History

THE EARLY YEARS:

Barbara Sanders, Marilyn Cole and Jean Tarpley started Cotton Patch Quilters in 1985. A "see who is interested" meeting was held in September followed by the first organizational meeting in October. These meetings were held at the Berry Patch, a quilt and fabric store which was owned in part by Francyne Willby. The group was named “Cotton Patch Quilters” and had 12 to 15 members.

The guild held its first quilt show in 1987 at Tuckston United Methodist Church. It was a one-day show, and classes were conducted by Elizabeth Barton and Barbara Sanders. The second show followed two years later.... a one-day show held at the Botanical Gardens.

Presidents during this time included Barbara Sanders, Rita Bennett, Jean Tarpley, and Dot Hatchell.

Meetings were held from September to June, with the summer months being free. The meeting place was moved to the old Lyndon House in 1989.

During the 1989/1990 guild year, Mary Louis Quigley acted as president, the treasury contained approximately $500 and annual dues were $6.50. Programs for the year included Puff Biscuit Quilts, Doll Quilts, Designing with Stripes, Crazy Quilt Embellishments, and Log Cabin Vest.

The group enjoyed a Saturday workshop about making the “Prairie Tulip” block and many showed quilts and participated in “May Magnolia Day” held at the Taylor Grady House.

The raffle quilt was a Bear's Paw....one of many that the group made over the years.

1990/91

The September 1990 meeting was opened by Shirley Erickson, the guild's new president. Francyne Willby proposed that the guild make small quilts to donate to the Athens ' Safehouse (a project that is still continuing). Each guild member was asked to provide 4 quilts each year, and Shirley reminded members to KISS ( K eep I t S imple S tupid).

The fall months of 1990 were extremely busy for the group as they participated in the Sandy Creek Folk Festival and also helped run the “Georgia Quilt Project Day” held at Taylor-Grady House. The goals of this project were to locate and register the quilts and quiltmakers of Georgia , to contribute to the knowledge of and appreciation of quilts, to encourage their preservation and to promote the growth of the art of quiltmaking and the appreciation of quilts through education.

Members voted to change the by-laws so that meetings would be held each month of the year, and dues were increased to $10.

In early 1991, Guild members attended a retreat at Rock Eagle and were forced to evacuate early on Sunday morning due to a chemical cloud. They still reported having a great time!!

1991/92

The 1991/92 year was also chaired by Shirley Erickson, with many new and exciting projects being announced. The guild's next show, “All That Glitters is Not Cold” was held at Lyndon House and ran for approximately 2 weeks. It featured the guild's current challenge project...a quilt containing a circular design and something that glitters.

The guild once again participated in the Sandy Creek Folk Festival, and raffled a quilt called “Inspiration”. Meetings were moved to the second Monday of each month and the meeting place was moved to the Walton EMC community room.

Programs during these two years included a machine quilting demonstration, Cathedral Window Christmas ornaments, “Fabric Fantasy” from Carousel of Fabrics, Bordering for Success, and Waltzing Down the Drunkard's Path. March 9 th saw the birth of the “BAG” players, presenting a skit about the making of a Baltimore Album quilt.

Workshops during these two years included “Hidden Wells, Kaleidoscope, and Marbling fabrics.

A few of our Circular Challenges

Our "Hidden Wells" workshop in progress.

Click here to see the workshop instructions.

1992/93

Frances Arnold took the helm in July of 1992, and started off the year by presenting the first of many “Machine Quilting Workshops”. In October, Walton EMC included an article about the guild in their “Realite” newsletter. It highlighted the charity work that was being done.

Barbara Sanders presented a color wheel workshop and a “Mystic Stripe” workshop, while Frances Arnold & Joann Stewart taught about applique....both hand and machine. The “BAG” ladies added the word “Crazy” to their name and presented a program demonstrating what they had learned about Crazy Quilting. The Christmas meeting was at Shirley Erickson’s home and the entertainment for the evening included a Christmas block challenge, fat-quarter exchange and Shirley’s husband’s barbershop singing group.

