy of CQG
Louise Dunn with her winning quilt in Quilt Show 2005 at College of the Rockies. The pattern is Star Spin by Oregon Treasures. This picture was sent to CQA magazine.
Jeanette Oddy with her winning quilt in Quilt Show 2019 held at Bridge Interiors.
This picture was sent to the CQA magazine. The pattern is Bali Wedding Star by Judy Niemeyer of Quiltworx.
Jennifer Rae presenting Ken Bridge with a quilt as a “Thank You” for hosting our 2019 Quilt Show at Bridge Interiors. The quilt was designed by Dallas Sinclair. Members made the tree block from their stash and Audrey MacKinnon created the centre motif.
Violet Stone holding the guild’s new banner (2022) for a picture in the
sunshine at Idlewild Park. Banner designed by Wendy Murdoch
and featuring her hand-dyed fabrics. Machine quilted by Joy French.
Hand quilters working on a guild quilt from a “pieced pictorial design” pattern by Lorraine Stangness of Strathmore, Alberta. Lorraine was a visiting instructor in 2001.  L around – Noreen Aikman, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Icille Pighin, Judy Wright, Enid Holloway, Judy Beaulac, Bernice Sargent and Peggy Salvador. All images courtesy of the CQG

Quilting as an art form

The main reason for the Quilt Shows was “to promote the art of quilting in the community”. The shows were one of the guild’s revenue sources. The other being the membership fee. A few shows produced a solid revenue, but only with the addition of raffle baskets, guild market table, and a silent auction of quilts. It’s interesting that the number of visitors stayed about the same over the years, 350-450 visitors. 

Hanging a show was a tremendous amount of work, and a costly endeavour. Cranbrook still doesn’t have a venue for showing this body of art work. The closest we could get to a venue for an art installation was with the I Quilt exhibit in 2022. The Arts Council gallery could hang small quilted items that were similar in size to framed paintings. The large quilts the members and public like to see, could not be shown in any local venue without considerable expense to locate or make frames.

For the shows every two years from 1987 to 2017, the guild owned frames that had been made especially for their shows. The first wooden set was designed by Ed Shaw and Terry Leggett (husband’s of Linda Shaw and Janet Leggett) and the second set made of PVC by Russ Colombo, husband of Joy Colombo. The guild then depended on Ed and Terry, and later Russ to organize the transport, set-up/take-down and storage of the frames. In 2017, none of the members were volunteering there sheds to store the frames, so a space was rented, which for a non-profit group added unforeseen costs. After the success of the 2019 show at Bridge Interiors, the PVC frames were sold for salvage piping. 

Ken Bridge ‘saved the show’ by generously allowing the Guild to hold the quilt show in his furniture store, Bridge Interiors.  Here the quilts, table runners, and wall hangings were shown as they would be seen gracing a home.  A follow-up show was planned for 2021, but the Covid 19 pandemic response shut the guild down for 20 months. When the guild reconvened, the Cranbrook Arts Council offered the guild a month at the Gallery. For that show all that was needed was a small committee to select items and the Gallery staff did the rest of the work. The members were delighted!

Through the years, members went to great lengths to set-up Quilts Shows for the public to see these works of love, art and skill. Quilters like any artists, want recognition of the work they put into their creations.

Generally the quilt shows were held in cavernous halls that were spacious enough to “hang” the quilts on frames. The first was the Cranbrook United Church Hall. The Girl Guide Hall and Crestbrook gymnasium, and the Legion were early sites until the guild found the College of the Rockies gym. That worked well until there was a child’s party booked in to use the climbing wall at the same time as the guild had booked the space for a quilt show. The Alliance Church foyer and gym served well until the organizers decided that the members and their spouses were past the age of climbing ladders to hang quilts. That’s when a member approached Ken Bridge about using his furniture store and furniture for the show.