Monday, April 26, 2010

The Fabric of the Community is Sewn into Quilters








No sooner did the call go out for material to construct the king-size Legacy Quilt for the upcoming production of Quilters than the folks of the community responded. Yes, the response was immediate: “We’ve received generous amounts of yardage in all colors which will be used somewhere, somehow in this production,” notes Chrissie Addison, director of Quilters. “The pieces of lives in this community will be represented in either one of the 16 blocks introducing the scenes or the massive Legacy Quilt which will be raffled off at the show’s closing,” Addison adds. “The response is greatly appreciated and enables the process of quilt construction to be more historical and traditional.”

Just like the pioneer days, the quilts in Quilters will be made up of small pieces from local lives, not cut out of large pieces of new fabric – as most modern quilts are. The stories that have come with the material have been amazing too. “This has become an odyssey of discovery for me. Both the history of the material as well as the history of the quilters’ families that have been shared is rich and historical. This show is a true community endeavor,” notes Audrey Keebler, the quilting coordinator.

One local, Allyn Burke, donated 45 squares her mother and great-grandmother sewed in the Log Cabin pattern somewhere back between 100 and 120 years ago. “The fabric is soft, delicately faded and the stitches straight and true. You can see remnants of old shirting material, flour sacks and the like. And in the middle of each 12" square is a tiny square of turkey red! They loved that red even then,” notes Addison. Red will play an important color throughout the Quilters musical Addison will direct for a March 2011 opening.

Keebler is working with Mary Cory, an administrator at the El Dorado County Historical Museum on the Fairgrounds to best determine what textiles restoration specialist can help with advice on restoring these precious squares donated by Burke. The squares can hopefully be assembled or restored and displayed at a local museum.

Old tablecloths, pieces of fabric, yardage, used curtains and even sleepwear have been donated as well. Material has been dropped at the boxes located at The Mountain Democrat office on Broadway and Imagination Theater’s office. Some of it was untagged, but much of it was tagged with names from the community including: Allyn Burke, Audrey Keebler, Mindy Jackson (civil war repro fabric), Elizabeth Zangari, Paula Beck, Terri Thomas, Chrissie Addison, Hilda Miller, and Lorrene Addison.

More period fabric (mostly calico) in deep reds, burgandys, and earth tones is needed by Cyndy Salmon and the Gold Bug Quilting Guild who will be preparing the new quilts in Quilters. Also needed is unbleached muslin and colored muslin for backing the quilt.

If you wish to donate, please visit one of the drop boxes. Have questions? Please contact Audrey Keebler at (530) 620-6844 or akeebler@comcast.net

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