Stitches of history
Many family heirlooms were on display Saturday at the Thread Benders Quilt and Trunk ShowBy Robert Wolfington III
Article Photos
Muriel Cadwell and Carolyn Boerboom don't do a lot of quilting themselves, but they do appreciate the work that goes into the family heirlooms.
Cadwell and Boerboom, along with other quilt enthusiasts, walked through the Thread Benders Quilt and Trunk Show at the Marshall Adult Community Center on Saturday.
They stopped to admire one quilt that dated back to the 1800s.
"To look at the quilting stitching, it is tiny," said Cadwell. "It's amazing they were able to do things like that back (in the 1800s)."
Darlene Williams of Lynd has done a few quilts throughout the years, but admits she doesn't do as many as she would like.
Seeing the quilts on display Saturday gave Williams a renewed appreciation for the work that goes into putting a quilt together.
"I'm really impressed with the quality of the workmanship, the beautiful colors, it is really extraordinary," said Williams.
Anita Johnson of Tyler had a few of her quilts on display during the show.
Johnson said her quilts are a creative outlet for her.
"It's about being creative," said Johnson. "You can look at a piece of fabric and say, 'this is what I can do with it.'
"The more intricate the piecing the more I like it," Johnson added. "It's fun to do an easy quilt now and then, but I really like to do the more involved quilts."
Johnson said once she gets started on a quilt project she likes to see it through to the end - which ends up being a lot of work.
"I'm one of those driven quilters - I work on it and work on it," said Johnson. "I have a hard time sitting down and actually quilting it, so I have all these tops sitting there waiting to be quilted. It's really the whole project, once you get going you just want to see the finished project."
Boerboom said she appreciates a lot of the work that goes into putting a quilt together.
"The imagination in some of the patterns and colors is fun to look at. It's unbelievable," said Boerboom.
Betty Nelson has helped Williams out with a few of her quilts during the years.
Nelson said there is a community that comes together when a quilt is being developed.
Nelson said the display during the weekend was a good example of how many ideas and styles there are in putting a quilt together.
"There are different styles of quilting," said Nelson. "A lot of these quilts are similar, but at the same time there are a lot of different styles here."
Nelson said it can be difficult to narrow one of her ideas down into a finished quilt.
"I just have too many ideas right now," said Nelson.
