Quilting at the Thruston House
Have you ever stopped in at the Thruston House on a Wednesday afternoon. Stop by between 2:30 and 5:00 P.M.
If you want to bring children along or a potential volunteer who might be interested in taking up the hobby, please stop in.
Jean Ann Marshall writes: “We want to promote what the quilters are doing. This is truly becoming a lost art, with many people wanting their heirloom quilt tops quilted by hand. Young people coming up behind us are enjoying the machine quilting – only we “old timers” are still doing the handwork. We will be finished with the quilt we currently have in the frame by the end of this month and the next quilt going in is going to bring $400.”
Now, volunteers: don’t be intimidated by that pricing. The quilters in our organization charge according to the size and complexity of the quilt and also, I think, according to other factors such as whether repairs are required and whether extra work is needed to finish out the quilt. They bring in money to pay the bills.
In terms of finances: the city gives us something over $8,000.00 per year, and the county over $5,000.00. We watch utility expenses carefully and we scrimp by with all our operations. Volunteers maintain our grounds, and we operate free facilities throughout the county.
The extra money the quilting group brings in is great and helps pay for extra programs and expenses we incur.
I think the quilting group would welcome people stopping in to study with them and learn the art. It is conceivable that a second quilting group could organize. We have other spaces where we could have a second group. And, first and foremost, we need to make sure we support our primary quilting group. The current FCHA quilters are Jean Ann Marshall, Sue Soetenga, Connie McGill, and Nicki Armstrong.
Check with Jean Ann Marshall (903-537-4569) or Sue Soetenga (903-860-3979) before your visit. You can count on the group almost every Wednesday year round. If you have a study group, family group, or child or grandchild who has admired an heirloom quilt you own, then stop by the house and let your friends get a lesson in how that quilt was made.
If you have a quilt top that is stuck back in a drawer because no one ever got around to quilting it; then get Jean Ann and Sue to give you an estimate on the cost to quilt the heirloom and the color scheme and pattern that might be used in the actual quilt stitching for your heirloom. As for those of you who attended the recent membership meeting at Hagansport, you saw the beautiful quilt made from a deteriorating quilt top I had inherited which was pieced by my grandmother Agnes Hughes sometime in the 1950s (she died in 1964). I now have an heirloom to treasure and display.
Congratulate these volunteers – our quilters. And take advantage of the opportunity to see them in action; take friends and family in to see this living history program; and walk Dupree Park while you are out there.