May of 1993 was a particularly busy month, with the guild presenting a quilt to the Athens Regional Library to help celebrate the 1st anniversary in their new building. The quilt was designed by Elizabeth Barton and was pieced by many guild members. The 13 stars in the top section represent that Georgia was the 13th original colony. The second layer of the quilt is lavender mountains. The trees of Georgia are shown in the central section of the quilt and the bottom layer depicts the ocean around Georgia. The quilting patterns used were Starry Path, Delectable Mountains, Pine Tree, and Ocean Wave. The quilt is still hanging on the second floor of the library.....stop by and have a look.

Also in May, Margaret Rolfe (from Canberra, Australia) presented our first national (or rather International) workshop ever!!! She presented a lecture based on her book “Go Wild With Quilts” and then followed with a workshop where we learned to make a “Patchwork Zoo”.

1993/94

Joann Stewart took up the gavel beginning in July of 1993 and led the guild well in the year following.

Programs during the year included a hands-on demonstration of the folded star by Dale Freeman, a talk about the quilts of Faith Ringgold, and a demonstration of using Prairie Points to complete a quilt.

It was announced that the guild would hold a show in March, 1995, with Barbara Sanders as Chairman.

Various new bees were begun, with each working on a Mystery Quilt. This proved to be a wonderful way of getting new groups of people together

"Mystery Stars"

The Christmas challenge blocks were won by Priscilla Golley and Mary Oliver....wonder if they ever finished a quilt using those blocks?

1994/95

July of 1994 got off to a bang with Dale Freeman at the gavel.

Programs for the year included numerous nights devoted to quilt show preparation, as well as a “field trip” to Carousel of Fabrics where Francyne Willby treated members to the ins and outs of fabric and notions. Janet Wickes (an ex-Cotton Patch Quilter who had moved back to England) entertained members with her quilting and other adventures on the Misty Isle.

Much of the year was spent in preparation for the quilt show with time spent in planning how to receive and hang the quilts. The guild participated in making a “touching quilt” called “Potluck Blues”. This quilt was made from all sorts of textured fabrics and guests were encouraged to “PLEASE TOUCH” as opposed to the signs on the big quilts.

Many of our members participated in the Olympic Quilt initiative. Quilts were given to the country’s Olympic Committee and to the country’s flag bearers. Many of these quilts were displayed at the show.

The big show was held on March 3rd and 4th of 1995, at the Oconee County Civic Center. 748 people paid admission to the show and the raffle quilt raised $705. Frances Arnold won the “Guild Choice” award on her quilt, “Baskets for Pat”, and Shirley Erickson and Kristi Erickson won the “Viewer’s Choice Best of Show” for “Harmony”. It was declared a HUGE success and plans were put into motion for the 1997 show.


"Harmony" by Shirley & Kristi Erickson	"Baskets for Pat" by Frances Arnold

Workshops for the year included “Snowflakes In January”(an embroidery based embellishment), a day spent in designing a strip pieced quilt, a Tassels workshop from Jean Jordan, and a “Triangulation Workshop” directed by Barbara Sanders,

1995/96

Gilda Barnwell took up where Dale left off in 1995 and our year got off to a great start with Priscilla Golley presenting a program on color and its effects. Other programs included Judy Hibbs from the UGA Cooperative Extension Service talking about “Quilt Conservation and Preservation”, and “The Quilting Stitch” by Barbara Sanders

Workshops included Beginning Machine Quilting with Frances Arnold, Color Wheel with Priscilla Golley, Fabric Dyeing from Barbara Sanders and “Make a Quillo” with Shirley Erickson and Mary Louise Quigley.

The challenge for the year was “Build a Border” which started with a 16 inch square, and added borders of a specific size and pattern. The first border was 4 inches and triangles, 2nd border was 2 inches wide and made of squares or rectangles, third border was 6 inches with any technique and the final border was 5 inches wide and made of points of any kind.

Elizabeth Barton received several awards and grants, including having a quilt “Warm Light” accepted into the AQS show, and another quilt appropriately entitled “Aiming High” accepted at Quilt National.

