Mississippi Quilt Association Online
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Fall Gathering 2007 

October 26-27th

Oxford, Mississippi

University Methodist Church

by Mary Lou Owens

Quilters started arriving at the Activities Center of the Oxford-University Methodist Church in Oxford mid-afternoon and there were about 100 quilters for the Friday program.  Three vendors, plus the Tutwiler Quilters, set up and money started changing hands with fabric right away!!  Visitors also enjoyed the quilts hanging from the upstairs railing, which were products of the Piecemakers of Oxford-Lafayette County, hosts for this event, and the lovely fall decorations at each table.  Each table also had a different piece of fabric and members sat at the table whose piece of fabric matched the piece of fabric on their nametag. 

Broach Winsley welcomed all, and recognized the guilds who had representatives at the Gathering. Consistent with Broach’s theme of  “Growth”, she asked members to “mill around” and introduce themselves to other quilters. Mary Lou Owens then asked quilt-related trivia questions to the group and the winner was able to identify only 14 of the 20 given.  Some of us thought we knew everything about quilting, but were soon surprised!

Dinner was delicious soup – choice of corn chowder, 15-bean, or tomato, corn muffins and pick-up goodies for dessert.  (Recipes will be posted on the MQA website).

After eating and more shopping, including a silent auction with lots of good (and cheap) items, a group from the University of Mississippi, directed by Dinah Swan, put on excerpts from the play “Quilters”.  What a wonderful and professional production – even saw some Kleenex come out during parts of it!

 To conclude the evening, the Tutwiler Quilters from Tutwiler, Mississippi explained how they got started in the cottage industry that now employs many quilters in the area, and is the only income for some of them.  They make tote bags, placemats, pot holders, table runners, and of course quilts.  Their work is featured in the Smithsonian and was also featured on “60 Minutes.”  Most interesting and commendable!

Bright and early Saturday morning, over 100 quilters were greeted at the Activities Center with coffee and mini-muffins. Starting at 8:30 a.m., we had 7 one-half-hour presentations that were as varied as they were interesting. 

The day started with an interesting Power-Point presentation on the History of Quilts by Penny Sanford Sikes.  We all learned some new facts about quilting.  Lots of research was evident in this presentation, and Penny's delivery was just heart warming. It is easy to see why she is asked to speak to groups so often!

Katherine Dye, chair of the making of the New Albany, Mississippi, Sesquicentennial Quilt, presented slides for each of the 24 blocks, with a brief explanation of each – many talented people. 

Following Mrs. Dye, Maxine Thompson from Holly Springs, Mississippi, showed a group of  “dump” quilts she found when she and her husband went to the dump to get rid of their “trash.”  The “trash” of someone else was the treasure of the Thompsons –most interesting to wonder who would throw quilts like that away.

After a break and more shopping (we quilters never miss an opportunity), Mimi Alef of New Albany presented a trunk show of her quilts, including several challenge quilts she had entered when she lived in North Carolina. The highlight of her display was a bedsize quilt she had entered into the Viking National Contest and won first place. All of them were most beautiful and showed Mimi’s great talents!  

Rhonda Blasingame, with her students from the June Gathering, came to the stage to show their “challenges” which were made from a bag of “stuff” that the members anonymously exchanged.  Many oohs and aahs went on as members saw the wall hanging for the first time that their classmate had made out of the bag of “stuff” provided and found out who the quilter was who did theirs.

After a sandwich lunch, 4 members of a New Albany family showed many quilts that were either made by the husband/wife team, or by two octogenarians.  Keep on quilting for a long time!!!

 Lee Waldrop, from the Mississippi Organ Donor Association, showed us two quilts made up of photos of donors and recipients of organs in Mississippi.  One of the quilts was sashed,  put together and quilted by Broach Winsley.  This was an inspiring talk and one which provided a great deal of thought about the tenuousness of our lives and how we can donate our organs.

Lastly, Laura Antonow, an art-textile instructor at the University of Mississippi, presented a Power-point program featuring five contempory artists who were inspired by quilts in their work.  It was interesting to note that several of the Gees Bend Quilts bore a resemblance to the works of one or two of these well-known artists.

As always, member Show and Tell followed – lots of talent and the majority were art quilts.  How quilting has changed in the last few years!

Certainly Broach’s theme of Growth -- try new things, learn new techniques, make new friends – was most evident in the two days spent at the Fall Gathering and we all returned home knowing we had grown in at least one of these ways.

Vendors

Thanks to Golden Triangle,  Main Street Fabrics, and the Village Cloth Shop

See quilts from our fascinating programs below. Click on any image to enlarge it.

BEAN SOUP (GRANDMA’S)
2 cups bean mixture
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, minced
1 pound Ham pieces (center-cut ham slice works well)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can Rotel (original) tomatoes

Either soak the beans overnight in 2 quarts water with 1 t. salt or bring beans to boil in a kettle and let sit one hour.  Add 1 ½ cups water.
Add the ham, onion, and garlic powder.  Simmer slowly for 3 hours.  Add 1 can (original) Rotel tomatoes and simmer 2 hours more. Makes two quarts.

Corn Chowder ---- so easy!
Cook 6 - 8 slices of bacon until crisp and remove from
grease. Reserve for later.
Add about 1 cup chopped onion to the grease and cook until soft.
Drain the onion and put in large pot.
Add 4 cans of cream of potato soup
2 cans whole milk
2 cans water
2 - 11 oz cans drained shoe peg corn or
1 bag of frozen shoe peg corn
Heat and serve with crumbled bacon on top.
(For our purposes you can stir the bacon into the chowder just before serving).

Makes approximately 80 oz.
Serves about 8

Tomato Soup

(Grace Episcopal Church Festival)

1 carrot

2 stems celery

1 very small onion

1 stick butter

1-51 oz. can Campbell’s Tomato Soup (undiluted) or ( 5-10 oz. cans)

2-28 oz. cans Progresso plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped (save liquid)

4 cans Swanson chicken broth

½ c. each-- celery leaves, basil, and parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp. salt

Tabasco sauce to taste

Sour cream – optional for top of soup

Puree carrot, celery and onion in food processor.  Melt butter in large pot and add pureed vegetables; saute until soft.  Add soup, tomatoes (with liquid) and chicken broth.  Season to taste with salt and add herbs.  Cook 45 minutes.  Taste and add Tabasco.  Serve with dollop of sour cream.  Makes approximately 3 ½ quarts.