Algood to be Covered in Quilts Sept. 15-17
The 23rd annual Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival is right around the corner. This year's festival, which is the main fundraiser for the Algood Senior Citizen Center, is set for Sept. 15-17. With the theme "Tennessee Treasures," more than 500 quilts will be on display in different areas of Algood.
A special preview dinner and auction will be held Thursday evening, Sept. 15, at the Algood United Methodist Church's family life building. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased in advance by calling Melinda Bilbrey at 931-510-1151. The preview dinner will be prepared by the Burton's Chapel United Methodist Church. Auction items will feature desserts by some of Putnam County's finest cooks and antiques from local antique dealers.
Featured quilts will be from Cindy Bellis' collection and Mary Frances Brown, a Cookeville Crazy Quilter member. The entry fee is $5 in advance of the festival and $6 at the door. The fee is good for both days of the festival.
The family life building will also feature the Merchant's Mall of 30 vendors displaying their wares for sale. Vendors who plan to be included are Tupperware, Stardust Canteen, Sew Clever Fabric, KNL Traditions, Cookeville Embroidery, Creative Stitches, Gutterguard, Looms of Denise Bamberg, 74 Jewels, Pal World, Jewelry by Vee, Joan Williams, Premier Design Jewelry, Attic Window, Barbara and Deuel White Jewelry, Karen Pharr Studios and Spring Creek Quilts and Fabric. Outdoor crafters and artists participating include Dixie Home Crafters, Blue Springs Soap, Betty Uker and Hillsdale Quilts.
Quilt barn tours will also be offered and will take place Friday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. The cost is $39 and includes lunch, transportation and visits with barn and quilt owners.
Sponsors of the festival include the Tennessee Arts Commission and a number of local businesses and churches.
Joann Gill to be Honored at Preview Dinner
Now in its 23rd year, the Algood Quilt Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. For 22 of those years, JoAnn Gill has been involved in the festival, which is the main fundraiser for the Algood Senior Center.
"This festival has grown bigger and we've gotten so many more people interested," Gill said. "You meet a lot of great people and see some really beautiful quilts." Gill has entered quilts every year since she began serving, served as a resource for others, encouraged others to participate and promoted the festival far and wide.
Her love of quilts has been the source of her hobby and a thriving business. She has bought and sold quilts for well over 25 years, restoring many that needed repair. Her knowledge of fabrics and age and quality of quilts have been a valuable asset for the quilt festival and quilt lovers.
In the early years of the festival, antique shops and businesses would set up vignettes to display their merchandise and use quilts to highlight the display. Being in the antique business, she jumped right in to participate in that venue of the show. She can give a lecture about the history and art of quilting, do a "bed quilt turning," telling stories of the quilts, sell tickets and produce award-winning quilts to display in the quilt show.
"I'm not a big quilter," Gill said. "I have quilted about eight to 10 quilts. My children have those now." Growing up, she watched her grandmother quilt a number of quilts, and her children have done the same with her. " They have been interested, as they've watched me over the years quilt," she said. It's an art, she agrees, and takes time, patience and dedication.
And considering she has sold and displayed a number of quilts throughout the country, she has seen different patterns. "Kentucky has some beautiful quilts featured," she noted. "It's fun to go all around and see the different ones."
As for being honored, she is very appreciative of the award. "I found out a few weeks ago that I got it," she said. "As long as I'm up and moving and the good Lord willing, I'll be volunteering at the festival."
She will be recognized Sept. 15 at the preview dinner and auction, which will be held at the Algood Methodist Church's family life building. A plaque with JoAnn's name on it will hang in the Algood Senior Center and she will also receive a personal memento to keep.
Mary Frances Brown's Quilts to be Featured in Special Display
Cookeville's local quilt guild, the Cookeville Crazy Quilters, will be participating in the Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival Sept. 15 and 17 with a special display. The guild will spotlight one of their most dedicated and prize-winning quilt makers, Mary Frances Brown of Rickman.
More than 20 of Brown's quilts will be on display at Trinity Assembly Church's Fuel Center. Brown is known for her love of hand-piecing and hand-quilting. She is a retired home economics teacher and prefers hand work over the use of the sewing machine. Her favorite quilts are the 1800 reproduction quilts, which includes the Civil War era. She has been quilting for 21 years and has completed more than 30 quilts. Her collection includes many prize-winning show quilts, including one displayed at the prestigious American Quilter's Society Paducah Quilt Show in Paducah, Ky.
She continues to quilt and at the age of 82 and she is still an active member and attends the day group of the Cookeville Crazy Quilters. The Cookeville Crazy Quilters meet the first and third Thursdays at the Putnam County Library at 5 p.m.
Woman Has Collected Over 200 Quilts
Cindy Bellis will tell you right off she can't sew, let alone quilt -- but she does admire the dedication and history behind each and every quilt she sees.
"Somebody's heart and a lot of love went into making each and every quilt," she said. "It's obvious from looking at them.
