If stitching and sewing is your thing, there is still time to sign up for the 2018 International Plowing Match (IPM) Quilt Show.
2018 IPM Quilt Show Chair Joyce Martin-Bruce says there are two quilt shows involved in the plowing match. She says the first one takes place from 9am to 5pm on Friday, August 17 and 9am to 4pm on Saturday, August 18 at St. Paul's Congregational Church in Chatham.
"The quilts built will be judged and hung with the ribbons and all the information on them in the church," she explains. "There will be a tea room and there will be a souvenir booth from the plowing match and various other things."
Martin-Bruce says she expects about 150 or more entries likely from all over Ontario, because the show is open to everyone and not just Chatham-Kent Quilters' Guild members.
The committee chair says a special quilt is being raffled off at the event, which was part of a challenge in 2016. She says quilters were asked to create a 12.5 inch block that depicted the theme "We Grow for the World."
"I received 36 blocks from all over Ontario and we chose the best 18 that depicted that theme and put them into a quilt with a centre logo hand-appliqued by a really good member of our guild," she says. "It is the logo of the plowing match."
She says a Toby Coby wall hanging will also be included in the raffle prize, as well as a farm-themed table runner.
According to Martin-Bruce, tickets for the raffle will be sold for $2 a piece at the quilt show, from quilt guild members, and at the IPM store on Richmond St. in Chatham.
Martin-Bruce says there will also be a special quilt tent at the 2018 IPM, which will run from September 18 to 22 in Pain Court.
"All the quilts that appear at the quilt show in August will be kept safe and then wrapped in plastic and hung in that tent for the week of the plowing match," she says.
Martin-Bruce says entry forms for quilt submissions must get to her by June 30 so she can get the show ready in time. She says the brochures and forms are available on the IPM website.
She says the finished quilts have to be delivered to the church on August 14.