In April of 1996, the guild moved their meetings to Campus View Church of Christ. The move was needed because of the increased membership of the guild (up to 55 members).

1996/97

The new year began with Gilda Barnwell returning to the gavel and guild members presenting 18 “Build-A-Border” challenge quilts. These were displayed at four locations of Athens First Bank. The July meeting was cancelled due to the Olympics being held in Athens, but members were encouraged to “meditate on quilts at the regular time”!!!

The guild celebrated their 10th year at the September meeting, with a night of remembrances, culminating with cake and punch. Other programs included a discussion by Barbara Sanders about making and using templates, followed the next month by Frances Arnold talking about template-free piecing and freezer paper applique. We also welcomed Jerri Salem of Salem Rulers who presented a program on rotary cutting products and techniques, and member, Mary Ann Ware, instructed us in fabric manipulation.

The first “Charms” group was started, with members bringing 5 inch squares of certain colored fabrics each month.

In January, Gilda shared her resolutions for 1997.....1) Eat more chocolate; 2) Never cook when I can quilt; 3) Begin at least 10 new projects; 4) Learn to love UFO’s (Unfinished objects); 5) Never miss a fabric sale; 6) Start a dust bunny collection. Hope she kept ALL of those!!!

In March of 1997, the guild held it’s biennial show “-----“ which netted almost $3,000 and provided $1,000 from the raffle quilt ticket sales. Francyne Willby did a wonderful job of chairing the show committee. The Best of Show award was given to Eula Mae Adcock for her pictorial quilt “Old Ball Park - Home of the Braves”. The Amish Bee provided a wonderful display of small Amish quilts, and twenty “Border Challenge” quilts were shown.


Raffle Quilt - "Carolina Lily"	Best of Show Winner - "Old Ball Park" by Eula Mae Adcock	Beautiful Amish Quilt Display

1997/98

Priscilla Golley was sworn in as guild president in June of 1997.

Workshops during the year included “Color Adventure” by Sally Kroenhke and Pattiy Torno, and “More Color and Design” by Priscilla Hair from South Carolina. National speaker workshops were presented by Carol Doak in January 1998 and by Flavin Glover in May. Carol taught about “Patchwork Tricks of the Trade” and “Machine Paper Piecing”, while Flavin told us about “Integrating Log Cabin & Other Patchwork” and “Looking into Kaleidoscopes:.

Programs included an informative talk by local artist, Roy Ward (“Quilts that Spoke To Me”). The board voted to present him with an honorary membership in Cotton Patch Quilters. Nationally know quilter, Elizabeth Barton started 1998 out by encouraging members to look at the possibilities of creating art quilts.

1998/99

The 1998-1999 year was lead by president Priscilla Golley, who agreed to serve for a second term.

In the fall of 1998, we hosted the Georgia Quilt Council fall convention, and also welcomed nationally known quilter, Katie Pasquini-Masopust as she presented a workshop on “Mandala” quilts.

At the September meeting, we presented our “Self Portrait” challenges and had much fun trying to match the quilter to her portrait. The idea of the challenge was that the quilt didn’t have to “look” like the quilter, but instead simply portray some aspect of the quilter’s life.


Terri Jarret - "Findiing A Self Image"	Priscilla Golley - "Reflection of Myself"	Shirley Erickson - "ME"

The guild boasted 9 quilt bees, studying everything from Amish work, Baltimore Album, Contemporary Art and Wearable projects.

We held a “Nine-Patch” challenge where each quilt had to include 3 sizes of nine-patches.

Programs during the year included Glen Kaufman, professor of art at UGA who spoke about influences and images from Japan and the far east. We also heard from Nancy Lukasiewicz of Lyndon House about the proposed expansions for the house. At our January meeting, member Dale Freeman (of newly opened Classic Sewing Center) shared the ins and outs of computerized sewing machines. We also learned about “Time Management for Creative People” by Mary Padgelek. Our own Amish Bee also presented a program about the things that they had learned about Amish quilting.

