Header
 


Works of Art

Bits & Pieces Quilt Show to highlight
area quilters’ talents

Proceeds from event provide
for three local scholarships

Bits & Pieces Quilt Show

• 10-5 Sat. - Sun., April 13-14, at the Jefferson County 4-H Fairgrounds in Madison, Ind.
• Admission: $5
• Information:
(812) 265-8919

(April 2018) – Glenda Schirmer has been machine quilting for 14 years. “I have a lot of quilts in me. If I was doing it all by hand, I’d never get them all done,” said Schirmer with a smile.
She had started quilting by hand but decided it was too time-consuming to make each quilt as a hand-crafted “treasure” or heirloom quilt. Machine quilting also produces a more durable quilt.
Originally from Madison, Ind., Schirmer spent 20 years in Ohio before returning to her hometown three years ago. Immediately, she started looking for a local quilt guild. She found the Jefferson County Home-makers organization at the Purdue Extension Office. The Extension office sponsors three Homemakers Clubs: Smyrna, Sunshine and Saluda.
The quilters are part of the clubs. They meet to share their love of quilting and to use their quilting skills to be strong supporters of the community. They provide quilted baby blankets to Kings Daughters Hospital and assemble a gift for the first baby of the year, which of course, includes a baby quilt. They also sponsor an annual quilt show.

Photo by Sharyn Whitman

This “Meditation” quilt is displayed by club members (from left) Glenda Schirmer, Margie Renschler and Janet McMahan.

Schirmer and her guild mates will be taking part in the 23rd annual “Bits and Pieces Quilt Show,” scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 13-14, at the Jefferson County 4-H Fairgrounds on Hwy. 256. Hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day.
The success of the show is determined by the number of beautiful and interesting quilts on display, organizers say. All local residents are encouraged to bring a quilt on Thursday, April 12, to the show for display. There is no charge to show a quilt or multiple quilts. Quilts of all sizes will be displayed, including a section for small quilts or wall hangings.
Sharynn’s Quilt Box in North Vernon, Ind., and The Quilter’s Nook in Versailles Ind., will have booths with quilting supplies for sale. On-site security is provided around the clock at the Community Building to ensure the safety of the quilts on display throughout the show. 
This quilt show has provided scholarships for local students for all these years. Three scholarships are available to local students from Southwestern High School, Madison Consolidated High School, Shaw Memorial High School and home-schooled high school students. Each year a drawing is held at the show. The prize is a beautiful, handcrafted quilt that was pieced and quilted by members of the Jefferson County Homemakers.
The 2018 Quilt is titled, “Meditation.” It features a jewel-toned multi-colored design accented with rich teal borders.
Schirmer and two friends, Janet McMahan and Margie Renschler, selected this pattern and colors last year. They started to work on this quilt immediately after last year’s show. They meet either at their homes or at the Jefferson County Extension Office. They have a rhythm of cutting the pieces, assembling and sewing the individual blocks and pressing carefully at every step as the full pattern develops.
That process takes four to five months.
When the entire face of the quilt is assembled, Schirmer takes the quilt face to her home and shop, “Quilt-It.” There, she layers the batting between the face of the quilt and the backing fabric. She used cotton batting that gives a soft drape to the finished quilt. The king-sized project is rolled up on the rollers of her long-armed quilting machine.

Photo by Sharyn Whitman

Glenda Schirmer works on a quilt in her Madison home.

For this quilt, she selected the quilting design called “Meditation,” which features a looping design all over the quilt, most visible in the cream colored background surrounding the quilted blocks of the design. The machine quilting takes about three days as Schirmer monitors the design on the computer screen and continuously smooths the pieced fabric of the quilt top during the quilting process. When the entire top is quilted, Schirmer use a traditional sewing machine to apply the bias binding on the edges to finish the quilt. 
The three friends shared their stories of how they got involved in quilting. Renschler has done hand-quilting and started going to the Smyrna Club with her mother-in-law, who was a 60-year member of her club. Her club also sells quilts and other sewing crafts at the park in Neavill’s Grove during the annual festival there in August to raise additional scholarship funds.
McMahan started sewing clothing before starting on quilts. She would find inexpensive fabric remnants and then see what she could create. She is especially proud of a coat and a beautiful black crepe dress that she made. In quilting, she found she enjoyed the creative process of designing a quilt. She has now made so many quilts that she has lost track of the total number she has completed. She has also enjoyed teaching her grandchildren to sew. One granddaughter has won prizes for her creative sewing.
“One of the benefits of quilting is that it doesn’t have to fit,” McMahan said.
Schirmer remembers visits to her grandmother in Vevay, Ind., because the grandchildren were always tucked in at night under warm quilts that grandma had made. Those quilts were constructed with “tie-quilting.” Her grandmother made quilts to sell as well. Those hand-tied quilts sold for only $15 about 20 years ago. Schirmer’s mother enjoyed quilting so much that she opened a quilt shop in Vevay. That spirit carried over to Schirmer. She turned her love of machine quilting from a hobby to a business.
At her shop, “Quilt-It,” she will complete the machine quilting and binding process for other quilters who do not want to finish their quilts by hand. The machine quilting can either be an all-over design, like “Meditation,” or the design can be tailored to highlight the pattern of the quilt with specific designs.
Schirmer said that quilting is a great way to relieve stress. When the three ladies are together, the conversation quickly turns to patterns, colors, other projects they are each working on, and ideas for the next “Bits and Pieces” quilt fundraiser. 

The Jefferson County Extension Homemakers will be selling tickets for the “Meditation” quilt fundraiser at the Madison Kroger store on April 6. The quilt drawing tickets are also available at the German American Bank on Clifty Drive and the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Office. Tickets will be sold at the show on Friday and Saturday up until the actual drawing of the winning ticket at the end of the show. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.

Back to April 2018 Articles.

 

 

Copyright 1999-2018, Kentuckiana Publishing, Inc.

Pick-Up Locations Subscribe Staff Advertise Contact Submit A Story Our Advertisers Columnists Archive Area Links Area Events Search our Site Home Monthly Articles Calendar of Events Kentucky Speedway Madison Chautauqua Madison Ribberfest Madison Regatta