ESTEVAN - Members of the Hearts and Hands Quilt Guild invited the community to join them for their 20th anniversary, which they celebrated by having a quilt exhibition, tea and cake at Creighton Lodge on Saturday.
Guild president Linda Jones said they had a good turnout for the event, and they were happy to be able to have it at Creighton Lodge.
"Creighton Lodge has been so good to us," Jones said.
Guild members could each bring a quilt for display for the Creighton Lodge residents and the public that came out for the event. And many beautiful quilts were laying and hanging all around Creighton Lodge's main hallway.
The Hearts and Hands Quilt Guild is a charity guild. They work together on quilts that they give to local non-profits like the United Way Estevan, St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation, Royal Canadian Legion Estevan branch and others. They also have personal projects that they work on throughout the year. They get together on Thursdays at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, work on joint or individual projects, share their expertise and ideas and just have a good time together.
Eileen McKersie, who was the guild’s first president, recalled how their group started 20 years ago.
"We had a lady in town that had a dream to have a quilt store. She got it off the ground. And some of us would go and shop and we were mainly her customers when she first started. So, then we talked, and one lady from B.C. said that she was in a guild, which we didn't know what a guild was. She explained it to us. And we said, 'Well, let's do a guild.' So, we did," McKersie shared.
The guild started with eight members and has close to 40 now, with the youngest participants being around 40 years old. The oldest member, Sarah Harder, who still actively quilts, is 93 years old.
"Our guild just kept growing. And quilting has really progressed. At first, it was quite simple. You do it by hand. And then it got into fancy patterns, fabulous material, it just got nicer and nicer all the time," McKersie said. "It's been wonderful the last 20 years watching the progress."
Jones said quilting is a hobby but also a passion for the members. She started quilting "only" eight years ago, and she's been enjoying the hobby ever since.
"For me [the joy is] creating something and just to see the progress on it and work with the material," Jones shared.
"Quilting gives me passion. And I love being with people and teaching them. It's wonderful," McKersie said, explaining what being a part of the guild gives her.
Jones said she was happy to see people joining them for the celebration.
"I hope everybody enjoyed our event, and we will probably do something similar around Christmas or in the spring," Jones said.
Next on the guild's agenda is their retreat at Kenosee Lake.
"We do a retreat at Kenosee Lake every year. We all go there Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and we quilt, we eat there, and we sleep there," McKersie said.
They are also currently working on their charity quilt for the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation's Festival of Trees.