Our show, “Reflections” was held in March of 1999. The show judge was Kathy Sullivan who pronounced that she was impressed with our guild’s overall art and creativity. She pointed out that, as a whole, we need to improve on bindings and borders. Barbara Sanders won the “Viewer’s Choice” award.


Elizabeth Barton - "Shambles, November"	Melissa Polland - "Drunkards Path"

1999/2000

Francyne Willby took over as president in June of 1999, leading us wonderfully through out the year.

Programs included a slide show from the Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska, a presentation by Melissa Steele about silk painting, and information about relaxing your body during those long hours of quilting. DYEnamic Fabrics presented a trunk show, as well as opportunities to shop. Brenda Duncan spoke about using decorative threads, and Sandy Myer talked about “Mini’s”.

Member led workshops included Machine Quilting by Frances Arnold, Paper Piecing by Marilyn Osterkamp, “I Spy” with Shirley Erickson, Log Cabin Purse with Francyne Willby, and “Amazing Mazes” with Clare Hasbrouck. In January of 2000, we hosted Caryl Bryert Fowler who presented a wonderful two day workshop about machine quilting.

We expanded our charity work by providing quilts to Grandview Nursing Home.

Our challenge project for the year was “Show Me Your Color”, where members randomly picked a color and designed a quilt that was based on their color.

After much discussion, the guild decided to relocate to the newly renovated Lyndon House

2000/01

The 2000/2001 year began with current president Francyne Willby handing the infamous “bell” over to Marilyn Osterkamp.

Charitable highlights of the year included the presentation of a full size “Jewel Box” quilt to Project Safe. The quilt was made by the members of the “Friendly Starters” bee which met at Elsie Lewis’ house. There was also a “marathon” safe house workshop which made numerous children’s quilts. We also presented Project Safe with two checks throughout the year, totaling $2,500.

Programs included “Creative Memories for Quilt History”, presented by member, Jessica Casey. She encouraged us to photograph our quilts and keep an historical record of our work. We also heard from Holly Anderson who spoke about the Georgia Quilt Council birdhouse quilt challenge which benefits Habitat for Humanity. We also heard from member, Marybeth Stalp, who was writing her dissertation on the role of quilting in women’s lives.

We gave a “kitchen shower” for the Lyndon House as a way of saying thank you. Along with numerous kitchen items donated by the members, the guild gave a stainless steel cart.

Workshops were presented by Brenda Duncan (Working with Decorative Threads), Melissa Poland (Quilt Bindings), and Frances Arnold (Machine Quilting)

At one point during the year, there were 9 bees meeting on a regular basis.

Our biennial show “2001 - A Quilt Odyssey” was held in March of 2001, with Shirley Erickson acting as chairman. Elizabeth Barton took Best-of-Show honors with “Headland Home” and Shirley Erickson won the Judge’s Choice award with “Noah’s Ark”. “Viewer’s Choice” was won by Mary Ann Ware.

The Raffle quilt, made by Terri Jarrett, brought in $2,700. We all laughed as the winner was chosen.....Terri Jarrett!!!!


Elizabeth Barton - "Headland Home"	Shirley Erickson - "Noah's Ark"	Raffle Quilt - "Bethlehem Star"

2001/02

The first meeting of 2001/2002 was “rung” in by incoming president, Jeanne Lindberg.

Wonderful programs were presented during the year, starting with Mr. Joe Sanders, a local treasure, who spoke about his life with quilting. We cancelled our September meeting, as a sign of respect to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. In October, we presented our challenge projects.....”Earth, Wind, Fire & Chocolate”, and in November we learned from Lynne Reynolds about “Quilted Underwear of the 19th Century”. Ray Barreras told us about the “Quilt Ladies of the Dominican Republic”.

The final program of the year was the opening of “The Manhole Cover Quilt Show” at the Lyndon House. The members had a private viewing of the show before the public opening 4 days later.

