You'd be hard pressed to find two more colourful creations than handmade quilts and home grown gardens.

The Meaford Hall and Culture Foundation has planned an event that combines these two beautiful "works of heart" with the first ever Quilts in My Garden Tour on July 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The tour will feature seven outstanding local gardens, each one with its own distinct theme and each garden will feature a quilt based on the same theme. Advance tickets for the garden tour/quilt show, which includes a lunch in the Meaford Hall Terrace Room, may be purchased for $20 in advance at the Meaford Hall Box Office. Tickets to the tour of quilts only may be purchased on the day of the event and are $14.

In conjunction with the garden/quilt tour, Quilts in My Garden will feature a trade show featuring quilting shops from Meaford, Wiarton, Shelburne and Markdale. In addition, a raffle will be held for the quilt called "Café & Teal," (which is on display at Scotiabank) sewn and hand-quilted by Meaford's own Friendship Circle Quilters.

There also be an display of antique quilts, hosted by the Meaford Museum, in the galleries upstairs.
Quilts in My Garden is part of the ongoing celebrations marking the centennial of of the construction of two of Meaford finest landmarks - the Meaford Hall and Opera Huse and the Meaford United Church.

The cornerstones for both these beautiful red brick buildings were laid in 1908 and they have served the people of this community well for 100 years.

Barbara Cooper-Clumpus, chair of the Meaford Hall and Culture Foundation, notes that quilts have played an important role in the restoration of Meaford Hall. Local quilting groups use the hall's brightly lit Terrace Room on a regular basis and created two memory quilts as fundraisers, which now hang in the front lobby of the hall.

"There are more than 80 quilting guilds in Ontario, with at least five groups operating locally," she said. "Quilters are absolutely passionate about their craft and will travel all over the province to attend quilt shows and quilting trade shows."

Cooper-Clumpus says they are expecting a large turnout for the Quilts in My Garden tour and will serve lunch in four separate sittings at the Terrace Room. "We've already had a lot of interest from tour bus companies and seniors' groups as well," she said.

"We expect this to be a huge fund raiser for the hall," she said, adding that tickets for the quilt raffle were being sold at quilt shops all across southern Ontario.