Bee-Town quilts blanket Mathers Museum

The Mathers Museum of World Cultures is highlighting the work of local quilters with “Bee-Town Quilts: A Common Thread,” which opened Friday, Jan. 25.\nElaine Gaul, co-curator of exhibits for the Mathers Museum, said for the last two years, the museum has featured local quilting bees, in honor of the Indiana Heritage Quilting Show held the first weekend in March at the Bloomington Convention Center. \n“This (exhibit) is always a great success,” Gaul said. “We like doing it because it features local talent and I think that’s very important.”\nBeth Sluys, a 15-year quilting bee member, said the group started with a few women taking a beginning quilting class. She said the women did not know each other, but by the end of the class, the women decided to keep getting together to quilt, ultimately forming the quilting bee. \nGaul said after last year’s quilting exhibit, Sluys contacted her about her bee participating in this year’s show. \nSluys said she wanted her bee to show at the Mathers Museum exhibit. She said she saw the first quilting show held at the museum and wanted her group to share their quilting with the community, as well.\n“Bee-Town Quilts” features quilts that were constructed in a variety of manners – some traditional and some more contemporary. \nSome quilters use machines to piece their fabric together while others quilt entirely by hand. Either way, Gaul said this is a very long process to complete. \nOne quilt features black and white photos of famous men and women, and another, titled “Circle of Love,” is a representation of a family album going in clockwise order in the shape of a pie, with dates embroidered on the outside of the circle above each addition and experience of the quilter’s family.\nGaul said the bees from this group work individually on their own projects, but occasionally work on one quilt together. \nJennifer Deam, a newer member of the group, said the inspiration for her quilt came from her teenage daughter cutting out magazine pictures and making collages. She started collecting material of all sorts. Deam wanted her quilt to look free-framed and unplanned. Her quilt is a collage of skulls, Elvis, a geisha woman and many other different patterns. \nGaul said some of the quilts were done within the year, while others are projects from various years. The quilts are on display in the hallway of the museum. Each quilt has a particular size, shape and design. Some quilts are very avant-garde with very abstract patterns while others are more traditional. \nSluys said the inspiration for her “Fractal Fractioning” quilt came when she was in the geology building and saw a copy of Nature magazine laying around. The magazine had an image on the cover that reminded her of a quilt. The article in the magazine had to do with the earth’s crust fractionation and held a tiny illustration that later became the pattern for her quilt, she said. \nSluys said she has been quilting since she was 18 years old. \n“(Quilting) is in my blood,” Sluys said. “(This group) has created lifelong friendships and a (mutual) love of the craft.”\nThe Mathers Museum is free to all and is located at 416 N. Indiana Ave. and is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.