Article for Local Newspaper, December, 2005

As seen in the Ravalli Republic, the Entertainment Connection, issue of Friday, December 16, 2005


"The Bitterroot Quilters: An Opportunity for the Visual Artist in You,"
By Bonnie Trotter (a.k.a. Marian W. Trotter)

A festive group filled the well-lit, spacious Woodside Grange community hall as the Bitterroot Quilters’ met in October.

Strangers (like me) and beginners were welcomed as the quilters cheerfully answered questions and explained the basics of their organization. They meet once a month, all year around.

Eighty-five ladies showed up that night, chatted, and laughed with one another before settling down for the evening’s presentations.

Before us, a series of blocks or panels, 12-inch quilted squares, honored the season of autumn. Each panel was created by a different artist. We saw a variety of interpretations; all of them depicted with fabrics of solid colors and prints cut and skillfully stitched together.

Artist-quilters had carefully selected subtly striking hues found throughout the fall spectrum - brick, eggshell, sienna, olive, muted powdered turquoise, pumpernickel, ivory, umber, ochre, and black and bright white for dimension. Prints commemorating autumn revealed pumpkins, corn, berries, fruit, water, paisley, and plaid. A moderator raffled off the entire collection. Unless you had produced one of those squares, you couldn’t enter.

I’d come to the meeting because I want to explore and write about exceptional creative outlets in the Bitterroot Valley. Impressed by the Bitterroot Quilters Guild’s high morale and healthy attendance, I wondered what made this group so strong, while others with similar hopes shrink and eventually die.

Underscoring the Guild’s success is the pride these artists take in their accomplishments and in cultivating a large, active membership.
The support that the participants give one another eliminates that pest known as performance anxiety.

At the meeting, ladies displaying their works-in-progress enjoyed a full house of attentive viewers, who were absolutely delighted by what we saw.

Squares, like those raffled off at the meeting, were stitched together to form quilts velvety and cool to the touch, but cozy for cold winter nights. Quilts like these typically incorporate vaguely kaleidoscopic patterns of geometric squares, rectangles, and triangles that mirror one another. Designs represent motifs of migrating birds, stars, leaves, mountains, the sun, the moon, abstracts, portraits, or landscapes. Artists tell you to compare a quilt to a sandwich. Material called batting lies between two sides. Sewing batting and sides together requires careful integration into the quilt’s look.

One artist displayed her quilt that she’d designed to look like a wall of framed photographs. She used real snapshots captured on pieces of fabric.

Another quilt portrayed a picture gallery. We saw what’s called the “Card Trick,” the eight-pointed star — overlapping squares, one corner of each meeting at the center.

We saw thread embossments, ruffles, lace, beads, and fabric sculpture. An abundance of meaningful activities also ensures the success of a group like the Guild. In addition to designing and making quilted products, members go on retreats and tackle projects, like fundraisers, charity undertakings, and exhibitions for the public.

Over time, participants develop long-term friendships. At annual retreats, this year’s held in March at Seeley Lake, quilters stitch their quilts, check out each other’s progress, exchange ideas, and invent new designs.

Their successful fundraisers — including membership drives and quilt raffles at biennial exhibitions held at Corvallis High School — pay for top ranked professionals to share their techniques.

October’s meeting featured a beading expert, who showed the group how to incorporate beads into a quilt’s design. Suddenly an exquisite jewel of a doll appeared in my hands, passed to me down the line. It was covered with beads of various sizes, shapes, and autumn colors. One of the beading expert’s students had made it, a delicate treasure that you can hold snugly in one hand.

Bitterroot Quilters make and donate quilts for local children at risk (Quilts for Kids) and comforters for hospice, chemotherapy, and dialysis patients. Volunteers ship quilts to victims of natural disasters, this year to military families who live in the wake of Katrina. The ladies enjoy meeting together to sew these quilts, assembly-line fashion.

You can’t learn how to make a quilt at Guild meetings, but you can at local fabric shops or through adult education offered by Corvallis Schools. In addition to quilts, you could make tote bags, sofa throws, table covers, pillows, and items entirely new under the sun. As with clothing patterns, some quilts come with blueprints, but as one participant says, the result is entirely yours. You choose your own fabrics, your own colors, and your own embellishments.

For inspiration, visit the Guild’s annual exhibition mounted at the Ravalli County Fair. Watch the Ravalli Republic events calendar for news of other exhibits, specifically those held at Corvallis High School every other year. If you can’t wait, search the Internet for “quilts” at Google.com.

Here, among the Bitterroot Quilters, you can meet the artist that lives inside you and others, make good friends, cultivate leadership and fundraising know-how, and just possibly earn some money.

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