MVAC Quilt Exhibits All Year
Most quilt exhibits are limited to a weekend or a traveling tour for a few days - too short a time to fit in for many quilt fans. MVAC knew a lot of quilters, pieceworkers, and quilt owners were in Marshall County with a treasure of artistic quilts in their cedar chests, closets, or on their beds. Ever since contacting several quilting groups in Marshall County in late 2021 for the first exhibit, MVAC has exhibited a wide array of antique to modern quilts.
Interested in exhibiting your quilts?
Piecemakers, quilters, and quilt owners from Marshall and surrounding counties. The quilts do not have to be for sale. Most owners say they are priceless!
If possible, large quilts should have a pocket/sleeve temporarily sewn onto the short top end of the quilt in order to hang it on our hanging rod system. However, we do have sleeves/pockets that can be carefully pinned with quilting straight pins to the top of a quilt. Our six hanging systems can display ONLY queen-size and smaller quilts. Smaller quilts are exhibited on PVC-pipe stands from Lakeside Quilters or on tables, as needed.
Please submit a photo of your quilt along with this information to our Gallery Manager at info@mvacarts.org:
Owner Name, Phone Number, and Email
Piecemaker Name, Phone Number, and Email
Quilting background of piecemaker and/or quilter
Quilter Name (and email, if different from piecemaker)
Quilt Pattern
Year Made
Price, if for sale (MVAC commission on twin-size and larger quilts is 15%)
2024 Quilt Exhibit Schedule
November - December: Holiday Cheer Quilts by Marquita Jones, Mala Kennamer, Dianne Pansing, owner Barbara Richey, and Jessie Striebel
PAST QUILT EXHIBITS AT MVAC
MVAC’s quilt exhibits started in Fall 2021 and have been a wonderful surprise of the piecing and quilting talent in Marshall and surrounding counties. MVAC is delighted to bring these masterpieces out of the closets and bedrooms for you to enjoy, even though very few are for sale.
Dear Jane quilts have been around since the Civil War. The first was made by Jane Stickle who was the daughter of a seamstress. Jane used the tiny scraps left over from her mother’s work to create some 221 patterns. All together a Dear Jane quilt has some 5602 pieces of fabric!
Anne Barrett of Grove Oak conducted a class teaching how to make Dear Jane Quilts back around 2010, so a number of these quilts are in the area. Some of these are made with traditional Civil War era fabric designs as shown above, and others used more contemporary fabrics and monochromatic color schemes.
Come see this exhibit during August and September, even though it’s still hot outside! You can enjoy the gallery’s air conditioning.
Della Darby’s One-Block Wonder Quilt
William H. Darby isn’t the only talented retired librarian in the household. His wife, Della, was inspired by MVAC’s January - February exhibit of one-block wonder quilts and is sharing her own along with two other vibrantly colored quilts while her husband’s paintings are on display during August.
The Fabric Arts exhibit included quilts, crocheted bed dolls, tablecloths, button a planet, a Mario hat, counted cross-stitch, and more.
2022 Quilt exhibit schedule
Asian Crazy Quilt by Lisa Hammock in Arab, AL - October 2022
During October 2022, this exquisite crazy quilt is on exhibit so that you can see the intricate embellishments, beading, and Asian memorabilia that Lisa Hammock has incorporated. The back is a thick woven tapestry of Asian scenes.
Holiday Art Market Quilts Celebrating the Season
November - December 2021
Quilters include Carol Bearden, Gay Carriker, Elizabeth Honeycutt, Marquita Jones, and Mala Kennamer.
Quilting Members’ Favorite Quilts - october 2021
First on left is a pre-Civil War coverlet on loan from the Historical Society of Guntersville.
In the middle is Shelia Watson’s Viola, a whimsical combination of quilting and applique’.
On the right is Anne Barrett’s Star Upon Stars quilt that has over 14,000 pieces of fabric that are 1” square or less.
September 1 - Early November Autumn quilts
Anne Barrett - Star Upon Stars quilt with 14K+ piece which just won First Place and Best of Show in the Oneonta Quilt Show, and Dear Jane quilt with 5.6K pieces, both hand-quilted
Guntersville Historical Society - (on loan) Pre-Civil War Coverlet and a pre-Civil War quilt in a brick pattern from Street and Beard families (it may be made from fabric swatches for men’s suits from traveling tailors.
Colette Click, Arab - Fall Double Wedding Ring quilt and a geometric design in fall colors
Shelia Watson - Viola in quilting and applique’.
Mariann Jackson (pieceworker) and Kathy Murray (quilter) - Halloween Cat quilt.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL EXHIBIT - JULY 2021
Carol Bearden, Marquita Jones, Lakeside Quilters Guild, Dale Hill, and Jim Harris’ half-Cherokee great-great grandmother’s quilt.
The first quilt on the left (and also at the top of this page) was donated by Lynne McCrady as a fundraiser. It is pieced by machine and hand quilted by the Lakeside Quilting Guild. Tickets are one for $5 or five for $20. The drawing will be held Veterans Day, November 11th, Thursday at the MVAC Gallery.
The Army quilt by Carol Bearden (second row in the middle) is for sale for $700 with all proceeds to go to MVAC.
The pre-Civil War heirloom quilt on the second row on the far right is owned by Jim Harris. It is his great-great-grandmother Josephine Hendon who was half-Cherokee and who walked the Trail of Tears. Once it was discovered that she was half-white, she was allowed to return to the Marshall County area. She lived from 1815 to 1902.
Scraps of Fall - 2021
Quilt by Traci Lamb
MVAC’s second quilt on exhibit was designed and pieced by Traci Lamb who has been quilting for about twenty years. She is part of the Lakeside Quilters group. Her mother taught her to sew, but Traci picked up quilting on her own.
Traci’s design started with a panel of fall motifs which she fussy cut and a collection of fall fabrics. She was particularly interested in doing a piano keys pattern (the border area for us non-quilters). The piecework took her about a month, and then Kathy Murray did the intricate quilting in gold thread. Traci finished the quilt with a sparkly gold border that you just have to see in person to fully appreciate.
Scraps of Fall will be on display until early October, so come by the MVAC Gallery at 440 Gunter Avenue to see it in person.
QUILTS GALLERY OF PAST EXHIBITS
