Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

This quilt is a response to a story that I used to keep secret … and a QR Code that will take you to the YouTube video by Choir! Choir! Choir! And Milck. This recording of the song, ‘Quiet’, gave me the courage to tell my story. The story below was shortlisted as one of five finalists in the Wind & Water Writing Contest (Fiction/Non-fiction). The Part Where I Tell a Story That Used to be a Secret The summer before I started Grade Six my mother finally agreed to let me take bagpipe lessons.  I’d wanted to do that for a long time, but my father said that I’d just lose interest and it would be yet another thing that I started and didn’t stick with. I was sure that he was wrong.   I loved the sound of bagpipes, and I had a fascination with men wearing kilts. I imagined that wearing a kilt felt much like it did to wear my sister’s skirts when we played dress up; all elegant and swishing around my legs as I walked. And, I could wear a kilt for real; not just for dress up. So, on Tuesday

  Here I am, all set up and ready to greet people at the Wellington Farmers’ Market.  This was week one and it was such a great time! I can’t say enough good thing about the men who own The Eddie Hotel and Farm!  They are young, energetic, capable, kind and positive.  They were everywhere, offering help with set up and tear down, and checking to see if folks needed them to watch their stall while they had a washroom break. Between them, and Naz Karsan, who is the manager for Wellington Farmer’s Market, no detail went unattended. There was ample parking and access to parking, and lots of room for the crowds that came. Everyone was just in such a great mood. And for me, the best part was getting to chat with so many folks about my work, but more importantly about gender and gender based stereotypes. It was a dream come true! I hope that I get to see many of you at the Market next week, and every Saturday morning, right through to October 29th! 15786 Loyalist Pkwy, here in beautiful Princ

  These two quilts arrived home over the weekend.  They were juried into the biennial Quilts By Men Show at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, in Golden Colorado and spent a few months there. That’s always one of my favourite shows and I’ve had at least one quilt in each show since I started quilt making. But as much as I like to get quilts into shows, I am always so glad when they arrive home safely.  ‘Reclaiming Pride: A Gay Bedspread’ and ‘His Name is Clarence’ will be displayed somehow for a bit before I tuck them away on a shelf. It’s all good.