Quilters Guild Invites Public to Free Patriotic Quilt Showcase

The Quilters Guild of the Southern Crescent is inviting the public to its free Star-Spangled Summer Social on Friday, June 12, at 1:30 p.m. at Evergreen Church in Peachtree City, where visitors can view 30 to 40 patriotic quilts, table runners, and other handcrafted creations celebrating America.

Guild President Karen Shelnutt said the event will feature red, white, and blue quilted works created by members from communities across the Southern Crescent. The gathering is designed to be educational and welcoming rather than competitive.

“This is purely for education, sharing, community building, promoting quilting within the community,” Shelnutt said.

The Quilters Guild of the Southern Crescent has approximately 80 members from communities including Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Newnan, Senoia, Sharpsburg, and College Park. The organization promotes the art of quilting through education, fellowship, and community service.

Guild members create quilts and other handmade items for organizations including Bloom Closet, the neonatal intensive care units at Piedmont Fayette and Piedmont Newnan hospitals, the Pregnancy Resource Center, and Tales for Hope, which supports service dogs for local veterans. Several members also participate in Quilts of Valor projects honoring military veterans.

Among the featured works will be two pieces by Shelnutt. One is a patriotic wall hanging created from portions of a damaged vintage quilt she rescued at a street fair.

“I found a quilt in a street fair that was tattered and ripped up, but it was in blues and reds and whites,” Shelnutt said. “I rescued it for like maybe I think it was $10 and I cut out the good parts, and I made it into a wall hanging.”

She will also display a new quilt inspired by fireworks and America’s upcoming 250th anniversary celebration.

“The front of it is supposed to be like representing fireworks for the celebration, and then the back is the preamble of the Constitution,” Shelnutt said. “It’s going to be cut up into pieces and representing the divisions and the brokenness that our country has, even though we celebrate 250 years, we’re struggling.”

The event will also feature the debut of fellow guild member Teri Biglands’ patriotic “Miss Liberty” dress, which will be featured by The Citizen in the near future.

The Star-Spangled Summer Social begins at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 12, at Evergreen Church, 400 Windgate Road, Peachtree City. Admission is free and open to the public.