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Jane Morgan is a barn quilter who will be at the Calgary Stampede. Jane Morgan
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Jane Morgan is a barn quilter who will be at the Calgary Stampede. Jane Morgan
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A local artist is not only selling her barn quilts at markets all summer, but they will also be on display at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.

According to Jane Morgan, around 25 years ago, a lady in Ohio known as Donna Sue Groves wanted to do something special for her mother, Maxine, who was a distinguished quilter.

"She had this notion to paint a quilt block," Morgan explains. " So, just taking a block from what would ordinarily be a big quilt, you might say, and just painting that on their barn. They had a big tobacco farm. They called them quilt squares or barn squares, but it's kind of generally been accepted now that they're called barn quilts."

Groves' mother then said that if they had 20 barn quilts, they could make a whole trail of barn quilts, which they did.

"That was actually the birth of the first barn quilt trail. And there's barn quilt trails now all over North America."

Morgan says she got into making barn quilts more recently.

"I've been a quilter for a very long time. And I've also been an entrepreneur for quite a while. I've had different businesses over the years, and in 2020, my husband and I sold a business that we were partners in, and so, I was looking for something a little bit different to continue on. But I'm also close to retiring, so I thought, you know, it'd be something I really enjoy."

Morgan had worked with paint and wood in the past, and so she knew that it was a natural fit for her.

On top of creating barn quilts, Morgan also runs Quilters' Palette out of Priddis.

Through that business, she teaches classes on barn quilting.

"Quite often, quilt guilds or quilt shops will invite me to their meeting place to help hold a class. And that's usually for their members. But then we also do classes at other venues."

As part of Quilters' Palette, she has also created a centralized location for people to purchase their barn quilting supplies, as well as create custom pieces for people.

Over the years, Morgan has been at the Millerville market and quilt shows.

This summer, Morgan was at the first Longview Country Market, which was held on Saturday, June 28, and she will be at the Priddis Stampede Pancake Breakfast on July 6, as well.

But don't worry if you can't make it out to Priddis to see her work, as this is the fourth year that her work will be on display at the Calgary Stampede.

"They have what's called the Western Oasis Centre, and that's where they have the arts and crafts, and they also have a stage there. It's called the Window on the West stage. And that's where you can see new and up-and-coming artists. So, they use my barn quilt. The backdrop of that stage is the facade of a barn."

On top of creating the artwork, Morgan has also taught barn quilting through Quilt Canada, which is a national quilt show in Canada.

To check out her work and see about signing up for a class, click here.