Look up. Look way up. A 15-foot enchanting Christmas tree now spruces up St. Albert city hall. Inside St. Albert Place, tucked next to the library, is a jaw-dropping conifer decorated with angels, stars, snowflakes, balls, Santa figures, animals and religious symbols.
Just down the hall is the quilting studio where stunning quilts hang on walls creating a rich, warm atmosphere. Against this backdrop, St. Albert Quilters Guild meet for coffee, camaraderie and creativity.
And it was in this studio, quilters received a 2023 commission to fashion a new quilt for the city’s magnificent Christmas tree since the old tree skirt was looking tattered.
Quilts are repositories for stories, and who better than the quilters’ guild, which boasts a 44-year history of producing quality work, to refresh the symbolic evergreen with a new skirt.
Two of the most-involved quilters were the guild’s past-president Maureen Russell and designer/quilter Lynette Forge.
“As quilters, we wanted to do the project, but I didn’t know how to do it. The guild is filled with talented people, but we needed someone with special skills. When Lynette offered to do it, I knew it would be done beautifully and I was so relieved,” said Russell.
Originally from New Zealand, Forge is a professional quilt instructor who taught in her home country, England, the United States and Ontario. She currently teaches at Quilters Dream Products in Edmonton.
“I am skilled in design, drafting, and colour selection and I see a project to completion,” said Forge whose expertise has touched many lives.
The soft-spoken visual artist designed and drafted a pattern for a circular quilt eight and one-half feet at its diameter. The three-layered quilt with a top, inside batting and bottom, is so large it takes two people to hold it at its full width.
Forge chose the Dresden Flower design, an elegant British design that appears to look like a circle of poinsettias on a carpet of snow. She designed 36 wedge-shaped plates and attached two flowers on each wedge. Using a computerized pattern on a long-arm quilting machine, Forge was able to cut down the sewing and stitching time.
Despite using a high-end quilting machine, Forge estimates spending 1,000 hours on the project. That breaks down to roughly 125 eight-hour working days.
At one point in the creation, another 20 guild members spent an additional 500 hours assisting.
“We put tables together and it was like an old-fashioned quilting bee.”
When Forge was asked why she committed to such a large project, she replied, “You’re here to give back. And on my epithet, I want to be remembered as kind. If we live with kindness, the world will be a better place.”
Guilds developed as a way of teaching, sharing and supporting community needs. The quilters’ guild often escapes notice, yet it is incredibly active in assisting vulnerable groups and non-profits.
Every year, the guild picks a charity to support. In past years it provided quilts to SAIF Society, Youville Home, Jessie’s House in Morinville, Without Providence and Compassion House to name a few.
It also quilts for special occasions and honorary guests. The guild quilted for Canada’s former Governor General, the late Madame Jeanne Sauvé. It also created a quilt that represents the life of the late Lois Hole, former Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta.
For more information on St. Albert Quilters’ Guild, visit sapvac.ca.