Terri Jarrett began our workshop season with a session about evaluating your fabric stash. The theme was continued as national quilter, Ann Johnston, conducted a two-day workshop titled “Color By Accident”. Lois Griffin spent a day in January teaching us about “Crazy Quilting”, Marilyn Osterkamp taught “Foundation Piecing”, Frances Arnold presented yet another session of “Machine Qulting”. Terri Jarrett finished out the year with a workshop on “Working with Triangles”.

2002/03

In July of 2002, Judy Caputi began her reign as president of the guild. An additional feature of the evening was the presentation of the “Critter Challenge” quilts. Fourteen members brought quilts that fit the challenge.....the viewer’s choice award went to Amanda Whitsel whose quilt featured intertwined cats with mice in the border.

Workshops during the year included “Beginning Quilting” presented by Amanda Whitsel, “Bindings the Right Way” by Melissa Poland, “Fat Quarter Bag” by Mary Ann Cox, “Pieced Vest” by Shirley Erickson, “Seminole Piecing” by Sandy Jordan, and “Picket Fence” by Terri Jarrett.

In September, the guild heard from Ray Berraras who presented a “Man’s view of Quilting”. Quilt related items were gathered for him to take to the ladies in the Dominican Republic.

In October, Robbie Joy Eklow visited Athens and presented two workshops.... “Choose to Fuse” and “Design As You Go: Unmarked Free Motion Machine Quilting.”

The December meeting brought the game “Fat Quarter Lotto” where members bring fat quarters and receive 1 ticket for each fat quarter. One or more lucky winners get to go home with a wide assortment of fat quarters.

The 5th Biennial Quilt Show, “Pieceful Hearts” was held on March 7-9, 2003. 190 quilts were shown, 1200 people attended, and net proceeds were approximately $3,400. Jean Lester of Knoxville, TN was the Show’s Judge. Judy Caputi was awarded the “Best of Show” ribbon for “Log Cabin”, and Faye Rawls was awarded the “Judge’s Choice” award for “Two of My Favorite Things”. .

The Viewer’s Choice award was awarded to “Hearts for Katie, Love Mama and Me” by Cathy Rowan. Cathy’s mother had begun the quilt, and Cathy completed it.


Judy Caputi - "Log Cabin"	Fay Rawls - "Two of My Favorite Things	Cathy Rowan - “Hearts for Katie, Love Mama and Me”

In April, internationally known quilt teacher, Dilys Fronks presented two workshops.... “Creating a Background for Reverse Applique” and “Reverse Applique based on Iron Frill Designs”. Many beautiful quilts came out of these two workshops.

At the fiscal year end meeting in June, the guild presented Joan Prittie from Project Safe with a check for $968, which represented one half of the proceeds from the sale of our raffle quilt. The results of the “Oh My Stars” Challenge was also presented, with excellent participation. Awards were given for various criteria, including Smallest Star, Most Stars and Most Humorous.

2003/04

The new year began in July of 2003 with Mary Colley taking over as president. The meeting, “Cotton Patch 101" answered many of our member’s questions concerning the functioning of the guild.

In July, a number of members took a field trip to Mary Jo’s Fabrics in Gastonia, NC, the first of many such field trips!!

Programs during the fall included Florine Johnson, a member of the Hall County Quilt Guild, who talked about her Rooster designs and patterns, Jayne Buckwalter, who spoke about “Civil War Quilts and the Women Who Made Them”, and “Eagle Ranch Quilts” presented by members of the Hall County Quilters. In the early months of 2004, members enjoyed “Madelyn Hawley and her Boa”, photos from the AQS show, narrated by Terri Jarret, and Basicos of colors and fabrics by Kay Hewett.

The guild was inspired by the presence of national teacher, Billie Lauder, the queen of “doing things quickly”. She presented an informative lecture, followed by a wonderful workshop full of tips, tricks and techniques.

Other workshops were presented by Frances Arnold (Beginning Machine Quilting), Betty Kiser (Curved Piecing), Kathy Ethridge (TriRecs Stars), and Mary Pierson (Square In a Square).

Kathy Ethridge

2004/05

In June of 2004, Fay Rawls was sworn in as president of the Guild.

