Heber Valley Civil War Quilt Show

Have you heard about the Heber Valley Civil War Weekend Quilt Show? It is being  held on October 1st 2011 at Soldier Hollow Resort in Midway, Utah from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  This quilt show is being held in conjunction with Heber Valley Civil War and Living History Weekend, an 1860s time period event hosted by the Utah Civil War Association.  Come see a reproduced sample of these civil war era quilts made by talented ladies throughout the state.

As well as viewing the quilts, you can also attend two free quilting presentations.  Marlene Rapp will be presenting at 10:30 am and Sandra Starley will be presenting at 1:30.  These free presentations are made possible with funding from The Utah Humanities Council. 

Marlene Rapp’s morning presentation will address the Underground Railroad.  The Underground Railroad tells the story of the migration of a people and their culture, whether forced or voluntary, and is a powerful fundamental part of the African American Experience. Those people were not hapless individuals, but ones who remembered or were taught their past and through materials available, began to reconstruct themselves in the United States. The presentation will discuss how they came, why they needed to escape and how they were able to escape from slavery. Quilts may have been a part of sign posts along the way that help them travel from the South to the North.  Secret codes in quilts could have been used for over 100 years that made it possible for 100,000 slaves to escape to states in the North and Canada.

Sandra Starley’s afternoon presentation is titled TEXTILE TIME TRAVELS: Quilts of the 19th Century.  Come see how fun history can be when you time travel by looking at quilts and learning at the same time.  She will show 25-30 or more quilts spanning the 19th century (1800-1899).  Learn the basics of dating quilts, by fabrics, style, etc. and the basics of valuing quilts. More than just looking at beautiful quilts, this lecture gives the history of the fabrics, printing methods, dyeing, cultural forces, regional characteristics, types of quilting and patterns and more. Quilts really can talk to you if you know how to listen to them.

Sandra Starley is a nationally certified quilt appraiser (there are less than 100 in the entire United States), historian, researcher, quilt collector, lecturer and quilt show judge. She is trained and certified in the appraisal of antique, vintage and newly made quilts.  She maintains an extensive collection of both antique quilts and research materials about them and is very active in the American Quilt Study Group and the Alliance for American Quilts.

Both quilt specialists will be at the quilt show all day from 10:00 to 5:00 on Saturday to answer questions.  Sandra will also be available to do quilt appraisals on Saturday.  Appraisals are $40 per quilt.  An appraisal not only places a value on the quilt, it can help you learn about its history and the time and area in which it was made. You may find out that simple quilt speaks volumes about your family’s history

Here are a few beautiful quilts that were entered in past years:

{All text and images were taken directly from Heber Valley Civil War Living History}