Warm, comfortable and beautiful Americana

story and photos by Linda Kaufenberg

Can you imagine the warm feeling of resting in a log cabin by the crackling fireplace wrapped in your favorite patchwork quilt? Have you ever found yourself mesmerized by the beautiful colors and patterns of a gorgeous hand-crafted quilt and wished you could make a family heirloom of your very own?

Or perhaps you simply enjoy the ambience, prestige and refined history that surrounds classic antique quilts that have stood the test of time.

Then you would have loved viewing the more than 100 quilts on display at Belle Point Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show held Friday and Saturday at Columbus Acres. Guild members celebrated their 25th anniversary by hosting the show. What started as a group of seven to eight women who loved to quilt and gathered in a little store in May Branch called Yards and Yards has, 25 years later has grown to a membership of 150.

“It was Cissy Rose the owner of Yards and Yards who started the guild,” said Lula Hanson, Quilt Show chairman. “This is our first year to host the show on our own. In the past we partnered with Sparks Hospital but with change in ownership they could no longer sponsor the show.”

The show is not a money maker, according to Hanson. It usually breaks even. “It is just fun putting all our quilts on display for others to enjoy. The 104 quilts in the show were made in the past six years and come from Fort Smith and the surrounding area as far as Havana, Arkansas, and over into Oklahoma.”

It is a juried show and this year the judges were two men from Tulsa who teach quilting.

“Many people like to look as the quilts because it reminds them of their mothers or grandmothers who pieced and made quilts,” Hanson added. “But, instead of saving scraps and making quilts, most are true art forms with fabric bought specifically to make a quilt.”

In addition to the quilts there were vendors who offered quilting fabrics, supplies and machines. There was also an area for attendees to make a cozy quilt. Every year guild members make the little quilts and give them to patrolmen and the Children’s Emergency Shelter for children who may not have anything else of their own. Last year the guild donated 58 cozy quilts, according to Ann McElvoy from Central Sewing Center.

Also at the show was the “God Bless America Quilt Show” which has toured the country for three years. Profits from $100 show rental and books provide quilts for wounded soldiers. Entries of 22-inch quilts will be accepted through December. Link here for details, photos and entry forms.