2nd Annual Harvest Quilt Show Avon Congregational Church, Oct. 26-27, 2013 Quilts Being Sought for Display

 A two-day show of colorful and historic quilts is sure to please quilt-lovers of all ages at the Avon Congregational Church’s 2nd Annual Harvest Quilt Show. All are welcome to the show on Saturday October 26, 2103, from 10 am-5 pm, and Sunday, October 27, from Noon-5 pm. Admission is $8. The show’s cafe will serve light fare and refreshments. All proceeds will benefit the programs of the Avon Congregational Church. 

The quilts will be displayed in the Avon Congregational Church’s historic 1819 meetinghouse, on church pews, over the balcony, and in the class rooms. Some people lending quilts will also be offering them for sale.  

Members of the community are encouraged to display their quilts at the show. Applications to lend both new quilts and antique quilts will be accepted through October 15th. Those interested may contact Susan Elliott at (860) 658-0863, or download a form from the church website.

Quilt Lenders Confirmed: Already confirmed for the show are quilts from quilt collectors, organizations, and individuals from throughout the Farmington Valley. 

The Avon Historical Society’s “Stowe-LeGeyt Crazy Quilt” of the 1880s will be a centerpiece of the show. Quilts of Valor from the church and others will honor military servicemen and servicewomen. A quilt from Miss Porter’s School in Farmington was made in celebration of its 150th anniversary. The Barkhamstead Historical Society will also be exhibiting. A quilt from a private collector was made in 2012 in Burlington, and features 1950s-era textile animals that were found in an old desk drawer.      

Vendors: Vendors will be selling items in the church’s fellowship hall, including Dot's Quilt Shop (Cheshire), Patches & Patchwork (Portland), CT Crafted (Meriden), Design by Elizabeth (Meriden), Chapeau Designs by Arline (Winchester), Homemade Craft & Things (Bristol), Ginny's Little Acre Quilts (Bolton), Patchwork Cottage (Collinsville), The Quilted Ewe (Winsted), and jewelry by Premier Designs. Also exhibiting, and offering a sewing class at the event, will be Annelle’s Originals (Beacon Falls).

 Raffle Quilt and Baskets: Two raffles are part of the exhibition. The first is a raffle of baskets containing fabrics, sewing notions and more. The second raffle is a quilt  called “Reflections,” machine paper pieced by Carrie Bacewicz and machine quilted by Ms. Bacewicz  and Lynn Emery. Based on a pattern by Judy Miemeyer called “Tumbleweeds,” it is 78” square. Raffle tickets are for sale now at the church, and at the exhibition. Tickets are $2 (book of ten for $20). Please send a check with a self-addressed and stamped envelope to ACC, 6 West Main St., Avon, CT 06001 or contact Mrs. Crowther at (860) 678-0713.     

The Stowe-LeGeyt Crazy Quilt of the Avon Historical Society. The Stowe-LeGeyt Crazy Quilt has strong historical ties to the Avon Congregational Church, and is extraordinarily well-preserved. The quilt dates from 1885-1890, and was made in Avon.  It is likely that the quilt makers were Avon residents Mary Thompson Stowe (1851-1927) and her young stepdaughter, Lena Stowe LeGeyt (1877-1961). 

Lena’s mother, Abigail Wheeler Stowe, (1850-1882) had died in 1882, a month after delivering her son Howard, and when Lena was about five years old.  As it would have been customary to make a memorial quilt to mark the death of a loved one, it is possible that the new Mrs. Stowe taught Lena how to sew and quilt. The quilt’s playful images and colors would have especially appealed to a young girl.                  

 The Stowe family lived in the center of Avon. Lena’s father, Walter Stowe, (1845-1937) was a sewing machine salesman, and sold sewing machines from the back of his horse-drawn carriage. His family had access to the latest in sewing technology and fashion, and presumably had a wide variety of fabrics. Walter Stowe was never a member of the church. His daughters and their step-mother were very active members however. 

The Stowe-LeGeyt Crazy Quilt came to the Avon Historical Society through family descendants. Lena Stowe married John William LeGeyt in 1897. He was a grocer in Avon and a member of the school board in 1909. When he became postmaster (1914-1921), he turned part of his store into the post office. 

Lena and John had two daughters, Maida and Zora LeGeyt. In 1915, when Maida was twelve years old and a sixth grader at Towpath School (which stood north of the Avon Post Office), she completed a booklet showcasing her sewing skills - no doubt nurtured by her mother. In the sewing booklet, which was part of Avon’s Towpath School curriculum, Maida showed off her simple and fancy stitches, and her doll-clothes sized samples. Her work won the school’s “First Prize for Sample Stitches.” LeGeyt family members are buried next to the Avon Congregational Church in the East Avon Cemetery.

