Georgia Magazine - January 2018 - 17

Learning and showcasing their craft

LAURA RAINES

Quilting sometimes literally takes quilters away-to
retreats, like Quilting In Toccoa, which has been happening for 27 years.

Pat Yearwood, owner of Stitch'n Quilt in Mableton, runs a quilting
long-arm machine at her store. The machine stitches together the
quilt's three layers and follows a design that Yearwood has programmed into the computer.
January 2018

LAURA RAINES

Smothers and other members make Quilts of Valor
for returning veterans as part of Freedom Quilters
Georgia.
"They can be any pattern or fabric, as long as they
are red, white and blue," Smothers says. "I love going to
the presentations. They were giving one to a man who
was part of a biker group, and I thought he wouldn't
want a quilt, but he broke down when they gave it to
him. He had been in Vietnam and was so moved to be
thanked for his service."
Judy Bowles, a charter member of the Cherokee
Rose Quilt Guild in Thomaston, says that the 40 or so
members of her guild make quilts for nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.
Local firefighters carry the guild's quilts on the truck for
families whose homes burn. Guild members also have
helped Girl Scouts complete their sewing badges.
When she started, Bowles said that her stitches were
so big you could catch a toenail in them, but she kept
going to guild meetings.
"We guard our Wednesdays, where we share fabric
and knowledge. These women have become my lifelong
friends, and I'm still learning," says Bowles, who makes
machine- and hand-sewn quilts. Her favorite is one she
named "The Stars Danced the Night You Were Born."
"I made it for my husband, and he sleeps under it
every night," she says. "Quilting always takes me away to
a different place. It holds so many happy memories."

Sandra Wilson, a member of the Cherokee Rose Quilters Guild in
Douglasville, finishes some Christmas projects at Stitch'n Quilt in
Mableton.

"Our founders started it in November to give quilters
some time to get away and sew before the holidays,"
says Frances Cranford from Augusta, who coordinates
the retreat at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in
Toccoa. "Last year, we had 88 people come from all over
the Southeast. It's like a big quilting bee with a vendor,
classes and a show-and-tell session, where everyone gets
to share their work."
People bring blocks they've made to go into group
charity quilts. Family members and friends come to learn
new techniques or just to sew on their own projects.
"All the quilters I know have an interest in life.
They're happy people, and they are always giving
something away," Cranford says. "I have a room full of
fabric and hopes and dreams. I hope someday to be able
to finish them all."
Cranford says that if you think quilting is a dying art,
you haven't been out there.
"My husband and I like to RV-camp, and we see
groups of women quilting while camping," she says.
Large shows celebrate the art and draw in new
converts every year. Quilters from all over the state enter
the competition at the Georgia National Fair in Perry
every October. Nationally accredited judges select
category winners.
The East Cobb Quilters' Guild holds a biennial
Georgia Celebrates Quilts exhibit with about 300 quilts at
the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta.
"With 316 members, we're one of the largest guilds
in the state, so we have the ability to bring in top
teachers from around the country," says Judy Alexander,
president. Award-winning quilters Weeks Ringle, Bill Kerr
and Elisabeth Frolet have given programs.
The East Cobb Quilters' Guild meets monthly but
also in small "Bee Groups" based on geography and
specialty.

More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - January 2018