Two-day show, month-long walk in Anacortes

BY PATRICIA HERLEVI

Old pioneer towns of the Pacific Northwest draw tourists and the interests of locals.  Many traditions brought here with the West-faring pioneers such as quilting still exist today, and for a variety of reasons.  Historically, women often have sewn quilts out of necessity and not just for bedding.  For instance, the quilts of the pioneer women served many purposes ranging from memoirs of the women’s former lives, to cushioning the wagon seats, to burial shrouds of family members who perished along the Oregon Trail.

Before the rise of literacy of American women, before women could vote and before the emancipation of slaves, quilt making played crucial roles in the transformation of the social lives of Americans.  Quilt makers raised funds for various causes including the emancipation of African-American slaves, Civil War efforts (on both sides), the temperance movement and other social concerns.  Closer to home, Fidalgo Island Quilters Guild (FIQ) produces quilts for various groups, including battered women and children, which the guild members donate to Skagit Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse Services shelter. Quilts symbolize maternal comfort, as well as community building.

Quilts also communicated messages between women, created a network in the form of quilting bees for neighbor women and regional conferences that raised social awareness.  Today, quilt making has moved into the realm of fine art with quilters use of color, texture, and design.  However, quilts are still sewn to promote social causes such as AIDS awareness, or to commemorate the fallen soldiers in Iraq.  Wearable quilts, art, and bedding, created from various quilting techniques are also found throughout the United States.  A resurgence of quilt making started in the 1960s and ‘70s.

FIQ members display more than 300 quilts and wearable garments at the 26th Annual Quilt Show entitled “Garden Party of Quilts” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, April 4, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 5 at Anacortes Middle School, at the corner of 22nd Street and M Avenue.  The style show “Walking Through a Garden of Fashion” is presented by the Guild’s Wearable Art Divas at 1 p.m. Saturday.  Admission is $5.  This year’s raffle quilt, “Gretchen’s Flower Garden,” will be displayed, with raffle tickets $1. This quilts by this year’s featured artists, Nancy Davis and Joyce Watenpaugh, are presented in a special exhibit.

The Quilt Walk, in conjunction with the Tulip Festival and the Quilt Show, runs from April 1-30. This year’s Quilt Walk features 29 Anacortes businesses displaying quilted items.  Quilt Walk brochures are available at the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce and all the participating businesses.

“A & E Monthly” caught up with FIQ President Patti Olds and Vice President Jan Sager to discuss the Quilt Show and Quilt Walk.  Quilting attracts people of all ages and not just women, according to Sager.

“I have found it interesting that over the 14 years that I have been a quilter, we now have younger women and also men taking up quilting.  It is really great to have such a diverse age group and they all come up with great ideas.”

Olds expanded upon the global appeal of quilting.  “I just returned from a trip to the Cook Islands (South Pacific) and enjoyed seeing the hand appliquè work of several Native women. Quilting is a universal language and we exchanged techniques and even fabric.”

Viewing contemporary or even historic quilts can be daunting to someone not versed in the language of quilting.  Various techniques, stitches, templates, and styles of quilts will be on display and while this variety of color and design can be dazzling to the eye, a non-quilter might need a map to explore this terrain.  Olds mentioned that help is at hand.  “The public is encouraged to appreciate the color, cloth, and imagination that is represented in each quilt and wearable garment and to read the stories about them.  There will be hostesses available throughout the show to answer any questions the viewer may have about the quilts/wearables and their construction.”

Entering a world of quilts either at a quilt show or the Quilt Museum in La Conner inspires the creative muse.  Sager caught quilting fever after attending the Quilt Show in 1993.  “After I was at the Quilt Show, I took a class on beginning quilting in May of 1994 and I have been quilting ever since.”

Since its inception in 1982, the Quilt Show has evolved along with quilting styles over the past 26 years.  Sager cited the evolution of quilting during this time period.  “The changes I have seen are the complexity of patterns, the great choices of fabric and how quilts have become more of an art form.” Olds added, “By learning from each other and from the wide variety of teachers the Guild provides, it seems like our quilts become better and better every year.”

Along with the changes in quilting techniques, fabric and function in the last 26 years, the Quilt Show has also evolved.  Sager explained, “The Quilt Show is more sophisticated.  The member quilts are really wonderful and many are pieces of art.”