Northeast Ohio Quilt Show is July 20-22 in Wooster
Members of the Tree City Quilters Guild Kathy Ott, left, Betty Boreman, Jeri Fickes, Laura Nolletti, Beverly Fash, Vicky Hartzler, Denise Snyder, Gena Herbert, Mary Mahoney, Frank Meshew and Susan Bateman pose with the quilt that will be raffled off at the second annual Northeast Ohio Quilt Show July 20-22 at the Wayne County Fair Event Center in Wooster.
Anything can be a hobby, as long as there’s passion. Quilting is no exception.
In fact, get some quilters going and members of the world’s 37th-most popular hobby will win you over with their excitement for the craft. And make no mistake, the zeal is real.
“It’s definitely a passion,” said Kathy Ott, president of the Tree City Quilters Guild, a group of 70 or so quilters from the Wooster area. “I just taught my granddaughter how to quilt. A lot of us are retired, but a lot of us aren’t. It’s become a huge thing.”
The TCQG will host the second annual Northeast Ohio Quilt Show July 20-22 at the Wayne County Fair Event Center at the fairgrounds in Wooster. The show will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and feature the works of guild members, among other things.
Quilting has become huge business. Just about everyone has a quilt in their house. Most have several.
According to the Craft Industry Alliance, there are 10-12 million quilters in the United States alone. Perhaps a product of the pandemic and all its shut-ins, the number of quilters went up by 12% in 2020, and the quilting industry is expected to approach the $5 billion mark as a market within the next two to three years.
The shows have become a big deal, and there are tons of them. There are dozens of quilt shows throughout Ohio during a year and hundreds across the country.
Tree City Quilters Guild member Denise Snyder said that during a trip to Florida in 2019, she and her husband stumbled on a quilt show in Sarasota. That was when she learned different geographic areas have different quilting flavors.
“In Florida they used more beachy colors,” Snyder said. “In Ohio we use more basic colors.”
The Wooster show actually is hosted by a group from Pennsylvania. Last year was the first time it was held at the Event Center. At that time it was what TCQG member Frank Meshew called a good show; it had a good group of quilts.
Those were all favorite quilts of the vendors, and the works on display were not as diverse as Meshew thought or hoped they would be. He approached the host group and asked if maybe the Tree City Quilters Guild could be allowed to exhibit its quilts at the next show.
“They said they would love that,” Meshew said.
And so it’s happening. The guild will have more than 100 quilts and other hand-made items on display — but not for sale — over the three-day event.
“It’s like an art show, where you go in and admire the paintings and things you can see made by all these talented individuals,” Ott said. “It’s a feast for the eyes.
“It’s just a beautiful display of the quilters’ work. There will be baby quilts all the way to big, beautiful, full-sized bed quilts. There will also be some smaller items our quilters have done. We do all different sizes.”
The guild will sell some of its works. The hometown group will have a boutique in which member-made items will be available.
The guild also will raffle off one quilt, a Quiltworx quilt made by a combination of nearly a dozen guild members. Tickets for the raffle are $2, and the drawing will be held as the show winds down on Saturday.
“We use the money we raise to support community events we do,” Snyder said. “We also donate quilts to the veterans and use monies for speakers at our guild meetings, things like that.”
The person who coordinated the quilt for the raffle is guild member Laura Nolletti, who divided the pattern into sections and gave each participant his/her section. The members completed their patterns and went back to put all sections together.
“It was kind of a construction day,” Snyder said. “Laura guided us through that.”
The guild also will display its various HOPS quilts. The acronym stands for Honoring Our Patriots’ Service. At the Wayne County Fair in September, 100 quilts will be given to various military honorees.
Snyder estimates she can make a quilt in inside of a week if she really has the pedal down. Otherwise, it can take four to six weeks if it’s interspersed with regular life.
“It also depends on how intricate it is or if I’m doing a quilt with big blocks,” she said. “If you have big pieces, it goes a lot faster.”
Meshew concurred. He said some quilters make one every month or so.
“No one’s going to need that many quilts,” he said. “They just like to do it. Some people sell them on Etsy or eBay, things like that.”
At the show, though, they just put them on display, perhaps to be donated later. And anyone can come and see the work.
Snyder said quilting is something that can be enjoyed by anyone from any generation, and the art itself links entire time lines full of people.
“What I also like about it is it’s passed on through the generations,” she said. “I have a quilt from my grandma’s house and one from my husband’s generation that’s dated to 1895.
“I like giving them to people who get the joy of the hug of a warm quilt they can snuggle with and help them get through whatever situation in life they may be going through. It just fills my soul.”
There is no admission cost for the show, and parking is free. The show will feature nearly 50 vendors from 14 states selling various products mostly related to the quilting universe. For more information visit www.aquiltersdestination.com.