Bed turning a new feature at quilt show

Some came to compete, while others came for inspiration.

The River Heritage Quilt Show opened at the Arena Building on Saturday, and new to the event was a bed turning, where certain quilts, some going back to the mid-19th century, were showcased on a bed.

About 100 people attended Saturday's bed turning; 30 quilts were individually lifted from a bed for the audience to view while listening to the story of each quilt.

Karen Davis of Millersville and her mother, Pauline Griffy of Jackson, attended the bed turning for inspiration.

"I'm amazed that people can visualize [the design] and then put it into a quilt," Davis said.

The River Heritage Quilters Guild holds a show biannually to mix ideas, knowledge, inspiration, friendship and willingness to learn from a spectrum of ages and skill levels. There were 88 entries from Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky in the categories of pieced quilts, applique, group, other technique, miniature, wall hanging and theme.

Some of the entries were a family affair.

Dave Walker of Jackson had an entry in the group category with his daughter, Chelsea, and another in the other technique category that was machine-pieced in a diamond design.

Walker, a former art teacher, started quilting a decade ago when he quit smoking.

"When he bought all that fabric I just said, pffff," said his wife, Julie.

But she went ahead and taught him to use the sewing machine.

Now, her father has "taught me everything I know," Chelsea said.

Quilt show chairwoman Madeline Gieselman of Millersville taught her granddaughter, Rebeccah Chrun, to quilt at age 9. Now 12, Rebeccah plans to start on her third quilt when she turns 13, "when I'm more experienced," she said.

Quilting friends Linda Hodges of Altenburg and Nancy Woods of Jackson said the show at the Arena Building was their first quilt show in Cape Girardeau. Although Hodges calls herself a quilter wannabe, she has completed several quilts. She calls her products utilitarian because she's not as fussy as Woods.

"I came to see how my hand quilting measures up," Woods said. "I can see my consistency is getting better."

cpagano@semissourian.com

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