Mary La Tourelle
The Agave Quilt Guild offers a “share table” during our monthly meetings, loaded with patterns, fabric, notions, and more, and last spring several members uncovered a treasure—a bag with 17 beautifully pieced blocks, the pattern book by Rosemary Makhan, and some of the original fabric. Called the “Bible Quilt,” it had passed through many hands, while its original maker is unknown. Sally Walby reworked the blocks and redesigned the quilt, Shar Schmutz quilted it, and Dennie Sullivan sewed on the binding. It is now being raffled off at $1 per ticket or $5 for six tickets and $10 for 15 tickets. The drawing will be held at our March 6 meeting. Please contact any member of the guild to purchase tickets. The quilt is 68 inches wide by 67 inches long and includes a sleeve for hanging.
Bible quilts were more popular in days of yore. In the 1915 book Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them comes this quote: “Religion is closely associated with the life of the industrious, sober-minded dwellers of our villages and farms, and it is the most natural thing in the world for the Biblical teachings to crop out in the names of their quilts.”
In February our program will feature local batik fabric designer and quilter, Kelly Grant, who will also have a trunk show. Kelly has made several Judy Neimeyer quilts and loves to teach the Quiltworx technique. She has traveled to Bali, which inspired her fabric collections. To view her work, go to batiktextiles.com/kellygrantdesigns.aspx.
In November we delivered 82 charity quilts to Valleywise Hospital in Phoenix, which brings our total donations to a whopping 3,523! Thanks to Judy Crumpler for her leadership of our Community Service Committee and to our dedicated volunteer quilters.
Our club meets the first Wednesday of the month, September through May, at 1 p.m. in the Navajo Room at Sun Lakes Country Club (25601 S. Sun Lakes Blvd.) and offers monthly speakers, smaller “friendship clubs,” classes, community service opportunities, and much more. You are invited to join us as a guest at an upcoming meeting to see if you want to become a member. Or you can contact our membership chair, Loy Rheinauer, at [email protected] for more information.