By: Peyton Ruud
Searching for scraps of fabric. Piecing them together in hopes of creating something beautiful and cozy. Days, and even months creating each quilt. While each quilter has their own journey, they have a passion that binds them together.
Some learn from family history, and some find their own path to quilting. Every one of them have something in common: the love for the art, the love that was passed down and will be passed on to generations to come.
While it appears to be a dying art, many people find themselves falling in love with the relaxing hobby. In her article from Craft Industry Alliance, Abby Glassenberg noted, “North America has between 9-11 million quilters.” https://craftindustryalliance.org/quilting-trends-survey-results-2020/
How can an art be considered ‘dying’ if, in 2020, “the quilting market is $4.2 billion,” said Glassenberg.
The average quilter is around retirement age or higher. In the article from Craft Industry Alliance, a bar chart shows 64.3% of quilters are retired. Not many young people seem to be interested in the art of quilting.
But the fabric artist makes the art live on through teaching family members, by creating groups to get people to join and learn, or even learning on their own through YouTube videos. The art is woven into the history of the world. It tells stories of families, of places, of traditions. Here are some of those stories.
It’s in the family:
The love for quilting
Watching carefully, the little one noticed each and every stitch. Crawling under the quilt, as her mother placed the next piece of fabric. At the age of 4, Brenda Gunnells created her first quilt with chaotic stitches surrounding the fabric butterflies under the guidance of her mother.
Today, the quilt hangs on Gunnells’ wall, a memory that she cherishes. “You can tell a kid did it because it is so pitiful,” she said.
While she did not quilt much throughout her lifetime, quilting found her again after retirement. She creates quilts for just about every family member.
It is something important to her because of the love that goes into each one. “When someone gives you a quilt and you’re wrapped up in it, it feels like their arms are wrapped around you. Like my mom,” Gunnells said.
“Just sitting down and quilting one by hand is so meaningful that somebody takes the time to do that,” Gunnells said.
Hobby turned business
Going into surgery for carpal tunnel, Melanie Harville was unsure about returning to her dental hygienist job. She decided she would make her passion for quilting her job instead.
Now, her business is thriving. She gets a ton of t-shirt quilt orders. People love to have memories created by stitching scraps of old t-shirts that captures their story. Her handmade designs catch the eye of many. Plenty of orders are coming in to It’s Sew Unique, 205-400-6341, as she achieved more success than she ever thought possible.
Her first memory of using a sewing machine is when she was just 10 years old. Her mother bought a sewing machine but would not allow Harville to use it because she was afraid she would tear it up.
Harville decided she would save up all of her allowance and buy her own. She did just that. She began to create clothes for her dolls but moved on to bigger things when she did an art project for school.
The 5th grader decided to create a pillow with a clown face stitched unto the front. She drew it, then took it to her sewing machine and created the art. “I filled it in with, what I call, thread painting,” Harville recalled.
To her surprise, the teacher failed her, thinking there is no way a child could create this. Her mother came up to the school to explain that she took her time on this assignment. After many discussions with the teacher, she finally passed Harville.
A few years later, she continued to use her sewing machine. She decided to create the pants that were in style at that time. She would get questions like, ‘I need those. Where did you get them?’
Once they learned she created them herself, they would ask her if she would make them some as well. Harville created many stylish pants for all the kids in school.
While Harville still creates many masterpieces today for her customers, she creates some for herself too and enters her best work into quilting shows.
Her red, black, and white dinnerplate dahlia quilt was pieced together to create a show-stopping flower pattern that stops everyone in their tracks. This quilt was inspired by the memory of her grandmother cooking in the kitchen growing up.
The apron inspired quilt is named Memories of May. “I have never seen another apron like hers,” said Harville. The quilt holds special memories of her grandmother in the kitchen that she adores.
Memories of May won around 10 to 15 different quilt show awards across many different states and is still being shown at shows around the country today.
Family Traditions
Darlene Stanford grew up watching her family create quilts. When her aunts would come over on Mondays, they would gather in the living room to work on a quilt with her mother. With all the talking and laughing, they always had the best time.
Her mother decided to create quilts for each of her children. One red, one green, one blue, one yellow, and one mint. The mint belongs to Stanford. “She was so proud to do this for us,” said Stanford.
The memories of her mother quilting stick with Stanford. She recalls the endless hours she put into her quilts. “I have sat and quilted some with her,” said Stanford. The quilts are something each sibling can carry on for generations to come.
Stanford carried on the tradition of quilting in her family. Stanford said, “I have the burning love for them as well.”
She sometimes can get carried away, buying any fabric she likes. “I buy too much fabric because if I like it I just get it,” said Stanford. She attends as many quilts shows as she possibly can and goes to quilting classes in hopes of learning more about the art.
New Quilters:
New Beginnings
Rita McAnnally has always had a love for sewing. Creating dresses for her granddaughters is a favorite thing to do. She was self-taught and rather good at stitching.
Even though she loved sewing, she wanted to expand her skills and decided to quilt. She thought it would be a good idea to join a quilting group. She now attends many classes with the Blount County Quilters Guild group.
The group loves to contribute to the surrounding community through activities like making dog blankets for the Blount County Animal Adoption Center and making quilts for the Blount County Sheriff Office to give to children they rescue from unsafe homes.
In one of her first meetings with them, she was told that she better make herself a quilt first because everyone will want one after that. She picked out her pattern, gordian knot.
Fabrics, that was her next decision, deciding to go with blue and purple fabrics. She put many hours of hard work into it. “It gives you creativity,” said McAnnally.
When her quilt was all finished, she decided to enter it into the local quilt show. To her surprise, she won second place with her very first quilt.
In her short time in quilt making, she has learned that she likes to create quilts that portray a story. She is currently working on one that shows a picture of a house. She included the little details, like the geese in the background. “I like quilts that tell a story,” McAnnally said.
Comfort Quilts
When Karen Thrasher’s son joined the Army, she thought she must find something to occupy her time. “I had to find time to keep my mind busy,” said Thrasher. Searching high and low, she found herself falling in love with the art of quilting.
She recalls times when she would watch her family quilt, but she never found herself as interested until she stumbled upon it herself. She taught herself through various videos and joined the Blount County quilting group to continue to grow as a quilter.
The quilt that Thrasher holds closest to her heart is the memory quilt she made for her mother. At the time, her mother was battling with cancer, taking it with her to the hospital. The quilt has pictures of her family all stitched together so that she could have them with her wherever she went.
Quilting has become a big part of Thrasher’s life, and she hopes to pass that down throughout her family. “I’m hoping that maybe my granddaughters will want to learn,” said Thrasher.
Quilting lives on
The art of quilting lives on through these lives. With over 60% of quilters going to independent quilt shops and over 50% creating traditional stitched quilts, according to Craft Industry Alliance, quilting is sure to survive and thrive.
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