May 2023
Our Quilt Show Judges
Our Featured Quilter
Volunteers – We Need You!
Win a Gift Basket at the Show!
Drop off and Pick Up Quilt Information
Introducing the 2023 Quilt Show Judges
Thank you to all guild members who have entered quilts in the upcoming 2023 EDQG Festival of Quilts show. It will be wonderful to see your amazing quilts.
For the 2023 show, judges are Carole Gold and Debora Barlow. Both are certified CQA/AAC professional judges. They have undergone extensive training to achieve their certification.
For those who have chosen to have your quilts judged – we know it can be intimidating to think about our quilts being judged but be assured, the judges are thoughtful, knowledgeable and professional. Their comments will provide feedback which will be helpful in your quilting journey. Each judged quilt will be returned to the quilter with a printed copy of the comments.
Please remember to encourage your family, friends and acquaintances to stop by the Central Lions Recreation Centre on June 3 and 4. They will be glad they did when they see all the amazing quilts created by guild members.
Buy a Raffle Ticket and Win a Gorgeous Gift Basket!
The EDQG Bee Groups have really come through for us and are donating TEN gift baskets for this raffle. We are so appreciative of their support!
Buy a ticket (or many) and place it in the draw box for a particular basket; you get to decide your favourite. The draw will take place on Sunday June 4th at the Central Lions Centre at 5pm and you do not have to be in attendance to win.
Tickets will only be sold at the quilt show for the two days of the show, Saturday June 3 and Sunday June 4. Cost of the tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10. Only 850 tickets will be sold.
The gift baskets all have different themes such as coffee, chocolate, honey, gardening, quilting projects, teas, etc. The baskets are going to be stunning! The value of the baskets will be a minimum of $65 up to around $440.
Bee groups have been busy collecting their basket contents and Susan J is wrapping up the baskets for us. Tickets are being designed and printed and the license from AGLC is underway.
All proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to offset some of the costs of holding the quilt show.
Thanks in advance to all the bee groups and to all the EDQG members who support this endeavour!
-Linda T, 2023 Festival of Quilts
2023 Featured Quilter
The Featured Quilter for the 2023 Festival of Quilts is Kathy Strawson. A selection of her quilts will be hung in the Featured Quilter display booth in the atrium of the Central Lions Recreation Centre on June 3 and 4.
Most, if not all, guild members know Kathy for the great number of beautiful quilts she makes, for the Block of the Month monthly block draw and for participation in guild challenges. She is also a dedicated volunteer who has continuously served on the Guild Board or on committees since joining. We are a better guild for her service and are most grateful.
We asked Kathy to provide a biography and wanted to share that with you now. The biography will be on display at the show in the Featured Quilter booth along with a journal so that you will be able to write her a note of congratulations and appreciation when you stop by the display.
Darlene C
Judging Coordinator
Kathy Strawson (R) and Kim C. (L)
Introducing Kathy Strawson
On this my 40th anniversary of making my first quilt, I am both thrilled and humbled to be selected as the Featured Quilter for the 2023 Edmonton & District Quilters’ Guild Festival of Quilts.
My introduction to quilting was innocent enough. It seems that I have always had a needle in hand, with lots of knitting, crochet, embroidery, and garment sewing. I wasn’t actually looking for another medium when I came across a Quilt as You Go sampler quilt book. I thought to myself “that should be easy enough”. I was not particularly interested in taking on the pieced blocks, but the appliqued Dresden Plate looked very doable. I had lots of garment sewing scraps to work with, so all I needed was an empty cereal box to make my paper templates and to buy a few yards of background broadcloth. That first double sized, hand appliqued and hand quilted quilt was the quilt to launch hundreds that I have made since. And, before you ask, I have long since given up garment making.
I joined the EDQG in 2000 and have served on a committee or the board in some capacity every year since. It is a privilege to serve the membership and community through all of the good works this guild supports. I have made a variety of community service sized quilts, from baby, twin and double. I participate in most guild challenges and quilt shows. I am particularly fond of and enthusiastic to support the two Endowment Fund Scholarships that EDQG hold with the University of Alberta in Human Ecology.
It was when I retired from the Research Ethics Office at the University of Alberta that I could devote myself to full time studio production, my bee groups (six), and my grandchildren (seven). I thank my family and friends for being so supportive and encouraging as I pursue this most amazing of art forms. Thank you again to my nominators Carol D, Susan M, and Kim C for their trust in my commitment to this guild and my own promotion of quilting.
Volunteers – We Need You!
By the time you get this newsletter, we should have the Signup Genius software up and running. It will be ready for you to select the quilt show volunteer shifts you want to help us with. If you need help in scheduling your shift(s), please contact me. All information on how to sign up will be on the EDQG website, posted on Facebook and also sent out to members via an Eblast.
For those members who have volunteer shifts prior to the start of the quilt show on Saturday, you will receive one free admissions pass to use either Saturday or Sunday. Simply give your pass to the cashier at the front entrance of the centre.
For those volunteering on Saturday or Sunday at the show, you are welcome to view the quilt show before or after your shift, as appropriate. The front entrance cashier will have volunteer information and will admit you at no charge but please check in with them.
Parking is limited at the Central Lions Recreation Centre so please use street parking. Good spots to park your vehicle are the side roads adjacent to 111 Avenue.
We will have limited space for storing personal items like purses and jackets in the volunteer room while you are volunteering. Valuables should be left at home.
We ask that all volunteers report to the volunteer room at least ten or fifteen minutes before their shift and get their name tag and further instructions. We will then take you to the location where you will be volunteering.
After your volunteer shift you are welcome to have a snack in the volunteer room and put your feet up for a while.
Thanks in advance for volunteering and making the EDQG 2023 Festival of Quilts Show the best quilt show ever!
Linda T
Volunteer Coordinator
Click “Sign Up” sign above to volunteer!
And Finally…
Thanks to all those who have entered their quilts in the 2023 Festival of Quilts!
You will have received email instructions to bring your quilts to the Central Lions Seniors Centre on THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2023 between 4:30 and 7:30. You will receive a ticket for each quilt/item you have entered. These tickets will be your “receipt” and will be required when picking up your items after the show closes.
On Sunday at 5:00 pm, please come to the atrium where you dropped off your quilts. When all of your items have been gathered together for return, your name will be called for you to pick-up those items. Please don’t forget to bring your tickets with you on Sunday!
Remember, if someone else is picking up items for you, they will need these tickets to do so.
Thanks to everyone who has supported the efforts of the Quilt Show Committee to put on a successful quilt show once again! See you at the Lions Centre!
For further information, contact Myrna at quiltshow@edqg.ca
