The Olde Kent Quilters Guild will present its biennial Shore Love Quilts! Show and Market on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20, at the Kent Center, 215 Scheeler Road.
Show hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m on Sunday. Admission is $8; children 12 and under are free.
The guild’s members have spent the last two years lovingly and skillfully creating the more than 80 quilts on display, which exemplify both the art and the craft of quilting through a variety of styles and techniques. Several of the quilts on display have won honors at the Kent County and Maryland State Fairs and at other quilt shows.
This year’s Featured Quilters are the guild’s four bees, or special interest groups, whose work reflect both the history and variety of quilting. The Repro Bee, for example, focuses on historical aspects of quilting, while the Bee Creative members stretch their work in more modern ways.
Photo: Barbara Kelly, president of the Olde Kent Quilters Guild, shows off the guild’s 2019 raffle quilt, Wedding in the Night Garden, which won a ribbon at this year’s Maryland State Fair.
The show’s market will be a great place to everyone to start their holiday shopping, offering a diverse array of unique handcrafted items. Quilters will also find books, patterns and fabrics for sale.
On Sunday, Bob’s Sharpening Service will be on site to provide on-the-spot sharpening for scissors, knives, pruners and similar items.
Sharing the beauty and comfort of quilts is an important part of the guild’s programs throughout the year. The Deborah’s Angels comfort quilt program has donated more than 2800 smaller quilts to sick and needy children, hospice patients, nursing home residents and victims of natural disasters since its inception in 2004. Volunteers from the guild also work with women incarcerated at the Kent County Detention Center through the Hands of Time partnership, making quilts, heart-shaped pillows for mastectomy patients and other items for donation to local community groups. Scraps from quilt-making don’t go to waste, either, but rather become the filling for pet beds donated to four local rescue organizations.
These programs are supported in large part by the proceeds from the guild’s annual raffle quilt. This year’s quilt, Wedding in the Night Garden, is a modern take on a traditional double wedding ring quilt, using a modified pickle dish quilt pattern by nationally known quilt designer and teacher, Debbie Kratovil. Tickets for the raffle, 6 for $5 or $1 each, will be available at the show. There are second, third and fourth prizes as well, so each ticket has four chances to win. The winners’ names will be draw at the guild’s final 2019 meeting on November 19.
Olde Kent Quilters
In 2020, the Olde Kent Quilters will be celebrating 25 years of making works of he(art), one stitch at a time. The guild meets monthly from January through November at the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown. The guild’s activities include monthly programs and workshops with local, regional and nationally known speakers, special interest bees, comfort quilt and community outreach programs, an annual exhibit of small quilts, a biennial show and market, and two annual retreats.
Quilters of all skill levels, including beginners, are welcome. For more information, contact guild president Barbara Kelly at 215.872.4084.
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