Of pattern and purpose

The showcase included distinct groupings of quilts displayed throughout the church’s foyer, sanctuary, and community room. A unique collection of WPA pattern quilts added new twists to the perennial designs originally created as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s World War II-era initiative to provide comfort on the home front and abroad through the sanctioned production of quilts.

“Our members reworked them, put a modern spin on them, and used modern fabrics, but the patterns are exactly the same,” said Guild member, Loraine Vetter, who noted that this particular collection has been on tour nationally.

The impressive and colorful display scheme in the sanctuary accommodated two very special groupings of quilts laid over pews. On the left side of the church patrons could view the Guild’s “mystery quilts” and on the right, the pews displayed a varied arrangement of quilts made for the Guild’s Deborah’s Angels Comfort Quilt Program.

The first grouping gets its “mystery” moniker from the blind process that the Guilders use in making them. What is most astonishing is that while they are all incredibly different, they are all made for the exact same pattern. During the process, the quilters are given small amounts of materials over time, so there is a slow reveal to what they are making. When the process is completed, no two are alike.

The comfort quilts are a freestyle enterprise for the quilters, but the purpose is unified: provide quilts for donation to sick and needy children, hospice patients, nursing home residents, and victims of natural disasters—a program that has been in place since 2004.

Vetter said you will often also find these special quilts in police cars and on fire trucks should they be needed at the site of a local emergency.

In the community room, the members have the opportunity to show quilt projects that reflect places in time and in their hearts. Many are connected to the makers in emotional ways such as tribute pieces for departed family members, recognition and appreciation of those they hold dear, and messages of hope and inspiration to the world at-large.

One such piece, created by Vetter, is all about the message and how it is conveyed. The effort, which will become part of a larger global arts initiative, displays the word “Peace” using the language of Morse Code to represent the letters in the message. The imagery on the fabric was also intentional.

“The fabric that I used, there’s an astronaut, Karen Nyberg, she was on the space station twice,” said Vetter. Nyberg, she said, took many images of the Earth during her missions and then worked with a textile designer to convert them to fabric. Each block of Morse Code on Vetter’s work contains an image of Nyberg’s “out of this world” photography.

While she is thrilled to be part of the global initiative that will take her work to Kyoto, Japan, Vetter is quick to point out that she is new to the Guild, and deferred to the expertise of her exceedingly talented co-members, from whom she says she has learned so much.

“This quilt was made by a woman who used pictures from her grandson,” she said, pointing to a nearby display. “And the woman who did these, Linda Walmsley, she does landscape quilts. She [told me] she will be driving along the road and pull over to sketch something. Then she’ll make a quilt from it. This [one] is a view from her window,” she added, pointing to another.

The event, which featured a raffle quilt made from a pattern called Celestial Gardens by Derek Lockwood, was well attended, brought admirers of all kinds, men and women alike, and clearly those who enjoy art in all its forms.

“My two friends are quilters,” said Becky Robson of Chestertown, who came to support her friends and the cause. “Bobbi Pippin was in the show, and my friend Carol, who used to quilt with her mother, says it brought back so many wonderful memories.”