The Torquay Block Party Quilt Show that took place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church last Sunday was a big success.
Colleen Marcotte, who is a part of the Torquay Block Party Quilt Guild and was also exhibiting her art pieces at the show, said that they were very pleased with the turnout.
Altogether there were between 185 and 200 people coming in for the show as opposed to about 160 guests the year earlier.
The quilts presented at the show were created by 13 artists, who have been working on them over the winter during biweekly meetings at the church. Most of them are coming from Torquay with one joining the group from Midale and another one driving from Beaubier.
They opened the doors at 1 p.m. and the program started at 1:30.
“In the program, we showcased some other Torquay talents,” said Marcotte.
Torquay pastry artist Fadiah of Something Sweet by Fadiah joined the show with her wedding cakes and cookies. Lauren Daae with Little Doe Designs, who uses paint along with coffee for artwork, brought over some of her pictures and prints.
“And then Colette Shauf from Stoughton came and talked about a group of women … that make, I think they are called Little Dresses for Africa. So she gave a talk on them and showed some of the dresses they made,” said Marcotte.
And finally, the quilt guild did a show. Their theme this time was Lifetime of Quilts.
“We did a show of quilts that we have made for celebrations of our lives like weddings, anniversaries, births and things like that,” said Marcotte.
Some pieces presented at the show were available for sale, but mostly it was for demonstration.
There were two vendors, Gypsy Soul Fabrics from Estevan and Second Story Quilting of Torquay, present at the show as well. And the day came to an end with tea and snacks. The feedback was very good.
“We’ve heard just rave reviews,” said Marcotte.
The show has been going on for a while. Originally, it was set up to happen every three years, then biannually, and starting last year ladies from the Torquay Block Party Quilt Guild started organizing it annually. From time to time the attendance is growing, and the last event pretty much reached the capacity.
“This is probably as big as we can go because it’s what fits into our facility,” noted Marcotte.
It takes quite a bit of time and effort to organize the event. Besides the show every year the Torquay Block Party Quilt Guild members put their talents together to make a common quilt to serve a good cause.
“We usually make at least one donation quilt. We always make one for STARS. We’ve made one for STARS for the last, I can’t remember if it was five or six years, and we’ve raised over $15,000 for that.”
The STARS quilt usually gets auctioned off at the Ashworth Bull Sale in January.
The contemporary quilting group consists of 10 full-time and three part-time members, but it’s open for anybody willing to join and it has grown and shrunk through the years of its existence.
