Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild revives their popular quilt show this April

Gordon Edgar - Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com

The Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild is excited to once again bring their quilt show to life at the Moose Jaw Events Centre this April, after the COVID pandemic forced them to put the popular event on hold for a couple of years.

The 16th biennial Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild quilt show is titled “Sew Full of Whimsy” and will take place over two days at the Moose Jaw Events Centre — Friday, April 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, April 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Daily admission to the show is $15 plus tax individually, or $25 for a two-day pass. Tickets are available at the Moose Jaw Events Centre box office or online at Sasktix.ca.

A Trunk Show with guest artist Deb Barlow will be held at the Events Centre on Friday, April 21 at 7 p.m. Barlow is a nationally certified quilt show judge and juried member of the Saskatchewan Craft Council who is based in Saskatoon.

The Sew Full of Whimsy show will feature around 250 spectacularly varied quilt displays, demonstrations and workshops by experienced quilters, a penny parade, a raffle quilt, a guild table, and a vendors selling everything from quilting machines to gadgets to fabrics.

Concessions will be available from the upper floor of the Events Centre.

Quilt show committee chairperson

Colleen Lawrence said the guild has resumed normal activities since September 2022, with their usual twice-monthly meetings at the Masonic Hall on Main Street. The social aspect of the hobby, with its inspirations, collaborations, and visiting, is important to the guild’s 100plus members, and the show is an exciting time of year.

“We usually have about 800 people come through, and sometimes we have a busload that will come from Saskatoon or Calgary to see the show,” Lawrence said. “And our guild does that kind of thing, too, of course. In the fall, we’re going to take a bus up to Saskatoon for the quilt show there.”

Lawrence started quilting once her youngest was old enough to drive to her own activities. She joined the Prairie Hearts guild and started attending the classes they hold through the year. Those classes helped her to dabble in all aspects of the art, but her specialty is paper piecing.

“I admired quilting for a long time,” she explained. “It’s just so relaxing, and it’s beautiful and I have something to show for my effort when I’m finished. I give a lot of quilts as gifts — anybody who gets married or has a baby, you know, and most quilters do that.

“We also do a lot of charity work in Moose Jaw. People donate fabric and we get together and make quilts, so anytime there’s an emergency … we give quilts to any kids that are involved in that situation. And at Christmas, we make placemats, and they’re distributed between the hospital and the old folks homes.”

Lawrence said the quilt show will be a combination of judging and trade show. It’s a great place to satisfy curiosity about quilting, do some shopping, and take in the beautiful art, but there are also 40 categories to place in, and prizes to take home.

“We try to make sure that everybody can enter something in,” she explained. “Anything that a quilter could think of, there’s a category for it. And anybody can enter, it doesn’t just have to be Moose Jaw people.”

This year’s featured quilter is Wendy Findlay. She will have her own display area and will be available for questions and visiting.

More information about the Prairie Hearts Quilters’ Guild is available at www.prairieheartsquilters.com.

Moose Jaw’s Wiebe signs entry-level NHL contract with Anaheim

Prince George Cougars standout inks contract in midst of solid final WHL campaign

Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Jaxsen

Wiebe is the newest member of the National Hockey League.

Wiebe, 20, signed an entry-level deal with the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday afternoon, becoming the latest player from Canada’s Most Notorious City to join the ranks of the top professional hockey league in the world.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Anaheim Ducks organization after signing my first NHL contract,” Wiebe said in a press release making the announcement.

“It is a great opportunity with all of the young talent they have there, and I am eager for the journey ahead. I want to say a big thank you to my family, billet families, friends, teammates, Thunder Creek agency, and all of the supporting staff I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the past five years of my junior career.”

It’s been an interesting hockey journey for the overage forward, beginning when he was selected in the seventh round, 141st overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2017 WHL Prospects Draft, and in the second round, 22nd overall, by the Nipawin Hawks in the 2017 SJHL Draft.

Wiebe ended up playing the season after the drafts in Nipawin, where he had 13 goals and 26 points in 48 games as a 16-year-old. That led to the Rebels taking a hard look at the now 6-foot-1, 209-pound right-handed shot in camp the following season, and he’d crack the Red Deer roster, putting up eight goals and 17 points in 52 games.

