Quilts large and small took over the Legacy of the Plains Museum Saturday evening for a special night with the International Quilt Museum (IQM) out of Lincoln.
Over 100 guests registered for the fundraising event, which included a meal, an IQM exhibit and a presentation from its curator of collections Carolyn Ducey. The event was to not only provide information and background on the 13-year-old museum and its nearly 6,500-quilt collection, but also to raise money to maintain the museum, and possibly expand it in the future.
“When people paid as a fundraiser to come, and then more people than we even imagined came, that just shows how important quilting is to people,” Ducey said. “…It’s really gratifying to know that what we’re doing is making a difference, and I think that really showed today.”
The favorite part of the night for many, however, might have been seeing local 4-H quilters display their works right alongside some of the greatest quilts of the past few centuries and from around the world. It was definitely the highlight for the young quilters.
“I was really excited,” 13-year-old Sheridan Ferguson said. “I was excited because my grandma was doing it, so I thought I might as well.”
Ferguson’s grandma, JoAnn Lathrop, is one of the leaders of the Sew Cool 4-H Club, of which Ferguson and the other four quilters whose quilts were on display are a part.
Lathrop said the club is fairly new, having only been around for about six or seven years, but the kids are constantly improving through it all the time. They use a curriculum through 4-H and the extension center called Quilt Quest, and many of the projects done with the curriculum end up going to, and doing well at, county fair.
In fact, all the quilts on display won at least purple ribbons. This year, four of the five quilters at the fundraiser — Ferguson, Emily Knouse, Hunter Creech and Jonah Splichal — will be sending their quilts to the state fair. The fifth quilter, Jessica Splichal, did not make a quilt this year as she was preparing for college.
“We’ll be looking forward to see what happens at state fair with these kids’ quilts,” Lathrop said.
Ferguson, who has a Quilt of Valor going to state fair, said she was ecstatic when she found out about its placing at the Scotts Bluff County Fair.
“After lunch I kind of went down (to the show room), and I took a peek, and I got really excited,” she said. “And when I told my mom, she was super excited.”
Eleven-year-old Knouse also did a Quilt of Valor this year, which is headed to state. Both Ferguson’s and Knouse’s quilts will be given to a family member or friend who served in the military during special presentations, which will take place after the quilts come back from the state fair. Ferguson’s will be presented alongside the Quilt of Valor that her grandmother, Lathrop, is currently working on.
“(Mine) is for my dad — he served,” she said. “My grandma’s going to make one too because her dad served, and we’re going to have a ceremony at her house.”
Creech’s science-themed quilt won reserve champion overall at the county fair and will be headed to state as well. He said he’s “been into science for a while, and that’s my 4-H theme this year.”
For this 11-year-old, this year was big not only because his second quilt ever is going to state fair, but because it got to be a part of an exhibit shown alongside the IQM’s quilts.
“I was surprised,” he said.
After getting a chance to look at the IQM’s display he said, “They were really cool.”
Lathrop knew this was a great opportunity for the young quilters, so when members of the IQM fundraiser asked Lathrop, who was also on the committee, if these quilters would be interested in displaying their quilts alongside the IQM quilts, she thought it was a great idea.
“I think this is an excellent opportunity for the kids,” she said. “I think that shows them some of the abilities. Their skills are improving all the time, and it shows them the variety of quilts that they can do. I think it was an honor.”
While the 4-H quilters displayed their quilts in a special side room at the Legacy of the Plains Museum, the IQM put up their displays of quilts made as long ago as the late 1700s to quilts made as far away as Pakistan and Australia. The Legacy of the Plains Museum even put up quilts from its own collection for a night of textile takeover to show just what makes the art of quilting so important to the legacy and history of different places around the world.
“It was one of the very few ways women could express their artistic vent, their desire to produce something. So, even if it was something that was supposed to be used to keep people warm, they created pieces of beauty that they wanted to live on, just like all of us do. You want to make your mark,” Ducey said. “…(Quilting) is just an expression of love, expression of creativity, and (it) is also something that’s really unique to the home. It’s not like a painting that goes to museum; it’s something you use in your home. So there’s that intimacy about it, too, and it’s worldwide.”
*This article originally appeared in the Gering Courier on Aug. 25, 2021.
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