The spring show of the Barnswallow Quilters this past weekend once again served as a showcase of the many talented people in the region who create an array of quilts and other fabric work that is both traditional and contemporary.
The annual event also always includes a featured quilter, and this year the spotlight was on the work of Morden’s own Barb Westfall.
Westfall recalled taking her first quilting class in the 1980s, inspired by her mother, who was a quilter.
“I think it’s the diversity. You can do some many different things with fabric and thread,” she said on what’s kept her at it. “You can make big bed quilts, and you can do art pieces like I do. So it’s just the variety and the potential within it.
“Sometimes when I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, I hear you’re a quilter.’ I always say that’s true, but I don’t keep anybody warm,” Westfall noted. “I don’t make blankets. I just make small art pieces.
“A big-scale quilt scares me. Just the amount of fabric and the volume of everything feels overwhelming, so I just feel really comfortable working on a smaller scale.”
With her work, Westfall just likes to try things out.
“When you’re working on a small scale, you’re not investing a lot of money, so you can be more adventurous maybe and risk taking and try stuff … so I’ll just get an idea and think maybe I’ll give it a whirl and just try it out. It doesn’t always work.
“A lot of time goes into my small pieces too, but it’s all condensed down in size.”
Westfall enjoys the creative process, and she believes that is a commonality for a lot of people in various ways.
“I think there’s so many ways in life to be creative, and we all need to find our thing and pursue it,” she said. “I think creating is mentally healthy, just to be creative is good for a person. I think we’re all meant to be creative in some way … for me, it happens to be fabric and thread.
The variety of work displayed at the show has grown to include all manner of fabric work by artisans from all across the region.
And there is the additional benefit of the proceeds from the event’s rainbow auction supporting South Central Cancer Resource and Boundary Trails Health Centre women’s health services.
“It’s a great show,” said Westfall. “The fact that our population here between Morden and Winkler and the area can produce a show of this size every single year is incredible … I find that amazing.
“We’re a very creative area, and it’s inspiring for all of us.”
