PICKENS COUNTY — A reunion implies a gathering of friends and family. After not having a quilt show since 2019, that seems like a fitting name for this year’s show of the UpCountry Quilters Guild. Friends, both old and new, and family are gathering together to show quilts that have been worked on over the past four years. Like any reunion, some dear friends are missing who have passed away — but whose legacy lives on in the guild.
One such friend was Rebecca Platts. She was a prolific quilter and left many projects yet to be finished with her passing. Gail Sexton, a member of the guild, was given Rebecca’s quilt blocks by Rebecca’s family. Gail completed the blocks and put them together into a quilt top. She then added her signature style by adding a border of appliqued flowers then finished the quilt with her beautiful quilting. Since the blocks used were star blocks – the quilt was named “Stars for Rebecca.” Gail graciously donated the quilt to the guild to use as this year’s Presentation Quilt.
A Presentation Quilt is typically used as a fundraiser for the guild. Tickets are sold over the course of the year and the drawing for the quilt is done the last day of the quilt show. The money is used to help support community service projects and programs. In the past few years, several of the projects the guild has supported are Meals on Wheels with quilted placemats for their homebound members, bereavement quilts for stillborns at local hospitals, and fidget quilts for Alzheimer’s patients. The current project is making quilts, crib sized up to queen/king sized, for Kentucky residents hit hard by tornados and recent floods. In the new year, the guild will add some local charities, such as Tummy Time quilts for Nurse-Family Partnership of Pickens, Oconee and Greenville counties and Project Linus.
A Quilters Reunion quilt show will be held on October 13-14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Market in the Mill in Pickens, SC, 225 Pumpkintown Highway. Admission is $5, with children under the age of 12 admitted free with an adult.
The show includes over 160 judged quilts as well as a boutique of member made quilted items, a second time around booth of quilt/fabric themed items and a consignment shop of member items for sale. There is also a drawing for six 100 piece Fat Quarter Fabric Baskets and the grand finale of drawing for the Presentation Quilt at 3 p.m. on Saturday October 14 (need not be present to win). A number of vendors are supporting the quilt show with a variety of fabric and quilt related items, machines and wooden furniture for sale.
Come see all the beautiful quilts and the wonderful Presentation quilt “Stars for Rebecca.” The members of the guild look forward to seeing you and talking about the quilts!