Timeless Stitches
Printed in the Baldwin City Community News
August 11, 2021
Quilting is a timeless needleart. It has been around since biblical times and is still a popular art form today. A quilt is often a part of celebrations—graduations, weddings, golden anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas and other occasions.
County Fairs are one type of celebration that often includes a quilt competition/show. Recently two of our own community took top honors at The Douglas County Fair quilt competition. Liz Granberg-Jerome took Grand Champion with her hexified panel wall hanging, Three Artists in Bloom. The quilt depicts a painting of a quilt. Reserve Grand Champion was awarded to Ray Comstock for his hand-quilted wholecloth quilt, a quilt where quilting is the only design on a single piece of fabric large enough to cover a bed. Congratulations to both!
Three Artists in Bloom by Liz Granberg-Jerome 2021
The Vinland Fair has attracted attendees every year for over a hundred years. It’s a lot like a family reunion for the entire community. The Fair is a time when those who have grown up and moved away come back to see old friends and family. Though the number of quilts in the competition is fairly small, the quality is amazing! This year’s winners were Best Quilt: Truth Seeking from Within by Liz Granberg-Jerome; Best Wall Hanging and Best of Show: Three Artists in Bloom by Liz Granberg-Jerome. These are both very outstanding quilts! If you didn't get to see them at either fair, there's a good chance that both will be on display at the Maple Leaf Quilt Show in October!
Truth Seeking from Within by Liz Granberg-Jerome
We tried to celebrate Baldwin City’s birthday last year, but the pandemic interfered, and our celebration has been extended to some activities this year. One of the activities was a quilting bee like the ladies of pioneer times would have attended. We have set up a quilt in a quilting frame in Sullivan’s Square or in the Lumberyard Arts Center during Third Friday Live on High events and volunteers are quilting it. The quilt will be donated to the Community Emergency Fund to raise money. They have tickets available to purchase and we hope to draw for a winner at the Holiday Light Parade. Anyone and everyone, regardless of experience, is welcome to add a few or many stitches to this project so that it is truly a gift from the community. So bring your thimble (I have a few spare thimbles if you don’t have one) and join us on the third Friday evenings from 5:30 to 7:00.
Liz Granberg-Jerome and I will be taking turns writing this column.
--Sharon Vesecky
