Aug. 12, 2013
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Some of West Virginia’s best seamstresses will demonstrate embroidery and quilting techniques at the Culture Center on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013, as part of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History‘s Quilt Day.
Besides participating in hands-on demonstrations, visitors can browse through the Sesquicentennial Quilt and Juried Quilt Exhibition on display in the Great Hall of the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston, and view the historic quilts on display in the West Virginia State Museum.
The event is free and open to the public.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Joan E. Hoffman will demonstrate hand quilting on a Linus quilt provided by Phyllis Handley of Quilts by Phyllis in Hurricane. Visitors will have the opportunity to take a few stiches on the quilt, which will be donated to a local neo-natal intensive care unit. Sheryl Carpenter of Parkersburg Sewing and Quilting will demonstrate long-arm quilting while Sherry Higginbotham of the Majestic Mountain Needle Arts Guild will demonstrate embroidery techniques.
Handley also will share information about the West Virginia Quilt Shop Hop, an annual four-day event in which nearly a dozen quilt shops across the state offer a different pattern and fabric kit so quilters can create a quilt as a memory of their journey. Handley plans to bring last year’s shop hop quilt for visitors to see.
The Division’s crowd-pleasing juried exhibition features 62 exquisite quilts and wall hangings representing the talents of 57 quilters from 23 counties. The West Virginia State Sesquicentennial Quilt, which features such icons as Camden Park and Sandstone Falls and commemorates West Virginia’s 150th birthday this year, was created by 72 quilters from across West Virginia. Each of the state’s 55 counties is represented by at least one quilt square made from Civil War-era fabric donated by Andover Fabrics of New York City.
For more information, contact Renee Margocee, arts director for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, at Renee.Margocee@wv.gov or (304) 558-0240.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org.
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