Citizen Journal: Quilting group donates work to Lilac Festival

It was a question that could only have a group response.

Could our quilting group, the Frayed Edges, make a quilt for the Lilac Festival? The question had been posed to me by Cindy Zapotocky, the festival’s co-president. The answer, the group decided, was yes.

The women got to work, armed with ideas, books, patterns and fabric. Members decided on a design – a central Lone Star pattern surrounded by 28 pieced stars – and gathered fabrics in lilacs and complementary colors.

In the middle of all this creativity, some members suffered illnesses and family or work crises. The rest absorbed the workload. Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. Mother Nature didn’t help either. However, neither rain, sleet, snow nor potholes could stop this adventure. As each mission was accomplished, members pressed on with individual assignments at home.

Jodi Rice, Jena Hollenbeck, Gloria Brodhagen, Kathy Wright, Trudy Atkinson, Judy White, Kathy Voss, Heidi Libby, Bonnie Nussbaum and Tressa Emch designed and pieced the 100-by-100-inch quilt. The group hired Terry Engleman for the long-arm quilting. Members also made matching pillow cases and shams.

Working together, the women proved the old adage true: “Many hands make light work.”

The quilt was displayed for the first time at the Lilac Festival coronation on Sunday. It will be auctioned online as a fundraiser for festival scholarships. Bids will be taken through May 19. The quilt will be on display at the Davenport Hotel during the Royal Tea Parties on April 23 and festival week, May 13-20. The winning bid will be announced on May 19 at the Presidents Dinner.