Quilting Along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Quilting is a popular cultural and arts heritage, even nature, travel theme for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway that has clusters of both traditional and modern day quilt makers Trailwide. The Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show is held annually at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. 
The annual show focuses on a different theme associated with the byway and fills the three floors and nine rooms of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center that was built with native limestone in 1817 as the Union Hotel. The show features national and international quilting artists' creations, vendors,demonstrators, and an exhibit by the Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail, a 22-mile loop tour off the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway with more than 40 barns painted with quilt block patterns. The quilting tradition is a popular cultural and arts heritage travel theme for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail which has clusters of Mennonite and Amish quilters, particularly in the Chautauqua and St. Lawrence County regions of the byway.
2013 Quilt Show
The 2013 Quilt Show is March 16-17 & 23-24. Hours are Saturdays 10am-5pm and Sundays 12-4pm. Ticket prices are $7 seniors, $8 adults. Tickets are valid for admission to all four buildings and re-admission on all show dates. Visitors should begin their experience at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center at 401 W. Main Street, Sackets Harbor, NY. |
The Seaway Trail Foundation has announced “Beauty of the Byways” as the theme for the 2013 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show.
Quilters may use the NY Beauty pattern or create their own pattern incorporating an element of NY Beauty plus elements representing the beauty of their particular byway.
Building on the interest from across the U.S. and Canada in the 2012 show, special recognition will be given to quilts befitting Beauty of the Byway for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Seaway Trail Pennsylvania, byways in the Great Lakes region, and among all entries for any state or province. Click here for more information.
Class with Quilting Author/Designer New for 2013 Show
Saturday, March 16 at 1:30pm – Hear award-winning quilter Mary Knapp present a free, limited-seating “Uniquely You” lecture at 1:30pm in the third floor ballroom at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center.
Saturday, March 16 at 3pm – Enjoy a design class with Mary Knapp, who recently published her first book of quilt patterns with C&T Publishing.
There is a $5 fee to participate, materials will be provided. Seating is limited and will be reserved by first-come, first-serve registration at the admission table at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center.
Mary will be on hand with some of her quilts and autographing her book at the show on the first weekend only: Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17.
Read more about Mary in the latest issue of Thousand Islands Life.
War of 1812 Quilt Challenge Traveling Exhibit
The top quilts from the 2012 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show will be traveling across the country and internationally as part of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail War of 1812 Traveling Exhibit. Visit one of the locations listed below to see beautiful quilts and learn about the history of the War of 1812!
Schedule:
2013
February 21-24: Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival – Williamsburg, VA
February 28-March 3: The Quilt Fest of New Jersey - Somerset, NJ
April 12-13 - Towpath Quilt Guild – Manlius Village Center - Manlius, NY
June 1-2 - Hands All Around Erie Quilt Guild - Wayside Presbyterian Church – Erie, PA
June 3-29 - Erie County Public Library – Erie, PA
August 9-11 - Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival – Loveland, CO
September 1-30 - Fort Ontario - Oswego, NY
New Quilting Themed Travel Itineraries (click on images below to view each full size)
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Quilting around the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
You can also experience this trip anytime |
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Great Lakes Seaway Trail
You can also experience this trip anytime |
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Great Lakes Seaway Trail 2012 Quilt Show - The War of 1812 Challenge - plus birding and a little history along Lake Ontario.
You can also experience this trip anytime |
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilting Notions
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Lighthouses of the Seaway Trail - Quilt Block Patterns
Quilt artist Mary Knapp has designed a series of Seaway Trail Lighthouses quilt block patterns for paper piecing or applique. The series includes the lighthouses at Presque Isle, Dunkirk, Buffalo, Old Fort Niagara, Thirty Mile Point, Charlotte-Genesee, Sodus Point, Tibbetts Point, and Rock Island. $5.95 each plus shipping, 20% off with purchase of nine or more (maximum shipping $5.95 for two or more). Click here to order. |
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Lighthouses of the Seaway Trail - Quilt Pattern Notecards Set of Eight notecards with envelopes features quilted lighthouses designed by Mary Knapp. Set: $12.95 plus shipping. Click here to order. |
 Some of the barns on the Orleans County Barn Quilt Trail |
Quilt Tour
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail: A first-of-its-kind travel experience for New York State – a 22-mile loop tour off the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway to see more than 50 quilt blocks painted on barns in the Town of Kendall. Travelers can follow a free audio tour accessible by cell phone or collect a map available at Seaway Trail Inc. member Partyka Farms Market at 1420 County Line Road, 3 miles south of the Seaway Trail.
Stitches in Time: A Look Back at Past Show Themes
All shows include display of quilts and wall hangings, quilting demonstrations & vendors.
2012 - " War of 1812 Quilt Challenge"
2012 marked the 200th Anniversary Year of the War of 1812, much of which was fought along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. The 2012 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show featured the War of 1812 Quilt Challenge with "cot to coffin" size quilts in 1812-era fabrics.
| First Place "Icons of 1812" Janice Toonders, Martina Bols, Linda Brown, Mary Casselman, Christine Christie, Ivah Malkin, Marjorie Munroe, Judy Neville, and Sharon Shaver - Upper Canada Village, Morrisburg, Ontario |
Second Place "Underhill Tree of Life Whole-Cloth Quilt" Jill C. Meszaros - Cambridge Springs, PA |
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Sponsors: Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail and Seaway Trail Foundation
2011 - "Seaway Trail Published Quilter's Showcase"
Quilters who live in the Great Lakes Seaway Trail region of New York and Pennsylvania and have published their own patterns, books or designs, or been featured in quilting publications, were the highlight of the March 19-20, 2011 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show.
For a beautiful 12 minute video of the Seaway Trail Foundation 2011 Quilt Show click here. Thank you to Dick and Jo Belmont.