Our first program for the year was “Gizmo’s, Gadgets and Gotta’s” where members brought their favorite and not-so-favorite items for us all to see. We also had a “Christmas In July” Show and Tell. Other programs included a hands-on color program by Terri Jarrett and a presentation about the Underground Railroad Quilts by Sandy Jordan. In November, our members strutted their stuff by showing the quilts that they had made for the “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” challenge, and then we Pot-lucked and enjoyed each other at our December meeting.

In October, we welcomed Barbara Barber from “Across the Pond”. She presented two workshops, one using bias to prepare a Drunkard’s Path quilt and a second one creating a continuous paper pieced border.

The guild proudly presented our 6th major show at the Oconee County Civic Center on March 4th through 6th of 2005. “Threads of Time” (Cotton Patch Quilters 20th Anniversary Show and Sale) was a very successful show, headed up by Judy Caputi. Quilts were judged by Dixie Haywood of Pensacola, Florida and over 175 quilts were shown. Members and visitors also enjoyed visiting 10 shops in the vendor mall as well as quilting demonstrations throughout the days.

Fay Rawls took the Best of Show award for “Somebunny Loves You All Year Long”, with Woodie Watson’s “Don’t Bug Me” being selected as the Viewer’s Choice. Judge’s Choice went to Francyne Willby for her piece entitled “Great Barrier Reef”.


Woodie Watson - “Don’t Bug Me”	Fay Rawls - “Somebunny Loves You All Year Long”	Francyne Willby - "Great Barrier Reef"

Our final workshop for the year was a Celtic Workshop by nationally known Scarlett Rose. Many of our members learned techniques that have made their way into future quilts. The final program for the year was Diane Barrett who spoke about the “African-American Quilters of Northeast Georgia”, and our last meeting for the year included a wonderful potluck, followed by a presentation of our “Initial Challenge” quilts and handing over of the gavel to new president, Mary Colley.

2005/06

The new fiscal year programs opened with the chairman of the Georgia Quilt Museum Committee of the Georgia Quilt Council. In August, Amanda Whitsel presented a wonderful, interactive program designed to help keep our bodies healthly so that we can continue quilting.

At our September meeting, we celebrated our 20th ANNIVERSARY!!!! Shirley Erickson lead us in a year-by-year review of the many things that we have done. There was MUCH to celebrate!!!

Various new policies were implemented during the year, including the decision to use Charity related monies to make quilts for organizations rather than giving cash donations. The Charity Bee began meeting every Wednesday morning, greatly facilitating our charity efforts.

In October, guild members answered the “B’rest Memories” challenge in a big way, showing many blocks that were made to celebrate Breast Cancer Month. Sarah Hubbard put the blocks together and presented the quilt to Clark County Relay-For Life. They raffled the quilt and raised $2,000.

The Charity Bee jumped on this idea and, with the help of guild members, made a Jewel Box Quilt which was given to Oconee County Relay for Life. They raised a whopping $6,000. Raffle quilts were also presented to the Hospitality Network and to Athens Habitat For Humanity.

In November we enjoyed the visit of Susan Salter Rice who presented a “Twisted Log Cabin” workshop during the day and then continued with a trunk show and sale at the evening meeting.....quite a long day.

December included our usual potluck dinner and presentation of the Holiday Challenge quilts.

Carol Taylor

2006 started out with two workshops by national teacher, Carol Taylor. The first day was based on her “Arc-i-texture” designs, followed by a “Free Motion Machine Quilting” session on day two. Attendees were treated to a wonderful showing of many of Carol’s famous quilts.

We were also treated to a workshop by Peggy Barkle, who taught her “Blendable Curves” technique. Several of our members finished quilts which were included in Peggy’s book about the subject.

Final workshops were presented by Barbara Redman (Grandmother’s Flower Garden) and Deb Henderson (Bloomin Rose Block Swap).

Our year ended at the June meeting with more food and the displaying of 25 quilts in the “Orange you Glad It’s Not Pink” Challenge.....a great showing for a wonderful challenge!!!