Annual exhibition has quilt covered

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For those with a fondness for fabric, the Pine Tree Quilters Guild annual quilt show is the high point for July. The guild’s 31st annual show runs Friday-Sunday, July 25-27, at the Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive. The cost of admission is $8.

More than 650 quilted items will be on display.

The Pilgrim/Roy Challenge Quilts 2009, a traveling exhibition coordinated by the American Quilter’s Society in Paducah, Ky., will be a featured exhibit. Promising talented new and nationally known quilters were invited to participate in the challenge. After touring for one year, the quilts are auctioned and a portion of the proceeds goes to support the conservation and preservation of the society’s Founders Collection.

Another feature of the show will be the Made from Scratch Antique Quilts Exhibit, a special display of vintage quilts, clothing, toys and household items made from printed feed and flour sacks dating from 1930-1950.

The Vintage Revisited exhibit answers the question: What will happen if a set of quilt blocks is divided among a number of quilt artists and each is asked to create a quilt in her own unique style? The 19 participating quilters were free to add to the blocks, cut them up, embellish them, re-create them or otherwise improve them. The only requirement was to create a 24-inch-by-24-inch quilt and that the original block be included.

The Meet the Quilter exhibit of the show will feature the work of Lorraine Sweet, a member of Schoolhouse Quilters in Lincoln area. A quilter for 16 years, Sweet teaches quilting at the SAD 67 Adult Education Program. Among her students is her husband, Searle, who has made 44 quilts within the last four years. Among his many projects, Searle makes patriotic quilts for Maine veterans who have been injured in Iraq.

A special guest at the quilt show will be nationally known author Emilie Richards whose books feature quilts and quilts blocks. Her lecture will be presented 7:45-9 p.m. Friday, July 25. Tickets are $10. A buffet dinner preceding her talk begins at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $26. Preregistration is required.

A Gaggle of Quilters is set for 5:15-7 p.m. Saturday, July 26. Chairwomen Carolee Withee and Beth Maitland will facilitate the sharing of quilting tips and projects. The idea is for participants to “bring and brag.” Those who wish to take part must pay a registration fee.

The raffle quilt at the show is called Classic Jacobean, an applique quilt stitched by the 21 members of the Classic Quilters chapter of the quilt guild in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Dianne Hodgkins of Bangor machine quilted the piece. Visit www.mainequilts.org to view the quilt and for ticket information.

The quilt show offers many classes conducted by expert quilters. Among them are Quilt Design by the Seat of Your Pants with Lisa Erlanson; Organdy Ribbon Transparency with Diane S. Hire; African-American Quilts with Roberta Horton; Easy Fabric Postcards with Billie Lauder; Amish Color with Gayle P. Ropp, Flying Geese with Pat Speth; Nasturtiums with Cathy Van Brugge; and Wood Cut Quilts with Laura Wasilowski. Classes fill up quickly. Visit www.mainequilts.org for information on class schedule, availability, time and cost.

Appraisals of antique, vintage and contemporary quilts will be conducted by Bonnie Dwyer. The fee for a written appraisal is $45.

Demonstrations will be offered free of charge each day. The schedule is:

Friday, July 25

. 9:30 a.m., How to Properly Load a Quilt on a Longarm Machine.

. 10:30 a.m., A Multi-Fabric Project: A Fun Way to Embellish.

. 2 p.m., Sashiko,

. 3 p.m. Making Fabric Floorcloths.

Saturday, July 26

. 9:30 a.m., Cutting and Sewing Circles with the Cut-Around Ruler.

. 10:30 a.m., Embroidery Stitches for Quilters.

. 2 p.m., English Paper Piecing.

. 3 p.m., Multilayered Applique.

Sunday, July 27

. 10:30 a.m., Making Chenille.

Vendors from throughout Maine and from as far away as Illinois, North Dakota, California and Michigan will participate in the Merchants Mall at the quilt show.

Those who wish may volunteer to help set up and take down the show, and for times during the show. E-mail volunteer coordinator Ann Hussey at annsew@msn.com for more information.

Snippets

. The St. Croix International Quilters Guild and Washington County Community College will present Home Sweet Home, an exhibit of contemporary and traditional quilts 1-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at St. Croix Hall, Washington County Community College in Calais. Admission is $3 and will benefit the Beckett Center in Calais and the community college scholarship fund. A Mountain Folk quilt raffle will benefit Ronald McDonald House in Bangor. A silent auction of traditional, contemporary, vintage and art quilts will benefit the Sunrise County Dialysis Center in Eastport. Vendors, demonstrations, activities for children, door prizes and refreshments also will be part of the festivities.

. A display of quilts and other quilted items will be part of the Bridgewater Sesquicentennial Celebration Thursday-Saturday, July 24-26. The show, Quilts Old and New, will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Bridgewater Free Baptist Church. To lend a quilt for the display or for more information, call Reta Hersey at 425-4492.

. The Country Square Quilters of Jay will hold a quilt show 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Wilton Methodist Church, 600 Main St., in Wilton.

. The Hancock County Quilters Caring Hands quilt show and sale will take place 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 8, and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Community of Christ Church, State Street, in Ellsworth. Admission is $3.

. The Corinth Historical Society second annual quilt show is set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Corinth Historical Society Museum in Corinth. Raffle tickets are still available for the Star of Corinth quilt hand-pieced by society member Carol Walker. Tickets are $1 each or seven for $5 by calling 285-7863. Tickets also will be available at the show. The drawing for the quilt takes place at 3 p.m.

. Virve Hirsmaki, a third-year student at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, will conduct a needle felting workshop 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the College’s George B. Dorr Museum of Natural History.

Attendees of the workshop will create a felted square featuring tidepool creatures such as sea stars, anemones and crabs. Their work will become part of a tapestry featuring the intertidal world of the Maine coast. The finished wall hanging, composed of the squares from the workshop, will be exhibited at the museum throughout the summer.

Hirsmaki’s felted hanging, a 6-feet-by-8-feet depiction of her time at the college’s research station on Great Duck Island, is on display in the Grierson Gallery of the museum.

The cost of the workshop is $25 and includes materials. Adults and children age 6 and up may attend. Bring a lunch. Cookies and muffins will be provided. Preregistration is required by calling Lynn Havsall at 288-5395 or 288-2944, ext. 240.

ahamlin@bangordailynews.net