Covering the Community

Quilting enthusiasts assemble in Palatka for contest

  • Bonnie Quinn of Palm Coast stands in front of her prize-wining quilt “Follow the Polka Dot Road” at Miss D’s Quilts By the River juried show and exhibition in Palatka.
    Bonnie Quinn of Palm Coast stands in front of her prize-wining quilt “Follow the Polka Dot Road” at Miss D’s Quilts By the River juried show and exhibition in Palatka.
  • Contestants and spectators of the eighth annual Mss D’s Quilts By the River make their way around the store this weekend before the winners are announced.
    Contestants and spectators of the eighth annual Mss D’s Quilts By the River make their way around the store this weekend before the winners are announced.
  • Hawthorne resident Cynthia Irvin stands with her prize-winning quilt, “Honey Bee.”
    Hawthorne resident Cynthia Irvin stands with her prize-winning quilt, “Honey Bee.”
  • One of the 119 quilts entered in Quilts by the River is on display at Miss D’s in Palatka.
    One of the 119 quilts entered in Quilts by the River is on display at Miss D’s in Palatka.
  • Dannise Kemp, owner of Miss D’s Quilts, stands next to the Best in Show quilt, “On The Spectrum” by Nikki Hill.
    Dannise Kemp, owner of Miss D’s Quilts, stands next to the Best in Show quilt, “On The Spectrum” by Nikki Hill.
  • Sandra Black of Palatka stands next to her prize-winning quilt, Snails Trail, at the eighth annual Quilts by the River show at Miss D’s Quilts in Palatka on Friday morning.
    Sandra Black of Palatka stands next to her prize-winning quilt, Snails Trail, at the eighth annual Quilts by the River show at Miss D’s Quilts in Palatka on Friday morning.
  • Positively Putnam FL
    Positively Putnam FL

By Ginger Danto

Special to Palatka Daily News

 

Smiling, top-hatted snowmen. Birds, bugs and honey bees. Houses and churches and a winding polka dot path.

Clouds, constellations and at least one Christmas tree with button garlands and 3-D glitter balls. People, more than a few pups, but mostly patterns, patterns galore.

These were among the cornucopia of motifs featured in some 119 quilts participating in the eighth annual Quilts by the River juried show Friday and Saturday at Miss D’s Quilts in Palatka.

Shop owner and Palatka native Dannise Kemp, otherwise known as Miss D., launched the contest the same year she opened her store to “give confidence” to local quilters, she said, and offer them a convenient place to exhibit their handiwork. Since then, the shop – and the show – has only grown.

An avid quilter herself, Kemp said, “I thought when I opened that I would have time to quilt.”

Instead, her time has been spent encouraging and supporting others.

“I never thought I would enter a juried show,” said first-timer Bonnie Quinn of Palm Coast.

Quinn’s whimsical quilt, “Follow the Polka Dot Road,” won first place in the Art Quilts category as well as a ribbon for a new Quilting Machine category.

Using scraps of tie-dyed T-shirts collected from sewing memory quilts for survivors of deceased family members, Quinn designed a winding, multicolored road of various sized shapes meant to represent stones made from T-shirt material. The final product featured an earthy brown background and was completed with the help of Jan Beachside Quilts of Flagler Beach.

Quilting is often a collaborative effort. For those seeking inspiration, advice, artifacts or even a new piece of machinery – as modern quilters are choosing technology over traditional hand sewing – Kemp brought in over a dozen specialized vendors.

They included Off-the-Wall-Quilts, The Origami Owl Lady, The Feed Sack Lady, Featherweight Sewing Machines and Color Street Nails. Color Street’s owner, quilter Sarah Squires, was selling her T-shirts printed with sayings such as “Should be An Extra Day of the Week  Called ‘Sew-day.’”

It seemed most in the crowd Friday morning at Miss D’s would agree. Love of color, fabric and the meditative act of repetition led Bonny Whalen of St. Augustine to complete her wall-size quilt “80 Short,” named for the quilting kit she used that came partially incomplete. She said she liked watching her grandchildren identify images in the hundreds of even squares in the piece.

“Small children used to learn quilting by watching at their mother’s knee,” Kemp said of what has now become a $4 billion-a-year global industry. And while for many at her show, quilting is a side hobby, others said it is their main source of income.

Among the requirements is being “willing to travel and be skilled in math, whether you know it or not,” Kemp said. Math went into composing the intricate design of Sandra Black’s “Snail Trail” quilt.

“A lot of math keeps my brain young,” said the Palatka resident, who was surprised as anyone to win first place in the Small Pieced Quilts category. 

There were nine categories in which to compete, along with Best in Show. Kemp said a certified judge spent 12 hours going through all the entries. Then, her shop team set about making color-coordinated ribbons for each of the winners.

Among them was Cynthia Irwin of Hawthorne for her bee-themed quilt “Honey Bee.” It received third place in the category Intermediate Pieced Quilts.

Unlike Whalen’s two-decade endeavor, it took Irwin just four months to complete her quilt, piecing together bee-themed fabric in a geometric color scheme of yellow and black. Math also played a part.

While all the winners said the prestige of receiving a ribbon meant everything, one participant, Nikki Hill, earned a $200 cash prize and recognition as Best in Show for her quilt, “On the Spectrum.” The brightly-colored cosmic pattern was entered in the Other Techniques category.

“It’s cool,” noted fellow-winner Bonnie Quinn. “But there were so many other beautiful quilts that didn’t win anything!”

As they say, there’s always next year, especially if Miss D has her way.

 

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