" Bellis has 200 quilts -- maybe more -- on display at her house and her cottage, Blackberry Bramble Cottage on Blackburn Fork Road in Cookeville. "I never dreamed I'd have this many quilts," she said with a laugh. "My idea of collecting quilts began around 1988 when Nettie Holt (a patient at the doctor's office she worked at at the time) gave me a quilt made out of her mother's wedding gown," Bellis said. "I always thought that it is such a neat way to preserve the gown.
"I have found and bought quilts at estate sales, auctions and eBay," she said. "They are just so unique." However, not all of her quilts were purchased. Her prized quilt is one her mother spent 15 years creating. "Our family quilt has won best of show at the Putnam County Fair," she noted. "It's an amazing quilt." Each quilt square represents a different era in her family, beginning with her parents' wedding in 1951. It documents different milestones in their lives.
Her mother, who is now 78, keeps telling her she needs to learn how to sew. "I really do want to learn how to quilt and sew," she said. "I would love to learn. Mom keeps telling me she won't be around forever, so I need to learn."
Other quilts in her collection include anniversary quilts, double wedding ring quilts and more. "The oldest one may be from the mid-to-late 1800s," she said. "I purchased a number of them from Vintage Rose Antiques." Her collection caught the eye of the Pilot Club members who participated in the Tour of Homes last Christmas. "Some of the quilt members there saw my collection and asked if I wanted to display them at the quilt festival," Bellis said. "They initially wanted a lot more displayed, but I could only do 30 this year and then I'll display another 30 next year.
"Quilting is an art," she continued. "It's not just for older people. Anyone can do it."
New This Year
Every year the Quilt Festival gets better and better! It is so exciting to be able to use one of the new buildings at Trinity Assembly for our starting point. It is so spacious with high ceilings, great lighting, and a grassy area outside where we will have crafter's booths (new this year too).
The crafters' area and the Country Store at the Algood Senior Center will not have an entry fee. We know that not everyone enjoys quilts (though we can't understand that) so be sure to invite your friends and neighbors to come and enjoy shopping with us.
Festival entry fee is still $6.00. If you purchase in advance the price will be $5.00 and you can pick up your advance ticket at the Algood Senior Center or Jackson Bank & Trust in Algood.
We hope you will enjoy the improvements we have made this year!
QUILT FESTIVAL OFFERS SCENIC SIDE TRIP
Reservations are now being taken to view the new quilt squares on the expanded Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail in Overton County. Conducted in conjunction with the Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival, this all inclusive tour includes lunch and transportation along with insider visits with Barn & Quilt owners along the trail. It will be a photographers delight! The tour will start at 9:00 AM on Friday, Sept. 16th at the Trinity Assembly (corner of W. Wall St. & W. Main St.) in Algood, TN. Signs will be posted. Tour will return around 3:30 - 4:00 p.m.
View beautiful vistas, antique ahops, and the Old Mill Store at Union Hill on this tour. Eat lunch in historic Livingston catered by Seasons. View over a dozen quilt square sites in Overton County with lunch and transportation included for $39.
Space is limited so don;t delay in reserving a seat for this special tour. Tickets are $39 per pserson for the day! Reservations can be made by calling 931.372.6047 or mailing a check to HYL RC&D, c/o TTU, P.O. Box 5034, Cookeville, TN 38505. Please note your name and provide a phone number.
See the photos from last year's tour.
QUILT DRAWING
The quilters at the Algood Senior Center have once again made a quilt that will be given to the winning ticket holder. With a donation of $1 you get one ticket or with a donation of $5 you will receive 6 ticket. You can make your donation at the Algood Senior Center or Jackson Bank & Trust. Donate a lot and increase your chances!
ONLINE QUILT ENTRY
We have added the capability to submit your quilt entries to us online. You can fill the form out online and save yourself a stamp! See the new form here.
ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
We have expanded our vendors' by adding an area for outdoor booths. This will be located in the grassy area outside the main exhibit and registration building at Trinity Assembly.
DANCING EXHIBITION
This will be held during the lunch hour at the Methodist Church.
Algood Elementary School Exhibit Teaches Children
Each year when Carol Teeters, Algood Elementary School librarian, starts bringing out the quilts, the children become excited about sharing a piece of their family history with their classmates through family quilts. But little do they know they are learning other skills in the process.
"Students and their families will bring in quilts and are willing to let me display those," Teeters said. "They all have their own stories about their quilts." For the past five years, Teeters along with Amy Collins, librarian at Algood Middle School, has been working to involve students with their quilting heritage.
Collins and Teeters worked together at the K-8 Algood School from 2007-2009 and collaborated on the quilt displays. "I was very much aware of the quilt festival and I had always, in some way, (wanted) to participate in that with the community and bring that part of this community and that heritage to the kids at this school," Teeters said.
The very first display the duo created featured quilts from Teeters as well as other teachers and assistants at the school. "It's really nice because we have twice as many quilts," Teeters said. Now, Teeters and Collins create separate quilt displays in their respective libraries.
