Love of quilting binds group

Andrew Waite

Mineral Independent

Typically, a quilt stitches together unlike patches to form one complete unit. The different parts that make it up are bound by thread, yarn and perhaps a theme.

The Cabin Fever Quilters Guild of Mineral County ties its members together in a similar way. Once a month, the group of around 60 members, meets in a Mineral County town to stitch, sew, hem and chat. They were brought together by their love of quilting, but they are bound together by their lasting friendships.

"All my friends are quilters," said member Katherine Raether on a Tuesday afternoon.

The group had just recently completed one of its biggest projects of the year: a quilt that gets raffled off at the quilt show, held in conjunction with the county fair.

The money raised from the raffle tickets sold will go toward paying for a new bathtub at the Mineral Community Hospital.

This year’s quilt called "Barns in Paradise," comprises 16 different farm scenes. Each block was made by a different member and then sewn to the larger unit. It took the quilters anywhere from two to six hours to make each block. They didn’t keep track of how long the compilation took.

"The Pattern came from one of the members who had a calendar with the barns on it," Sally Jo Viche, this year’s featured quilter, said. "We all got handed one of those and each one of us took our pattern and went home and came back with what we did and then it was sewn together."

Viche said the women motivate each other when they work on the quilt.

"It’s just fun to see everybody’s work, and their work challenges you to say ‘OK, I can do it. I can go on from there now,’" the 70-year-old Superior resident, said. "We all work together. If we have a problem we all work together and get it solved."

Everything from color patterns to fabric choices is discussed, and the artistic endeavor has a way of helping everyone involved – even those like Sharon Booth, who claim to be less-experienced quilters.

"I’m new at this but I’m learning so much from all of the knowledge," Booth said. "There’s so much knowledge and talent in this guild." The guild has been around for nine years.

Della Russell, who designed the center block on this year’s quilt depicting the Hermes Barn near Paradise, said quilting really is a blending of the minds.

"We share ideas," Russell explained. "The process is really fun. It’s creative."

And it results in a product that the quilters can be proud of.

"They’re beautiful," Viche said of the 16 blocks. "Each block has a story to tell." Viche picked her block because she like the dogs and thought it would be the easiest one to sew.

Russell said the quilt is a great representation of the region.

"It’s a comfort quilt. It’s country, suited for Montana," she said.

The guild is hoping that many others will share their love for the quilt and buy the raffle tickets for it. Tickets can be purchased for $1 apiece, 6 for $5, 12 for $10 and so on.

The quilt show, with the "A Barn Raisin’ Good Time" theme will be held Saturday Aug. 7 and 8 in the multipurpose room of Superior High School from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. The show exhibits local quilters’ works as well as the 2009 guild challenge quilts and the guild round robin quilts.

Anyone wishing to have their work displayed can contact Sharon Booth at 649-2582. Entries must be in by July 31.

Quilt show visitors can vote for their favorite quilts, shop and win a raffle basket or door prizes.