Members of Kindred Spirits Too Quilt Guild hosted their first quilt show at Boone Area Library Sept. 20 and donated proceeds from the show to the Boone Area Library. The show also included raffles, refreshments, handmade items for sale and a contest for best quilt.
The guild turned the library into a quilt museum for the day displaying around 200 quilts that were made by members and antiques owned by the members. Some of the quilts on display were over 100 years old.
Guild members were excited to introduce quilting to attendees who may not know much about it. Guild member Patricia Buzzard even brought a sewing machine along and took the time to show a curious attendee how to use the sewing machine for quilting. In addition, the members had displays with quilts in progress to show attendees the process of making a quilt.
Many of the guild members have been quilting for 30 years or more. Guild member Joanne Reider said a friend introduced her to quilting in the early 1980s, and she now owns seven sewing machines to help her with her quilting.
“It’s addictive,” Reider said. She added that quilting can be an expensive hobby, but she said good things in life, like vacations, are often a little costly. However, she usually gives away her quilts as gifts for family and friends, which saves her money in other ways.
Most of the quilts on display were created to be given as gifts to friends and family of the guild members. The quilts on display at the show illustrated the many occasions for which the members make quilts, and they all had personal touches added to reflect the recipients’ and the quilters’ personalities.
Some quilts can take as long as 12 months to create, which several guild members agreed makes giving them away as gifts even more special. “Those are the gifts people treasure, the ones they’ll keep forever,” Buzzard said.
She said she asks her quilt recipients for their color and theme preferences, and then she starts to think about a pattern. She continued by saying there are so many different patterns, color combinations and types of fabric, that every quilt is truly unique and the possibilities are endless. “I’m not going to live long enough to make all the quilts I want to make,” Buzzard said.
The variety of quilts on display reflected the endless possibilities of quilts one can make. Everything from traditional bed-sized quilts to table runners, baby blankets, and even children’s clothing were on display. Some quilters also challenge themselves by creating quilts from recycled items like neckties or fabric scraps they have on hand.
Besides quilting for friends and family, some quilters create items for various causes. The guild donated a 67” by 67” quilt to be raffled at the quilt show, which helped to raise money for the Boone Area Library. Another quilt that was on display was created by Fran Chelius to be auctioned at the 2016 Pennsylvania Relief Sale with proceeds benefitting the Mennonite Central Committee.
Kindred Spirits Too quilt guild has around 50 members and meets on the third Saturday of each month at the Berks County Ag Center in Reading. If you’d like to learn more about the guild, contact Sam Feick at 610-582-8104 or <sftcb@dejazzd.com>.