You might mistakenly call it a blanket, a bedspread or a cover. You might even correctly call it a quilt. For the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild, a quilt is more than that: It’s a piece of art.
Quilting refers to the technique of joining three layers of fabric with stitches or ties to make a layered type of blanket that features different designs.
“Quilting is an art just as painting is,” said Jean Rosell, first president of the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild. “It’s just art using fibers and fabrics rather than paints and a brush.”
Rosell is a long-time quilter who began practicing her art more than 30 years ago in a small quilt shop in Plantation.
Rosell, a retired schoolteacher, moved to Gainesville in 1996 and opened her business, RoseCreek Quilts, in 2001.
Two years later, she became one of the founding members of the guild, a group of local Gainesville quilters who share a passion for tquilting through a variety of activities.
The group took off faster than Rosell expected.
“When six initial members sat down and started the day guild 10 years ago, we advertised our first meeting, but we weren’t sure how much interest we’d have,” Rosell said. “So, we decided to set out 25 chairs, but we ended up having 65 people come to that very first meeting. We had to find more chairs.”
Ten years later, the guild has grown to more than 120 members who participate in activities that range from quilting workshops and shows to community service and outreach.
Since the guild began in 2003, members have made a name for themselves in Alachua County, having donated more than 800 quilts along with tote bags, medical dolls, pillowcases and other handmade items to the Gainesville Fire Department and Alachua County Public Schools, among other organizations.
Beverly Hilton, owner of quilting and craft supply store Crafty Bev and former vice president of the guild, said it’s eye-opening to see the kind of impact their service has on the community.
“A child who gets a quilt when she’s just had to leave her home under some pretty traumatic conditions receives something she can hold onto. She knows someone made this for me, someone cared enough to make something that I can call my own,” she said. “We love sewing together, and we have fun doing it. But I’m telling you, it really puts our activities in a different perspective.”
Though members share a mission to serve the community and a common passion for quilting, the guild is made up of several different types of quilters, many of who are classified as either traditional or art quilters.
Rosell is a traditionalist — a quilter who uses blocks of fabric to make a quilt pattern, much like one would see on a bed quilt.
Hilton considers herself an art quilter. After health problems in 1999 left her unable to read lines and patterns required for traditional quilting, she transitioned into art quilting.
“There are no rules in art quilting. I still appreciate traditional quilting, but personally, I love the freedom of being able to come up with a crazy idea and convert it into fiber,” Hilton said.
An art quilt’s purpose is to tell a story — to communicate a concept from the quilter to the viewer, much like other art forms.
“An art quilt can literally take one evening or a couple of years. It really depends on the complexity of it. Sometimes you get stuck ... just like writer’s block,” Hilton said.
So what constitutes an art quilt?
“Honestly, art is in the eye of the beholder, so you’ll see lots of different things,” Hilton said. “There’s fabric painting and manipulation or simple techniques like appliqué. … It’s simply a matter of learning the materials and tools that are available to you, coming up with an idea and then executing it.”
March is National Quilting Month, and for local Gainesville quilters, it’s an opportunity to share their works of art with the community at festivals and exhibits across Florida.
For local residents, one of those opportunities is at the Gainesville Tower Road Library through March, where members of the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild have displayed their quilts on the library’s walls.
This annual event is a favorite among library patrons and has grown popular with the community, said Librarian and Adult Programming Coordinator Carolyn Wallace.
“People are really in anticipation each year to see the new quilts and the new designs,” Wallace said. “Some of the quilts are really amazing and innovative, and it’s so great to see the ones that are made for their community service projects.”
It’s a passion for their art and serving their community that keeps these quilters’ needles working.
“Oh my goodness — it becomes addictive,” Rosell said. “It’s kind of like an adventure. … I’m always fascinated to see what’s going to happen when I’m able to turn this fabric into something special that’s also useful to someone.”
The Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild meets at 10 a.m. the first Thursday of every month at the Gainesville Senior Recreation Center. Visitors are invited to attend and share in the joy of the art of quilting.
A quilt hangs on the wall of the Gainesville Tower Road Library, 3020 SW 75th St. It is part of the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild’s library display that celebrates National Quilting Month.
