“Quilting at the Crossroads” in March

Special to the Journal

Quilting is an art form that has enabled women to express their

creativity for hundreds of years through manipulation of fabric, batting and

backing to create warm and cozy bed coverings. They range from the fanciful,

created by women who had the resources to secure the necessary fabrics, to the

humble, made by those who used scraps from worn out clothing and feed

sacks.   Regardless of resources

available, quilting was a necessary activity for women in most households.

Hand quilting slowed around the time of World War II for several

reasons. Women joined the workforce en masse, leaving them much less time to

pursue quilting.  The new income

stream enabled women to purchase the necessary bed coverings that were now

being mass-produced in factories. Quilting was in danger of becoming a lost art.

However, in the last few decades, women (and men) have returned to

quilting as a means to escape the pressures of work and the world and to engage

in creating a work of beauty that brings comfort to the maker or to the lucky

person who might receive it. 

Jackie Marshall, a member of the Crossroads Quilt Guild, said she has

made many quilts for family members since she first started quilting in 1984.

“I went to the library and found every book I could on the subject,”

said the self-taught Marshall, who said her favorite type of quilting is

piecing. There are three types, piecing, appliqué and whole cloth, she said.

Marshall stated that she was inspired by her great-grandmother’s quilt

that was given to her great-grandfather in 1898.

She said quilting provides a person with “ultimate freedom” and

explained that it was also therapeutic.

Eighty-plus members of the Crossroads Quilt Guild are among the legions

of women and men who find joy in practicing this revived art form. The Guild

will present their second bi-annual Middle Georgia Quilt Show “Quilting at the

Crossroads” March 15-18 at the Perry Arts Center, 1121 Macon Road, Perry. Show

hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday and 1 to 5 p.m. on

Sunday.  Admission is $6; children

10 and under are free. 

Over 160 fabulous quilts, ranging from the very traditional to modern

art quilts, will be on display. Not to be missed will be the picnic vignette,

made up of hundreds of quilted elements that will create a scene of one of our

favorite summertime activities. Also included in the show will be live

demonstrations, vendors, opportunities to win a quilt or a basket of quilting

supplies, a members’ boutique of handmade items, and scissor sharpening on

site. 

For more information, please contact Jan Morales-Hill at 478-218-5494.

HHJ News