Silverglade quilter shines at national show
A Silverglade woman has made the quilting fraternity proud after winning two awards at a national quilt show.
Glenys Dougall, a member of the Seaside Quilters that meet once a month, is the recipient of two awards at the 22nd South African Quilt Festival, which was held in Pietermaritzburg from Thursday July 4 to Tuesday July 9.
Her hand-appliquéd and hand-quilted creation, Kelmscott, which took two years to complete, landed her wins in the Best Open Bed Quilt and Best Handwork on Show categories.
She said she had started quilting about 25 years ago as she had been looking for something to do while sitting in front of the TV and it had become an “addiction”.
She taught herself quilting from books, and her winning quilt is based on a design by William Morris, a 19th century textile designer who promoted hand-made crafts over factory-produced textiles.
She said she had had great fun playing with colour and textiles while making the quilt.
She named it Kelmscott after Mr Morris’s London home.
Ms Dougall said she had not attended the festival and had very nearly not entered the quilt as she would have needed to make arrangements to get the quilt back after the festival as it had not offered a return-by-courier service.
She said a friend had received a WhatsApp saying she had won third prize for the open bed quilt. It was only later that she found out that it was first prize.
“I was very surprised,” she said, adding that someone from Canada had bought the quilt and she had not needed to make any arrangements to get it back to Cape Town.
Seaside Quilters chairperson Margie Adams said they were beyond proud of Ms Dougall.
“The competition is incredibly tough, but Glenys truly stood out as one of the best. Her hard work, dedication, and passion shone through, and we are thrilled to see her shine and get the recognition she so deserves,” she said.
