Quilting/A Cape Breton Tradition Exhibit

Quilting - A Cape Breton Tradition Lives On will open at the Mary E. Black Gallery in Halifax on Thursday, July 16 and runs until Sept. 5. Coordinated by Patricia McClelland, executive director of the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, this exhibition will reflect the art of quilting as it exists today on Cape Breton Island.

Cape Breton has a vital and distinctive cultural flavour and is most notable at the moment for fusing traditional, contemporary and popular elements in its self expression. The quilts will reflect this fusion. From traditional patterns, hand sewn from old scraps of material, and created for keeping the family warm, to machine pieced contemporary quilts designed for interior decorating, or as wearable items, this colourful exhibition will appeal to all tastes.

The focus of this exhibition is its diversity. Materials include cottons and cotton blends, synthetics, metallics and pure silk. Designs, including both naive and sophisticated imagery, are traditional, original, whimsical and symbolic.

Admission to the exhibit is free. The Mary E. Black Gallery is located in the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design, 1683 Barrington Street, Halifax. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design is a program/resource centre of the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture and is operated by the department's Cultural Affairs Division. The centre is a catalyst in the development of designers and craft persons as well as functioning as a visitor destination site.