Times-Chronicle Staff
A beautiful, must-see wall quilt by a group of local artists is being raffled off to raise money for Desert Valley Hospice Society.
The quilt was designed, created and donated to the society by artists Kathie Kirby, Bev Penny, Gisela Carroll and Leslie Forbes, all students of Canadian master quilter Karen Thatcher.
Thatcher (1957-2020) was a former paramedic, brain injury survivor and lung cancer patient from Rossland. She created art quilts portraying nature and donated these pieces to various organizations.
The wall quilt being raffled here is part of her legacy. The quilt, entitled “Into the Light,” was created from a range of fabrics in an abstract composition. Many randomly cut fabrics were fused and stitched together to create an impressionistic vision of a forest, with trees created from painted cheesecloth, adding texture to the design.
Leslie Forbes is an art quilter/fibre artist from Osoyoos, who is passionate about architecture and nature – the focus of her work.
Kathie Kirby from Oliver has taught quilting classes for many years and loves fibre art.
Bev Penny is a quilter and fibre artist who enjoys seeing a piece evolve from a vision to reality. Her inspiration comes through varied avenues of learning such as the class with Thatcher.
Gisela Carrol, who lives near Okanagan Falls, started her quilting journey in 1992 with a simple sampler quilt. After completing many traditional quilts, her path led her to fibre art. Her work often reflects the beauty of nature, and she finds inspiration for her designs from her photographs.
Raffle tickets are $25 each or five for $100. Visit https://trellis.org/wallquiltraffle to access tickets.
Online ticket sales are available until May 30, with the winner announced May 31.
All proceeds help the society fulfill requests for support and provide programs to those in need.
Photo contributed
