If I had a voice like yours, I'd
sing all the time!
Peter Gzowski,
CBC Radio, Canada
Cathy and John
Photo by Deddeda Stemler
Canadian singer/songwriter Cathy Miller used to be a
folksinger with a slightly jazzy bent. She performed at folk
festivals, clubs and house concerts all across Canada and
released five CDs of her music. She was a member of “Trilogy”
(with Eileen McGann and David K), touring a very successful
Christmas show each year called “Two
Thousand Years of Christmas”. After growing up in
London, Ontario, she
started her career in Ottawa, moved to Calgary Alberta in
1990
and in 2000 to Victoria BC, where she now lives.
But that was before.
Now, Cathy and her husband John Bunge
(a former member of The Gumboots from Yellowknife) travel the
world, singing for quilting events, guild meetings and shows,
and she is known as “The Singing
Quilter”. To date, they have performed
for over 500 quilting guilds and events
on three continents. That's an audience of over 40,000 quilters in all!!!
They are having the time of their lives.
What Started it All
There weren’t many songs about quilting available when she first started
this project back in 1991. Cathy was hired to
write music for a play about quilting when Quilt Canada was held in Ottawa,
and, with playwright Peggy Sample,
set about reading every quilting book in the library. As part
of her research, Cathy took a quilting class, and she was
hooked.
Stories
The tales surrounding quilt history are fascinating, and tell
a story of women’s lives that don’t often make it
into the history books. Cathy delights in finding and writing
songs about unusual and wonderful stories about quilts, such
as Australia’s “Rajah Quilt”,
made by female convicts aboard a ship bound for Van Diemen’s Land in 1841.
Recordings
Cathy released her first CD of 12 quilting songs, “One
Stitch at a Time”, in September of
2000. Since then, she and John have been touring almost non-stop,
throughout North America and in Australia and New Zealand,
singing for quilters.
They collected so many stories from
quilters along the way that “A
Quilter‘s Embrace"
with another 14 songs was
released in July of 2002 . And in August 2004, another 16 songs on "A
Quilter's World". The latest CD,
"In the Heart of a
Quilt" was recorded in summer 2006. And the stories
keep on coming...
Why Quilting?
Quilting is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world.
In the United States alone, it is estimated that there are over 27
Million quilters! Quilt-makers are also found in
Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe,United
Arab Emirates and many other countries. Cathy is delighted to
be a member of such a capable, creative and supportive group
of women and men. She brings her own quilts with her to display
wherever she sings these songs.
Cathy's Quilts
Some of Cathy's quilts
have received recognition as well as her music. In 2000 she
received a "Best of Show"
at the Fred's Pass Rural Show in the Northern Territory of
Australia for "Bali Stars". In 2003 her quilt
"Buddy and Strider Around Australia" was accepted
into the Quilt Canada juried show in Fredericton, NB. And in 2004 she
received a second-place ribbon
at Victoria Quilters' Guild's spring judged show for
"Geese from the Garbage". (Click here
to see these quilts.)
Cathy as Musician
Cathy is a guitar player, singer and songwriter. Over the
last 30+ years of her career, Cathy has performed at hundreds of
folk festivals, clubs, and concerts from coast to coast in
Canada. She is known for her upbeat performances, which have
made her a favourite at many events. In 2000, she was
recognized in Australia, where she was awarded a national songwriting Special Merit award by
the Australian Heritage Commission.
She released this song on a CD single called "Grand
Old Duchess". It was named by Ian McNamara (ABC Radio) as one
of Macca's
"Top 10 Songs of 2000" in January
2001.
Performance
Highlights
Quilting has taken Cathy and John to many corners of the
world. They have performed at the International
Machine Quilters' Showcase conference
(Springfield IL 2004), Southern Cross
Quilters annual retreat (Auckland, New
Zealand 2004 and Queensland, Australia 2001), Jinny
Beyer's Hilton Head seminar in 2004 (also
in 2001), Wisconsin Quilters' Association
Symposium (Oshkosh WI 2003), Hearts and Castles quilt guild in
Heidelberg, Germany, two Quilt Canada
conferences (Edmonton 2002 and Ottawa 2006), and the Road to
California conference (Ontario, CA 2002).
In 2007,
they performed at the Annual Meeting of the Quilters'
Guild of the British Isles,
in concert at AQS
Nashville show and also at the Houston Quilt Festival.
On television, Cathy has been a guest on Alex Anderson's
"Simply Quilts" (Show
#833 first broadcast in February 2003), Linda
MacPhee's "Sew Much Fun" (on PBS)
and has a song on every one of the first season's shows of "Thimbles
and Threads" (on HGTV, Access and The
Knowledge Network).
You can also see her on QNNTV.com's "Great Canadian Shop Hop", from the
Satin Moon Quilt Shop in Victoria BC.
"She's
capable of astounding an audience with her vocal ability
and simultaneously charming them right out of their socks.
People love her."
Michael Smith, Chicago songwriter
Tell me more about "One Stitch at a Time"
Tell me more about "A Quilter's Embrace"
Tell me more about "A Quilter's World"