Quaker Heritage Center’s quilting exhibit extended to December
Guests at the Quaker Heritage Center view the quilt exhibit during its opening reception in March. (Submitted photo)
Quilting dates to Ancient Egypt and was used long before the Industrial Revolution granted us the ability to mass market pre-made clothes. Historically, quilts were made from recycled, leftover or found fabrics, and used for a variety of purposes.
Wilmington College's Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center Gallery exhibit is titled "Quilts through Time: Honoring Quaker Women and Quilting in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries through the Quilts of the Meriam R. Hare Collection."
The show opened in March, and due to its popularity, will continue through Dec. 12 with normal gallery hours on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special appointments are available through Gallery Curator Dr. Tanya Maus. The QHC is in Boyd Cultural Arts Center, corner of College and Douglas Streets in Wilmington.
In this exhibit, viewers witness the painstaking artistry of three generations of Quaker women quilting in Clinton County, Ohio, from the 1840s to the 1960s. As you travel through time, you will view 13 quilts drawn from the collection of Quaker Heritage Center founder and Quaker Meriam R. Hare (b. 1928-d. 2003).
Hare collected and cared for these quilts throughout her lifetime, consistent with her deep desire to pass on Quaker heritage to future generations. Quaker women created textiles and quilts for a variety of reasons: artistic expression, economic support for their families, social connection and to express political views and beliefs.
It is because of these same reasons that many individuals continue to quilt today and why quilting remains a powerful medium of human expression in the present.