Quilts decorate local museum

Since Feb. 18, a display of 14 colorful Shiisa Quilts has brought pizzazz to the pale yellow walls surrounding the Wonderlab Museum of Science and Technology.

In collaboration with the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, Wonderlab Assistant Gallery Operations Manager Andrea Oeding asked Shiisa Quilts owner Janet Mease if the museum could host an auxiliary exhibit showcasing their quilts.

Mease said she enthusiastically agreed.

“We have an amazing amount of talent on this staff, so when she offered to do that, I was like, ‘You bet!’” Mease said. “We took over a really nice representation of some of the things we do and some of the funky things we do.”

Shiisa is a local quilt shop in Bloomington.

The shop doesn’t make its quilts for purchase, Mease said.

 At Shiisa, the only quilts on display in their store serve as examples and advertisements for its classes and workshops.

“We don’t make them to sell,” she said. “That’s not the point. We make them as samples for the shop.”

Shiisa will have a display at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, which is at the Bloomington Monroe County Convention Center each year.

 This year’s show will take place March 1 to 3.

“The quilts make our walls look so much more friendly,” Oeding said.

The Wonderlab display features 14 quilts lining the staircase to the upper level of the museum and flowing above a large fish tank.

Each quilt has different color combinations, designs and shapes.

Oeding and Mease said they hope the collaboration between the two entities will raise awareness about Shiisa Quilts and draw attendees from IHQS to Wonderlab.

On the weekend of the convention, attendees can come to Wonderlab for free.

Attendees can also enter for free if they wear their IHQS wristbands.

 On March 1, Wonderlab will theme its “First Friday” program around the quilt theme.
They will have a workshop where participants will learn to sew and make their own tote bags.

“That evening is a really good night to stop by,” Oeding said. “It’s a nice way to promote arts education and give people a way to be creative.”

Admission is half-price, $3.50, for the workshop.

Lara Moore, a Bloomington resident and mother of twin 5-year-olds, has been bringing her kids to Wonderlab for three years.

“We don’t have enough math and science in schools today,” she said. “Wonderlab is exceptionally clean, well-kept and well-staffed. We probably come at least 40 times
a year.”