It’s been four long years, but a Chilliwack quilting guild will finally be hosting its biannual show and members can’t wait to show off what they’ve made.
The Chilliwack PieceMakers Quilt Guild is holding its 2022 Piecemaking in the Valley show on Oct. 21 and 22. It will be one of the first community quilt shows in the Lower Mainland since the pandemic.
“We host a quilt show of the members’ work every two years. The 2020 quilt show was cancelled due to COVID, so we are very excited to show off four years of quilts,” said guild member Karlie McChesney.
There will be about 185 quilts on display at Chilliwack Alliance Church during the two-day show.
About 50 of those quilts have been made as part of the guild’s We Care Program where they sew quilts for charity. Every year, they donate a total of about 150 quilts to Chilliwack Hospice Society, Ann Davis Transition Society, Better Beginnings, Victims Services and Chilliwack Community Services.
To help fund some of the materials for those donated quilts, they always have a quilt raffle at their show. This year, there are two quilts that will be raffled off – a large queen-sized quilt for first prize and a lap quilt as the second prize. About 15 members helped make the queen-sized raffle quilt.
The Merchants’ Mall is back again at the quilt show with 10 vendors from throughout B.C. including three Chilliwack vendors. Plus there’s a guild table where members will be selling items they’ve purchased that they no longer need, such as fabric, quilts, bags and sewing/crafting supplies.
There will also be raffle baskets – two will be drawn on Friday and eight on Saturday. And two guild members will be doing quilting demos throughout the entirety of the two-day show.
Live music by guitarist and singer Jana Seale will fill the venue.
New this year is the ‘fabric pool’ where a kids’ swimming pool will be filled with scraps of fabric. People must use tongs and will have a certain amount of time to pick and choose a bag’s worth of fabric for a set price.
“We’re going to have to rescue women out of that pool,” member Sandra Lounsbury said with a laugh.
A few other things have changed since the guild’s last show in 2018. They’ve lost members and are now at about 65 quilters, down from approximately 95 four years ago.
Plus, there also won’t be a tea room this year.
“We felt with all the great redevelopment downtown, there are so many places people can go and have something to eat if they so choose,” said Lyn Robinson.
The tea room was a popular spot in past years, but it was also the most labour-intensive part of the show so they decided to nix it.
Regardless, they know folks are eager to see what the members have crafted over the past four years.
“It’s a great day. It’s fun. The public can’t wait to come to our shows. It’s a happy, good day,” Lounsbury said.
The Chilliwack PieceMakers Quilt Guild’s 2022 Piecemaking in the Valley show is Friday, Oct. 21 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chilliwack Alliance Church (8700 Young Rd.).
Admission is $5 and, as usual, husbands get in for free. Admission is also free for kids aged 12 and under. Raffle tickets for the quilt raffle are one for $2 or three for $5.
The Chilliwack PieceMakers Quilt Guild meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Cooks Presbyterian Church (45825 Wellington Ave.). New members are welcome. For more, go to chilliwackpiecemakers.com.
Looking for more events taking place in and around Chilliwack? Check out What’s happening Chilliwack in our community section.
Do you have something else we should report on?
Email: jenna.hauck@theprogress.com
Twitter: @PhotoJennalism