ARTISTRY ON DISPLAY AT LIBRARY QUILT SHOW
Patrons invited to vote for favorite quilt
Bunnies, Santa, flowers and Coca-cola are just some of the themes you’ll find depicted in the Sterling Public Library’s 21st annual Quilt Show, now on display.
This year’s show features 44 entries. The purpose of the display is to celebrate the art and techniques of quilting.
“This year, as in past years, we have quilts executed with a wide variety of skill levels. No one starts out as an expert quilter and we want to show that a quilt made by a beginner is loved and enjoyed as well as the highly technical, expertly done quilt,” reads a brochure for the show. “Every quilter has their own reason for quilting and their own skill sets that let them enjoy the process, as well as treasuring the finished product.”
The library points out that the older quilts in the show reflect how the quilt was treasured, some were loved and used and others were loved and stored so they could come to the library in pristine condition.
A quilt titled “Remember Them” featuring two large red poppy flowers and was made by Jonell Mollohan to honor family members who served in the armed forces during World War II, including her father, Robert Souser (Army), who fought in the Pacific, landing on the beaches of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, and father-in-law, Donald Mollohan, who served in the Navy as a Merchant Marine keeping crucial supplies available for allied operations in all theaters of the war.
Another quilt, “Ranch Genes,” made by Jamie Giacomini features scraps of used torn jeans from her farm and ranch family.
“What started out as a fun way to practice diamond piecing with my ‘scraps’ turned into a family heirloom quilt for our son,” Giacomini said in the show brochure, explaining how she pieced the quilt from torn and tattered work jeans belonging to her father-in-law, husband, and son. “The jeans used in this quilt
carry a testimony of hard work with paint splatters, hydraulic fluid stains, engine grease smudges, dirt splotches (fingers crossed it is dirt, but they worked with cattle in these jeans… so…), and threadbare appearance.”
One of the oldest quilts in the show, “Hey, I’m a Vintage Quit,” entered by Lila Koch, was born and pieces put together in about 1943 by Koch’s grandmother, Hazel May Ostendorf, and company. While quilt’s memory has faded, “more ‘en likely, a bunch of neighbor ladies, born and raised in my small eastern Kansas town, came one afternoon and finished off my quilting stitches, amid their gossip and chatter,” Koch said.
A newer quilt on display, “Butterfly Quilt,” was made by 11-year-old Bristol Cook, who has made quilts in 4-H for three years. Her family has many generations of quilters and Cook said she would like to keep the tradition going. Cook learned to quilt from her grandma and great-grandma and last year was named reserve champion at the Logan County Fair and a champion at the Colorado State Fair.
One of the more unique pieces in the show is a “Crossbody Botto Bag” made by Diane Harrington. She started with the center hexagon shape and strip quilted out from there, using strips and pieces from batik scraps.
“It’s a very fun method to create your own fabric,” she said.
A quilt made by Kathy Good, “Pink and Black Quilt from 1860s,” is a result of a conversation she had with her mother, where her mother stated that seeing unquilted quilt tops made her sad because people worked so hard on them and then they just sat there for years.
Good decided she wanted to practice handquilting one of those orphaned quilt tops for the experience and ordered a quilt top from ebay that was advertised as being made between 1860 and 1880 and came from an estate sale in Indiana. With help from her sister-in-law, Gena Karg, she was able to get it done.
“I am delighted to have given purpose and extended life to someone’s hard work. It was humbling to work on it, almost as though I had been entrusted to finish it for her,” Good said.
The Quilt Show will be on display at the library through the end of March. Patrons are invited to vote for your favorite quilt each day you visit the library. The winner will receive the People’s Choice Award.