CQA/ACC National Juried Show 2011 in London

The Quilt Canada Conference in London Ontario was a huge success! The Local Organizing Committee did a fabulous job of organizing all the details of running the show and conference!

You can see the National Juried Show Winners at:
http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/national-jury-show-2011.php
Note that you can click on the photo and go to 'next' for close ups.

The Trend-Tex Challenge winners are at:
http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/trend-tex-quilters-challenge-2011.php

My Piece: Golden Shadows

The challenge fabric is donated by Trend-Tex Fabrics, kits with 5 fat quarters are sold by CQA/ACC. The challenge is to make a small quilt from the 5 fabrics. The quilt is then donated to CQA/ACC for silent auction at the Conference. This is a major fundraiser and CQA/ACC thanks Trend-Tex Fabrics for it's continued sponsorship!

Enjoy~
PS ... I have completed 3 years as secretary/publicist and turned over my job to Laine Canivet! I enjoyed the experience, meeting quilters from 'shore to shore'! I've always believed that when you belong to an organization and enjoy the benefits, you should volunteer!

Trend-Tex Challenge ' Quilting in the Forest' 2011

Trend-Tex Fabrics donates fabric each year as a fundraiser for the Canadian Quilt Association.

http://trendtexfabrics.com/

5 fabrics make up the kit ... the quilt maker designs a quilt based on those fabrics.

If you want to be in the running for the top Trend-Tex Challenge, you must use all five.

The remainder of the awards allow for an additional 3  fabrics to be used on the face of the quilt.
I added a yellow print sheer to the grass, copper sheer for the shadows and a green sheer over the gold for the hills.

Golden Shadows

I used 4 of the fabrics: gold, coral, green and burgundy. I did not use the lime green. Because I am on the Board, I am not able to compete for prizes ... so it doesn't matter if I don't use all 5 fabrics.

detail

On a walk through the forest, I saw this image of the late afternoon sun reflecting on the winter grass and silhouetted trees on the hill. I find that as an artist, images burn in my mind and seek to be transformed into a lasting memory.

All wall quilts become the property of the CQA/ACC and will be displayed at the Quilt Ontario Conference in May 2011. Reserve bids can be placed. The  wallquilts will be sold by silent auction ending May 28, 2011.

Canadian Quilt Association Website

We have been adding new features to the CQA/ACC website:

The latest news is that the Canada Eh! contest photos are up on the website. Below the photos is a survey for you to choose your favorite quilt.

http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/canada-eh!.php  

Visit and vote! You don't need to be a member.

Send this out to friends, family , workplace colleagues, etc.

A a new look for the home page - as well as CQA/ACC aims & objectives, we now have:

- the newsletter with links to a summary, an article and link to order new copies

- a random photo from our quilt photos data bank

and  the link to the  Quilt Ontario 2011 Conference   http://www.canadianquilter.com/index.php

The Broadcast Newsletter is ready to use. This sends timely information & news to members from the membership list.

The Professional Quilter category of membership is now operational. Quilters who earn their living from quilting can now fill in their page with information and links to their website.

http://www.canadianquilter.com/professionals/quilt-professionals.php

There are on-line forms for members to communicate easily: http://www.canadianquilter.com/members/forms.php

You can now  join CQA/ACC or renew on line!
http://www.canadianquilter.com/members/index.php

CQA/ACC Board Meeting

Three times a year, the Canadian Quilt Association Board meets to discuss the larger issues facing the Association. We are on the email daily working to keep everything organized and functioning.

Increasingly, our website is the central point for our members to get information and contact us. 

We moved to a new webmaster, reorganized and added new features. http://www.canadianquilter.com/index.php We now have on-line forms to: join/renew/update your information, post an event/call for entry, order a rosette, nominate the Teacher of the Year/McMurdie Award; enter your guild for the Agnes Boal Bursary, sponsor an award. There is a photo gallery of our winners of the National Juried Show, Trend-Tex Challenge and guild Rosette winners. Our conferences have a page with links to events, teachers, etc. Our new Professional Membership allows for searches: by name, location and services provided, including certified judges for your quilt show. All contact information is listed.A new project being developed is to spotlight our newsletter on the front page, with links to a summary, an article and information on ordering back issues.Our association serves quilters across Canada, keeping them informed and united to promote quilting.

So ... as I headed east to Calgary, Mount Baker was on the horizon.

From the hotel, Calgary had a dusting of snow.

One day later, we had a snow storm with about 8" of snow - no skyline visible!

Our treasurer, Lynn celebrated her 40th birthday.