The Seaway Trail Foundation has announced that the show held at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY.was attended by over 700 people during the two days.
Sponsors: Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail and Seaway Trail Foundation
2010 – "Circles and Wheels"
| First Place "Rainbow Spiral" Dyan Swamp, Hogansburg, NY |
Second Place "All Year 'Round" Town Barn Quilters: Beth Burdick, Christine Eggleston, Jan LaDuke, Diane Nier, Leona Webb, and Karen Williams, Sackets Harbor, NY |
Third Place "Wheel of Mystery" Mary Knapp, Watertown, NY |
Best Depiction of Circles & Wheels on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail "Historic & Modern Day Seaway Trail" Beverly Filkins, Pulaski |
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Special Exhibit: Featured quilts by Norah McMeeking of Bella Bella Quilts
Special Exhibit: Featured quilts by Sandra Hart and Gudny Campbell, authors of Piecing with Pixels
Special Exhibit: Featured quilts by Dyan Samp of Dreamcrafters Quilt Shop
Demonstrators: Sally Burnam, Mary Knapp, Cindy Reynolds, Lynne Waite, Operation Kid Comfort, Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail
Sponsors: Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail and Seaway Trail Foundation
2009 – “Favorite Seaway Trail Places”
| First Place "Heron on the Seaway Trail" Anne Fisher, Springwater, NY  |
Second Place "A Dream Voyage: Sailing the Seaway" Kim Keller, Norwood, NY  |
Third Place "The Toad: A Wetlands Favorite in the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes & Wetlands" Mary Knapp, Watertown, NY  |
Honorable Mention "A 1000 Islands Seaway Trail Experience" April Neisz and Thousand Islands International Tourism Council, Alexandria Bay, NY  |
Best Seaway Trail Story Quilt "My Selkirk Lighthouse Adventure" Nancy Smith, Syracuse, NY  |
| The quilt Nancy Smith of Syracuse, NY, entered in the 2006 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show competition won her an overnight stay at Selkirk Lighthouse in Port Ontario on Lake Ontario. Smith later designed and made a quilt to commemorate that family adventure. When the “Favorite Seaway Trail Places” theme was announced for the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show competition at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY, Smith knew she had to send “Our Seaway Trail Lighthouse Adventure” to the show. | ||||
Special Exhibit: Hugs for Heroes - Ninety 22-inch quilts honoring America, her flag, her Presidents and her soldiers, a project of Buckboard Quilts, Oklahoma City, OK, with participating quilters from across the U.S.
Special Exhibit: Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail , a 22-mile loop tour off the Seaway Trail
Special Exhibit: Works by 4 International Quilter-Author-Artists: Pat Durbin of California, Beth Wheeler and Lori Marquette, Two Sipsters Studio,Fort Wayne, Indiana Pamela Allen of Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Special Exhibit: Fort Drum Operation Kid Comfort Quilt Project
Sponsors: Orleans County Country Barn Quilt Trail and Seaway Trail Foundation
2008 – Feathers & Fowl: Birds of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail
| First Place "Reynard's Choice" by Anne Fischer  |
Second Place "Birds in Full View" by Alice Wilhoit  |
Third Place "Roger's Heron" by Liz Funnell  |
Runner Up Winner "Feathered Friends" by Patty Blickwedehl  |
Special Exhibit: Works by QNNTV.com Host Jodie Davis
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2007 – Great Lakes Fish
Speaker: Jo Anne Flood, NYS Bass Master Fisherman & Quilter, presents “Fishing and Quilting for Both Sexes”
Grand Prize – “Sunday Brunch,” Judith Allen, Watertown, NY
2nd Place – “Under the Sea,” Louise Tiemann, Vestal, NY
3rd Place – “Papa’s Big Catch,” Nancy Smith, Syracuse, NY
Male Scale – “Jason’s Way to the Fishing Hole,” Joan Urbano, Calcium, NY
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2006 – The Amish Quilts of St. Lawrence County’s Swartzentruber & Chautauqua County’s Conewango Valley Communities
Speaker: Betsy Tisdale, Amish quilt dealer & designer
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2005 – Seaway Trail Lighthouses Reprised
1st Place – “Twelve Months at Old Sodus Lighthouse,”
Sodus Bay Basters: Sherry Hermenet, Anita McGuire, Rita Muldoon,
Beth Palmer, Sharon Pederson, JoAnn Sullivan, Susan Williamson,
Sodus Point, NY
2nd Place – “Tibbetts Point Lighthouse,” Cindy Reynolds, Theresa, NY
3rd Place – “Tibbetts Point Lighthouse,” Nancy Smith, Syracuse, NY
Viewer’s Choice – “Keeping Watch” (12 lights), Joan Heckaman, Webster, NY
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2004 – Heritage/Museum Quilts with A Story to Tell
Guest Curator Pat Pauly presents “100 Years of Style: Quilts from the Collection of the Genesee Country Village Museum”
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2003 - Great Lakes ~ Great Quilts
National Exhibit courtesy of Michigan State University Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories – Capturing the stories of your quilts in your own words, a project of The Alliance for American Quilts
Sponsor: Woman to Woman at Samaritan Medical Center
2002 – Seaway Trail Amish Quilts
Speaker: Dr. Susan Ward on New York State’s Amish and Their Quilts
Speaker: Betsy Tisdale, Amish quilt dealer & designer
Sponsor: Seaway Trail Foundation
2001 – A Quilt Journey with Mary Knapp
Special Exhibit of First Seaway Trail Lighthouses Quilt
New Seaway Trail Lighthouse Quilt Patterns & Notecards by Mary Knapp
Sponsors: New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, Seaway Trail Foundation