The 2017 Grand National Exhibition features three SAQA Atlantic Canada pieces

Congratulations go out to Deb Plestid (Tatamagouche NS), Kate Madeloso (Wolfville NS) and Kathy Tidswell (Burtts Corner NB) each of whom has a quilt in The Grand National. 

This year, the Committee of The Grand National challenged quilters: to create a work of quilt art that captures the essence of their part of Canada – its history, its geography, its cultural diversity, its traditions... reasons for celebrating 150 years of our glorious nation.

This prestigious juried quilt show will be on display until September at the historic Joseph Schneider Haus in Kitchener-Waterloo. 

Deb Plestid's Winter at Balmoral Mills takes Curator's Choice Award

Winter at Balmoral Mills by Deb Plestid, 58" x 37"

DP: Crisp, clear, cold, woefully underrated wonderful white winter. ‘Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver.’ (My country is not a country, it is winter.), Gilles Vigneault.


Curator Susan Burke wrote:

For me, Winter at Balmoral Mills perfectly captures the spirit of the theme Oh! Canada… much as the singer-songwriter Gilles Vigneault has done in his unofficial Quebec anthem, Mon Pays.

Yes, many people world-wide, when they think of Canada, they conjure up the image of a cold, clean, white, winter snowscape, much as quilter artist Deb Plestid has created here.  As the Inuit have many words in their language for snow, so too has Plestid called upon a full vocabulary of quilted shapes to render a pristine drift of snow otherwise unmarred but for the long shadows of a pair of impatient snow shoes.  The viewer is quickly transported into the scene and the imagination races in anticipation of the wintery adventures that lie ahead…Oh! Canada.

Kate Madeloso - Home is on the Sea Ice

Home is on the Sea Ice by Kate Madeloso, 24" x 21"

KM: To the indigenous people of Canada, the polar bear is known as Nanuk - wise, powerful and almost human. This iconic sea animal is a source for stories, art and identity, as well as food and clothing for northern communities.

Ringed and bearded seals are the polar bear's main diet. Bears can detect seals' breathing holes up to a kilometer away.

This 'rider of icebergs' depends on habitat quality for survival. The loss of sea ice is a red flag to the current climate trend on our planet.

See more of Kate Madeloso's work on her blog.

Kathy Tidswell - My Peaceful Oasis

My Peaceful Oasis by Kathy Tidswell, 27" x 21"

KT: Early each morning I walk on the Trans Canada trail, steps away from my home in rural New Brunswick. Breathing the fresh air, I see wildflowers, majestic pines and an unpolluted river, and may catch a glimpse of fox, deer, an eagle and perhaps a person or two.

While travelling last spring in London and Bruges, I felt overwhelmed by the crowds. Relieved to return to my peaceful oasis, thankfulness for my special part of Canada inspired this work featuring 5 hand painted and thread painted ovals depicting sites from my walk.

See more of Kathy Tidswell's work on her website.

A great experience: the SAQA “Creation to Curation” conference in Lincoln, Nebraska

(Photo credits and some writing credits: Maggie Vanderweit)

Regina Marzlin, our SAQA-Atlantic Canada Representative has just returned from her first SAQA conference, this year held in Lincoln Nebraska. Here is her enthusiastic report:


RM: The conference was a great success by all accounts. Really great fun, learning and networking. The Canadians there: Bethany Garner, Judy Martin and Maggie Vanderweit (all from Ontario), Jaynie Himsl (from Saskatchewan), Paulette Cornish (British Columbia), our own Christine Nielsen (SAQA board member, Nova Scotia) took many opportunities to connect. Here we are at breakfast, with instructions to be “goofy" for the photo!

Back row: Maggie Vanderweit, Regina Marzlin, Chris Nielsen, Jaynie Himsl, Judy Martin.
Front row: Paulette Cornish and Bethany Garner.

Regional representatives enjoyed two days of pre-conference workshops and tours. Led by the warm and wonderful Desiree Vaughn, Candace Phelan and others, we shared ideas for strengthening regions by building strong “pods” or "local connections” within large regions. This would mean that members in a local area could develop their autonomous self-directed group and benefit from SAQA’s amazing support and resources. 

So, we are always looking out for and appreciative of your ideas and initiatives to further that mandate. SAQA is about building community for art quilters and this means supporting each other in regular local meetings where possible. It can also mean exhibitions, retreats and zoom conference calls to include more distant members. We also learned about inspiring leadership, regional exhibitions, and getting grants for regional endeavours. 

Regional representatives, hard at work during pre-conference meetings.

Then, at the actual conference, we enjoyed 20 quick Lightning Talks on a huge variety of subjects. We had break-out sessions, panel discussions with Midwest artists and students from the local Textile and Fashion Department. I attended two workshops. One, presented by staff of the International Quilt Study Center, looked at the information we can gain from looking closely at both historical and contemporary quilts. In the second workshop, Candace Phelan helped us hone our presentation skills and "elevator talk”.

The executive and board shared great ideas and expressed their gratitude for our growing community. The hotel had a huge open indoor lobby where we all met for some meals and happy hour.

 Here’s a view of the hotel lobby from the 7th floor.

We had the chance to see all the new trunk show pieces in our SAQA Hospitality room during the conference.

2017 SAQA Trunk Show pieces on display in the hospitality room

We visited the Deeply Rooted show and the nearby Sheldon Museum Gallery- both wonderful. We also spent a whole day at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, a must see venue for anyone. We enjoyed their great archives as well as the current shows: Luke Haynes' log cabins (pictured below), Linda Colsh’s “Like Breath on Glass", a Japanese collection and SAQA’s “Layered Voices” exhibition.

Luke Haynes' log cabin quilts at the IQSCM

Michael James' department tour

Visiting the UNL’s textile/fashion building where Michael James is head of department was such a treat too. Having him give tours and talk about his work there was pretty special.

Michael James was also our keynote speaker. He shared his journey as a ground breaking art quilter. His latest exhibition “Ambiguity and Enigma” draws from his experiences as primary caregiver for his wife, as she moved through the stages of early onset Alzheimers. It was incredibly moving. He also included some amazing quotes in his talk.

The silent auction this year raised over $13,000. Thank you so much to all of you who contributed your fabulous work!

Conference delegates bidding on the 2017 Spotlight Auction

SO HERE IS THE HUGE NEWS: the SAQA board, staff and executive director have chosen TORONTO as the 2020 venue for the first conference to be held outside the USA. This is a huge honour and vote of confidence for Canada. SAQA-Central Canada representative Maggie Vanderweit will chair the local organizing committee. I'm confident that she will do a great job, and we hope that all Canadian members will work together to create an event to remember and make us all prouder than ever to be Canadian art quilters!

Next year's SAQA conference will be in San Antonio, Texas, April 3-8 2018 and the 2019 conference will be in San Jose California - both fabulous destinations. I hope many of you will consider attending one of these. SAQA conferences are a unique opportunity to meet your favourite art quilt rock stars, make friends and celebrate being an art quilter.

I would like to acknowledge Arts Nova Scotia's financial support in awarding me a professional development grant to go to the conference.