The City of Colusa is beginning to fill up with colorful quilts.
National Quilt Month is in full swing and quilts have been popping up all over Colusa ahead of the third annual Quilts Around the Block event on Saturday.
The free-of-charge indoor/outdoor quilt display will be held on National Quilting Day, March 18, hosted by Friends Around the Block Quilt Shop.
“It’s going to be a pretty exciting event,” said Colusa Councilwoman Denise Conrado.
On Saturday, dozens of works of quilted art will hang inside businesses, in windows, and all around Colusa.
A map of the quilt locations can be found on the Friends Around the Block Quilt Shop’s website or by visiting the store, located at the corner of Market and 8th Streets, after the event kicks off at 10 AM.
The event includes the annual scavenger hunt for quilts for children and adults. Young children could be challenged to look for quilts displaying simple colors and shapes. Older participants could be challenged to be more observant to styles and patterns.
The store will be open until 4 PM for hunters to pick up and return their scavenger hunt cards.
All scavenger hunt participants will be entered into a drawing for raffle prizes.
Outdoor quilt displays are also expected, weather permitting. Pacific Flyway Quilters will once again have a display at the Davison Pavilion on 10th Street.
Before the quilt scavenger hunt, people are invited to stop in at the Colusa Fire Department for a pancake breakfast.
Firefighters will be serving breakfast from 8 AM to noon for donations only. A car show and vendor fair (between Market and Main on 8th Street) is also planned for March 18.
This year, Colusa County quilters were issued a challenge to make quilts to honor Colusa’s first responders after the Friends Around the Block Quilt Shop provided three 1-yard cuts of first responder fabric to kick off the event.
“The police, Sheriff, and both fire departments will be presented with several beautiful quilts made by local and outlying community quilters in recognition for the untiring service rendered to our community by these brave men and women,” said Friends Around the Block owner Carol Lindquist.
The challenge quilts will be on display at the City Fire Department during the pancake breakfast and will be presented to the agencies at noon.
“I think this is a wonderful way to support our first responders,” said Pam Niehues.
The National Quilting Association started National Quilting Day in 1991. Each year, local fabric artists join others all over the country to celebrate National Quilt Month, National Quilt Day (always the third Saturday in March), and Worldwide Quilting Day, which were created to connect quilters and the local shops quilters support.
This year, in addition to other new events being added to the lineup, the Colusa Arts Council is hosting a new art show titled “Out of the Blue,” featuring the work and collaboration between artists Tanya Mariko Lieberman and Roberta Monte James.
“Working with Tanya for this show has been inspiring,” said James, who met Lieberman seemingly “out of the blue” last fall at an art show where they each had work featured.
This is the duo’s first collaboration. Lieberman is a shibori artist who learned the Japanese art of dyeing fabric from her aunt in Hawaii. James is a fiber artist who was immediately drawn to Lieberman’s work when they met. Their collaborations were inspired by rice farming since both artists live in the Sacramento Valley. Using rice bags, sushi mats, and interpretive stitching, the artists created several pieces together, but each artist will also have work of her own in the show.
The show was intentionally planned for March, in honor of National Quilt Month and Colusa’s own Quilts Around the Block event, now in its third year.
“It has been a delight to work with Roberta on these pieces, which reflect the rich farming history of Colusa County as well as my family heritage,” said Lieberman.
The Art Council will be open Saturday during National Quilt Day, and will continue to show the Lieberman/James exhibit during regular studio hours until March 23.
Saturday’s National Quilting Day in Colusa is not only a celebration for quilt lovers and makers, but a community event for all to enjoy, Niehues said. ■