MANITOWANING—It’s no secret that Manitoulin has a vast array of artistic talent, including in the fibre arts, and Manitowaning’s Jackie White is no exception. The quilter has been recognized in juried shows across Canada and the United States and can now add president of the Canadian Quilters’ Association (CQA) to that list of accomplishments in the quilting world.
A board member for the past two years, Ms. White was asked to put her name forward for the top role and learned that she got the gig in June. She has been serving in this capacity since July and will remain there for the next three years.
The CQA was formed in 1991 and today unites 30,000 quilters from coast to coast, publishes a quarterly magazine under the direction of an editor (to which Ms. White has contributed for a number of years) and hosts a national conference each year, including a national juried show. “It’s really the ‘best of the best’,” Ms. White said of the show.
In her capacity as president, Ms. White oversees a board of seven as well as regional representatives in each of the provinces, the magazine’s editor and an administration person.
“It’s kind of interesting because the editor is in British Columbia and the administration person is on the east coast,” she laughed.
“The only downside to being president is that for two years you can’t enter the juried show,” Ms. White said, adding that she typically enters every year.
She had shown for the last five years and last year had the honour of having four works chosen for the juried show.
“To have one of our own at the helm of this national body makes us all very proud,” said fellow (juried) quilter and Island Quilters’ Guild member Myra Tallman. “I remember her coming to Guild with her mother as a young inexperienced quilter and have seen her grow and develop until she has quilts juried into shows internationally. When her youngest started school, she was beside herself, whining about what she would do now. Well check out her blog http://jabotquilt.blogspot.ca and take note of the right hand side listing magazines and books where she has been published and the companies she contributes to.”
“Our Guild is doubly proud since the secretary at CQA, Lauren MacDonald, is also one of ours,” Ms. Tallman continued. “Lauren has been secretary for the past year. Our Guild and the Island in general are great contributors to the quilt world.”
Ms. White said she always sewed but when she married her husband Bob and moved to Manitowaning in 1999, her mother encouraged her to come to a meeting of the Island Quilters’ Guild to help her pass away the winter months and then she was hooked. Ms. White has been an active member of the Guild ever since, holding all positions in the executive and maintaining her membership.
Her first project was a ‘Trip Around The World’ quilt that she gifted to her brother when he purchased his camp.
Since then, Ms. White has been recognized for her talents, being published regularly in magazines and books. She was also sought out by the makers of the Craftsy website to write columns.
And while she began her quilting adventure as a traditional hand stitcher, she now does all of her projects on a sewing machine. “And I’m quite proficient at it,” she said.
Ms. White now creates between eight and 12 quilts a year, ranging in size depending on what it’s for. Small quilts are made for books while big ones are created for shows. Ms. White also travels to other guilds and associations to share her works and give lectures to other like-minded artists in what’s called ‘trunk show’ where quilts under discussion are pulled in order of presentation from a traditional steamer trunk.
The designs, which are all her own, are born on a sketchpad that Ms. White keeps by her side.
“Quilting has brought me all over Canada and the United States,” Ms. White said proudly.
In fact, one of her quilts, titled ‘Rockin’ the Rainbow,’ has just landed in Houston for the International Quilt Show—the largest juried show in North America with an audience of over 60,000 people over four days.
The show begins in November so there is no word yet on how the jolly quilt has fared, but just being chosen to show is a win in itself, Ms. White said.
As for any interesting travels in the quilt world this winter, Ms. White said being a full-time hockey mom takes precedence so there will be no adventuring, but there will absolutely be projects always in the works.
This busy and well organized person also holds down a full-time position as the events coordinator for the Municipality of Assiginack.
