CULLMAN — By Loretta Gillespie

Correspondent



Walls of colorful textile artwork filled the auditorium in the Fazi-Richard Athletic Center at Saint Bernard for the 10th annual Alabama Quilt Symposium. If actual records of the hours spent making the quilted masterpieces on display during the three-day symposium had been recorded, it would probably number into the thousands.

Some of the quilts were themed; there were gardens, children’s quilts, holiday wall hangings and quilted coverlets, all lovingly done in expressions of calico and damask. Some were patterned from quilts of long ago, others were modern-abstract, but all were works of art.

In a time when most women work outside the home, quilting has gotten somewhat easier and less time-intensive thanks to machines that are like computers with thread attached. Of course the human element is the driving force, but for many of these quilters machines make the difference in having the time to quilt, or not.

There were classes set up for the three-day symposium. The instructors were from all over the world. During the three days, these instructors and students experienced hands-on training in the art of quilting, including learning many new techniques.

Some of the quilters came from as far away as Texas, Georgia and Tennessee, while others were from right here in Cullman. Winner of the “Best of Show” quilt was Hilda Childress of Warrior. Her entry was titled “Around The World.” The pattern was designed by Jinny Beyer. It took Childress approximately six weeks to make the quilt. This was her first Best of Show and her first First Place title. “I was absolutely flabbergasted,” said Childress. “I was so taken aback that I was speechless, and I’m never speechless.”

A quilt like her winning entry has roughly $500 in materials, including the cost of having it quilted. “Cotton has gone up 120 percent in the last year,” she explained. “I sold a baby quilt once, but quilts are so high that people can’t afford them. Most of us just quilt for the pleasure of it. It’s a wonderful hobby.”

Childress has been sewing since the age of nine, approximately 60 years, but she has only been quilting for about seven years. “I needed to have some interaction after retiring, so I joined the Heartland Quilt Guild.”

“When I was a child I slept under so many quilts that I couldn’t move,” she recalled. Her grandmother quilted, and the frame stayed up all the time, so she was exposed to quilts at an early age. “I don’t have any of her quilts left, it’s such a shame, they got ruined in storage,” said Childress. ‘If you store your quilts, do so in a 100 percent cotton pillowcase, rolled up, because fold marks can become permanent.” Wrapping in acid-free paper or some kind of muslin will allow the cotton to breathe; they don’t need to be kept in plastic,” Childress advised.

Four hundred visitors of all ages came to view the quilts. The youngest was 13-year-old Emily Kennedy, from Pinson, Ala. Emily came to the symposium because quilting is her main hobby, although she plays soccer and is interested in painting and sculpting. “I see quilting as an art form because you have to use your imagination,” she said. “My favorite design is The Gordian Knot.”  

“I started quilting when I was six years old,” said Emily. “My mother and grandmother were quilting and I love learning new things, so I wanted to quilt.” Since then, the eighth grader has won a Viewer’s Choice and a First Place ribbon at the Heart of Dixie Quilt Show in 2007. Emily uses a machine to make her quilts.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was 83-year-old Robbie Childers of Eva, who has been quilting since the age of 15. She is a member of the Heartland Quilt Guild, and says quilting keeps her mind and hands busy. “My mama would put up a quilting frame and she taught me how to quilt,” recalled Mrs. Childers. By the time she was a young bride, she had made two quilts to take to her new home. “One of them was a Dutch Girl quilt, the other was a string quilt.”

Over the years, Childers has made many more, using them on her children’s beds and giving them as gifts. “Oh, my goodness gracious, I guess I’ve made 40 or 50 quilts in my life, all by hand,” she said. “There’s just nothing like a quilt to dress up a bed, and to sleep under,” she smiled. Childers passed down the art she learned from her mother to one of her daughters, who uses a machine.

Quilting is an important part of our heritage, one that is being kept alive and well by women like these, who hand down their knowledge to younger generations. The love of quilting knows no age, it just takes someone who is patient and has the desire to learn.

Like any other art form, it often takes on the personality of the artist. Some of the quilts at the symposium were playful, others were sentimental, and a few were brightly sewn modern swirls and colorful combinations and patterns that would brighten up any décor.

Quilters come from all walks of life, their common bond is the thread that runs through a quilter’s heart, the link that brings them from far and wide to see what others have accomplished. Although the quilts are beautiful to anyone who loves crafting, only a true quilter knows how much talent and the many hours that are put into each one - that, and the love - for without the love of quilting this art would have passed away long ago.

“There is so much talent in Cullman,” said Childress. “The quilters here are among the best.”

There are quilting guilds here in Cullman who gladly accept new members and it is their mission to pass along this ancient art to those who want to create something both beautiful and functional. For information on when and where quilting guilds meet, contact Joanne Copeland at joiris@bellsouth.net or visit www.QSAI.org.