There's more than 60 homemade quilts on display at the B.C. Northern Exhibition in Kin 1 this year, showcasing a variety of techniques, colours and patterns.
Some quilts are traditional in nature, while others explore a cutting-edge creativity by using flowing styles of stitching to offer their subjects texture and a sense of movement.
Home arts and horticulture are the cornerstone of any traditional fall fair and with a resurgence of interest towards knitting, sewing and preserving food through canning, a showcase of quilts lends itself nicely to the BCNE.
The Prince George Quilters' Guild, 118 members strong, has a community service project called Community Gift Quilts, Barb Friesen, vice president of the guild, said.
They are holding a raffle for one of the quilts on display at the fair and the proceeds will help fund the material used to make the donated quilts as all the quilters donate their time and talent.
"We give between 125 and 175 quilts away every year," Friesen said.
"We will give a quilt to anyone in need."
The quilters donate regularly to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at the hospital, Baby's New Beginnings, Victim Services through the RCMP, the cancer society, the Prince George Hospice.
"And this year we gave 28 quilts to AWAC for their new housing complex," Friesen said.
"Each one of their rooms now has a quilt in it. So when people are ready to leave the program - that goes from three months to two years, I believe - they can take their quilt with them. So that will be an ongoing donation from us so every person gets a quilt."
Other community programs saw the quilters' guild using a New Horizons for Seniors program grant three years ago to purchase 10 sewing machines to engage seniors in sewing and quilting.
The group gives back to the community and provided 250 cloth bags for the Prince George Council of Seniors hamper project at Christmas, 250 pillow cases for those who had to be evacuated from their homes during the wildfires last year and veterans at the Legion are also gifted quilts made up of squares sewn by community members, which are then assembled by the guild.
"I can't believe how many people are coming back to quilting," Friesen said.
But it's on a whole other level these days.
"We used to go to the thrift shops for clothing and material or use old shirts to make quilts, now people choose their new material carefully," she said.
It's more of an art form for many people who are looking for a hobby they can enjoy during their retirement, Friesen added.
The guild meets at the Connaught Youth Centre for their general meeting once a month and other meetings for special interests like machine embroidery and other projects also meet throughout the month.
To reach out to the group for more information visit their Facebook page PG Quilters Guild.
