Quilt Canada - A Ribbon!

I've just returned home from the National Juried Show put on by the Canadian Quilters' Association. The show was held in Toronto very near to the airport at a convention centre. On the opening night, I was thrilled to discover that Orange Grove won 2nd place in the Modern Bed or Wall Quilt category!! I happily shared the prize with Krista Withers, who no doubt secured the win with her outstanding modern quilting on this quilt.

Photo: Brent Kane, Martingale 2014, all rights reserved

Photo: Brent Kane, Martingale 2014, all rights reserved

A huge thank you to Brother, who sponsored this generous award! Several representatives from the company were at the show, so I was able to thank them in person. I'm thrilled to have a beautiful CQA Rosette to hang proudly in my sewing room. It was my desire to support CQA in their expansion to include modern quilts in the national show and was so pleased that the jury also chose to hang Chess on the Steps and Ice Road.

I volunteered for 8 hours over two days as a white glove host and had several interesting conversations with show-goers about modern quilting. The vast majority of visitors are very supportive and enthusiastic about quilting moving forward in an inclusive direction, but there still others who look on with a puzzled expression and willingly admit "I just don't get it". I did meet lovely people and had a great time hanging out with Daryl and her gorgeous fabrics in the Fabric Spark booth. I happily signed copies of Make It, Take It there on Friday afternoon - it was fun to reignite my enthusiasm for all of the great projects in the book and even more fun that Orange Grove (a pattern in the book) is now a prize-winning quilt! 

For a full list of prize winners and photos of their quilts, check here. Have a look for Leanne and Terry and Cinzia's quilts!  It was also fantastic to see the work of other friends hung in the juried show, including Marianne, M-R and Janet. I also thought that the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild put on an excellent invitational display of members quilts and small challenge quilts.