League, quilters join for suffrage centennial quilt raffle

Leaders say drawing is unofficial end to yearlong celebration

By Matthew Nash • October 14, 2020 1:30 am
Gathered around the centennial quilt celebrating women achieving the right to vote in 1920, members of the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club and League of Women Voters of Clallam County say the raffle on Oct. 8 was the unofficial end to a yearlong celebration despite many events being canceled due to the pandemic. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Gathered around the centennial quilt celebrating women achieving the right to vote in 1920, members of the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club and League of Women Voters of Clallam County say the raffle on Oct. 8 was the unofficial end to a yearlong celebration despite many events being canceled due to the pandemic. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Members of the League of Women Voters of Clallam County and Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club found a safe way to celebrate 100 years of women gaining the right to vote.

About a dozen women from both clubs, each donning masks and some dressed in turn-of-the-20th-century attire, met on the steps of the Sequim Civic Center Thursday, Oct. 8, to host a raffle for a centennial quilt that details the history of women’s achievement to vote in America.

Sequim Police Chief Sheri Crain randomly pulled Sequim resident Lisa Parise’s name from more than 250 tickets, with proceeds from sales supporting the league’s educational efforts.

Intended to be part of a year-long celebration, league members hoped to hold several events in 2020 — including a celebration at Olympic Cellars in August — but the COVID-19 pandemic led to cancellations.

Past league president Linda Benson said group members view the quilt drawing as an unofficial end to the effort.

The quilt collaboration was possibly the first between the two clubs, with four quilters of the centennial quilt in attendance: Anna Chenck, Carol Geer, Sue Stednick and Devi Young. Fellow quilters Norma Herbold, Alanna Levesque, and Nancy Wilcox also worked on the quilt.

Stednick, a member of both the league and quilt club, suggested the quilt partnership for the centennial celebration.

The group worked individually and together, including more than four months each Monday at Hurricane Coffee Co. for two hours each session thanks to the shop’s support.

For the quilt, Sunbonnet Sue members say each portion represents a place in time for women’s rights to vote, such as women’s roles in pioneering the west, efforts to get the 19th Amendment signed, and the future of women sharing the need to vote with future generations.

Benson and Stednick in previous interviews said the quilt incorporates diversity to show that minorities gained the right to vote at different times.

The league hosted a virtual forum on proposed changes by the Clallam County Charter Review Commission on Oct. 13. To view it and other forums, visit www.lwvcla.org.

For more about the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club, visit www.sunbonnetsuequiltclub.org.