Inspirations come from Welsh quilting

Connie Young, 62, of Searsport took up quilting 10 years ago as a way to deal with grief when her husband was nearing the end of his life. She is self-taught, and is drawn to whole-cloth quilting rather than pieced quilts.

“In the evening when I want to settle down and quilt, my mind won’t let me figure,” she said, laughing, referring to the geometric challenges of pieced quilting.

Welsh quilting is her forte. She will demonstrate the technique at the Augusta Quilt Show July 25-27 at the Augusta Civic Center. Her sessions are set for 2:15 p.m. Friday, July 25, and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 26.

The show features more than 300 quilts, many workshops, lectures and special exhibits. The show theme is “Quilts from the Past – Old and New.” One-day admission is $6, two-day admission is $10.

Welsh quilting is characterized by border patterns that may incorporate hearts, leaves, spirals, triangles, circles, squares, fans and cross-hatching. The overall effect is flowery and feathery. The fabric colors most often used for the quilts are ivory, red, gold, yellow, pink and mauve.

“I love color,” Young said. In her previous life – before she moved from Chicago to Maine in 1978 – she was a color consultant for the Sherwin-Williams Co.

Young said her designs are inspired by pieces on display in museums in the United Kingdom, where the art thrives.

“Welsh quilt patterns are in print in this country,” she said. A book she finds especially helpful is Marjorie Horton’s “Welsh Quilting Pattern and Design Handbook.”

Early Welsh quilts were made of wool on one or both sides. Cotton, especially cotton sateen, became the standard at a later date. The 1998 January-February issue of Piecework magazine features an article about Welsh quilting.

“Quilting,” Young said, “brought me a new husband.” She met Donald Young several years ago when he called seeking someone to repair an antique Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt he had purchased. They were married a year ago today.

“I’m reinventing myself as an art quilt guru,” she said. “My husband’s encouragement is so important to me. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to do this on my own.” Now she has her own business, Mark and Design Heirloom Quilts. She teaches Welsh quilting, but does not yet offer her work for sale.

“There must be a primitive urge that makes us express ourselves with needle and thread,” she said. “Quilting has become my life.”

Young also collects and repairs vintage and antique quilts.

To obtain information about Welsh quilting, call Young at 548-8041.

To learn more about the Augusta Quilt Show, call Nancy Bishop at 453-7287 or visit www.mainequilts.org and click on Maine Quilts 2003.

Snippets

Pandora’s Gift Shop, 51 Main Road on Route 1 in Holden, which opened June 18, offers items made by hand by Maine artisans. Owners Cindy Patterson and Gail Sumner stock gifts done in stained glass, hand sewing, knitting and crocheting.

Patterson is a 20-year member of United Maine Crafters. Call the shop at 989-8912 to learn more.

The Fabric Garden in Skowhegan is offering quilting classes for children July 14. Call 474-9628 for details.

If you want to add a Scottish flavor to your counted cross-stitch, the Textile Heritage Collection of Scotland has available more than 200 kits for small projects including, purses, bookmarks and pinchusions.

Visit www.textileheritage. com or write: Textile Heritage Collection, 5 India Buildings, Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH 1 2EX, Scotland.