Canada's insider blog

One tech blogger called crafting this year’s “hot geek hobby,” even citing quilts made out of the blocky pixels of video games. But the real thing – stitching together pieces of padded fabric into geometric works of quilt art – is enjoying another popular resurgence. Just check the array of quilting how-to and quilt pattern magazines on any well-stocked store shelf. And nowhere is quilting more on the vanguard than in Nova Scotia where quilting exhibits, lessons and sales are all part of one of the province’s biggest festivals, the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival Oct. 11-15 in Amherst.

In Amherst, you can also meet Karen Neary– the queen of Canadian heritage quilting – firsthand at her quilt shop Sew Karen-ly Created. Neary and co-author Diane Shink in their book, Canadian Heritage Quilting, showcase historical patterns, reviving interest in “distinctly Canadian quilts” like the French Silk Quilt, Gram’s Baptist Fans and the Little Red Hen Quilt.

The Mayflowers Quilters Guild holds the annual Mayflower Quilters Retreat, taking place this year from Sept. 21-25 at the Pictou Lodge Resort. In Halls Harbour, shop for vintage quilt kits at Nova Scotia Quilts.

Textile artist and quilting teacher Valerie Hearder  hosts quilting and fabric arts workshops from her studio in Mahone Bay, NS, also home to the Mahone Bay Quilters’ Guild, who’ve dubbed themselves “piecemakers by the sea.” The Joy of Quilting author, Laurie Swim, operates the Art Quilt Gallery of the Atlantic in nearby Lunenburg, NS.

And maybe this is where “geek” meets “quilt” on this surprisingly long list of Nova Scotia Quilting Blogs .