LUMBERTON — The days at the Robeson County History Museum have been busy as preparations continue for the opening in early June for the quilting exhibit titled Patchwork from the Past.

As quilts were installed in every room of the museum a week ago Friday, the women of the Lumber River Quilter’s Guild were hand-sewing a quilt in the lobby of the museum at 101 S. Elm St. in Lumberton. An opening-day reception for the museum’s newest exhibit will be 2 to 5 p.m. on June 4.

“Quilting is a lost art that we are preserving,” Camma Morgan said. “I took up quilting when I retired in ’95.”

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” Daphne Light said.

The ladies are participating in a folk art tradition one stitch at a time. Most visitors to Patchwork from the Past have never seen a quilting frame. A thimble is a distant memory for others. Quilting brings back childhood memories for others.

“When I was little, my mother had a frame like this,” Light said. “I played underneath.”

As expert hands put needle and thread to fabric, another lesson is passed on. Quilting is a social craft, and the women of the Quilters Guild are expert at both crafts.

Quilts on display in museums and in homes today had a utilitarian purpose — and still do. The Quilter’s Guild donates most of its quilts to charities, such as the Southeastern Family Violence Center, Odom Boys and Girls Home and American Indian tribes in Western states.

“Our church was going to donate a van to a tribe out West,” Sylvia Blue said. “Our pastor said we shouldn’t send it empty.”

While quilting and conversation were going on May 12, Shep Oliver, History Museum president, and Faye Middleton, volunteer coordinator, were placing quilts throughout the museum. A few are part of the museum’s permanent collection, and others are loaned for the exhibition.

Ila Killian, who grew up in the Purvis community of Robeson County and lives in Lumberton today, arrived with a family heirloom.

“That’s a crazy quilt,” Morgan said. “They started making them in the 1880s. Sometimes they used silk or wool, but they used every scrap. Nothing was thrown away,”

“That includes feed sacks,” Light said.

That got a laugh out of Killian.

“Our mother made our clothes from feed sacks, and the scraps when into quilts,” Killian said. “When she died, we divided the quilts up among her heirs.”

To see how scraps of cloth become folk art, a visit to the museum is in order. Many local quilts are on display. Some are heirlooms, like Killian’s, and some contemporary and creative examples, such as the “Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar,” a take on the famous children’s book by Vickie Locklear, and “Christmas” by Cappy Kreminski.

One quilt, a North Star design, was loaned by Marion Thompson of Lumberton. Another piece was loaned by Elaine Stankwytch Bullock and was made with the ribbons from her mother’s funeral.

Another crazy quilt, one that belonged to the Oliver family, is framed.

“It was my mother’s, and she divided it among her children,” Shep Oliver said. “We each got a quarter of it.”

The exhibit is an education in quilting. Samples of standard quilting squares are on display. These include: Jacob’s Ladder, Bear’s Paw, Log Cabin, Monkey Wrench, Wagon Wheel, Crossroads, Basket, North Star and more.

“Faye has done a remarkable job putting this exhibit together,” Oliver said. “A lot of work has gone into this.”

Middleton said it was time for a new exhibit.

“What we had planned was delayed, so I thought quilts would be interesting because so many people have them,” she said. “We had the samples in storage and several other quilts, and after that, everything fell into place.”

The Robeson County History Museum is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon and Sundays 2 to 4 p.m.

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Robeson County History Museum is ready to uncover exhibit on quilting

By Scott Bigelow

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