Quilt show inspires awe at McDermont Field House

LINDSAY ­— Some came to the Best in the Valley Quilt Show for the inspiration it offered them, for their own quilting hobby, while others were seeing the art form, in its progressively blossoming variety, for the first time.

The south end of the McDermont Field House was a garden of hues this weekend, as the needlework of the best quilters — most from the Valley — filled the basketball court area for the 15th annual regional show of quilts, wearable art, and cloth dolls.

These quilts went beyond basic geometric shapes and colors. Some were adorned with realistic portraits of animals and landscapes, created by a technique called thread painting which blends different hues.

Some quilts were large enough to drape the entire wall of a small room, while others were small enough to use as place mats for dining. Others had three dimensional features, while some had embroidery or both, and some were stitched by hand, while others were created using machine stitching.

Renee Azevedo giggled under her breath when she saw a busy small quilt made of pentagon shapes, containing the picture of a fat cat, meditating on sweets. The quilt, called “Yogini and the Candy Dish,” kept the eyes busy, with its small designs of candy, cookies and pastries, surrounding the foreground and background pictures.

“Look at the quilt. That is so cute,” she said. Being a quilter herself, she has come to the valley-wide quilt show ever since its earliest days when it was held in Tulare in conjunction with the Antique Farm Equipment Show. She likes to see the different concepts that artists come up with for their quilt work. She drove from Fresno to attend the show.

“It’s a good show,” she said. “It just inspires me, because I’m not good at original things myself, so when I see other people do it, it helps me. Not to mention I get to buy things.”

Azevedo carried bags full of items she bought from some of the businesses that set up as vendors for the event. Quilting fabric, embroidery supplies, sewing machines, books on quilting and other crafts, candles, hand bags, doll clothes, jewelry and other various quilting supplies attracted the attention of people, sometimes even before they looked at the quilt show itself

Docents assigned to each row of art guided the viewers and offered information about the pieces, additional to the description beside each of them. Anna Kolewyn, from Hanford, was the featured artist. She gave short lessons and talked with curious viewers about her quilting techniques, near the display of her work.
For Tom Gil Martin, attending the show was originally an opportunity to do something with his wife, but ended up being an enjoyable pastime for him, as well.

“I’m the husband that was dragged to the quilt show, but I like it. It’s wonderful stuff,” he said. “I am a gardener and a landscaper, and she’s gotten into quilting in the last few years, so it’s interesting to see how nature and land was used as inspiration for the quilters, and they can implement that into their work.”

He said they came from Hanford, where they live, to see the show so that his wife, Diane, could be inspired. He seemed to agree that it was worth the trip.

“[The art] is intricate and detailed, and that’s what it takes to make beautiful work,” Gil Martin said.

Roberto De La Rosa, who is not a quilter, had the second-hand enjoyment of seeing his wife and mother-in-law delight in the show. He pushed his month-old son, Dario, in a stroller, and stood behind smiling as his wife, Gabriela, and her mother, Maria Ramos, looked closely at each piece of work, taking note of the techniques that were used.

“I think it’s fantastic, he said. My mother-in-law and my wife do stitch work, so I brought them, and I wanted them to see this American tradition. My mother-in-law is from Mexico City, from the Oaxaca tribe, and they have a long tradition of embroidery — stitching, crochet and weaving. So, when the quilt show came around, and she was visiting, I brought them here.

“We love it. We will come back next year. It’s hard for me to believe that people have this type of dedication to work like this. It’s so intricate. The detail is amazing.”

Though she didn’t speak English, his wife expressed that she found the show both inspiring, and humbling, and his mother-in-law said she found it instructive.

Friends Beverly Brewer and Joan Finley commented to one another about the different art as they passed by it.
“I can’t believe all the talent that is in our area. It’s really beautiful talent,” Finley said. “It’s an art form, and it’s one that I think is going to be a dying art, unless young people pick it up.”

Brewer, who has been to the quilt show before, was showing Finley for her first time.

“I sew, but I just have to admire these things. It’s just like people who go to ball games — sometimes [the players] just need admirers. And I’m an admirer of these quilts,” Brewer said.

Marsha Owen, who was also a first-time quilt show attendee, took a double take of one piece, and got closer to it to study its detail. She held her Viewer’s Choice ballot and scanned the area to get a fair glimpse of all the work.
“It’s more artistic, something to put on the wall. They look like paintings, like some artist did it with an easel instead of a needle and thread,” she said.

Marya Innis, who said she appreciates art, liked the color-coordinated organization of the art at the quilt show, as well as a memorial display dedicated to Loretta White, who was on the quilt show committee and passed away last September.

“I didn’t know the woman, but I could tell a lot about her, through her work,” Innis said.

There was also a traveling show, comprised of about 80 pieces of quilts and wearable art that were entered into the Hoffman Challenge. The Hoffman fabric company proposes a challenge the people can participate in from throughout the world. They must use a certain amount of fabric, and follow a number of other guidelines. A few local quilters had their work up as part of the traveling collection that shows at different quilt shows throughout the year.

“It’s an honor to get in here, because you have a lot of competition,” said Carolyn Brown, a docent and member of the Visalia Orange Blossoms and Common Threads. “It’s an honor that our show gets this display every year, and it’s a greater honor if you get accepted to be in it,” she said.