Three Rivers Quilters to host annual show at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows
Katherine Mansfield
When Pam Bice and other Three Rivers Quilters guild members were tasked with crafting the China Doll pattern in April 2022, they didn无毛视频檛 realize the block represented Tien Fuh Wu, a Chinese woman who, through sex trafficking, wound up in San Francisco, where she was rescued and devoted her life to freeing Chinese immigrant women and girls from trafficking. The China Doll pattern and others are part of the guild无毛视频檚 Busy Bee collection honoring Women Lost to History.
Katherine Mansfield
The closer one looks, the more details emerge, as on this quilt that will be on display at the annual Three Rivers Quilters Show, which runs March 30 through April 1 at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows.
Katherine Mansfield
In the 19th and early 20th century, women quilted and crafted clothing from chicken feed sacks, pictured here. Today, quilting threads together the past and present, borrowing and modernizing patterns and techniques.
Katherine Mansfield
Jan Burke, of Upper St. Clair, holds a quilt sewn by her mother in the 无毛视频�70s or 无毛视频�80s while standing before a quilt her grandmother, Amanda Thomas, made in about 1918. Both quilts are examples of the Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path pattern.
Katherine Mansfield
Pam Bice, Liz Hays and Jan Burke stand in front of Not Your Mother无毛视频檚 Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path, a quilt that will be raffled off during the 2023 Three Rivers Quilters Show, which runs March 30 through April 1 at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.
Photos: Katherine Mansfield
Liz Hays, of Overbrook, displays her entry into this year无毛视频檚 Three Rivers Quilters Show. Hays无毛视频� quilt is fashioned in the Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path and, like many memorial works, incorporates pieces of her mother无毛视频檚 clothing.
Katherine Mansfield
Liz Hays无毛视频� quilt, upon closer inspection, features patterns of leaves. The quilt will be displayed at the Three Rivers Quilters Show, which begins March 30 at the Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.
Katherine Mansfield
Women often created piecemeal quilts and clothing from chicken feed sacks.
The three quilts could not, at first glance, be more different.
The first, a rich blue beauty decorated in what looked like white puzzle pieces, hung across the room from a gorgeous quilt displaying green material dancing in lovely patterns of half-circles and triangles.
The third was spectacular, with white, flower-specked windmills popping against royal blue.
All quilts have names, and the name of the third was Not Your Mother无毛视频檚 Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path.
The Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path is the theme of this year无毛视频檚 annual Three Rivers Quilt Show, which runs from March 30 through April 1 at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. It无毛视频檚 the largest fundraiser of the year for Three Rivers Quilters Pittsburgh, which will celebrate the storied quilting pattern with more than 100 exquisite quilts designed in Drunkard fashion and several non-thematic entries from artists throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond.
无毛视频淭he (Drunkard无毛视频檚) Path was a pattern from England. Basically, the foundation block is a square with a quarter-circle,无毛视频� said Liz Hays, show committee co-chair for Three Rivers Quilters.
Like a quilt, which the closer you look, the more details emerge, the simplicity of the Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path is surface only.
无毛视频淚n the early 1900s, when the Women无毛视频檚 Christian Temperance Movement started working, they adopted the block and called it the Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path and started making the quilts to raise money for their programs,无毛视频� said Pam Bice, vice president of Three Rivers Quilters. 无毛视频淭hey chose blue and white because white is purity and blue is water, which is the purest thing to drink. Most two-color quilts made in that time period were red and white.无毛视频�
The pattern, also called 无毛视频淩ob Peter to Pay Paul,无毛视频� 无毛视频淪olomon无毛视频檚 Path,无毛视频� and 无毛视频淲anderer in the Wilderness,无毛视频� has, some speculate, origins in Ancient Egypt. But the design on that first puzzle-y, royal blue masterpiece is more akin to Path patterns that emerged during the early 19th century.
