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5th Annual Quilter's Day Quilt Show

Fourth Saturday of October 2010

Frederick, Oklahoma

This one-day event has been hosted in the Barn, Church, & School buildings at the Pioneer Townsite, on the west side of the Tillman County Courthouse, in downtown Frederick, Oklahoma.  It has been free of charge for both exhibitors and observers.  Exhibitors should plan to stay with their quilt item while it is on display, or have a designated attendant to represent them.  This is a social event solely for the purpose of allowing quilters to interact in a pleasant setting.  There is no judging of items, no awards, and no commercial sales of quilting or sewing items at the event. 

At 9am, on the morning of the event, bring in your quilt, quilt top, quilt block, or quilt panel for display.   Meet and visit with other Quilters from the surrounding area, see how quilts are made, and enjoy the day viewing & talking quilts until 3pm.  Everyone is invited to attend.  Other Pioneer Townsite historical buildings will also be open for your viewing pleasure.

Our volunteer helpers bring in their sewing machines, just like they do when going to quilt class, and each work on a quilting project of their choice while visiting with others.  Some helpers hand-stitch on an item, and like the other helpers, answer questions as they do so.  Other helpers work on craft projects.  This way, the helpers have something to do while keeping an eye on things in their building or area, the viewers get to watch quilt-making in action, and it encourages conversation between the helpers and the viewers.  We have plenty of room for any helpers that want to participate, but you must let us know prior to the event.

Due to the limited space that we have to hang quilts, we ask each exhibitor to select only one of their quilts to be hung in the breeze-way of the Barn, and to display the rest in either the Church or School, or on one of the outside quilt racks or railings.  This has worked best to allow most exhibitors an opportunity to have a quilt in the hanging display area of the Barn.  We also plan to hang at least one pinned & marked quilt as a demo quilt to allow viewers to see that process.  The railings on the Church and Farm House were also used to allow quilts to be displayed in their entirety, although they have to be viewed from two sides.

All quilts are to be checked in at the Barn.  There is more room there, and it eliminates the need for additional check-in paperwork in the other buildings.  Those helpers in the other buildings are able to immediately place the tagged items on display that are brought to their building.  We allow the exhibitor to choose where they would like to place their quilts, as much as we can, but try to distribute the number of items as evenly as possible amongst the buildings. 

We will continue to limit the number of quilts being displayed outside.  While bird droppings are a hazard and the sunlight may potentially damage a quilt, a rain storm could damage one much worse.  We will no doubt get a wet day for the event at some point.  Removing the quilts from the railings and quilt racks in a dash is manageable.  Quickly removing a large number of quilts that are attached to an outdoor display is not.  Blowing dirt is also a potential hazard to be considered with outside display.

We’ve been asked about displaying quilts on the fence.  We hang a few of our old quilts on the iron fence on the east side of the complex to help decorate for the event, but we do not allow anyone else to hang their quilts there.  While the fence appears to be an ideal location, the top of the fence has very sharp spikes that could easily tear a quilt if blown about by the wind, and as with most iron fences, there’s a potential for rust transfer to the fabric.

And as always, please remember that this is a “hands-on” quilt show.  Viewers are not issued gloves, but are still allowed to touch the quilts.  If you wish to display your quilt but limit touching, please place your quilt in a sturdy clear plastic enclosure of some kind, or bring along your own gloves to furnish viewers.  Also, unlike most shows, remember that your item does not have to be finished to display it.  We encourage any work in progress to be displayed.  If your schedule will not allow your presence for all 6 hours of the event, it will be fine for you to display your item for a short time and then take it with you when you need to leave.  Otherwise, please assign someone else to oversee your item for you during any short absence.

Again, commercial sales activities are not allowed on the grounds during the event, with the exception of the Tillman County Historical Society's sales in their Pioneer Townsite Store.  No vending or any other sales activities of any kind are present, including us, the sponsor of the event.  Please remember that this is not a commercial event.  It's a social event for the quilters in the area.  Hand-outs in the form of business cards and upcoming event fliers are allowed, as are sampler quilts from local commercial entities.  Folks who are involved in a business related to quilting are encouraged to attend, but only as a quilter.

Thanks, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us.

CD & Marlene Thayer

ThayerRags Fabric Center

2009 Quilter's Day