Its hard to believe that we are approaching the end of our quilting year but with the April meetings now over, summer will soon be here although the weather is still pretty wintry at times.

As our speaker at both meetings had a bit of a journey to get to us, the meetings started with guild business and the show and tell. The library quilt show started on April 1st in the Discovery Room at the Beaconsfield library. The theme is “Sharing the Planet” and there are quilts and other materials inspired by the wide range of creatures who live with us on earth. The show consists of items made by our members and collected together by Linda G. Given that quilters are thought to be very fond of cats, its most surprising that apparently there are no cats in the display! If you plan to visit, it may be best to check that the room is not in use for a meeting.

At the evening meeting Suzanne R presented a Program project for the summer which she says will be ideal to take on trips when we can’t take our sewing machine with us. It is an easily portable EPP project. The speaker at the evening meeting in May will be via zoom and will provide an overview of EPP then Suzanne will fill in details of the project. The day meeting in May will be a Trunk Show by our own Suzanne Hurtebise. The postcard swap with the Calgary Quilt Guild is also moving along well with many members showing their postcards before they send them off. The cards received from Calgary will be shown at the June meetings and Pat B reported on her visit to the Calgary guild where she talked to them about our bee hives and other beaconsfield activities.

The March in-person retreat was a great success as they got the snow they needed for snow dying of fabrics. Julie T presented some of her fabrics in the evening show and tell. Also many quilts for outreach were worked on at the retreat and 4 quilts will be donated by the guild to Quilts of Valour. The next retreat is virtual on Zoom on April 18th and 19th. Outreach also have many quilts for donation and are hoping to make presentations to the representatives of the organisations at the June meetings. Finally there were some notes about the June show which is fast approaching. There is a Blast coming which will be the one and only registration for your entries to the show. There will also be a sheet to sign up for baking donations for the tearoom and a general volunteer sheet. Julie T also asked members to start making items for the stall at the show. Bowl cozies are always popular but she may have some ideas for items at the April retreat.

Show and Tell had the usual wide array of lovely work from members including Confetti square quilts made by Dawn for Outreach. She collected a lot of these squares from members in the fall. Also there were some examples of the Kawandi technique (there are lots of videos on this on YouTube), and some free block of the month ideas.

The subject of the presentation at both of the April meetings was the Quebec Quilt Registry. Our speaker Carla Rivard, who runs the registry, told us all about its history, purpose and how a quilt can be registered. The registry is an important resource as it provides details of the quilts of Quebec and records them as works of art by women that do not reside in galleries or museums but live out in the world.

The registry project started as an idea in the early 80s but the first registry session was in 1991. The registry team travel around Quebec to register the quilts in person. They have to see the quilt and examine it to complete the registration form as detailed observations are included in the register. The register is online and searcheable and provides a overview of the history of quilting in Quebec. It has evolved over time and now includes all sizes of quilts and also larger wall hangings. Carla also said that it is most important to label your quilt even if only with the makers name, place and date of production. Once the quilt is entered in the registry it receives a number and a label from the registry. At present there are 6659 quilts in the registry but not so many from Beaconsfield so hopfully we will be holding a registry for our members in the not too distant future.

This month saw our return to in person evening meetings and thankfully the weather cooperated with warmer weather and the turnout of members was high. The meetings started with a guest speaker on Zoom and some out of town members also joined in for this part. In connection with our “Quilting across Canada” theme Kate McKinnon, a member of the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild presented an overview of their activities to both the evening and day meetings. Kate, who joined the Calgary guild in 2023, has been the Programming Director since 2024. They have several meetings during the year and also hold workshops, 2 retreats in Canmore and 2 “sew-cial” meetings. Their quilt year runs from January to December and this year (2026) their theme is “The Mindful Maker”. This appears to be a similar idea to our theme last year in that it is focusing on reusing materials wherever possible. Our joint project with the Calgary guild is also aligned with this theme as our members will be partnered with a member of the Calgary guild and exchange postcards with each other in May

Kate also described their major project for last year (2025) when their theme was “The Year of Colour and Design”. During one of their Sewcial meetings the members were asked to make a design with a reference to Calgary. These designs were then made into blocks by the planning committee and were then used as a block of the month for the guild. The idea was to use them for skill building, using a palette of suggested colours. She showed us some of the finished quilts and they were certainly very impressive and innovative.

It was quite fascinating to see how other guilds organise themselves and set challenges for their members. I’m sure notes were taken by our planning committee for use in future years. Pat B is going to Calgary shortly and she will be attending their meeting to present our guild to their members. Safe travels Pat.

After the presentation the business of the meeting began with Noreen reminding everyone that many positions on the executive are up for grabs in June. The full list will be in the newsletter so don’t be shy, join the team and bring your ideas to the table. Having new people helps us to stay fresh and interesting. Other business included Christine pointing out that the library team is once again going to bring up a selection of books for each meeting so they can be taken home on loan. If you want to borrow a book from the library, find it on the website and just send the book number to the library team. Also a reminder that the March in person retreat is coming up but it is also going to be on Zoom so if you want to attend virtually please register so they know who to expect.

After the break it was Show and Tell. As usual Louise will post pictures on the Photos page of the website. Then Suzanne organised us to play a couple of games. What a great idea. First we were put in groups of 3 for an icebreaker where we had to ask each other questions such as, do you have another hobby or what suprising skill do you have? Then the same groups took part in Quilty Family Feud. There was some disagreements with the survey answers but a lot of fun was had by all and some people went home with a prize. Thank you Suzanne and the rest of the team for planning this.

On Tuesday evening, we were treated to a presentation by Judy Lyon, one of Canada’s few quilt appraisers. Judy began appraising quilts in 1999 and, over the intervening years, has come across many quilts and learned their stories. During the Covid pandemic, she wrote a book titled “Canada’s Forgotten Artifacts: 1967 – Canada’s Centennial Quilts” to capture the stories around the making and sharing of Canada’s Centennial quilts. She also gave us some background of the times and the means by which Centennial projects were devised and spread. (Expo 67 occurred the same year and while some members present remembered Centennial celebrations, many more remembered going to Expo 67, right here in Montreal!)

Judy also put a call out to anyone who has a centennial quilt, or knows of one hiding in a closet, to bring it forward and let her know. She also strongly advocated for registering quilts – in our case with the Quebec Quilt Registry. While we may downplay the importance of our own handiwork, we need to understand that our work is part of a collective that brings women’s work and artistry into the realm of recorded social history.

Click HERE to learn more about Judy and her book and/or to contact her.

Click HERE to browse the Quebec Registry

On Wednesday morning, our program was assembled by, from and for our guild members. The theme was “Panel Quilts”. Panel quilts are made from fabric that has been re-printed witha a scene or other images that often provide the focal point of a quilt. Some quilters may think this is “cheating” because of minimal piecing requirements but through the many submissions collected from members, we could see the creative of these panels. Some panels were bordered and beautifully quilted and others were cut up and rearranged for a more patchwork look. By the end, we all realized that a pre-printed panel is just one more tool in our quilting tool box. (For members, the whole presentation is available under the “Program” tab.)

And one good bit of news was shared – our Big Quilt Show has a location and date!! June 5-7 at the Baie d’Urfé Curling Club. We are more than excited!