Calgary Postcards: Quilters Gone Wild At Heritage Park
With a mother, sister and several friends – all of whom are avid quilters - by osmosis I have some appreciation for the art of quilting. But I was gobsmacked by the number and diversity of quilts at this year’s Heritage Park’s Festival of Quilts. Literally everywhere in the park, some even on the beds in some of the Park’s heritage homes – the 500+ quilts all for quilters in Calgary and area, make this Western Canada’s largest annual quilt show. Link: Festival Of Quilts Catalogue
The press release states, “Quilts of every style, shape and colour will be on display throughout Heritage Park - draped over fence rails, hung from laundry lines, balconies and the front porches of the historic buildings. Special exhibits include a selection of Modern Minimalist quilts, Quilted Portraits and quilts created by children. This dazzling array of artistic expression will be a feast for the eyes of quilters and non-quilters alike.”
They are not exaggerating.
The 2022 Quilter of Distinction is Calgary’s own Cheryl Arkison. Cheryl has been making quilts for over 20 years and loves to nurture her creative spirit in many ways. She has also encouraged other quilt creators to play with their ideas, enjoy the process and treasure the results! She has embraced teaching in person and virtually, writes an entertaining blog and has published three books that have inspired quilters around the world.
Link: Cheryl Arkison Blog
In addition to the quilts, there is a Merchants Mall that has quilting fabric and products from various quilt shops in the area. I don’t even what to know what happened at the Saturday Night Quilts & Cocktails event, I can only imagine what happens when you get a bunch of crazy quilters together. What happens at Quilt Night, probably stays at “Quilt Night!”
Calgary Visitor Tip: Heritage Park is Canada’s largest living history museum with over 180 exhibits and 55,000 artifacts. In addition to dozens of historic buildings, the Park experience includes a train ride on steam locomotive, a vintage streetcar, vintage midway, a huge vintage car museum and an early 20thcentury main street. The setting of the park is spectacular with its expansive views of the Glenmore Reservoir with the Rocky Mountains in the background. If you are visiting Calgary and have even a tiny bit of interest in Western Canadian history, Heritage Park is a must visit. Link: Heritage Park
Here are few postcards of some of the quilts that caught my eye, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Thought this play on the Canadian Flag was clever.
I love when there is a surprise element when you look more closely at a quilt.
Loved this Cafe Quit
The entrance to the park was lined with a series of horse head quilts.
Last Word
Plan ahead - If you interested in quilts, mark on your calendar to visit Calgary the last weekend in May (it’s the same weekend every year) so you can attend the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts. While you are visiting you should always experience some of Calgary’s diverse visual art experiences - galleries, public art and murals.
Here are some links about Calgary’s visual art experiences:
Everyday Tourist’s Virtual Tour of Calgary’s Art Galleries