That quilt itself was hand-sewn by quilt show committee co-chair Jan Burke无毛视频檚 grandmother.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 one of the oldest patterns. The quilt behind you was made by my grandmother. And that无毛视频檚 a Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path and it was probably, I无毛视频檓 guessing, made in about 1918, somewhere in there. I was quite surprised because most of her quilts I have are very scrappy, from feed sacks. This one was blue and white, it无毛视频檚 a lot of blue. We pretty much believe why that one was made that way because of the blue, the significance.无毛视频�
There are countless ways to quilt the Drunkard无毛视频檚 path. Some artists prefer the traditional pattern, while others, like Liz Hays, who crafted the green blanket, take liberties in their design. The design itself, while remaining true to the original pattern of squares and quarter-circles, has been modernized; take, for instance, the spectacular windmill quilt that will be raffled off on the last day of the show.
The artwork was pieced by Burke, quilted by Sharon Hansen and bound by Beth Conlin.
无毛视频淲hen they brought it to me at the Creative Arts Festival to display, I was like, how is that a Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path,无毛视频� laughed Bice. 无毛视频淚t took me a while. I actually cut out a hole in a piece of paper so I could put it up and say, see that block.无毛视频�
Quilting has in recent years been seen differently. In fact, one might say it无毛视频檚 having a moment. There are between 10 million and 12 million quilters in North America, and quilting is expected to be a $5 billion industry by 2026, according to Craft Industry Alliance无毛视频檚 2021 report.
无毛视频淨uilting is not a craft; it无毛视频檚 a fine art,无毛视频� said Burke. 无毛视频淔rom that humble quilt,无毛视频� she nodded to the royal blue quilt, 无毛视频渢o this one, that无毛视频檚 unique,无毛视频� she pointed to the green quilt, 无毛视频渨e have fun as quilters with the themes.无毛视频�
Along with this year无毛视频檚 Drunkard无毛视频檚 Path theme, the guild spent last year working on a Busy Bee collection. Each month, members receive a concept and spend time quilting, with no idea what the final product will look like or represent.
无毛视频淭hey would just say, make 24 log cabins one month, and then at the end of the year you get how it all goes together,无毛视频� said Bice. 无毛视频淲e featured Famous Women Lost to History. We无毛视频檙e going to have a display at the show about the women.无毛视频�
Those women include Madam C.J. Walker, an African American entrepreneur, political and social activist, and the first female self-made millionaire in America; and Stephanie Kwolek, a Western Pennsylvania woman who invented Kevlar.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 kind of cool that this is National Women无毛视频檚 History Month,无毛视频� added Hays.
That nod to the past ties history to present day, and the Three Rivers Quilters hopes a new generation will attend the show and carry on tradition.
无毛视频淲e don无毛视频檛 hoard our knowledge,无毛视频� said Hays.
Along with the annual show, the guild hosts monthly meetings and show and tells, periodic lectures and other member events. Guild members spend time creating for arts festivals and making beautiful quilts for nonprofits including the Linus Project, the Ronald McDonald House, the Oncology Center at Jefferson Hospital and Mom无毛视频檚 Place.
无毛视频淲e donate between 120 and 150 quilts a year,无毛视频� Burke said.
Donations are heartwarming 无毛视频� no pun intended 无毛视频� and it无毛视频檚 nice to see quilting efforts help the community. It无毛视频檚 also great to see quilts dazzling from displays at the annual show.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 nothing to match the thrill of going in there and seeing your quilt hanging,无毛视频� Burke said.
Anyone of any skill level or expertise is invited to watch demonstrations, learn history and techniques from area quilters and appreciate the fine art of quilting during the three-day event.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 always, no matter what, there无毛视频檚 fabric. I think that无毛视频檚 what we all start with: the love of fabric,无毛视频� Bice said.
For more information on the Three Rivers Quilters and upcoming events, visit https://www.threeriversquilters.org/index.html.