A display of nearly 200 quilts filled the arena at Gibsons and Area Com-munity Centre last weekend in a biennial show hosted by the SC Quilters’ Guild.

Going Beyond was the theme and it contrasted a display of traditional patterns and heritage quilts with those of today’s quilters who use innovative designs on modern fabrics.

The event was highlighted by a special exhibition arranged by Quilters Out of Bounds. The art installation gathered together a forest of fabric representations of trees, hanging banner-style, that were created by 21 different artists.

Arranged around the forest of quilts were approximately 40 juried works, some from local quilters. The award winners showed the evolution of this fabric art, for example, in the abstract quality of Jill Sullivan’s Bunkers 1 and in Sybil Seel’s Study of Lines in a silk screen design. The show also fielded about 140 entries that were intended for exhibition, not for jurying. A favourite among these was Nancy Climie’s Spinning Bargello, a colourful wheel in a figure eight.

This year’s guest artist was Hilary Henderson of Gibsons with some of her prize-winning pieces from former years, including two gigantic quilts of superior quality. The show also included a young quilters’ display, quilt challenge exhibit and the work of western members of a quilt association.