Quilt show coming to Tantasqua

By Sharon Palmer
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE- The Cornerstone Quilters Guild is presenting its second quilt show, “Threads of Friendship” at Tantasqua Regional Senior High School on July 24 and 25.
The show features an exhibit of approximately 150 quilts, all made by guild members.
“There will be a whole array of quilt styles on display: historical, traditional, contemporary, and art-style,” said show coordinator, Regina Zeleznok.
She also said that in addition to a “Vendor Mart,” this year’s show has been expanded to include more viewing space and several fundraisers, such as a “Boutique Table” where visitors can purchase handmade items as well as quilting and sewing-related merchandise, and a “Scrap Corner” in which enthusiasts can have all the fabric scraps they can stuff into a paper bag – without it ripping – for $3. The guild has also produced a pattern book, which will be available for sale as another fundraiser.
One of the pattern blocks in the book was designed for Stageloft Repertory Theater’s production of “Quilters” in 2007.
For both days of the show, Tantasqua’s Cornerstone Café will be open for lunch. “We’ve been working with the chef to provide a nice lunch that visitors can purchase, so they can spend all day at the show viewing the quilts, checking out the demonstrations, visiting the vendors’ booths, and then take a break for lunch when they’re ready,” Zeleznok said. “It’s neat how the café and our guild (coincidentally) share the same name,” she said, and added that the guild is glad to support the students in Tantasqua’s culinary program, who will be preparing the lunch.
The Cornerstone Quilters Guild was founded in 2000, Zeleznok said, to share knowledge and experience of quilting, to educate the community about the history of the craft, and to show members’ works in order to demonstrate the contemporary nature of quilting as well. Currently the group consists of about 200 members from central Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island; it meets monthly at the Charlton Baptist Church. It is not, however, affiliated with the church, according to Zeleznok. “We’re a non-denominational group and we meet there because there’s plenty of space, it’s handicap accessible, and the rent is reasonable,” she said.
Zeleznok said that the guild has an extensive outreach program which “makes hundreds of donation quilts for senior centers, cancer patients, children in need, and for police cruisers in the towns where our members reside, so that the police can provide comfort for children in emergency situations.” The guild will have a table at the upcoming show with information about the outreach program.
The Threads of Friendship Quilt Show will be held Saturday, July 24, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday, July 25, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Admission is $7; children 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult admission. The exhibits and events at the show are handicap accessible. For more information about the guild, visit www.cornerstonequilters.org