Quilts of every conceivable shape, size, colour and concept on display in Verona

Craig Bakay | Nov 01, 2019

Trinity United Church in Verona played host Saturday to A Harvest of Quilts, a semi-annual gathering of quilters of all stripes and selections.

And as previous incarnations of this gathering have, this one featured a grand number of quilts, with 60 hanging on the pews and more than 100 in total.

Event chair, Lynda Boulter said the proceeds are shared by Trinity United Church, South Frontenac Community Services and Trinity Quilters.

“We’re not an annual group, we’re a small group,” Boulter said. “The last one was in 2015.

“We do one of these when we’re able, it’s that whole thing about volunteers.”

She said the Trinity Quilters are from “all over the area” — Sydenham, Enterprise, Verona, Harrowsmith as are all the vendors at the show.

“We give quilts to first responders to hand out when they’re responding to a call and we do them for deserving people and organizations,” she said. “We even did one for the Humboldt Broncos.”

She said they like to have these shows to “show the creativity of the women who do quilting” but there’s also quite the social aspect to it.

“There’s hours and hours of work goes into a quilt,” she said. “We meet the first and third Wednesdays of the month and it’s almost like a support system.

“You make a connection and for us, it’s about community.”

She said many of the members have been together for years.

“We’re not a guild,” she said. “We’re just a group of women who come together to quilt and socialize.

“We even have recess. We even ring a little bell and have tea and treats.”

One aspect of the show that’s different than in years past is the inclusion of more modern approaches to quilting, moving away from the traditional squares patterns to abstractions of colour and fabric, including realistic depictions of scenery and so-forth.

“There are two factions in quilting now,” Boulter said. “Yes, we certainly have a traditional side and a lot of us want to continue with that (but) there are a lot of women, and men, who take a more contemporary approach with different palettes and such.

“This is the first time we’ve included contemporary quilts.”

Which brings us to . . . Beth Abbott.

Abbott is a delightful personality with a touch of whimsy that belies a somewhat academic approach to the medium.

A fibre artist was well as a quilter, she was the featured artist at this year’s show and was only too happy to take the time to explain her approach to stitching fabrics together.

“These are not your grandmother’s quilts,” she said. “These are more modern.”

Abbott, who’s also a spinner, weave and fibre artist, has been at this for more than 50 years. She hosts the Odessa Quilting Retreat, which also attracts like-minded spinners and weavers.

She’s been known to hand-dye a piece to get just the right colour . . .  and to make it fit.

“A lot of these pieces were challenges,” she said. “But I like working that way.

“I try to remember the rules of art and colour is my thing.”

She also likes to surprise the viewer with “fancy backs” on many of her pieces.

“I almost always do fancy backs,” she said. “But they don’t always line up with the quilting so there’s something to be said for solid backs.

“But I think it’s neat when somebody turns it over and gets a surprise.”

She said that doing the same block over and over again is not something that appeals to her.

“But that said, once you’ve made the colour decisions, it’s very calming work.

“It’s the actual stitches I enjoy.”