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Quilters showcase work
Kim Johnson - Thu, Jun, 4, 2009
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| Debbie Jobe, from Stone Cottage Quilts, works on quilt pieces that will eventually become part of a fall quilt during Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee’s 29th Annual Quilt Show & Competition held at Pellissippi State Technical Community Colleges’- Kim Johnson/farragutpress |
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Smoky Mountain Quilters of Tennessee held its 28th Annual Quilt Show & Competition at Pellissippi State Technical Community College’s Student Recreation Center May 15-17.
The show boasted more than 140 quilts by quilters both local and from as far away as Switzerland.
Farragut resident and esteemed quilter Linda Roy said, “A lot of the quilts travel to other shows individually.
“My quilts travel all over the country and I know the Best of Shows both have been all over the country. Many of the quilts have been in other shows and will go on to other shows from here. They are not just local, but most of the quilt makers are local.”
The quilts were judged based on general appearance, quality of quilting, piecing and appliqué and finishing.
Roy said, “Each quilt is a different style and a different technique.
“They reflect the quilt maker. We have quilts that are hand done, we have quilts that are machine done. We have traditional, original traditional, innovative.
“Sometimes people confuse a traditional quilt … they think it has to be a “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” or a “Trip Around the World” but traditional just means the format is traditional. We have mixed, which is wonderful; it shows the talents in our guild,” she added.
The guild, which has more than 180 members, is very active in the community and makes quilts for both Ronald McDonald House and other charities in need.
Judy Gerhardt, Farragut resident and show chair, said, “I work at the Mission of Hope and Emmette Thompson called me and said we need quilts. So we got together last fall at Norris Community Center and made 67 quilts for preschoolers in one day.”
“They weren’t fancy, they were just basic but they were to keep a child warm,” Roy added.
“The last Sunday of the month in the afternoon we meet at Mamaw’s Thimble on Papermill, and that is where we piece the tops of the quilts for Ronald McDonald House,” Gerhardt said.
“[A member] takes them home and puts batting with them and a backing and fabric for binding, then she brings them to the guild meeting and different people take them home to work on them.
“Some people like to quilt them, so they will take them home and quilt them, then they will bring them back and someone else will take them home and do the binding,” she said.
“It is a combined effort,” Roy added.
Gerhardt said the guild is especially thankful to PSTCC for allowing them to hold the show in the Student Recreation Center.
“The lighting is great. It is the best quilt show I have ever seen for lighting because of all that natural light,” Roy said.
“For years it was held in Oak Ridge at the Convention Center, then they joined with the Dogwood Arts Festival and it was held downtown at the T-V-A Towers for quite a few years. Then three years ago we branched out on our own and Pellissippi was gracious enough to give us a place to hold it,” Gerhardt said.
One of Roy’s quilts, “Icing on the Cake,” was given the prize for Excellence in Hand Workmanship, while Best of Show in the Bed Quilt category went to “Aunt Mimi’s Flower Garden,” by guest quilter Elsie Campbell from Dodge City, Kan., and to Nancy Price from Orlando, Fla., in the Wall Quilt category for “Life in Holly Ridge.”
Gerhardt said guild members are especially excited this year because the American Quilter’s Society will be holding its AQS Quilt Show at Knoxville Convention Center the week of July 20.
This is the first year the show will be held in Knoxville.
“Linda and I represent our guild with AQS along with Tellico Village Quilters and we will be providing the volunteers for that show,” Gerhardt said.
For more information on the guild, its activities and meetings, visit www.smokymtnquilters.com/
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