Three Decades of Quilting

Three Decades of Quilting

The Guild is joyfully celebrating three decades of involvement in the community. In January 1982, Georgia Bonesteel, author and quilt-maker, gathered several small quilting groups and established the Western North Carolina Quilting Guild to promote and encourage the art of quilting. The Guild held its first quilt show at the Cedars and has hosted quilt shows in both Hendersonville and Brevard ever since.

Two years later, the ambitious young Guild hosted the N.C. Quilt Symposium at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville. The Guild has hosted Symposium in 1992, 1999, and 2007, and will host it again in 2015 at Bonclarken in Flat Rock.

Over the years, our talented members have accrued significant honors at both the state and national levels. In 1988 member Mary Berry was the North Carolina State winner in a contest sponsored by the Great American Quilt Festival. Our founder, Georgia Bonesteel, received the Silver Star Award from the American Quilter’s Society in 2001 for her dedication to preserving and advancing the craft of quilting. A decade later she was inducted into the Quilters’ Hall of Fame. Also in 2011, Frances Reese received the National American Heritage Award from the DAR for her quilt “DAR Museum Quilt” that was displayed countrywide.

Over the last three decades the Guild has offered hundreds of programs and workshops to improve members’ skills and expand their creativity. The Guild has historically donated quilts to a variety of organizations including Project Linus, Quilts of Valor, Elizabeth House, and Habitat for Humanity, to name just a few. Guild members continue to donate their time, talents, handiwork, as well as their expertise in the form of mentoring. Many are active with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Henderson and Transylvania Counties.

Visit our website www.WesternNCQuilters/org to view our newsletter Grainlines and for additional history and information including how to become a member. The Guild welcomes new members of all levels of quilt making ability to our monthly meetings.

Click on all photos except second and third rows for larger images.

String Along Lily by Georgia Bonesteel
with help from Gwen Broyles & Barbara Swinea

1983 Raffle Quilt

"This special lily quilt was made in duplicate. I instructed Guild members to make the first one which became a Guild raffle qult. Part of my piecing was done on the Delta Queen on the Mississippi River. I got tired of people asking what I was doing and said I was the ship's seamstress."

Quilts Through the Years
	Sampler by Virginia Brower 1982 People's Choice Award

	String Along Lily by Georgia Bonesteel with help from Gwen Broyles & Barbara Swinea 1983 Raffle Quilt "This special lily quilt was made in duplicate. I instructed Guild members to make the first one which became a Guild raffle qult. Part of my piecing was done on the Delta Queen on the Mississippi River. I got tired of people asking what I was doing and said I was the ship's seamstress."

	Old Patterns in a New House by Donna Edwards 1991 Second Place WNCQG, 1991 First Place Asheville Guild, 1992 First Place North Carolina Symposium "I love to do sampler quilts with all the different blocks. This quilt is hand-quilted."

	Black & White & Red All Over by Claire Rouse 1992 First Place, Wearables, Quilt Symposium "Each individual segment of the jacket was covered with original piecing and/or Seminole designs. I used approximately 15 different reds and the buttonholes were designed to be part of the strip piecing. It received ."

	Mariner's Compass by June Haynes 1994 First Place, First Quilt "When I saw the picture of the Mariner's Compass, I felt it represented my husband's time in the U.S. Navy - compass to guide, geese to lead, and stars to light the way."

	Carolina Morning by Claire Rouse 1996 First Place, Appliquéd Bed Quilts, WNCQG 1997 First Place & Best in Show, NC Quilt Symposiuim "Hand appliquéd and quilted and embellished in the bird cage with trapunto."

	The Blue Ridges by Ann Snellman 1998 Honorable Mention, WNCQG "This quilt was based on Georgia Bonesteel's Seminole Sky pattern and is hand quilted."

The Western North Carolina Quilters Guild

Three Decades of Quilting

30th Anniversary Exhibit at the 2012 Fall Harvest of Quilts Show

Quilts Through the Years

Sampler by Virginia Brower

1982 People's Choice Award

String Along Lily by Georgia Bonesteel
with help from Gwen Broyles & Barbara Swinea

1983 Raffle Quilt

Old Patterns in a New House by Donna Edwards

1991 Second Place WNCQG, 1991 First Place Asheville Guild,
1992 First Place North Carolina Symposium

Black & White & Red All Over by Claire Rouse

1992 First Place, Wearables, Quilt Symposium

Mariner's Compass by June Haynes

1994 First Place, First Quilt

Carolina Morning by Claire Rouse

1996 First Place, Appliquéd Bed Quilts, WNCQG
1997 First Place & Best in Show, NC Quilt Symposiuim

The Blue Ridges by Ann Snellman

1998 Honorable Mention, WNCQG

The Western North Carolina Quilters Guild

Three Decades of Quilting

30th Anniversary Exhibit at the 2012 Fall Harvest of Quilts Show

Quilts Through the Years

Sampler by Virginia Brower

1982 People's Choice Award

String Along Lily by Georgia Bonesteel with help from Gwen Broyles & Barbara Swinea

1983 Raffle Quilt

Old Patterns in a New House by Donna Edwards

1991 Second Place WNCQG, 1991 First Place Asheville Guild, 1992 First Place North Carolina Symposium

Black & White & Red All Over by Claire Rouse

1992 First Place, Wearables, Quilt Symposium

Mariner's Compass by June Haynes

1994 First Place, First Quilt

Carolina Morning by Claire Rouse

1996 First Place, Appliquéd Bed Quilts, WNCQG 1997 First Place & Best in Show, NC Quilt Symposiuim

The Blue Ridges by Ann Snellman

1998 Honorable Mention, WNCQG

String Along Lily by Georgia Bonesteel
with help from Gwen Broyles & Barbara Swinea

1991 Second Place WNCQG, 1991 First Place Asheville Guild,
1992 First Place North Carolina Symposium

1996 First Place, Appliquéd Bed Quilts, WNCQG
1997 First Place & Best in Show, NC Quilt Symposiuim