Northfield Quilters spring show returns after 5-year hiatus

A favorite biannual spring event, the Northfield Quilters Quilt Show, returned after a five-year hiatus.

Last Friday and Saturday, more than 300 people turned out to view the bedsized, wall sized and crib sized quilts made by members of the Northfield Quilters. Their hand sewn and machine sewn works filled the walls from ceiling to floor of the Little Prairie Methodist Church in Dundas. Still more quilts were draped across the pews in the church’s sanctuary.

The quaint country church, located at 2980 130th St. East, was festooned with 120 quilts that took dozens of volunteers three and a half hours to arrange.

Quilt club president Lynda Pavek explained that this year members chose a smaller venue than the Northfield Ballroom. Instead, club member Cindy Nelson secured her church, Little Prairie Methodist Church, located southwest of Dundas, as this year’s homebase.

In Friday’s “Bed Turning” series, featured speaker Jessie Pendergast talked about making a quilt a month, plus six more pieces last year. Pendergast began quilting in 2013 after experiencing a big case of FOMO, fear of missing out from her mother and sister’s preoccupation with quilting. “I wanted to join in the fun they seemed to be having,” she wrote in her bio. After making a table runner as her first quilting project, Pendergast said from there, she dove “head first” into sewing quilts.

After browsing for fabrics online, she explained how she stumbled onto some Halloween inspired prints in pinks, green and purples and how that spawned an obsession with Tula Pink fabrics. Over the next decade, she said she turned her obsession into a lot of quilts, bags and pillows.

Through social media, Pendergast said she’s met other quilters inspired by modern, bright and quirky fabrics. She likes participating in online sew-a-longs, swaps and other quilt challenges. “I have found it is a great way to push myself to try new things or think of ways to make a project more unique,” she said.

After entering her quilts in a recent dewing contest, Pendergast, who is one of the club’s youngest quilters, won several prizes and acquired more batting and more fabric. “You can never have enough fabric,” she told the crowd seated facing the church’s altar that was temporarily transformed into a state.

As guests wandered around the displays, visited the quilters thrift store, bought items from vendors and signed their names to silent auction items, many quilt enthusiasts were clearly inspired by the clever patterns, designs and themes of the handmade and machine-made works.

“I find quilting calming and meditative,” said Rosie Werner, a quilter who enjoys making her designs the traditional way: by hand.

Pavek said proceeds from the admission and raffle ticket sales during the two-day show would benefit the Community Action Center’s Food Shelf. Organizers said they hoped to raise around $500.