STRING-A-LONG QUILT GUILD SHOW DELIVERS – AROUND THE FRAME

Once again the String-A-Long Quilt Guild’s biennial show is a resounding success. This is my third time to attend the show this time with the BAQ Crew Louise and Herb in tow. As we enter the Porter County Expo Center my cousin Janet Levihn is working the check-in tables. Her term as treasurer is over but she uses her expertise to lend a helping hand. Janet enters a hand quilted redwork embroidery wall hanging “Child’s Play” featuring 1920-30s boys and girls sailing a boat, feeding a rabbit, skipping rope, etc. Very nicely done! We both keep the tradition of hand quilting alive. Also in the entryway is a salute to the guild’s “Thirty Years and Still in the Making” theme. On display is a log cabin quilt from 1984 with the names of the original members. Next to it a log cabin piece with the names of the current members. It was interesting to compare the fabrics of two different eras.

Herb, a first-timer to any quilt show, purchases a quilt book in the flea market area. With its many projects, we’re anxiously awaiting to see what he will create first. Louise states she can’t possibly use any more fabric yet she finds a few special pieces to take home.

Treasures aren’t only found in the flea market but amongst the vendor booths too. Vendor Jeanette Rommelmann sells vintage fabric pieces and quilt postcards from Intercourse, Pennsylvania, 90″ wide solid fabrics in soft pastels have a new home at BAQ too. Jeannette tells me she attended nursing school at Lutheran Hospital on Fairfield Avenue-South Wayne Avenue that runs behind the hospital and is also the home of BAQ. A trip to Fort Wayne is now in her future since she knows how to find the studio and she wants to watch a quilt autopsy or two!

Joan Zugel profiled two years ago has an entire area dedicated to her quilts. Her quilt now on display with a copy of the Waynedale News article attached.

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The quilts at this show are judged by a certified National Quilters Association (NQA) judge and by the viewers. I sit down at a lunch table and talk to Jacque Eriks of Valparaiso and a 20-year member of the String-A-Long Quilters Guild and winner of the NQA judge’s award of merit for outstanding achievement in quilting and third place viewer’s choice award.

Jacque is a late blooming quilter. Her mother and sister made many quilts before Jacque made a big WARM comforter out of polyester squares. She takes classes at the Pieceful Quilts shop in Chesterton where she learns various quilting techniques. Joining the Guild and seeing other member’s work inspires her to learn more. Jacque enjoys making wall hangings to showcase her impressive embroidery, piece, Japanese floral and appliqué skills.

Those needlework skills went into the creation of her award winning wall hanging. Entitled “Ewe-Niquely Baltimore” it is a block-of–the-month project worked in wool. It is a spin on the Baltimore Quilts of the mid-1800s known for their exquisite floral wreath appliqué work. The bead, embroidery and appliqué work make for an outstanding quilt. Congratulations Jacque!

As we head back to the Fort with our treasures we start to plan a trip to the Harlan Methodist Church Quilt Show, April 11-12. Hope to see you there!

Lois Levihn Eubank is the owner of Born Again Quilts a restoration studio and quilt gallery. Antique quilts and sewing accessories from BAQ have found their forever homes in Australia, New Zealand, France, Finland, Japan and London, England. The studio is located at 4005 South Wayne Ave., Fort Wayne or visit it online at bornagainquilts.etsy.com.