Quilt Show now at Arts Center

Initially scheduled for last spring but delayed because of COVID-19, the Piecemaker Quilt Show has returned to the Owatonna Arts Center. The display features more than 125 contemporary and traditional quilts made by local quilters.
Bernie Jensen and Cathy Torrey, two local artists whose quilts are featured prominently in the show, are experts of their craft. Jensen has 15 pieces in the exhibit; Torrey has 13.
All the quilts are making their debut and most have been worked on over the last 4-1/2 years or longer. Two of the show’s biggest draws are Jensen and Torrey’s dual renditions of Civil War-era “Dear Jane” quilts.
“They were inspired by a woman who copied it by hand from a museum and put out a book,” Jensen said of the elaborate quilts. “We used that to create our pieces.”
“There are 169 individual blocks that are 4-1/2 inches squared and they are all different,” Torrey said.  “It took me around 15 years, I think. Bernie was my inspiration and she got hers done first. It is our interpretations of a quilt made in 1863.”
Each quilt began with just one block. “Some are made by hand and some are by machine. Some are on the top and some from underneath. There are all different techniques,” Jensen said of the quilts, which both use civil war era reproduction fabrics.
“It’s a very challenging quilt to do,” Torrey said. “Partially because you get just a line drawing of a block and if you go to the software, you may get some instructions. But otherwise, you have to figure out the technique that you’re going to put it together with.”
Other quilts by the two featured in the show include a Japanese-style quilt by Torrey, a quilt by Torrey that features signatures of other quiltmakers, and a contemporary and brightly colored quilt by Jensen.
“There were several ways you could lay this quilt out and I decided on a kaleidoscope,” Jensen said of the contemporary quilt. “That was one of my favorite ones to do. Inspiration comes from seeing pictures or visiting quilt shops or seeing examples or magazines. It’s so fun to exchange ideas. You can learn so much from others.”
The unique pieces created by the Piecemakers Quilt Club are currently on show at the Owatonna Arts Center until Nov. 14 and can be viewed  Tuesdays through Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
“I think it’s kind of a lost art in some of the traditional quilts, but it seems to have come back in some of the modern or contemporary pieces,” Jensen said of quilting. When the quilts finally come down on Nov. 14, they will all go back to their owners. “You either keep them or give them to loved ones or friends.”
“People don’t hand quilt as much anymore. Most things are machine quilted, so that makes things faster and it’s a creative pastime that is useful,” Torrey, who has quilted for around 45 years said. “I don’t think I’d ever thought I’d still be quilting. But there’s something so wonderful about fabric.”