The Bowen Center for the Arts is hosting a Southern Comforts Quilt reception on Sept. 5, from 5 - 7:30 p.m. The opening night will feature local artists from the Heart In Hand Quilt Guild and Big Canoe, who will debut their works of art.
The public is invited to come to the event, view the art, mingle with the artists and enjoy an evening of food and music. Admission is free.
Marcia Chelf, director of the Bowen Center for the Arts, described the displayed quilts as true works of art, with intricate designs, bright colors and unusual and brilliant patterns.
“These are not the quilts of your grandmother,” said Chelf.
The showcase will feature the “Challenge Quilt” contest in which nearly 50 quilters were asked to create a quilt using only one piece of fabric. They can add color, jewels and ornaments to the quilt to make it their own, but the quilt itself must be made from one piece of fabric. The outcomes will be displayed at the showcase.
Chelf is excited to host this particular event because the Heart In Hand Quilt Guild has been such a longtime supporter of the center.
“These ladies meet at the center every week and are some of the best volunteers that the center has ever had,” explained Chelf. “They even donated a quilt set to be raffled off to the center and all the proceeds from it are put right back into the center.”
“These quilting ladies are a little drop of heaven for us,” said Chelf.
The Heart In Hand Quilt Guild is hoping that the event at the center will raise awareness about their organization among the community.
“Most people do not even realize that there is a quilt guild here in Dawsonville.
We would love the community to come out and see what we do. Quilting today is so different from the time of our grandparents,” said Maud Brodd, secretary of the Heart In Hand Quilt Guild.
According to Brodd, the art of quilting has significantly evolved over the last 100 years.
Quilts used to be sewn mostly by hand for centuries. Now that sewing machines and other modern sewing tools and techniques have emerged, there is much more creative freedom and artistic possibility for quilters.
In addition to volunteering at the Bowen Center for the Arts, the Heart in Hand Quilt Guild provides other valuable services to the community. Each member of the guild is asked to create a quilt and donate it to DFCS, so incoming foster children can be given a quilt to keep permanently. Since 2007, the guild has donated 47 quilts to DFCS for foster children.
The Southern Comforts Quilt gallery will run from Sept. 5-26. The Bowen Center is open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Marcia Chelf at (706) 216-2787.