I have never been to a quilt show. So when I walked into the Biennial Quilt Show sponsored by the Proper Bostonian Quilters at St. Theresa last Sunday, it was a colorful surprise.
I had to walk through the display of quilts at the Monsignor Donahue Hall at St. Theresa School more than once to really grasp the creativity, energy, colors and designs.
“That’s a lot of sheets!” my 3-year-old son exclaimed as we walked the room. It was hard to keep him from touching because no touching was allowed. But the experience was perfect for a preschooler.
There were three quilts he wanted to see over and over. They were:
- “Froggie Goes A-Wooing” by Eileen Thurston of Hyde Park
- “Now I Know My ABC’s” by Terri Mazzulli of Boston
- “Wicked!!!” by Anne O’Connell of Jamaica Plain
I needed to find out who was in charge of putting together such a wonderful show and was pleasantly surprised when I was directed to the maker of “Wicked!!!”
Anne O’Connell was the chair of the quilt show, which she said was an amazingly successful show.
“I have been quilting for 20 years,” O’Connell said. She got interested in quilting when a friend she worked with asked her to go with her to a quilt show.
O’Connell said her grandmother taught her to sew, but apart from taking a few classes, she basically taught herself to quilt.
“The quilts I make, I want them to be used,” she said. She loves working with 100% cotton that can go into the dryer.
When asked where her inspiration comes from, she says it could be anything. “A piece of fabric can tell you what to do,” she said.
The hardest part about quilting she says is to refrain from buying more fabric, and although she has been retired for the past four years, she said there is never enough time.
O’Connell’s piece “Wicked!!” was one of 157 quilts featured in a show that was truly an exhibit of some great works of art.
The Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild was founded in 1985. They meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the Msgr. Donahue Hall, St. Theresa School in West Roxbury. One Saturday a month, the group hosts a quilt camp from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Theresa.
According to their website, members make teddy bears, pillowcases and quilts that are donated to various local organizations assisting men, women and children in need. Recent projects have benefited ConKerr Cancer, Linus Quilts, Casa Nueva Vida, the Yorkville Food Pantry, and U.S. military servicemen and women.
For more information on the Guild, visit www.properbostonianquilters.org.