The Sheep River Library art gallery’s newest exhibit is showing off the craftiness of about a dozen like-minded women.
Handcrafted fibre arts including quilts, scarves, baskets, embroidery, weaving and felt will be on display throughout September to show the talents of the Sheep Creek Weavers – a group of diverse men and women who connect at the Millarville Race Track each month with a common interest.
“We just want to share the joy of doing fibre arts,” said member Kim Burns. “Everybody is really passionate about what they do. That’s what the Sheep Creek Weavers is about is sharing what we do.”
Interested members are showing up to three pieces that fit with this year’s theme, which celebrates Canada’s 150 anniversary.
Burns created a framed miniature-quilting piece where she used a running stitch to piece together fabric she dyed. It pays homage to her great grandparents who homesteaded in Saskatchewan in the early 1900s.
“I took a trip to Moose Jaw last year, Swift Current and all the places they had lived,” she said “The wheat fields and blue skies really spoke to my heart.”
Burns entered work in the show all three years the Sheep Creek Weavers have exhibited at the library.
“We’re sharing our passion and I’m thinking we’re reaching out to people who have similar interests who can find a venue for their passion,” she said. “Maybe it will spur people on to start doing things using their hands.”
While the exhibit will once again display the talent of members, new pieces will be featured amongst the almost 100 members wanting to showcase their work.
“There is some wonderful textile art,” she said. “We have a variety of ages in our group and a variety of knowledge. We have members from Calgary to High River.”
Kathy Sosnowski, a Sheep Creek Weaver for 17 years, is displaying three pieces in the show.
They include an impressionistic hand-dyed scarf that represents the sky, mountains, forest and streams, as well as two miniature weavings that use two layers of fabric – a thin cotton layer and a thick wool layer weaved together - which was used more than a century ago for bed coverings.
Sosnowski, who lives in Calgary, said the exhibit is a great way to show off the members’ varied talents. She’s had work displayed in the art gallery all three years.
“People have a preconceived idea of what the Sheep Creek Weavers is,” she said. “When they come here they learn how diverse it is. It’s not just crafts people, it’s artists as well.”
Sosnowski said members work on their own projects individually and then share their work with others in the group when they meet once a month.
Having the opportunity to showcase what they make publicly, doesn’t happen often.
“This is an opportunity to bring it out for other people to see,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be your best work. It’s just our expressions of what we love.”
Member Sheila Virgo has two quilts in this show including one featuring a fall scene, which received a first place award at this month’s Priddis & Millarville Fair, and another featuring the Canada 150 maple leaf emblem.
The Millarville resident has displayed her work in all three annual shows in the Turner Valley gallery.
While some items will be available for purchase, Virgo said her quilts will not be among them.
“When you spend so many hours on it, to sell it at a price that reflects how much time you spent on it you would never get that much for it,” she said.
