CANMORE – More than 30 quilts will be on display at the Canmore Art Guild gallery at Elevation Place throughout March.
These quilts show the artistry, creativity and imagination of the quilt artists in Canmore, with the show running from March 4 to 26 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We did a quilt show in the fall and we had all kinds of quilts,” said Mary Wahl with the guild. “This time this is strictly the membership that has to make something original. No patterns or copying or kits or anything like that. These are original art. It is more art than anything else.”
All the quilts that are on display take various lengths of time to create for the members.
“Some people can do something very fast and other people take a year. It depends on the techniques used,” Wahl said. “It is from people’s heads. They are not going to the store to buy a pattern.”
The show has been held annually since 1999 and the guild has more than 60 members in the Bow Valley who make quilts throughout the year for shows. This is also the first time the spring show is back since everything shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We didn’t do it the last two years because of COVID, but we are doing it this year,” Wahl said.
The quilt art is also up for sale, at least in some cases.
“Some of the people who made them have them up for sale,” Wahl said. “In my case, I don’t.”
In the exhibition, someone will be on hand to explain the quilt art created by the guild members.
The March show is just one aspect of what the guild does each year. There is also a show in autumn, and they also create quilts for causes throughout the year.
“We do community work,” Wahl said. We make HUGS quilts for people at Canmore hospital, and we make placemats at Christmas time for Meals on Wheels. We also make really nice bags for the women’s shelter and YWCA.”