We enjoyed an Italian dinner. LtoR: Gayle, Vivian, Cindy, Johanna and Lynn. During the meeting we approved and welcomed Judy Kelly as Membership Director, to become active right away. All positions are voluntary and we sometimes have resignations - as someone is no longer able to serve.

It was a cold and stormy night ....

The trip home caught the sun in the late afternoon, casting long shadows. Below are the Golden Ear Mountains, visible from my back yard. They were named by the natives in the area - they look like wolves ears as the sun casts the golden light on their snow covered peaks.

Our next meeting will be in Loendon Ontario, in conjuction with our convention: Quilt Ontario 2011. 

The Local Organizing Committee is working to make this a very special event for quilters from across Canada as well as international visitors. The National Juried Show is 'the best of the best' and there are lots of very talented teachers. Check out the Quilt Ontario page at:

http://www.canadianquilter.com/events/quilt-canada-2011.php

The LOC has planned several great side trips to explore quilting in and around London, Ontario. It is a beautiful province. After the convention, I'll be heading up to the Georgian Bay area where my family roots are.

In the sky again, heading to Halifax

In late August 2010, I headed across the country to visit Halifax for a CQA/ACC Board meeting. I left at 1:00pm and arrived at 7:30pm ... having lost 4 hours along the way.

British Columbia had many forest fires and the smoke laid low in the valleys ... all the way to Alberta.

This was a surreal view over Ontario on the way to Nova Scotia.

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These are a few of the agenda items: budget discussions, the successful Quilt Canada in Calgary, AB. and our upcoming Quilt Ontario 2011 in London Ontario, at Western University.Picture yourself on this beautiful site with its historic sandstone buildings. Visit the CQA/ACC website for details: http://www.canadianquilter.com/index.php

The Local Organizing Committee is into the whirlwind of finalizing the arrangements for a great conference. http://www.canadianquilter.com/events/quilt-canada-2011-welcome.php

Here is the workshop-at-a-glance http://www.canadianquilter.com/pdf/2011-Workshops-at-a-glance.pdf Interested?

Here is the registration form: http://www.canadianquilter.com/pdf/2011-CQA_AutumnPG4.pdf
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Another of the main tasks of our board Meeting was the planning for QUILT CANADA 2012 in Halifax, Nova Scotia
The CQA/ACC Board and members of the Local Organizing Committee visited the Dalhousie University to examine the site for Quilt Canada 2012. It is a charming campus and will accommodate the conference very nicely. A sculpture stands in welcome.

We examined theatres for large events ... and, an interesting space for the awards announcement ...Rooms for workshops ...The buildings are a close walk from dorms to events. How about those comfy dorm rooms that help us keep the costs down? There are beautiful stone historic buildings and lovely views ...Our final banquet will be on the harbour.There are food facilities on campus and just a pleasant walk a few blocks down the road -you will find some Victorian homes and charming restaurants.It wasn't all work ... we took a walk along the harbour and posed with a fish: l to r
Gayle Szmerlo, Membership; Lynn Mills, Treasurer; fish; Chris Hay, Vice President; Cindy Simpson, Director at Large and Kathy Strawson, President.The next day three of us toured, visiting Peggy's Cove: Vivian Kapusta, Secretary; Gayle Szmerlo, Treasurer and Johanna Alford, Past President and hostess.
Put yourself in the picture ... see you in London, Ontario for 2011

and Halifax, Nova Scotia for 2012!
If you are interested in serving on the CQA/ACC Board, contact Johanna pastpresident@canadianquilter.com
For next year, we need nominations for Vice President and Secretary/Publicist.
Serving on the Board is a wonderful experience, you meet quilters from sea to sea and become part of the decision making of the organization that unites us.

going to London for Quilt Ontario?

check out the London Friendship Quilt Guild challenge quilts for QO 2011:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lfqguild/Lfqg2010LondonChallenge?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvgo8r9m5XVjgE#
check out CQA/ACC
http://www.canadianquilter.com/

Quilt Canada & National Juried Show

There is still time! Time to visit Calgary at the end of April for Canada's biggest and best quilt show. The National Juried Show presents the best quilts from east to west. There are many Special Exhibits, classes, lectures, a great merchant mall and a presentation by Mark Lipinski.
To fill these spaces, CQA/ACC is offering a special:
- sign up with a friend and receive $40.00 off a class
- refer a friend (if you are already registered) and your friend receives the special price and you receive $40 refund ... to buy more fabric!
Click on the Quilt Canada logo in the right hand column for dates, information and ticket orders. If that seems overwhelming, contact Jackie, our hard working registrar and she will get you organized and signed in.

