Quilter Marianne Parsons from Oliver shows her first place award she won at Quilt BC in Penticton May 16-18.
Imagine a competition open to anyone who quilts in Canada. Imagine that the winning of this competition is determined by design and artistic ability, flair, and quality of workmanship.
Several South Okanagan quilters no longer need to dream about being the winners. They now have the ribbons and cash prizes for several of the major awards from Quilt BC 2013 held May 16-18 in Penticton.
One of the top prize winners was Oliver quilter and teacher, Marianne Parsons, who took first place in Canada in the Abstract Pictorial Original Design category with her quilt, “Set In Stone” featuring fossil formations in rocks.
Marianne has been a member of the Double O Quilters guild since its beginning 25 years ago, and was previously given the outstanding quilting teacher of the year award by the Canadian Quilters Association. She is dedicated to the art of quilting and shares her passion and knowledge with all who wish to learn.
Her quilts appear in national and international shows and galleries, including the “Abstracted” show coming up October 10 – December 31 at the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum in La Conner, WA.
Marianne’s quilts were also featured in two other exhibits at Quilt BC. “In The Red,” and “Blue Skies” were part of the Fibrescapes show, and “Turtle Rock,” another piece in the fossil series, was part of the fabricators exhibit, “Elementz.”
In the Realistic Pictorial category, Joan Bielun from Penticton took top Canadian honours for “Elements of Change.” This stunning six- foot wide depiction of a giant wave will be featured on the cover of the next Canadian Quilter Magazine, a national publication.
Maya Brouwer, a former Oliver resident now living in Brentwood Bay, BC took home the Viewers Choice award for her Trend-Tex Challenge quilt titled “Hide-N-Seek.” This quilt also raised one of the highest bids in the silent auction fundraiser.
Maya, Joan and Marianne are members of the local Fabricators group, and more of their fabric work can be seen at Artwalk in Lakeside Sept. 7–8.
The Canadian Quilters Association holds a national show and conference in a different area of Canada annually. The next Quilt Canada is June 2014 in Ontario, and Quilt Canada 2015 is in Alberta.
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