Fabric, Quilt Show Inspires Club Kids To Color In Contest
By: Betsy Reason
The Boys and Girls Club of Noblesville’s club kids show off their entries in a quilt pattern coloring contest, sponsored by the Noblesville Township Trustees and Nickel Plate Arts. Kids showing off their art include: Brice Holmes, PrinceFa Mwachande, Madison Lewis, Madelyn Doerr, Owen Muscasri, Brennan Kohl, Kamryn Needham, Zoe Gruber, Jaiylah Small, Estrella Rodriguez, Payton Needham, Ashton Bell; and Cassie Spidel (back left), Carlie Gibson, Presley Hicks, Ellie Bush, Deonna Smith, Frances Soto, Violette Rodriguez, Piper Hicks, Jaxon Ospina and Rachel Adcock.. Noblesville Township resource coordinator Ann Vernon Barnes (back left) and Noblesville Township Bicentennial representative Dorothy Young (back right) hold an antique quilt, which is on display at the Hamilton County BIcentennial Fabric Arts Show this week at Noblesville Township Community Center.
About 50 quilts are on display through Saturday during the Hamilton County Bicentennial Fabric Arts Show at Noblesville Township Community Center.
As part of Noblesville Township Trustee Office’s Bicentennial activities, kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Noblesville had an opportunity to learn about quilts and to color quilt patterns and win prizes in a Club quilt coloring contest.
The youth activities were coordinated in partnership with the Trustee Office and Nickel Plate Arts in Noblesville for this week’s Hamilton County Bicentennial Fabric Arts Show. The show, which opened at noon Tuesday and continues through Saturday, showcases dozens of artists and techniques for different fabric arts along with nearly 50 quilts.
All of the kids who participated in the coloring contest received a goodie bag. The top winners received $20 Moonshot or Alexander’s gift cards “The whole reason we’re doing this (quilt pattern coloring contest) is to promote our Fabric Show, which Dotty (Young) has put together,” said Ann Vernon Barnes, Resource Coordinator for Noblesville Township Trustee Office.
There are about 50 quilts that are on display during this week’s show.
“Plus, all of the artwork by the kids, we’re going to display,” at the event, Barnes said.
There were 44 Club Kids, ages 6-12, who participated in the coloring contest. Winners in the contest were PrinceFa Mwachande, 7; Madelyn Doerr, 8; Jenae Cardenas, 8; Ellie Casteel, 9; and Damon Howard, 10.
“It was a neat conversation. A lot of the kids don’t know what a quilt is,” said Wendy Casteel, Boys & Girls Club unit director. “We had a conversation about what a quilt is….” She also printed color pictures of quilt patterns for the kids to see.
Township Trustee Theresa Caldwell and Barnes came up with the idea to get the Club Kids involved with a coloring contest to promote the Fabric Show.
“I was going to have coloring sheets at the show so children could do one there or take one home, but they came up with this idea,” Young said.
“For such a short period of time and (some kids) not really knowing what a quilt is, I think they did a wonderful job,” Young said, looking at all of the entries.
The Club Kids colored an array of patterns.
“This is the way a real quilter could design a quilt,” Young said, admiring the entries.
Show hours are noon to 5 p.m. today and Thursday, noon to 7 p.m. Friday with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., noon to 5 p.m. Saturday with an awards ceremony at 1 p.m. The show takes place in the Noblesville Community Center, 372 S. Eighth St., Noblesville.
Young became Noblesville Township Bicentennial representative and planner of events when now retired Noblesville Township Trustee Tom Kenley was still in office. Many of the activities that Young wanted to do, she said, the City of Noblesville took over, and she’s glad that her ideas have been used.
She became involved with the Bicentennial after enjoying the Sesquicentennial “and a lot of the things they did.”
Young especially liked the quilt and fabric show idea.
“I just thought quilts are one thing that span time because a lot of people have old quilts, but people are still making quilts, like T-shirt quilts,” she said.
Young owns quilts made by her great-grandmother. “My mother never made a quilt,” she said.
“Just the fact that everybody needs cover and warmth, and it was a way to use up leftovers,” said Young, who has a small doll quilt that her aunt made for her as a child. “One of the quilts that I do have is wool … They would use up men’s suits, men’s coats, anything they had to keep warm and also do something pretty.”
Young said, “And if you were in a quilting bee with friends or relatives, it was a social event, and other people would give you advice. Her (Ann Barnes’) grandmother was my aunt, and she was a wonderful quilter, and she taught me what little I know.”
Young loves to learn the history of quilts, and she said Always in Stitches on Conner Street has been a great quilt source for finding out more about how to make quilts.
Folks who attend the Fabric Show will be invited to vote for their favorite quilts, the heritage quilts and the newer fiber arts.
The Boys & Girls Club is closed the first two weeks of August, with the first day of the 2023-24 After School Program to begin on Aug. 14. The Club last Friday celebrated its eighth annual Cornhole Tournament at Forest Park in Noblesville.Other activities this fall include Spotlight on Art Benefiting Children on Nov. 9 at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel. The club in 2022 served 1,803 kids from kindergarten through high school, including an average 250 kids per day in the after-school program. Membership is $60 a year or $10 a year for teens. The next drop-in tours are 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday. For more information on the Club, visit https://www.bgcni.org/. For more Hamilton County Bicentennial events, visit www.hamcoturns200.com.
-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times Editor Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.