Trip to Toronto

Once again, I'm off to Toronto. the sun is just above the horizon with Mt. Baker in the distance. One would think that I get bored with the scenery ... but, no. The season, the time of day and the weather make the landscape a wonder of geology. The Fraser Valley spreads out with the coastal mountains rising above the farmland.

I've been fascinated with the Rocky Mountain Trench. It is more than a thousand miles long, running north/south as a divide between the BC mountains and the Rocky Mountains. Millions of years ago the convection patterns deep under the rock of our mantle, pulled the earth apart. At the widest point it is 46 kilometers across.The mountain patterns rise as far as you can see, most rows running north & south, indicative of the push of Teutonic plates from west to east.

As we near Calgary, the Rockies abruptly end and the Alberta Foot Hills begin.

Farmland is soon stretching out and will continue for the next thousand miles.

The towers of Calgary rise with the Rockie Mts. in the background ...

Intricate river drainage systems contrast with the snow.

Clouds part as we cross Great Lakes.

Rivers and farmland stretch out.

And we head in to Toronto.

The next few days were spent in the hotel where the CQA/ACC Board worked on policies for the National Organization. We have Quilt Canada in Calgary at the end of April, 2010. Pans are being made for Quilt Ontario in London 2011 and Quilt Canada in Halifax for 2012. And three days later ... I headed west again. The Great Lakes are lined with a lace of ice.

This is what happened when I played with Photoshop .. one of Mother Nature's abstracts. This is part of southern Manitoba, near Lake Superior... shallow lakes ground out by glaciers.

The trip was a 'milk run'. We dropped in to Winnipeg, with its impressive airport building. The River drainage shows clearly against the snow.This one looks like a tree.Later we had a lay over in Calgary ... which seems to have become the 'hub' of western Canada. And then, home again to B.C.

Phoenix - welcoming the new decade

The Canadian Quilt Association/ACC holds a Trend-Tex Challenge in conjunction each National Juried Show. Trend-Tex Inc. donates 5 fabrics for the challenge packages and they are available for purchase. The quilts are then donated to CQA/ACC, as a fundraiser. Visitors put silent auction bids in during the show and bids are closed at 12:30 on Saturday May 1. Some quilts are auctioned at the banquet dinner.
There is still room in some of the classes at the Quilt Canada conference in Calgary ... if you are now realizing that you are going to miss a great event & quilt party! http://www.canadianquilter.com/
Normally, the maker of the quilt is confidential until after being judged for prizes. However, as a board member, I am not eligible for prizes. So ... here you are!

The theme is ' The Sky is the Limit!' My phoenix is welcoming the new decade and flying beyond the limit of the sky.The challenge fabric is: graduated blue fabric (sky background), patterned (wings), green and blue (in smaller feathers) and a novelty fabric (decorative small tail feathers. I added the yellow fabric. Here is a link to Trend-Tex for the actual fabrics: http://www.trendtexfabrics.com/?p=sec_8

Closer to the Quilt Canada event in April, you can check the website for photos and put an advance bid in.

CQA/ACC - Canadian Quilter's Association

At the end of September, we held a board meeting of the CQA/ACC in Mississauga. It is a good meeting place, since most members are in the east. It is here that we deal with policy and procedures to govern the association. We make build on past practice and look to the future for innovations.
One of our adenda items was the planning for CQA/ACC Quilt Canada 2010 in Calgary AB.
link for Calgary: http://www.canadianquilter.com/events/index_events_quiltcanada2010.htm
Also, watch for a new, more interactive website next year! After the meeting, some of the board visited Western University at London, Ontario. It will be the site of the 2011 National Juried Show. The campus is beautiful. The residences will be available and the main show will be at London Hall. The Education building and Essex hall will provide classrooms, meeting auditorium and banquet hall. Below is the Local Organizing Committee and the Board members who visited the site to look at suitable rooms to meet the Quilt Ontario needs. There are a few modern buildings ... ...
Most are brick or stately stone
Following the site visit we met as a group to discuss and make the preliminary arrangements.

The Local Organizing Committee is the backbone of the National Juried Show, both the Quilt Canada show and alternate year provincial shows such as Quilt Ontario for 2011.

We work 2-3 years ahead to start plans. If your guild would like a challenge and memorable experience, contact our president to make a proposal.

CQA/ACC website link: http://www.canadianquilter.com/

Contact for Board members and regional representatives is under 'Membership'