Quilting catching on in New Ulm

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Very seldom does Becky Markgraf see two quilts that are exactly alike, but it does happen from time to time.

"Lookalikes happen very seldom," she said Saturday afternoon as shoppers and would-be quilters perused the display at the Marktplatz Mall's annual quilt show. "I've had a few people that have had a class together that used the same pattern, but they're different because they're two different people."

As in years past, the show had visitors from South Dakota and Iowa, as well as many from the Twin Cities and the New Ulm area.

"They come mainly to look," Markgraf explained. "Most of them are quilters from the New Ulm area. Most are regular customers."

Hanging in the usually vacant store spaces across from where Markgraf sits are quilts as unique as the people who sewed them. They hang on clotheslines with the aid of several old-fashioned wooden clothespins. The quilts are labeled with their makers, owners, pattern names and any other interesting tidbits the owners want people to know.

They have patterns with names like "Three Bean Salad", "Goose In The Pond" and "Pointless Wander."

A couple of them were made from scraps of fabric and old buttons. One of them even used some flannel rags and another's owner claims parts were made from a feed sack. There was still another that used color pounded directly from garden flowers and one made from a pair of Japanese kimonos.

Some others combined quilting with crocheting, but many more followed patterns their makers either borrowed from books and magazines or invented themselves.

There were a few here and there that were made for graduations, weddings and birthdays. Even one for a 50th anniversary and another celebrating someone's 25th. The pieces on these are made to commemorate or represent friends and relatives.

"I enjoy seeing it pulled together," said Arliss Petersen from Springfield when asked what she likes about quilting the most. "Sometimes, it's not what you hoped it would turn out to be."

While Markgraf learned the craft from her mother, Petersen was bitten by the quilting bug while taking an adult education class in Springfield. She now belongs to a quilting club in Comfrey that raffles a quilt every other year to raise money for babies born with AIDS or drug addiction.

Markgraf said more and more people are using machines to sew quilts versus making one by hand, which can take months longer.

"The purists still want and hand-quilted quilt, but for most people, the fact that they did it themselves is important. The equipment doesn't matter."

Petersen said she sees more young people interested in making quilts these days and credits community education classes and fabric stores with helping make the hobby more popular in Brown County. She said she sees small groups of quilters in many of the small towns in the area.

"I'm always in awe of the finished product," she said. "And it's nice to see a thing you saw your grandmother do come back. It was gone for a while, but now it's back."