Drawn to the environs as well as the visibility along Washington Street, Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club members bring their quilts back to Pioneer Memorial Park during Sequim Lavender Weekend.
For the one day quilt show on July 22, volunteers meticulously place about 180 quilts between trees and on rafters for the public to view the countless colors, patterns and techniques.
Club members shifted to a one-day show last year after a hiatus because of the pandemic.
“From what audience members said, it was a huge success,” quilt show co-chair Marianne Nolte said.
“I got hugs from people. Because of COVID, people were so afraid to go somewhere. (The show) was the first event they could take their mother to.”
The show runs 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, July 22, with demonstrations, a boutique, vendors, exhibits, and more in the park, 387 E. Washington St.. Suggested donation is $5.
This year’s featured quilter Janet Lenfant said she was impressed with last year’s event “seeing (quilts) hanging and blowing in the breeze.”
“I think it’s great,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue to do it.”
For this year, Nolte said club members anticipate about 25 percent more quilts than last year, with 100-plus volunteers anticipated to help set up on Friday and take down on Saturday.
Along with more quilts, organizers say there will be more chairs to sit and admire the quilts, and more handicap parking. They’ve also added a membership table to sign up for the club, a demonstration tent with various techniques planned to be on display, and more categories (10) for viewers to vote.
When the Sequim Lavender Festival moved its Street Fair to Carrie Blake Community Park, Nolte said the then three-day quilt show saw a lot of its foot traffic go away.
However, she said they saw a lot more of the general public, and not just quilt enthusiasts, when it was moved to Pioneer Memorial Park.
They also felt more a part of the weekend’s activities, Nolte added.
Photo courtesy of Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club/ The 2023 Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club raffle quilt “Memories” honors the memory of the late-Jeri Hight who started the brown squares in the quilt before her passing. Her friend Nancy Wilcox finished the quilt to honor Hight.
Raffle quilt
The club’s annual raffle quilt, “Memories,” will be on display at the show, with $1 ticket sales supporting the club’s many activities. A drawing will be held the second week of December, and the winner need not be present.
Organizers said the quilt was started by the late Jeri Hight; before she passed away she bought the pattern “Italian Memories” and started the little brown squares on the quilt.
Fellow quilter Nancy Wilcox befriended Hight through the club’s appliqué friendship group, “Rain Shadow Rhodes,” and learned Hight was well-regarded for her great personality and artistry.
Wilcox came across the little squares lovingly created by Hight, organizers said, and she chose to finish the quilt for the club’s raffle to honor her late friend.
Photo courtesy of Janet Lenfant This year’s featured quilter Janet Lenfant will show “The Gray Lady” and various bags, purses and smaller quilts at the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club’s show on July 22.
Featured artist
As tradition, previous featured quilters choose the show’s next spotlighted artisan. Nolte said they chose Lenfant for her excellent quilting skills and her many active years in the club.
“The quilt club has meant an immense amount of friendships and inspiration for me,” Lenfant said.
A retired accountant and bookkeeper, Lenfant said she started quilting in the 1980s. She had been in a club in San Mateo, Calif., from 1997 until moving to Sequim in 2003, and “hit the deck running.”
Lenfant has served in various club leadership roles, including as co-vice-president and treasurer.
She said she enjoys making bags, purses and pouches along with smaller quilts.
“I was all about the instant gratification because I didn’t want something that took forever,” Lenfant said.
She said she comes from a family line really into crafting.
“It was kind of inevitable,” Lenfant said.
Her display will feature her bags and purses and quilts, and many quilts, such as “The Gray Lady,” a nickname of the “The New York Times” for being black, white and red all over with its somber content, she said.
For more about the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club, visit sunbonnetsuequiltclub.org.
Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club annual show
When: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, July 22
Where: Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E. Washington St.
Featuring: 180-plus quilts on display, boutique, vendors, and more
Cost: $5 suggested donation, supporting club activities
More info: sunbonnetsuequiltclub.org
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Jerry and Carol Irving work together to align a quilt at the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club show in 2022. The show returns to Pioneer Memorial Park on July 22.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Voting at the Sunbonnet Quilt Club’s show on July 22, pictured here in 2022, expands to include 10 different categories this year for 180-plus quilts, organizers said.
