Whirlwind Quilt Show Tour
by Patricia L. Cummings
On Friday, April 5, we were on the road again. This time we were planning to attend three different quilt shows spread over two states. The first one, which opened early in the day was located in Needham, Massachusetts where the Quinobequin Quilters were having their Annual Spring Quilt Show 2002. When we entered, people were crowding around two Japanese style quilts. One depicts a "Noshi," a traditional ceremonial ribbon design, and the other featured prints of Japanese children. The children fabric looks authentic enough to have come from Japan.
The show was small but filled the space available in the two rooms of the church where it was featured. There were a few vendors and we got to chatting with one of them who directed us to their shop just down the street a bit, The Button Box quilt shop. After lunch, we ventured into the quilt shop and were impressed with the wide variety of items sold there. They have more than three thousand bolts of fabric, and beautiful samples hanging all around for the classes which they present, some of those were Maggie Walker appliqué designs. There were also bolts of antique reproduction fabrics including the beautiful new line by Chanteclaire, notions of every kind, books galore, and learn how to embroidery kits for children. The shop was well worth the effort to stop.
From Needham, we backtracked up the road to Tewksbury,
whose show did not open until noon. We enjoyed seeing the many quilts
displayed there, and especially liked the Challenge Exhibit which was
displayed on the edge of a stage area. This year's challenge was to make a
doll, showing what the quilter will look like in 2020 and present it in a
setting: dollhouse, rocking chair, etc. The other requirement is that a
specific Hoffman fabric had to be utilized. The creativity shown by this
group was exemplary. The group was very friendly and worked hard to put on
a nice show, paying attention to all the little touches that make a show
special.
Tewksbury Quilt Show
Next, we got on the superhighway again, our destination being Lincoln, Rhode Island, for the 21st Annual Quilt Show of the Monday night quilters of the Sayles Memorial Congregational Church. This show was very fun for a number of reasons. First of all, I had the chance to surprise my friend who is a member of the group and did not know I was going to show up. Second, they featured antique quilts in the chapel and we all know how goofy I am over those. I loved seeing all of the antiques, but especially some really unique ones such as a Scottie Dog yo-yo quilt, and a Log Cabin that had been traded for a wool blanket to send to England during the War. I like quilts with a story.
The Lincoln Show in the church
This is an extremely talented group of quilters and the newly made quilts were totally charming, including the many small quilts generously made for a raffle auction. In the wallhanging category, I particularly liked "Mr. Moose and Friends," and "Bloom Where You Are Planted," but there were also some large wholecloth and appliqué quilts that were show stoppers.
The ladies had many goodies for sale. Jim could not resist a raisin square, but I did not succumb to temptation, though it was great. The small tables were charmingly decorated with tablecloths and china teacups. one in the center of each, in which a spring pansy plant had been added.
We find that we often enjoy these small shows more than the hustle and bustle of larger ones. Folks seem to be more relaxed and really enjoying themselves, and of course, they are proud of their work and happy to share it in this manner. All in all, we had a terrific time. As an added bonus, we headed a little further south of Providence to celebrate our son's birthday by taking him and his wife out to dinner. When we finally dragged in the door at our home in New Hampshire an hour short of midnight, we were weary campers, but felt all the richer, with fond memories of a day well spent with some lovely people.
©Copyright 2002. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. Contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com