The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail (UHQT) and the Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild (LMQG) are collaborating in celebrating quilting throughout Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Counties August 26 through September 31. The UHQT will celebrate the 100th quilt block on September 7th and culminating in the biennial LMQG quilt show, September 21 – 22, 2012.
The month-long festivities will kick off on August 26 at the Lunney House Museum, 211 West South First Street in Seneca, with a reception from 4 – 6 p.m. Several of the historic fabric quilts represented on the quilt trail will be displayed. The show will continue through the end of September.
Fabric quilts will also be on display at several locations through the month of September:
• Westminster will host quilts on the Trail at the Westminster Depot, 135 East Main Street and at the Oconee Heritage Museum Annex, 126 East Main Street.
• Walhalla will host quilts at the Oconee Heritage Museum, 123 Brown Square Drive. The Kafee quilters from Heirlooms and Comforts will be displaying a vibrant collection of quilts using Kaffe colors and fabric, some traditional patterns but in new colors. Patriots Hall, 13 Short Street will feature quilts with a patriotic theme.
• Seneca
The Greater Oconee Chamber of Commerce, 105A Ram Cat Alley Seneca, will feature HiFiber, they will display HiFiber in Portraits.
The Lunney House Museum, 211 West South First Street in Seneca, will host historic fabric quilts represented on the quilt trail will be displayed.
• The Anderson Arts Center, 110 Federal Street, Anderson will display the fabric quilts represented on the Trail in Anderson County.
• The ARTS Center in Clemson, 212 Butler Street, Clemson will display fabric quilts represented on the Trail in Pickens County.
September 7, the City of Westminster will unveil the 100th quilt block on the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail in conjunction with the opening of the 51st Apple Festival. The celebration will take place at the Municipal Building, 100 E. Windsor, beginning at 9:30 a.m., with a dedication, bus and walking tours of local quilt blocks. A bus tour of the quilt blocks in Walhalla will begin at 2:30 after the Rotary luncheon.
September 15 the musical QUILTERS: A Historical Musical, presented by the Social Circle Theater Group, Social Circle, GA. at the Walhalla Civic Auditorium in Walhalla, 7:00 p.m. Ticket Price is $10.00. Contact Walhalla Civic Auditorium, 864-638-5277.
QUILTERS is the story of a pioneer woman and her six daughters, QUILTERS blends a series of interrelated scenes into a rich mosaic which captures the sweep and beauty, the terror and joy, the harsh challenge and abiding rewards of frontier life. Illuminating stories contained in various patches or "blocks" with music, dance and drama, the action depicts the lot of women on the frontier: girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death. But, with this, there is also love, warmth, rich and lively humor and the moving spectacle of simple human dignity and steadfastness in the face of adversity. In the end, when the various patches are assembled into one glorious, brilliantly colorful quilt, the effect is both breathtaking and magical undefinedand a theatrical masterstroke which will linger in the mind and memory long after the house lights have dimmed.
The grand finale for the quilt celebration will be the LMQG quilt show, “Celebrating Silver,” at the Shaver Recreation Center, 698 W. South 4th Street in Seneca. It will run from September 21, 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. through September 22, from 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Over 200 quilts will be displayed, along with a charity silent auction, a boutique with vendors and a presentation quilt drawing. Additional local venues will include the Ballenger House, Blue Ridge Arts Center and Heart Warmers at Dogwood Plaza where quilts will be displayed during the show. A driving map of quilt venues will be available at the Shaver Center.
All events are open to the public and free of charge except for the musical on September 15th. For additional information contact the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail at info@uhqt.org or call 864-723-6603 or the Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild at www.LMQG.org