Maida LeGeyt Seelye’s son, Morgan Seelye, generously donated the crazy quilt to the Avon Historical Society this year. Morgan Seelye’s son, Roy Seelye, the family historian, provided details to help document the quilt’s probably history.

Crazy quilts came into fashion after the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Decorations - like those on the Stowe-LeGeyt quilt, included bright fabrics, and stitched or painted designs of children after drawings by Kate Greenaway, and illustrations of insects, birds, flowers. 

Crazy quilts were generally not used for warmth, but for decorating items such as the tops of pianos or sofas. When Queen Victoria died in 1901, and until they fell out of popularity in the 1930s, crazy quilts were darker in color.

 The Miss Porters School Sesquicentennial Quilt (1993): Designed and produced for the school’s 150th anniversary by Rachel Hammond Breck (MPS Class of 1925), in honor of her MPS art teacher, Miss Greenwood. Sara Prentiss Brown of Unionville drew many of the buildings for the quilt squares. The quilt shows the school's historic buildings, and contain rare and unusual fabrics. Some drawings are based on images taken from the school archives. The quilt was completed with the help of the school’s alumnae, students, and staff.

Featured Quilt Artists: Susan Vassallo and Jackie Kunkle will be the Featured Quilt Artists at the show.  

Jackie Kunkel, of Canton Village Quilt Works, is a professional quilter and designer from Canton, CT and a nationally certified Judy Neimeyer instructor and shop.  She owns an online shop and is a designer and podcaster.  Quilting for 20 years and in business for 13 years, she also has an online shop.  Jackie’s work has appeared in many national quilt magazines.  Said Ms. Kunkle, “Being a first generation quilter in my family, it has been a wonderful experience for me to meet and learn from other wonderful quilters throughout the country and the world!  Other quilter's inspire me daily to strive to learn new things and to challenge myself at every turn.  But most of all I enjoy teaching and sharing the knowledge that I have and love to see others learning from me.  It is a thrill that we are all a wonderful community of people who share and learn from each other.  Go bright and bold is usually what I do, when I quilt and you see that reflected in many of my own designs as well as other quilts that I have made.  It makes me happy and brings a smile to others as well.”

Said Susan Vassallo, “Although I have been an artist as long as I can remember, my quilting really took off when in my studio working I was listening to gospel music, and words came across my ears inspiring me to be free in my expression, free to be me. I finished the quilt I was working on, the piece earned my first Blue Ribbon and was later exhibited in the New England Quilt Museum.

The spark of the quilting arts was ignited! I bought a Gammill while working part time using my Masters Degree in Psychology, I quilted for a creative outlet, but my sisters, saw something else. They said, “ do art for art sake”, I did….. then, I eventually chose my life dream to become a full time artist! My first degree is in the Fine Arts and Teaching, yet again reaching back to my roots as artist and educator, I have designed my classes for the students to experience free expression as I believe the process of creativity feeds our souls.”

Avon Congregational Church’s Traditions of Quilting: Members of the church’s “Sewing Society,” founded about 1855, sewed clothing for charity and - at one time - for Civil War soldiers. The name changed to the Ladies’ Aid Society in 1896, with its purpose to sew, quilt and raise funds for the church. Among their creations were aprons, quilts, mattress covers, and items called “comfortables.”  

Quilt Show and Church Information: The Avon Congregational Church’s quilt show last year had visitors from throughout New England and Canada. The Church is conveniently located at 6 West Main St., Avon, at Route 44 and Route 10 in the town center. Those making a day-trip will find restaurants and shops nearby and in the adjacent Avon Village Marketplace. 

For further information about loaning a quilt, being a vendor, or other questions, please contact Susan Elliott at (860) 658-0863 or the Avon Congregational Church at (860) 678-0488  Also visit www.avon-church.org. 

Further information on historical quilts can be found on www.quiltstudy.org, a project of the University of Nebraska International Quilt Study Center and Museum.  

Raffle Quilt Caption: “Reflections” is 78” x 78”, and is Judy Niemeyer’s Tumbleweed pattern. Contact Sue Crowther for tickets ($2 each or book of 10 for $20) at SDCrowther@aol.com or at (860) 678-0713. Photograph by Lynn Emery. 

Caption for Crazy Quilt: Details of the “Stowe-LeGeyt Crazy Quilt” of the Avon Historical Society, which will be on display at the Avon Congregational Church’s 2nd Annual Harvest Show. Photograph by Nora Howard.