Fenton Quilt Show Features Antiques to Modern Art

Nimble fingers and creative minds prevailed at the recent quilt show.

The quilts on display ranged from antiques from the 1800s and early 1900s, lovingly handed down through generations, to modern works of art that looked like stained glass, in one case.

Quilter Jane Reed, of Fenton, said she's been sewing the blankets since 1998. Two of her quilts were among the 200 on display at the church on Friday.

"I enjoy the color, the handwork, and the friends I've made," Reed said. "It's an obsession."

She has no idea how many quilts she's made, but her family vies for them, she said.

"They kind of leave the house pretty fast," Reed said of her quilts. "I enjoy showing them in different shows."

Reed and other members of an applique quilt group from the in Linden, made a quilt to raffle at the Fenton United Methodist Church. Proceeds will benefit the she added.

With two floors of quilts to look at and quilting items for sale, visitors to the show had a lot to look through. Janace Johnson, of Milford, found out about the event from a friend. Like many attendees, Johnson cast a vote for her favorite quilt at the show. She selected one covered by tiny, colorful leaves.

"It just had to have taken her forever to do that," Johnson said.

In fact, the information card attached to the quilt indicated it took the quilter two years to finish it. The quilter said in her written remarks that she was "awfully tired of all the little leaves."

Johnson said she sticks to more of a "country quilt" type of pattern. "These are so artistic," she said.

As she finishes one of hers, though, she has a lot of eager family members and grandchildren to pass them on to.

Indeed, when many people think of a quilt, they associate the colorful covering with comfort and love. Some of the quilts were made by mothers for sons in the military. One was an antique quilt from the early 1900s, made as a gift for a son serving in World War II.

A recent quilt was a gift for a son who graduated from military college in South Carolina, at The Citadel. It featured cadets in uniform around the edges, and words they live by, including, "A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do."

Lending comfort to those who are ill or facing misfortune is the goal of the church's Blanket Ministry. Dee Morgan, of Fenton, is the new coordinator for the Fenton United Methodist Church's Blanket Ministry, which sews and provides quilts that are covered by prayers. The ministry accepts donations and blankets, through the Fenton United Methodist Church, Morgan said.

In addition, the Blanket Ministry works closely with the church's Sewing Group.
"I get the sewing group's scraps," she said. "A couple of them are willing to sew for me.

"It all comes together in good time."