By Laurie O’Neill – [email protected]
Quilts are not only practical; they can also be works of art that tell stories — of individuals, families, or historical events — in words, pictures, and colors subtle or eye-popping. The quilter can incorporate elements such as embroidery, beads, buttons, sequins, and fabric dyes.
Antique quilts with their blocks and appliques are prized, but so are contemporary versions in modern hues and a variety of materials, even paper. Some depict landscapes or portraits.
More than 230 quilts, including several stitched by Concordians, will be the stars of “Quilts 250: Stitching in the Spirit of Democracy,” on view March 22-23 at Concord Academy. The show is sponsored by the Concord250 Celebrations Committee and organized by three quilting guilds: Concord Piecemakers, Quilters’ Connection, and Rising Star Quilters.
About 20 “comfort quilts,” which the guilds create for charity, will also be on display.
The show will reflect the development of quilting from the Revolutionary War period to the present. The work of Judy Severson of Concord, who has been quilting for 30 years, will be featured. She has created at least 75 quilts and wrote a book about the art titled “Flowers in Applique” to assist beginning quilters.
A labor of love
Quilting is “very interesting, and there’s a lot of history” involved in it, says Severson, who will have two quilts with patriotic themes on display. The process requires focus and discipline and takes longer than most people think it does. “You have to love it,” she says.
A printmaker before she began studying quilting, Severson has exhibited her work at the Main Library. She guides a weekly quilting group of friends at her home and each year teaches a course in Broderie Perse (Persian Embroidery), the French technique of embroidered applique motifs, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The call for quilts went out last summer, with several categories for submissions: The Spirit of 1775; Antique, Antique-inspired, and Traditional Quilts; Quilts of Protest; Contemporary Quilts; and Student Quilts and Fiber Arts.
Another feature will be “Quilts in Bloom,” for which eight of the quilts will be paired with arrangements created by Concord floral designers. Other highlights include a boutique hosted by the quilting guilds and hands-on activities for children.
Women’s contributions
Gerald Roy, an art teacher, painter, quiltmaker, and author, and Jennifer Swope, curator of textiles at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, will present “American Quilts: The Art and Story of a Nation,” a discussion about the history of quilting in America. During the presentation, for which tickets are required, Roy will show off his quilts.
Holly Cratsley, chair of the Community Participation Subcommittee for Concord250, is overseeing the event’s several committees.
When attending a quilt show in Acton, Cratsley was inspired by the words LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL on one piece. “That did it,” Cratsley says. She vowed to make a Concord quilt show happen. Gayle Coit, a Harvard resident and member of the Piecemakers, joined her in the effort.
Quilting can be regarded as one of the first examples of upcycling. It has been “a part of women’s lives probably forever,” Cratsley notes, mostly out of the economic necessity to reuse “every scrap of material that still has some life in it.”
For the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, “with so much attention being given to the Minute Men,” Cratsley felt it was important “to have a major event that focused on the work of women in the Colonial era and on their contribution to the cause for freedom.”
“Quilts 250” is free and runs on Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23, from 10-4 p.m. in the gym at Concord Academy, 166 Main Street. The presentation by Gerald Roy and Jennifer Swope is at 5 p.m. on March 22 in the school’s Performing Arts Center. It requires a $10 ticket ordered online or purchased at the event. Information and tickets are available at quiltersconnection.org/Quilts250.html.
