Local quilters’ association creates works of art with fabric,
thread and love
Computer-guided design programs, specialized application techniques and machines that fill entire rooms might sound like the makings for a course in rocket science, but they’re actually part of something far more accessible: quilting.
“Quilting isn’t what grandma used to do anymore,” said Mary Ann Bruegmann, president of the South Valley Quilt Association. “Not that there was anything wrong with what grandma did. It was cold, and we needed bed covers in those days. But now it’s an art form.”
The women of the South Valley Quilt Association have taken it upon themselves to provide a forum for this new modern art form and to make sure the stories behind their quilts are told properly.
The association consists of women from many different quilting guilds. Though the association meets monthly to discuss quilting and to compare notes on various projects, the group’s main goal is to organize and host the Harvest Quilt Show, held in conjunction with The Taste of Morgan Hill in September for the last three years.
The association raises about $20,000 annually to hold the show, which has no admission fee and no entry fee.
“We want to get the word out about quilting,” Bruegmann said. “We want everyone who loves quilting to be able to participate in the show, and we want people to come see these beautiful works of art.”
Eventually, the association hopes to make enough money to not only host the show, but also to offer annual scholarships to students majoring in textile arts.
“For now, it’s taking all the money we make to pay for the show,” said Kathy Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the association. “We make pin cushions, smaller-sized quilts, bookmarks – anything we think people will buy and sell them at the show. … Quilting really has become a modern art.”
Appreciating the art comes easy for a number of people, Bruegmann said, and the quilt show attracts a variety of personalities.
“We’ve had an Independence Rally biker show up every year. We have young people, men, women, beginners and people who have been quilting for years,” she said. “Quilting is coming into its own. We inspire each other, and every quilt is a work of love.”
Just as each quilt is a work of art, each quilt also has a story behind it. To tell the stories, every quilt has a label attached to it that lists the maker, the year it was created, the title of the quilt and any other pertinent information, such as a dedication or message to the recipient.
Inspiration for the quilts’ themes, the dedications, the colors and the techniques used to make the quilts come from a variety of places.
Association member Kathy Krause created her quilt, titled Morgan Hill Remembered, based on the city’s pioneer family homes. She said she’d been wanting to do a quilt with a Morgan Hill theme for a long time but was waiting for just the right idea.
“I’d taken a class on how to incorporate photography into my work, so I took pictures of various historic places in Morgan Hill, put the photos into a computer, printed them out, and then put the pictures on a lightbox so I could trace them onto fabric,” Krause said. “Then I painted the landmarks with fabric paint.”
The quilt includes hand-painted renditions of Morgan Hill landmarks such as the United Methodist Church, El Toro Mountain, Ward’s Oak and Madrone.
The city itself inspired Krause’s work, but for other members of the association, the material learned in classes is motivation to create something new.
“My color comfort level has always been earth-tones and neutrals, but I took a class from a woman who believed red was a neutral,” said member Pat McClain. “So I learned about fabrics and ended up doing a quilt of 248 different bright fabric pieces. It’s actually my husband’s favorite quilt, and I’m so pleased with how it came out. It’s really beautiful.”
Family members often give quilters their best ideas. McClaine created a quilt featuring a picture of her son-in-law’s office building, which he hangs in the reception room. Krause made a birthday quilt for her husband that had an antique Chevy and a drive-in diner on it, reminiscent of a diner she and her husband once frequented. In Bruegmann’s quilting classes, she teaches how to make a quilt that was inspired by her godchildren.
“I called it ‘I Need A Team of Angels’ because they’re so mischievous,” she said.
Many of the women create quilts solely for their friends and family because the quilts can take months to make, and fabric can be expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars per quilt. But sometimes, the women make quilts because an idea pops into their heads, or they feel some kind of story needs to be told.
“I get a glass of wine, take off most of my clothes and sit in my backyard to get a tan, and I just start to doodle,” Krause said. “The ideas just start coming to you. I mean, look out this window and you can see the pattern of the clouds in the sky, the hills are coming down toward the trees – you’ve got a quilt right there.”
