A stitch in time

Quilters’ Guild celebrates its 40th anniversary

The Prince Edward County Quilters’ Guild held its 2026 Quilt Show at the Wellington and District Community Centre on the weekend, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the guild. There were over 300 quilts made by guild members on display, including 51 quilts in the judged section. There was a boutique area with items for sale, including quilts, fabric, bags, and books. There was also a commercial vendor area offering quilting supplies and services, including specialized sewing machines. There was also a raffle for a quilt—which began last year at the Picton Fair—with the winner being drawn on Sunday. Proceeds from the raffle will be divided between several local charities and the guild’s education program.

However the focus of the show was the arena, where the quilts were arrayed in colourful and mesmerizing rows. There was a wide variety of designs, from traditional block patterns, to “crazy quilts” where assorted pieces are sewn together, to pictorial designs, quilts made of a single panel but embellished by intricate stitching, and quilts that conveyed messages of social activism. There are 85 members currently in the Guild, and quilt show chairperson Viktoria Brave said the County is well represented by talented artists. “Of our 85 members, six have been at the national [show] recently, and so we have a full row of national-juried finalists. Quilting is very much part of our heritage in Prince Edward County. We love to be connecting the creative past to the present, using the form of quilting to express ourselves,” she said. While quilting has its origin in the creative reuse of scrap materials to make practical items of bedding, it has continued to evolve as an art form. “Quilting is like assembling a painting or artwork. I love the fact that something emerges from the tiny little pieces. There is something you are discovering as asyou put the quilt together. Quilting is at the intersection of art, craft and design. It’s something very tactile that you can do and feel connected with the materials. The act of sewing is very soothing as well. I found therapy in just getting into the rhythm of sewing,” said Ms. Brave.

This year’s show had two featured artists. Lyne Lusk is a Wellington-based fibre artist who uses bright colours and melds traditional and contemporary designs to create vivid and compelling textile artworks. Janet Reader Day has been quilting for just over 20 years, but it was not until after she joined the Quilters’ Guild in 2011 that she began to explore different techniques and processes. She is now focusing on portrait making— where she turns a portrait photograph into fabric art— and free motion quilting.

“It’s when you think of the thread as ink, and the needle as your pen, and you move the fabric underneath as if it were a piece of paper, and you control where the design goes,” she said. With some of her pieces being over two metres long and wide, it is quite a process to feed the fabric through the sewing machine. She said that becoming a member of the Guild has really helped her to develop her skills. “Quilting is a journey, and each person is at a different point on that quilting road. Some people have a certain goal of where they want to end up, and it’s whatever makes each person happy,” she said. To learn more about the Quilters’ Guild, please visit pecqguild.weebly.com