The Festival Quilt
Mary Warner, local quilter extraordinaire, is involved in two quilt projects during the Virginia Highlands Festival, Abingdon, Virginia — The Washingtons Unite Quilt and the Highlands Festival Quilt. The Washingtons Unite Quilt celebrates America250, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country.
The Washingtons Unite Quilt is a quilt composed of squares representing states that have a Washington County. Warner created the Washington County, Virginia, square. Linda Crouch-McCreadie created the Washington County, Tennessee, square.
Warner got involved in the Washingtons Unite Quilt because Walter Jenny asked her to volunteer.
“I happily did so. It was an honor to be involved in this project.
“Walter was the inspiration behind using the Washington County seal for our block, although he left the decision up to me.I thought because our seal is based on the Washington family coat of arms that it was perfect. Washington County, Virginia, is the second county in the U.S. to be named after George Washington. Tennessee was the first.Walter provided me with the best picture of the seal and the UPS Store here in Abingdon enlarged it to the correct size,” Warner says.
The guidelines were to make a quilt block 12”x12” finished, including red, white and blue, and the state’s abbreviation. Warner used 100 percent cotton fabric. The square was done entirely by hand, using the buttonhole type of applique.
“The idea for this quilt and the guidelines came from Tim Reavis from Arkansas. He thought of it on a road trip where he drove through seven different Washington counties. When first agreed upon, there were 26 Washington counties committed to making a block. Since that initial number, others joined in, and I’m not sure now of the total number of blocks. The quilting was done by an Arkansas quilt guild. The finished quilt will travel to each of the participating counties. Exciting for us, it will be in Abingdon during the Virginia Highlands Festival,” Warner says.
Deirdre Cole commissioned the second quilt project for the Virginia Highlands Festival to celebrate Virginia250. The quilt is 4’x6’ and has the VA250 and Washington county seal as part of the design.
“To balance the design, I added the seal for the Highlands Festival as well.I created the design, as much as anyone can say they create something. Ideas came from various places, and they all came together to form a very loose interpretation of the flag. It’s a large star with the stripes going down. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Threads of Time,’ so that is appliqued above the star. I had a Feb. 1deadline, so I asked a very talented friend to machine quilt the top. She free motion quilted it using red, white and blue threads, with stars in the stitching,” Warner says.
Both quilts are on display at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Abingdon, Virginia, during the Virginia Highlands Festival.
