A biennial exhibition by Sunshine Coast quilters is poised to attract more than 600 artisans and admirers during its two-day run next week. The Sunshine Coast Quilters’ Guild has been organizing the mammoth event every two years, except for a single COVID-related cancellation, since the group’s inception 30 years ago.
“The quilting world has changed,” said Darlene Finch, a member of the guild’s program committee who is coordinating vendors and an onsite boutique. “Everything has changed, and we’re really excited about this.”
The guild’s resurgence after the COVID quietus was fired by a collective desire to patch in new audiences. The president, Nancy McMurdo, defined an ambitious goal for its 120 members: attract more youth to the traditional art form. Local students will tour the show during scheduled field trips. And when the Gibsons Public Library recently acquired a sewing machine for its Library of Things (a circulating collection of household implements), Finch and fellow quilter Karen Biddlecombe conducted a hands-on outreach campaign.
“The library thought they would let people take the sewing machine out,” Finch said, “but they needed to know how to use it.” She and Biddlecombe trained a dozen neophyte sewers in a class that is set to be repeated this fall.
Community connections come naturally to the organization. Through its Comfort Society, handmade quilts are provided to every infant born on the Coast, plus a host of other beneficiaries like the Sunshine Coast Hospice, Christenson Village, Habitat for Humanity, newly-settled families from Ukraine, firefighters and RCMP officers. Before making the donations, members exhibit their quilts during monthly Resource Days.
“They’re just spectacular,” said Finch. “And they’re not just some quickly thrown-together kind of pieces: they’re beautiful. The Coast has a lot of artists; I think we’re kind of known for that.”
During the 2023 show, Gibsons-based painter Ed Hill suggested a new form of synergy: stitch together quilters with local artists to inspire complementary creativity. The 11 resulting partnerships — their results will be unveiled during the quilt show — represent a first-of-its kind collaboration for the guild.
Roberts Creek painter Kandice Keith, whose landscapes and wildlife portraits reflect the rugged impressionism of the Group of Seven, worked alongside two quilters: Marian Williams and Lori Lemay. Hill himself, a protégé of acclaimed Indigenous artist Roy Henry Vickers, was paired with guild member Janis Magnusson. Bernadine Somogyi (also the quilt show chairperson) collaborated with 23-year-old Jacob Marshall, a Victoria-born watercolourist. “My work explores the relationship between the man-made and the ever-changing force, flow and movement of nature around us,” said Marshall.
The visual artists represent a variety of specialities: Carol LaFave, of Roberts Creek, is a contemporary collage artist; Marleen Vermeulen of Gibsons creates large-scale oil canvases. Mark Jenkyns creates allegorical drawings and semi-cubist pastels; Christy Sverre paints abstract works inspired by West Coast seascapes.
“The quilter got to choose whichever artist they felt comfortable with or could talk into doing this,” said Finch, “and they would collaborate on pictures, techniques, and ideas.”
The quilt show will also include live musical performances by guitarist and vocalist Jana Seale. Seale performed for nearly 10 years aboard luxury cruise liners and now tours throughout southwest B.C. Workshops by Uschi Grenier and Julie Faulkner will focus specific techniques while light-hearted diversions (like “fishing for fabric” and “musical mats”) raise funds. A raffle (its prizes include a queen-size quilt and a sewing machine) benefits the Comfort Society.
Ten commercial vendors will also sell their wares, representing staunch local institutions (like fabric outlet Stitch & Bobbin, the Halfmoon Bay-based Fibre Expressions Quilt Shop, and textile artist Ursula Greiner’s Woolies on the Coast) as well as newcomers: Christine Nelson’s Mister Cortez Hardware appears for the first time.
The Sunshine Coast Quilt Show takes place at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre on May 30 (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and May 31 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Admission is $10, with no charge for prospective quilters aged 10 and under.
