The Pioneer Women's Club keeps traditions alive

Quilting is an art form like no other. Hundreds of tiny pieces of fabric are "pieced" together to create images of pinwheels, birds, portraits of people, flowers, tea pots, kittens, rabbits, and a myriad of startling and colorful abstract designs. Once the pieces are sewn together, borders, batting and backing fabric are added and then the entire piece is quilted, sewn over with a design either by hand or by machine, to complete the laborious process. \nA full range sampling of the possibilities of this art form and the innovations it has incurred over time is exactly what you can expect to find at the Brown County Historical Society's annual Quilt Show. On May 31 through June 2 the auxiliary of The Brown County Historical Society, called the Pioneer Women's Club, held their 24th annual quilt show. \nFour dollars granted patrons entrance to view the 138 quilts and quilted clothing on display as well as access to a free luncheon catered by the club. The event also included a raffle for a quilt made as a group effort by the club members, a gift shop area where items made by the club members were for sale and demonstrations of activities the club members engage in like quilting and weaving rugs on a large loom. \n"Someone stays at the historical society building overnight to make sure the quilts are safe and no one comes in and steals them," said Daren Pitts Redman, president of the Pioneer Women's Club. \nSecurity measures are necessary because the hours of labor involved in making the quilts makes them very valuable. The quilts are often appraised at well over $1,000 and the price only increases as the quilt gets older. Like other works of art, the quilts are given titles and are one of a kind. Most are designed by the creators themselves and are handled with great care. \n"The quilts belong to someone else and the oils from your hands can deteriorate the fabrics. There are people walking around with white gloves on to show the back of the quilt," Redman said.\nSome of the quilts were judged the day before and winners received a $50 dollar prize. There was also a contest for making a small block of a quilt and a viewer's choice award to be judged by the audience. There were also quilts with children's drawings on them made by Nashville elementary students with the help of Pioneer Women's Club members. Other quilts were prized possessions and family heirlooms on display. \nThe long process of making a quilt indicates there is often a specific meaning behind the quilt's design or purpose. Many of the quilts had stories attached to them. Some were made during the mourning of a deceased family member and one was a portrait of a high school graduate made by her mother as a gift to mark her passage into adulthood. \n"The function of quilt making has changed, now we are hanging them on the wall but before they were bedding for the family. Quilt makers were the original recyclers, they had limited fabrics available and used old clothes to make quilts," said quilt show chairperson Mary George Kipp.\nAlthough the group does not use recycled materials for their quilts it continues the tradition of recycling by making rugs out of recycled blue jean. \nThe Pioneer Women's Club is dedicated to preserving and teaching activities from the past such as quilting, weaving, spinning, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery. Redman aims to have demonstrations of "old time" activities every month for the groups' meeting. \n"Why shouldn't future generations (learn how to quilt)? It is like a distinct animal, once it's gone, it's gone," Kipp said.\nKay McLeod, Vice President of the Pioneer Woman's Club, has been sewing all her life. She earned extra income by making and designing wedding and prom dresses in the past, but did not begin quilting until 1998. She designed and cut out the piece work for the quilt now being made by the group. \n"I like designing the quilts, choosing the colors and doing the quilting," said McLeod, who was hand quilting at the function. "Machine quilting is OK if you are in a hurry but I prefer the hand."\nCindy Westchester traveled from Franklin to attend the quilt show. McLeod and Westchester both said their female relatives had been very excited when they took up quilting. They are both happy to be carrying on a family tradition although they did a lot of learning outside the family.