Wiebe would split time in his 18-yearold season between Red Deer and Nipawin, playing four games for the Hawks and putting up five points before the WHL launched its COVID season. Wiebe would join the Rebels in living in the Red Deer Centrium during the Central Division campaign, putting up a goal and three points in 21 games for the last-place club.

Red Deer opted to give Wiebe a change of scenery in the off-season, trading him to the Edmonton Oil Kings, and setting in motion the chain of events that would lead to his NHL signing.

Wiebe would emerge as a leader with Edmonton, serving as an assistant captain, and the Oil Kings would go on to post the second-best record in the WHL at 50-143-1 before rolling through the playoffs and claiming the WHL Championship. Wiebe played 13 games during the run, putting up two goals and eight points.

Edmonton’s appearance in the Memorial Cup didn’t hurt Wiebe’s pro hockey stock, either, as he’d put up a hat trick in the Oil Kings’ 4-3 overtime win over Saint John’s and would record three goals and four points throughout the run.

That all led to this season, with Edmonton trading Wiebe to the Prince George Cougars after six games. He’d fit right in with his new club, putting up 11 goals and 27 points heading into play this weekend.

Wiebe will close out his WHL campaign in Prince George before joining the Ducks for training camp this fall.

Warriors close out week with win over Prince Albert despite short line-up

In addition to the four players continuing their suspensions, the Moose Jaw Warriors were also without forwards Robert Baco and Josh Hoekstra along with defenceman Cosmo Wilson, all sidelined with illness or injuries, heading in the Western Hockey League club game on Saturday night.

That left the Warriors with only three full lines for the contest against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, along with a defensive pairing featuring a pair of rookie call-ups in Brady Ness and Sam Borschowa.

So how did it all go?

A 2-0 Warriors lead out of the first period, 3-0 lead early in the second and an eventual 5-3 victory.

All a product of good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness and hard work that has been a hallmark of the vast majority of the Warriors wins this season.

“That’s all you can ask for,” said War- riors forward Tate Schofer, who drew an assist on Eric Alarie’s goal in the first period. “Not every win is going to be pretty, sometimes you have to get down and dirty in the corners and that’s exactly the kind of team we are and what we did tonight.”

The win snapped a three-game losing streak after the Warriors had dropped a 7-3 decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings at home on Wednesday, Mar. 1 and lost 4-1 to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday.

Jagger Firkus had a goal and an assist in the win over the Raiders, while Matthew Gallant scored his first of the season to go along with single markers from Brayden Yager and Ryder Korczak.

Niall Croker, Keaton Sorenson and Evan Herman scored for Prince Albert.

Jackson Unger had 34 saves in the win, while Tikhon Chaika stopped 24 shots for the Raiders.

Things didn’t go as well one night earlier, as the Warriors ran into a solid goaltending performance from Saskatoon’s Austin Elliott and struggled to find goals.

Atley Calvert scored Moose Jaw’s only goal 6:58 into the third period.

Egor Sidorov scored twice for the Blades, while Tanner Molendyk had their other goals.

Elliott had 26 saves -- many of the spectacular variety -- and Justin Maric stopped 26 shots in his first start with the Warriors.

Moose Jaw opened the week with another tough outing on home ice against the Wheat Kings. Brandon took a 3-1 lead out of the first period and led 6-3 through two before tacking on one final goal in the third period.

Firkus opened scoring only 1:04 into the game and finished with two goals and an assist while Martin Rysavy had Moose Jaw’s other marker.

Rylen Roersma had a hat trick for Brandon, Nolan Flaman, Nate Danielson, Ben Thornton and Anthony Wilson also scored.

Unger made 16 stops in 22:59 of work, Maric had 14 saves the rest of the way. Nicholas Jones made 25 saves for Brandon.

Moose Jaw is now 36-22-0-3 on the season and remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, five points up on the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The Warriors are back in action this coming weekend when they take on Swift Current in a home-and-home. The first game is in Swift Current Friday before the rematch in Moose Jaw Saturday. Puck drop is 7 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.