Stories in stitching
Mountain Mammas quilt show this weekend in Stanley
By MEGAN THOMAS
Express Staff Writer
Etta La Chance of Hailey shows her quilt ?Caden?s Jungle.? The quilt is displayed at the Sawtooth Mountain Mamas Annual Quilt Festival.
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Elaborate quilt creations bring together an amalgam of patterns and colors. The intricate designs stitch contrasting floral, paisley and plain patterned fabrics into a labyrinth of sense. The creations bring together materials that would remain otherwise estranged, and people who would live as strangers.
There is a great deal of camaraderie that surrounds quilting explained Etta La Chance a quilt maker from Hailey. She went on, that historically quilt making started as a way to keep families together and later evolved into an art form.
This weekend, the Sawtooth Mountain Mamas 20th Annual Quilt Festival brings the art and social network of quilting to Stanley. The festival takes place Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17 and 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Center Building on Highway 21 in Stanley.
The festival also features the annual ?Show and Tell Luncheon? on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Stanley Airport Hangar. The luncheon provides an opportunity for participants to share their quilting stories and tips. Reservations are required.
The festival brings quilt makers from across Idaho to take part in a show, workshops, a quilt block contest and a quilt drawing. The workshops feature Carol Doak, a best-selling author and award-winning quilt maker. The show highlights a variety of quilts, wall hangings and other quilt related items demonstrate the different methods people use to quilt.
?Like any art form, there are so many ways to do it. It makes it fun for people to express themselves,? La Chance said.
The quilts on display include hand and machine made pieces, in addition to antique creations. The pieces range from king sized coverlets to baby blankets.
La Chance displays a baby blanket she quilted called ?Caden?s Jungle.?
Monkeys, parrots, elephants and giraffes comprise the center of the quilt. The animals live in individual frames stitched together. The frames give the illusion of looking out an attic window into a jungle filled with wild animals.
The colorful jungle attracts the eye to the miniature blanket. With a closer look, the eye uncovers another pattern created by the top intricate stitching.
?The stitching gives it dimension. It makes it pop off the fabric,? she said.
The intricate stitching spreads across the entire piece offers an additional element of design. Against the orange flannel backside of the quilt, the stitching stands as the central swirling pattern.
According to La Chance, the top stitching also extends the life of a quilt. The quilts hold up best to the laundry and other wear and tear when they have more top stitching to hold them together.
For more information, call 208-774-2996.
