QUILTING BEE (Anne of Green Gables)
DATE: Saturday January 17 & Saturday January 24
TIME: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
PLACE: St. Luke's Anglican Church - 8424-95th Ave. (near the Bonny Doon Mall)
ROOM: Whittingback Hall
DATE: Saturday January 17 & Saturday January 24
TIME: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
PLACE: St. Luke's Anglican Church - 8424-95th Ave. (near the Bonny Doon Mall)
ROOM: Whittingback Hall
Quilting on a Grand Scale! By Carolyn Zahovskis
Part of the fun for a quilter is the challenge of creating a design for their work of art. Imagine, if you will, that work of art being 28 feet by 40 feet! Well that is exactly the scale of the project Colette Martin of the Edmonton and District Quilter’s Guild has taken on for the upcoming production of Anne of Green Gables for Sherard Musical Theatre Association – playing at Festival Place in Sherwood Park, February 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28, 2009.
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved story about siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert who decide to adopt a boy to help on their farm, but end up with a precocious girl of eleven named Anne Shirley is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008. The musical version of the story has been playing at the Charlottetown Festival since 1964 to audiences from around the world.
Quilting is an important theme in the musical version of the story, and this is emphasized in the set through the use of a giant quilt as a backdrop. A call went out, or should I say a cry, to see if there would be any interest in partnering with Sherard to make this element of the set come to life. Colette Martin of the Edmonton and District Quilter’s Guild, always up for a challenge, agreed to lead the charge.
Colette was instrumental in researching and finding the best value for the 124 meters of fabric and 4,000 meters of thread used in this project. She also gave careful consideration to creating a design that would allow the audience to recognize it as a quilt, but not overpower the action taking place in front of it. She worked with a simple nine patch block pattern to turn it into a visually stunning piece that works for the enormous scale of this project. She thought through the colour palette just as carefully. Colette drew inspiration from the different elements of the story and worked her magic to come up with colours that complement both the set and the costumes.
After the design phase was complete, it was time to begin cutting and stitching. The old adage, “many hands make light work” has been taken to heart. 29 volunteers from the Edmonton & District Quilter’s Guild, Anne of Green Gables’ cast members and friends have helped complete the first and second phases. To ensure there would be consistency, Colette and Jen Muir cut out all of the squares and strips. From there, Colette assembled quilting kits for the volunteers. This approach allowed the project to come together quickly and efficiently. To date, Colette and her team have devoted 84 hours to sewing the 286 blocks. The project is approximately 60% complete, and in January a massive quilting bee will be held to assemble the quilt as a whole—very appropriate considering the early 20th century time period in which Anne’s story is set! If you want to join the fun of bringing this project to life, you are most welcome! Please contact Carolyn Zahovskis at HYPERLINK "mailto:deon@shaw.ca" deon@shaw.ca.
Sherard is also looking for quilts to display in the theatre. To set the mood for the audience as they walk into the theatre, we would like to hang quilts from the second floor balcony. The quilts would be affixed to the railing and be out of reach of audience members. If you are interested in having your artwork displayed for the run of Anne of Green Gables, please contact Carolyn for more information. Or if you just want to see the fruits of our labour, come on out and support the work of your friends and colleagues. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or directly from Festival Place. Ticket prices are $20.00 for adults, and $17.00 for Student/Seniors. All matinee tickets are $17.00. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and the matinee performance begins at 2:00 p.m.
Part of the fun for a quilter is the challenge of creating a design for their work of art. Imagine, if you will, that work of art being 28 feet by 40 feet! Well that is exactly the scale of the project Colette Martin of the Edmonton and District Quilter’s Guild has taken on for the upcoming production of Anne of Green Gables for Sherard Musical Theatre Association – playing at Festival Place in Sherwood Park, February 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28, 2009.
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved story about siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert who decide to adopt a boy to help on their farm, but end up with a precocious girl of eleven named Anne Shirley is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008. The musical version of the story has been playing at the Charlottetown Festival since 1964 to audiences from around the world.
Quilting is an important theme in the musical version of the story, and this is emphasized in the set through the use of a giant quilt as a backdrop. A call went out, or should I say a cry, to see if there would be any interest in partnering with Sherard to make this element of the set come to life. Colette Martin of the Edmonton and District Quilter’s Guild, always up for a challenge, agreed to lead the charge.
Colette was instrumental in researching and finding the best value for the 124 meters of fabric and 4,000 meters of thread used in this project. She also gave careful consideration to creating a design that would allow the audience to recognize it as a quilt, but not overpower the action taking place in front of it. She worked with a simple nine patch block pattern to turn it into a visually stunning piece that works for the enormous scale of this project. She thought through the colour palette just as carefully. Colette drew inspiration from the different elements of the story and worked her magic to come up with colours that complement both the set and the costumes.
After the design phase was complete, it was time to begin cutting and stitching. The old adage, “many hands make light work” has been taken to heart. 29 volunteers from the Edmonton & District Quilter’s Guild, Anne of Green Gables’ cast members and friends have helped complete the first and second phases. To ensure there would be consistency, Colette and Jen Muir cut out all of the squares and strips. From there, Colette assembled quilting kits for the volunteers. This approach allowed the project to come together quickly and efficiently. To date, Colette and her team have devoted 84 hours to sewing the 286 blocks. The project is approximately 60% complete, and in January a massive quilting bee will be held to assemble the quilt as a whole—very appropriate considering the early 20th century time period in which Anne’s story is set! If you want to join the fun of bringing this project to life, you are most welcome! Please contact Carolyn Zahovskis at HYPERLINK "mailto:deon@shaw.ca" deon@shaw.ca.
Sherard is also looking for quilts to display in the theatre. To set the mood for the audience as they walk into the theatre, we would like to hang quilts from the second floor balcony. The quilts would be affixed to the railing and be out of reach of audience members. If you are interested in having your artwork displayed for the run of Anne of Green Gables, please contact Carolyn for more information. Or if you just want to see the fruits of our labour, come on out and support the work of your friends and colleagues. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster or directly from Festival Place. Ticket prices are $20.00 for adults, and $17.00 for Student/Seniors. All matinee tickets are $17.00. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and the matinee performance begins at 2:00 p.m.
