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Quilters Prepare For Festival A Stitch At A Time

Jasmina Meyer

Quilter Jeanne Adam works on a block piece inside her work room/laundry room at her home recently in Lake Placid. Adam is preparing multiple pieces to enter for A Festival of Quilts 2009.

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: February 3, 2009

Updated:

SEBRING - Highlands County Quilt Guild members have cut, ironed and stitched tirelessly to prepare for its Festival of Quilts to be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Bert J. Harris Agricultural Center in Sebring.

Barb Black is president of the Highlands County Quilt Guild.

For an admission of $5, there will be demonstrations of various quilting techniques, door prizes, a mini-raffle, and the popular "Raffle Quilt" during the two-day event," said Black.

"There are 190 quilts that will be shown," said Black. "There will be quilts for sale. They'll have a tag on the quilt if they're willing to sell." Every year the guild raffles off a Guild Raffle Quilt. The name of this year's quilt is Batik Mystique, a king quilt with two shams, a throw (blanket) and a throw pillow.

The quilt is a combined effort by guild members, who contribute by cutting the cloth, ironing or sewing and quilting it together.

There will be 10 quilting vendors, eight from across Florida, one from Georgia and one from Virginia, she said.

There will also be a boutique selling various items, magazines and books.

Of its 120-plus members there are two men. Members range in age from 40 to older than 80, said Black.

"Quilting is part of our American heritage and we don't want to lose it," said Black. "I learned quilting from my grandmother. I was 8 years old when I learned how to sew. If you have one of your grandmother's quilts then it's priceless."

Costs to make a quality quilt can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on materials and labor.

"Some of our quilters work on their quilts for years and they're priceless," said Black.

Jeanne Adam is the publicity chairwoman for the Festival of Quilts. There are four co-chairs. The last she heard they had 104 entrants showing.

Formerly from Pennsylvania, she said a trip to Lancaster, Penn., peaked her interest in quilting after she saw some of the beautiful work in Amish quilts.

When she moved to San Francisco, she attended a classes held at a library and at a fabric store.

"And, I read a lot," she said. "Quilters always read."

She's been quilting for about 25 years, although she said she stopped for a while. She took it up again when she moved from Sacramento, Calif., to Mount Dora, about 10 years ago. She moved to Lake Placid in 2006.

"I made a lot of clothes for my children and myself," she said. "I wanted to do quilting. It looked like fun. She said a few years ago she began to study the techniques of quilting expert Sally Collins.

She said she taught classes in Mount Dora. Two of her students won first and second prizes in a show there in 2006.

Adam said she will be one of those demonstrating her talents during the festival. Each demonstration she does will last about an hour.

"I call it my journey in quilting, the agony and the ecstasy," she said.

In addition she will enter two wall hanging quilts, one twin-sized and three miniature quilts into the show, which will be judged. She specializes in making the miniature quilts, which require a high degree of accuracy.

"This is the first time I'll have a judge judging any of my quilts," she said. "It's exciting, but scary though. She'll critique all my errors - the errors of your ways."

How many hours does it take to make a quilt?

That question is always asked of quilters, she said.

"Many quilters are known for working on more than one quilt at a time, so I just can't answer that," she said. "We're the originators of unfinished objects or UFOs as we call them."

There are three levels of quilters, beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

"When you sell your quilts, I call those quilters professionals, because you're selling them and making a profit on them," said Adam.

Adam said she doesn't sell her quilts.

For more information about the Highlands County Quilt Guild call Jeanne Adam at (863) 465-7496 or Barb Black at (863) 471-0694 or e-mail quiltshow@gmail.com .

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com .

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