Quilt Show

This past Saturday I had the privilege of attending and participating in the Johnstown Historical Society’s annual quilt/craft/demo show by invitation of my friend, Janet. No, I didn’t have a quilt in the display… though I’m seriously considering it for next year.

The lovely Dresden Plate quilt pictured above was made by Janet. One thing I especially enjoyed at this show were the stories behind the quilts. Here’s Janet’s story:I think hand-made quilts are truly works of art. This was not the largest quilt show I’ve ever been to. Nor did they have a lot of rules about when and where and how the quilts were made. But I enjoyed it all the more for it.The first few rows of the display featured eight generations of quilts from one family. I loved looking at the vintage fabrics and designs. Some were well-worn, because quilts were made to be used back in those days. Others had been carefully preserved, probably saved for “best” and rarely put out.More recent designs included a wide variety of fabrics and designs. The quilt with old cars was made for someone’s dad. One of my favorites was the red-work embroidery. Even the machine quilting on some of the quilts added to the design.I only had a few minutes to go through the quilt room and hurriedly snap pictures of some of them to look at more closely later. I would have enjoyed spending 2 or 3 hours admiring the beautiful work and reading all the stories.

Alas! I had a table to man. I wasn’t there to look at quilts. I was there to demonstrate crocheting. Which really wasn’t a chore at all. I sold a few things, but I didn’t go to make money. I went for the pure fun of it. I loved visiting with people about crocheting. It was neat to hear their stories of memories of Grandma or Aunt So-and-So who used to crochet and tried to teach them how.

It was just a lovely day and a fun event. Thanks so much for inviting me, Janet!