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Quilters showcase myriad of colour, talent
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
Bianca Mullenders has only praise and admiration for the High Prairie Quilt Guild.
Guild members dedicated their 14th annual show Oct. 17-18 to the memory of her mother, Thilda Mullenders.
“It was really sweet,” she says. “The ladies from the guild meant a lot to her. She was quilting until the end, even in her hospital bed.”
Thilda Mullenders passed away July 19, after a five-year battle with lymphoma. Upon learning of her condition, Mullenders wanted to do some activities while she still had time, including quilting.
The guild created a display board of photos with her quilting, including some before and after she started chemotherapy treatments. Bianca Mullenders calls it amazing. She and her dad, Jeff Mullenders, express their gratitude.
“I’m very thankful my mom had these ladies in her life, to make her laugh and smile,” she says.
She also thanks the guild members who are finishing several quilt projects her mother was unable to complete.
Held in the St. Andrew’s School gym, the quilt show drew over 200 entries to make it the largest show ever.
But the organizers were forced to rearrange the layout so everything could fit.
This year’s theme was ‘Hard Times, Bright Hopes’, as guild members were encouraged to make quilts using 1930s reproduction fabrics, says coordinator Karen Nielsen. Such fabrics are popular currently, although they come and go in cycles with other styles, she adds.
The guild also held the viewers’ choice contest, encouraging the public to vote for the best quilt projects for first, second and third place in the small and large categories. There was a silent auction, too.
Several vendors attended, including Colleen Greer, owner of Fabrics By Colleen. She took registrations for her quilting course, which costs $30 per person. For more information, please contact Greer at 780-523-4237.
Viewers’ choice awards
Small category
1. Karen Nielsen "Day Dreams" - $100
2. Linda Williscroft "Crazy Witches" - $75
3. Pat Berry "Montana Moose" - $25
Large category
1. Marla Willier "Radiant Star" - $100
2. Marla Willier "Beattitudes" - $75
3. Marla Willier "Blooming Ninepatch" - $25
Raffle winners
1. Colin Bjornson, winner of a large quilt.
2. Val Nussbaumer, winner of a ladies’ quilt.
3. Melissa Isaac, winner of a quilted handbag.
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Cathy Kryzanowski accepts the first place raffle prize for her son, Colin Bjornson. Val Nussbaumer won the second place raffle prize, a lady’s quilt, while Melissa Isaac won a hand bag for third place.
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Marla Willier swept the large category of the Viewers’ Choice Awards. Above, she is with her ‘Radiant Star’ quilt, which took first place. She also won for ‘Beattitudes’ and ‘Blooming Ninepatch’.
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Halloween is just over a week away and Linda Williscroft put her ‘Dancing Witches’ quilt on display. Williscroft used the panel and appliqué techniques to create a 55” x 70” masterpiece.
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If plaid is in, then Susan Broderson knew how to use it well when she created her ‘Cabin in the Woods’ quilt. It’s a twin-size “ragtime” quilt for her granddaughter, fitting for the quilt show’s theme.
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Many churches have Christmas Nativity scenes, but Sandra Marquardt has taken a different approach and created her ‘Star of Wonder’ wall hanging, which included embellishing it with beads.
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Pictured above is ‘Pete’s John Deere’, a couch quilt, created by Karen Nielsen. She made it for her brother over three years and, to keep it authentic, traced the deer in the middle from machinery.
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Brenda Coulombe created this twin-size quilt called ‘Zach’s Game’. Coulombe says the quilt top took only a short time to create, while the hockey player was “an adventure!”
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Bianca Mullenders stands with the display the High Prairie Quilt Guild created in memory of her mother, Thilda Mullenders. She passed away in July 2009 after battling lymphoma.
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Colleen Greer created ‘Friendship Garden’ using a selection of blue batiks and orientals to make the blocks. The blocks were set on point and she used a large strip print mitred at the corners to frame it.
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Pictured above is one of three quilts Pam Dowsett displayed, ‘Benjamin’s Noah’s Ark Quilt’. In keeping with her children’s theme, Dowsett also had her ‘Summer Fish Quilt’ and ‘Ty’s Teddy Bear Quilt’.
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Melanie McLaughlin made her ‘Horse Quilt’, which measures 70” x 87”. McLaughlin originally made it as a fundraiser for her niece’s 4-H Club’s horse club, but will use it for a Christmas raffle this year.
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