OBV Quilters....
  

The group was formed out of typical OBV friendship and companionship, spearheaded by Paula Kiessling, Tina Glover and Carol Dever, all long-time quilters.

Paula Kiessling tells us how it has evolved.

A meeting set up to explore community interest in quilting received an overwhelming response: the group which now meets weekly in the White House, now includes women who have quilted for years and those who hadn’t ever used a sewing machine.  That’s how it started and continues.

 


The White House is the perfect venue, especially with its large counter for placing  cutting mats and work. The Social Alliance has been helpful in contributing some funds to buy supplies. Donations have been generous --ironing board, irons, cutting tools and even a sewing machine. There are no dues to pay, just good friendship. MEN ARE INVITED TO ALL MEETING TOO.  There are some very excellent men quilters who took it up through their wives. Many of them have an engineering type background. There may be a few hiding in OBV;  they may not wish to sew but rather design a quilt. 

 
Quilting Today
What do we quilt? The general public thinks of the old fashioned pictures of woman sitting around a quilting frame. Today, quilting is very different.  Besides the making of bed quilts, the hobby has
expanded to making lap robes, totes/pocketbooks, pillows, placemats, clothing and wall hangings.  The OBV Quilters have made all of the above.
Tools have expanded in the last 20 years. Material is cut on self-healing mats with acrylic rulers as guides and instruments which look like pizza cutters.  Fusible webbing makes appliqué easy. Sewing machines speed up the process. Some quilters still prefer to use hand sewing to quilt or put the final touches on a piece.
Since the abilities of the woman are varied, from the neophyte to the well seasoned quilter, many techniques and ideas are explored.  We offer beginners an understanding on cutting, color, and techniques. There are projects proposed if anyone wants to do them.  If you visited when we are meeting , you would see woman all enjoying themselves working on a variety of projects.  There are no “we-all-do-one-thing-at-the-same-time” classes.  There are also no “my-idea-is-better-than-yours-is” attitudes.
Quilting as an Art Form
This is usually a piece made to hang on a wall. The designs can vary from realistic to abstract.The quilt can be accented by colorful threads or buttons and beads.

Ever changing Riverpart of the Ever Changing River Panel by Bonnie Ouellette TO BE EXHIBITED THIS YEAR AT THE NATIONAL QUILT MUSEUM.

The sky is the limit as to what the artist wants to do.  In this respect it is more like a painting.  The finished artwork is usually not framed.  A sleeve, which is a made of cloth is attached at the top of the quilted piece.  A rod is slid through this sleeve and hung off holders attached to the wall.

Many hospitals and public buildings use quilts as wall decorations instead of framed pictures.  Examples of such art can be seen at  The Quilter’s Hang Out on Second 41 in the plaza behind Perkin’s Restaurant area.  A quick look at the walls there would provide lots of inspiration.  The ladies who run this shop are very friendly and will answer any and all questions. 

Other art quilts can be seen at  www.pineneedles.com,  the website of  a well known design quilter.  Check out http://www.bryerpatch.com/gallery/gallery.htm and the National Quilt Museum for lots of ideas.

Soldiers’ Quilts
Now to let you know how The Soldiers’ Quilts idea developed.

Many of the groups at OBV do some sort of outreach to the community and to OBV residents.  Many things are done from donated magazines, Toys forTots, The Linus Fund and helping school children.We believed we should give something to someone.  Jan Boys was making her plea for things to box up for soldiers. 


That led us in one of our informal meeting discussions (we have many about many topics…no gossiping allowed) maybe doing something for injured armed forces members.  I talked with Jan and she was able to give me a significant lead as to who to get in touch with about donations. Simple squares were decided upon which all can do. The obvious color choices were red, white, and blue. The squares can be made by anyone to a specific size listed by anyone who wishes. The squares in turn will be joined together to make the finished product.  These will for the most part be, scrap quilts.  That means the blocks have common colors but not all from the same patterned materials.

The group really did not want to give up those fun Tuesdays doing their own things so another day was added.  Two Thursday mornings a month at the White House will have our soldiers’ quilts. 

Anyone can come and stay how long or short they wish.  We will need people to cut material, iron, sew, pin, throw away scraps, etc, etc….as many helpers as possible NO SEWING OR QUILTING EXPERIENCE NECESSSARY. JUST WILLING HANDS!

 
 
 
 
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