On September 16th and 17th, the O-HO Quilt Guild celebrated their 20th anniversary with their biennial quilt show at their usual venue, the Ormstown Curling Club.
Welcoming a little over 250 guests through the door, the group raised a notable amount, the majority of which will be donated to local charities and a fund set up for local underprivileged children. In addition to these donations, it is worth noting that many of the members take the time to put together baby quilts, which are dispersed to mothers in need at Chateauguay’s Hôpital Anna-Laberge.
Organizers opted to forgo the Viewer’s Choice ribbon this year in order to honour all quilts equally. A visitor from Ottawa was the lucky winner of the non-profit’s door prize, a collaborative quilt made by the O-HO members (put together by machine-quilter Louise Picard). In addition to serving tea in a selection of delicate china cups and saucers, the show also hosted a garage sale on the upper level of the curling club, selling a number of sewing-related items.
“The quilt show is a wonderful venue. A lot of work goes into it, displaying the talents of many of our members and it’s a very good feeling when you’re hanging them,” said Sylvia Wilson, a member of the group since 2003. While a number of the quilts are hand-stitched, many of them are assembled at home and then sent off to a machine quilter—a practice that is used more and more in modern quilting. Of course, there are still quilters who put together each piece by hand.
The group, which consists of 24 members from Ormstown, Howick, Franklin and Hinchinbrooke, first met in January of 1996. Meeting from September to May on the third Monday afternoon of every month, the group holds an annual potluck in June at MacDougall Hall in Ormstown. While many of the members have been part of the club for years (including a number of founding members who are still actively involved), the group is always open to newcomers.