Teeters admits that she prefers the heritage-type quilts as opposed to those that may be a little more contemporary. As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution's Old Walton Road chapter, Teeters is asking fellow members to participate by lending family heirloom quilts to be featured in the displays at AES.
"We have really a wealth of those type of heritage quilts in this area that those members are willing to loan to me for a very short period of time to display," Teeters said. The quilts are often treasured pieces of a family's history. Some of the quilts are tied to American history. At least one of the previously displayed quilts belonged to members of Sgt. Alvin C. York's family. York was named a famous historical figure following his heroic efforts in Germany during World War I.
The display often features many pieces from the Depression-era and even some that are more than 100 years old. "I do actually have some people that bring in woven coverlets ... that was a really popular textile in the 1880s (and) 1890s. So, we've had some very museum-worthy pieces." In addition to highlighting the history of the quilts, the art of quilting can also be tied into math and geometry lessons.
During the week leading up to the quilt festival, students can make their own quilt squares using the information that they have learned about shapes and measurements to create one-of-a-kind works of art. From mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers and generations long gone, students have someone in their family who has made a quilt that they are proud to share with their classmates.
"Everybody has a quilt," Teeters said. To view the quilts on display in the AES library Teeter recommends visitors enter through the Old Walton Road entrance. Visitors can view the displays at AES Friday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Quilt From Grandma's Is Most Treasured
Nola Mae Needham doesn't sew much these days but the quilts she made back as far back as the 1930s are a testament to her talent.
She's been quilting as far back as she can remember. "I made my first quilt when I was 12 years old," she said. With the help of her mother and her sisters, Nola hand-stitched the Dutch Doll quilt. She still has the quilt and, although it's a little worn and faded from use, she still treasures it.
One of her most-beloved quilts was the Whig Rose quilt that her grandmother made. Nola and her mother began searching for the Whig Rose quilt that had seemingly disappeared after her grandmother had passed away. The pair managed to trace the quilt to a relative in Missouri and there Nola was able to see, for the first time, the quilt from her grandmother's bed.
"It just did something to me, I can't explain it, when I touched that quilt," she said. Nola never knew her grandmother but in that instant she had a part of her in her hands. During its life, the quilt survived a house fire at Nola's aunt's home. As her aunt was exiting the home, she grabbed an armful of quilts and escaped the blaze. The Whig Rose quilt just happened to be in the bundle that the aunt managed to save. Years later, a granddaughter of the aunt had the quilt stored at her home when lightning struck the home, burning it to the ground. Unfortunately, the quilt was unable to be saved the second time around.
A devastated Nola decided that she wanted to recreate the Whig Rose quilt. She recalled the set of photographs of her grandmother's quilt that had been taken shortly after she and her mother "found" it. She decided to make a replica of the quilt using the photographs as her guide. A relative familiar with fabrics and textiles was able to create a template pattern of the Whig Rose quilt by using the photos.
Over the years, Nola has made a lot of quilts; at least 50. Some feature intricate, hand-stitched patterns that have machine precision and some are made from scraps of cloth and some are made from Martha White five-pound flour sacks. Each one tells a story but probably none can compare with the story of the Whig Rose. "That's the special quilt that means a lot to me today, and I've made a lot of quilts," Nola said. She joked that she has enough quilts to share with her family if they need them and the reason anyone in the family would need to make a quilt would be simply "for the fun of it."
Two of Nola Mae's quilts will be on display at Masters Health Care in Algood during the quilt festival, set for Sept. 15-17.
Calling All Quilt Owners
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of women and men in the Upper Cumberland area that love quilts, enjoy quilting and own some of the most beautiful quilts ever made. Don’t keep them hidden in that cedar chest or closet – get them out and show them off.
Those of you who quilt…
After spending hours and hours shopping for fabric, cutting, sewing, quilting, binding your quilt, now is the time to display your labor of love for everyone else to see.
Those of you who own quilts…
Don’t keep Mom’s or Grandma’s quilts hidden in a chest or trunk. Show them off with pride in your family’s heritage.
We want you to enter your quilts in order to share your talent and to encourage the perpetuation of quilting to a younger generation - be it a utility quilt or a piece of art.
To see the quilts hanging is comforting to the body and stirs the imagination in the soul. Who knows what influence your quilt can make on a beginner quilter or even on a seasoned quilter?
So enter your quilts in the Upper Cumberland Quilt Festival - we want to see all your quilts: Challenge, wall hangings, bed quilts, antique -- all quilts are eligible for "Viewer's Choice" and ribbons are awarded to all quilts except the antique ones. You and your quilts are a fundraiser for the Algood Senior Center.
You can now submit your quilt entries to us online. See the new form here. The deadline for getting the quilt entry forms to us in September 1, 2011.
We will be looking for you to bring those quilts on
Monday, September 12, 2011 at the
Algood Community Center
between the hours of 7:45a and 6p
