Quilt Show slated for Birchcliff Bluffs United Church on Saturday

By COLE HESSION

The Quilt Show and Needlearts Show will be taking place at Birchcliff Bluffs United Church today.

“We are hoping to introduce quilting and needlearts to the next generation so it does not die out,” said show organizer and host Judy Chlebak.

The show is being presented by St. Mark’s Needlearts Scarborough Guild and will take place on Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will also feature a display and an educational exhibit on the Underground Railroad’s quilt codes and their history.

The show will include readings of children’s books on the Underground Railroad and its quilt codes, as well as quilting craft activities.

“Quilters made quilts with symbols on them to help find safe houses and the routes north,” said Chlebak of quilts and their connections to the Underground Railroad in the 1800s which helped escaped slaves flee the United States and find their way to freedom in Canada.

“They learned some of these quilt codes from songs. It was illegal to teach a slave to read or write at that time. The slave catchers did not notice the laundry that was hung on the clothesline or airing out over a fence. Some historians do not believe this is true, because there are no written records. But I leave it to you to decide how they found the guides of the Underground Railroads and found safe haven in Canada,” she said.

This will be the first year of the event at Birchcliff Bluffs with St. Mark’s Needlearts Scarborough Guild, and the organizers are hoping to see 80 to 100 visitors attend, said Chlebak.

Birchcliff Bluffs United Church is located at 33 East Rd. just northwest of Warden Avenue and Kingston Road in southwest Scarborough.

• Cole Hession is a high school co-op student gaining newsroom experience as part of his studies.