The Tribune

Bahamians viewed new works of art and some pieces ended up in foreign lands, thanks to the 25th annual exhibition of the Stepping Stone Quilters Guild.

Anita Fountain, president of the guild, said the women who comprise the group committed in a tremendous amount of work to the show, but the effort is worth getting others to see their pieces – some large and some small. It also gets people to see quilts in a new, artistic light.

“It is quite eye-opening because most people see quilts as traditional bed quilts,” Ms Fountain said. “But I think looking through the quilts, you will see that there is a lot more diversity than what you can imagine. Also, I would like to encourage people to take up quilting and join us if they want.”

Laurie Miller, a guild member who has been quilting for 15 years, noticed more visitors than Bahamians attending.

“The majority are visitors from the ships,” she said. “We have had the Bahamians come in, especially two schools. I was very proud of that. Anatol Rodgers came. St Thomas More came. They had different classes, at least two classes per day, that came in to see the quilt show. We had faxed to every school but those two schools took advantage of the show.”

Ms Miller said the call on Nassau of the Queen Victoria cruise ship provided a special treat for members of the guild. A large number of the ship’s passengers attended the show after learning about it, she said.

“I really would like to see more Bahamians take advantage of the quilt show,” she said. “I would like to see more Bahamians quilt because we really don’t want this to be a dying art.”

This year, members of the guild worked together to create a special quilt, which was donated to Trinity Methodist Church, which has been the home of the quilt show every year since it began. The church celebrates its 150th anniversary this year while the Stepping Stone Quilters Guild celebrated its 25th year.

The large quilt will be assigned a permanent place to be showcased at the church.