Quilt Canada in Calgary Alberta, Canada

Welcome to Quilt Canada, held at the Telus Conference Center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, late April, 2010. A wonderful time was had by all! The venue was spacious and all under one roof ... with a few aerial walkways. The co-organizers were Heather Rouke (always with a smile and an answer)and Karen Jurek (the perfect hostess).They did a very professional job, along with their Local Organizing Committee and an army of volunteers. What more could you ask for? We had great events, yummy food, an incredible NATIONAL JURIED SHOW http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/rosettes.php and a BIG merchant mall.
Below is a the CQA/ACC Board. Our main function is to oversee the Conference, assist our editor in publishing 4 wonderful Canadian Quilter Newsletters and continually working to help our association meet the needs of our members. Back row: Carole McCarville, Lynn Mills, Kathy Strawson. Front row: Vivian Kapusta, Johanna Alford and Dusty Newey.The Trend-Tex Challenge is a fundraiser for CQA/ACC. The fabric is generously donated by Trend-Tex http://www.trendtexfabrics.com/ The CQA/ACC sells kits with 5 fat quarters that can be purchased to make a little quilt that is donated for silent auction. The variety is amazing and can be seen here
http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/trend-tex-quilters-challenge-2010.php
Check the website in the late fall and take part in the fun!
We appreciate all our sponsors who make it possible for us to function http://www.canadianquilter.com/members/sponsors.php.
One new sponsor, Wonderfil Threads sponsored a $10,000 prize for the best quilt to use their threads!
Several Special Exhibits were shown: Vintage Quilts and Sewing Equipment, Girl Guide Quilts, Articulation Group, SAQA, Quilters of Distinction and an Invitational Show.
FAN, the FibreArtNetwork presented Geophysical. Colleen Peak and Gay Walker did an amazing job of organizing and managing the show. Each quilt was a work of art and the show as a whole was incredible. Below is Gay whose husband is a Geologist, he helped in the production of her quilt, showing the ocean trench with fault lines.
Colleen was also the official photographer fro the CQA/ACC, you can see her shots, both of casual and official official functions in the Autumn Canadian Quilter Newsletter.
Below is me with my 'Pressures of Time' showing how the relentless pressures of tectonic plates moving eastward have folded and cracked the thin mantle of our earth.The Telus Conference Center provided a wonderful venue. this is the foyer to the show and merchant mall. We had rave reviews on the workshops. Quilt Canada had the largest merchant mall ever ... with both happy shoppers and merchants.
One event drew comments from both ends of the scale. Mark Lipinski is known as the 'Bad Boy Quilter' and played the part to the hilt.This was my view from the 17th floor. After a few days of cool and sunny days, we had a series of storms that blocked the highways going both north and south. The snow blew horizontally!Laura Koch, a friend from Maple Ridge had this quilt in the SAQA Invitational Show titled Synthesize. The fabric is a mono-print, with parts synthesized into a whole.Joyce O'Connell, the past secretary of CQA had this quilt entered ... it was much admired!My very creative friend Judy Leslie won 'Best of Show'. The winds of Time is beautifully designed and meticulously constructed with an incredible over-all impact! As secretary, I do the certificates and know ahead of time who wins the awards. It was difficult to not give away the surprise! Below - the presentation by our President, Johanna Alford, with the BabyLoc representative.When a Board member leaves, we make her a quilt. Carole McCarville, who received her quilt last year, was talked into staying an extra year as Past President. Her work on the board spanned ten years: 4 as a Regional Representative and 6 on the Board. Her guidance and commitment will be missed! Below is the block I made for Dusty Newey, our retiring Treasurer. She loves motorcycles, pigs and cats! Dusty served for an amazing 13 years as Publicity Director, President, Past President and Treasurer. We will miss her depth of knowledge and sense of humour.See you next year, 2011 at London Ontario's Western University!
The following year, 2012 is at Dalhouse University in Nova Scotia.
After that ??? If you have several strong leaders and a group of guilds in your area ... think about putting a proposal in! It is an incredible experience, you meet quilters from across Canada and gain memories that are never to be forgotten!