By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Just because the quilts in Tuesday’s auction are small doesn’t mean they’re any less impressive than ones designed for a king-size bed.
In fact, sometimes the opposite is true, with hundreds of tiny bits of material coming together in a piece of art sometimes no larger than a placemat.
“It’s like doing the Lord’s Prayer on the head of a pin, or ships in a bottle,” said Ocean Wave Quilters Guild President Sarah Jordan. “You can try a pattern that stretches your ability.”
The Guild’s Small Quilt and Items Auction will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It’s a fundraiser for scholarships for the Sitka School District (Sitka and Pacific high schools), and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Some of the funds will be given for scholarships to the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, earmarked for Elementary Camp, Jordan said.
There will be 20 to 25 small quilts up for auction at the fundraiser. The Mini Quilts are bid on anonymously, with the quilt going to the highest bidder. An outcry auction will be held for the quilt-related items.
The guild has about 75 members, enthusiastic quilters who join for fellowship and quilt-related activities.
“It’s fellowship and creativity, supporting each other,” Jordan said. “You run out of fabric, and you can come to a meeting, hold a piece of it up and see if anyone has it.”
For her part, Jordan loves mini quilts – generally up to 100 inches perimeter – for several reasons.
“They’re very versatile; they can hang on the wall anywhere,” she said, adding, “I’m kind a cheap person. I like to get the most out of my fabric scraps. This is a way to use your fabric and make something beautiful for someone.”
Jordan also had some stories from Mini Quilt auctions past, remembering when Bonnie Richards beat her out for a Vicky Swanson quilt by 75 cents. Richards is also a quilter and created a quilt from vintage fabrics owned by her grandmother, going back decades. “I won that quilt - I had it for 10 years,” Jordan said. After Richards’ mother died, Jordan returned it to Richards. “That’s where it belonged,” Jordan said.
Jordan said the most challenging mini quilt she made had curved pieces, called “Flowering Snowball.”
“When you look at a quilt if you see something that’s not a straight line, that’s more difficult, it’s a higher level of skill,” she said.
Larger quilts are displayed later in the year, at the guild’s annual quilt show on the days before and after Mother’s Day in Whitmore Hall on the SJ Campus.
There is no charge to attend the auction, and refreshments will be available. Organizers of the Small Quilt and Items Auction are Megan Pasternak and Karen Boyer. Those with questions may call Pasternak at 738-2290.
