Quilters turn high school gym into labyrinth of colors
<p>A quilt titled, “The King,” made by Marilyn Simcoe hangs in the Seasonal Splendor section of the Flat-Iron Quilting Guild 2015 Quilt Show.</p>
THOMPSON FALLS - The Thompson Falls High School gymnasium was transformed over Saturday and Sunday into a giant quilt wall hanging.
The Flat-Iron Quilting Guild held its annual quilt show over the weekend, filling the entire gymnasium with guild member’s quilts and outside entries. “We invite other people to enter their quilts,” said Flat-Iron Quilting Guild member and organizer, Jennifer McCrea.
Booths were organized by seasonal, hand-made, machine-made, bed, baby and wall hangings types. The quilts were all hung along paneling with sheet backings, making numerous rooms and alleyways made of colorful designs. Some of the quilts showed off forest scenes, other were simply patterns, or scenes of everyday life, such as cooking materials.
Some of the quilters who entered their quilts sold their quilts, while others simply wanted to showcase their work or have it judged by three judges on Friday, prior to the show. Along with the judging, there was also a viewer’s choice award. A pamphlet was passed out to visitors with a tag to fill out and enter their favorite.
At the door, along with the $3 dollar entrance fee, there was also a raffle on a guild design and made quilt. One ticket cost $1 or $5 for six tickets. The drawing was at 3:45 on Sunday.
The guild itself meets every second Saturday of the month from 9:00am to 4:00pm in the Adult Education Center in Thompson Falls. Together they learn new techniques together and work on individual quilts and group quilts. “We donate and make quilts for cancer patients and we put on workshops for Thompson Falls and Plains.” The guild will also donate quilts to charitable events to help raise money during raffles. They call their donated quilts, “Quilts of Comfort.” The money raised during the shows help bring in money for material to make the charity quilts.
During the show there were demonstrations from machine quilt makers and group classes. The machine quilt makers also gave people the opportunity to use the machines and the ability to buy a machine if they liked. There was also a featured quilter, Joyce Reese, who was one of the main attractions. Both Saturday and Sunday from 1:00pm to 3:00pm there was also a Kids Workshop for children 12 and under. The materials were included by the guild for the workshop. In the back there was also a fabric vendor and there was a boutique selling quilting tools and small merchandise.
“We’re looking for new members because we are always looking to learn,” said McCrea, explaining how the group enjoys to acquire new member and to learn from new people with varying techniques or styles. She also jokingly said the group likes to learn from Youtube.