RED LAKE – Six local middle school students have taken on the challenge of competing in a Canada-wide youth quilting competition.
Seventh and eighth graders at the Golden Learning Centre began crafting their quilts around February, after teacher Katherine Fawthrop learned of the Canadian Quilters Association’s Youth Challenge from a quilt shop in New Brunswick.
Last year, students designed miniature quilt squares as part of an art class. This year, six students, mostly first-time quilters, joined Fawthrop’s quilting club and began preparing for the contest.
The theme for the 2026 Youth Challenge was “road trip,” and competitors were provided with two specific pieces of fabric to incorporate into their work, with patterns featuring Canadian license plates and moose. There are three age categories in the contest, and each creation is numbered and titled.
Orlanda Cousineau took inspiration from the many road trips she took for dance competitions while she created her quilt A Road to Every Province (#41).
“I tried to incorporate little bits of what I’ve seen in my experiences and from what I know into my quilt, so I have the mountains from when I went to BC, I have the fields on either side of the road for wen I went to Saskatchewan” she said.
Cousineau added the provincial flowers for the places she has yet to visit.
“With everybody’s positive attitudes I was able to push through and finish my quilt just on time,” she said. “And I’m very proud I was able to do that.”
Another important skill that the students learned while quilting was patience, said Payson Franczak.
Franczak’s Un voyage de nuit dans Canada (#34) was inspired by her trips to Kapuskasing to visit her grandparents. “There was one night when we were hunting and a moose walked in on the lake about 20 yards from us after we did some moose calls — and it was just gorgeous” she said.
“I find we all became great friends and had like great bonds, and I think we all showed that we were proud of where we came from in our quilts” said Franczak, who also added trillium flowers to symbolize her home province.
Fawthrop explained that there are two parts to the competition, the first being the online voting, which is currently open to the public, and the second the Quilt Canada 2026 convention held in Winnipeg in June, which the students’ quilts are currently being mailed to.
As other Golden Learning Centre students are quite impressed by the girls’ work, Fawthrop anticipates a higher turnout for the club next year.
Principal Michelle Parrish said that she’d visit the young artists during lunch break and was able to witness “the evolution of their technical skills.” She appreciated that the students would encourage and contribute ideas to each other, really “capturing that spirit that exists between artisans.”
The last day to vote for your favourite quilt in each of the three age categories is at midnight, eastern time, on June 12. All quilts from Golden Learning Centre’s students can be found in the 10-14 age category.
