Reach for the Stars, a collection of work from the Quesnel Quilters Guild, opened at the Quesnel Art Gallery on Friday, May 3.
There will be more than 30 quilts displayed in the show, all of them featuring stars in some way.
Eileen Phoenix, a member of the guild who is also organizing the show, says there are approximately 60 members in the guild, but not all are active.
Together they run workshops and presentations, and work to help each other gain new skills as quilters. They also create comfort quilts to donate to places like the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development, the RCMP, and the hospital. Phoenix says the group typically donates approximately 60 quilts a year.
Phoenix first took up quilting about nine years ago, and says she has enjoyed building friendships with the other people in the guild.
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“It’s fun to have somebody with the same common interest.”
The group meets twice a month, where fellow quilters demonstrate a new product or technique.
“You actually get to see everybody’s quilts as they make them, because we all bring them and hang them up for show and tell [at the meetings]. And you kind of get inspired and want to make more,” says Phoenix.
The group puts on a show every year, although not always at the gallery. Every third year, they host their biggest show in the atrium at the College of New Caledonia, where they show off more than 300 quilts to (and by) quilters from all across B.C.
Other years, they set up a “quilt walk” where they hang quilts at different businesses around Quesnel for people to view as they walk around town.
This year, however, is a gallery year. Reach for the Stars will be at the Quesnel Art Gallery until Saturday, May 25.
Heather Norman
Community Reporter
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