Some artists use oils, pencils, or watercolor; others fabric, thread, and dyes.
A bountiful mix of art quilts and the more traditional types was on display recently at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Hall in Mount Kisco in a show hosted by the Northern Star Quilters’ Guild.
Sixty-seven entries were selected for the show, far fewer than normal for the guild’s annual happening due to the new, more space-constrained venue.
But that didn’t matter to the quilters and the show attendees who, like this reporter, maybe can’t sew a straight line, but who love to admire all the hard work and creativity that goes into these artworks rendered in cloth.
As to the question, “Are quilts art or craft?” the answer can be 'yes' to either.
According to the Oxford dictionary, art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."
Quilts serve a purpose – to keep us warm. But they are also nice to look at, and if made specifically to be hung on a wall, they are considered by many to be an artform.
Just like it takes skill and imagination to make a painting or sculpture, the same is true for creating a quilt.
On top of that, many quilts are made to mark milestones, such as a wedding, birth, or loss of a loved one.
This makes them literal representations of love, quilters say.
Historically, the guild’s “A World of Quilts” show had been held at places such as John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Conn., and SUNY Purchase in Purchase.
Show Chair Nancy Mirman pointed out that the show had, in the recent past, gone on hiatus because of costs and organizational concerns.
The quild is currently hunting for a bigger space, but was grateful to the church for providing a temporary home, she said.
Its 2026 “challenge,” celebrating the 250th anniversary of the nation’s constitution, has been traveling around to various locales. In November, those quilts are expected to be on display at the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem.
According to Mirman, the NSQG started in 1980 as the brainchild of one of its founding members for the benefit of the American Field Service, a group at Somers High School that her children were involved in.
She recruited three other women and together they set up the first quilt show.
It was such a success that they repeated it the following year and soon thereafter formed the Northern Star Quilters’ Guild. It’s first meeting was held at the historic Elephant Hotel in Somers.
Within two months of its formation, NSQG had 40 dues-paying members.
The growing guild moved its meetings to the Somers Intermediate School in 1982.
By 1985, it had more than 300 members. (That’s down to about 200 today, Mirman said.)
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it initiated several activities that continue on today.
One of those was a “Super Saturday” where classes were taught by guild members and the other was the creation of a library with more than 400 quilting books available for loan to guild member. Comfort Quilters still meet regularly to make and donate quilts to various charities.
The new activities and increased membership made the NAQG realize that the Somers Intermediate School could no longer accommodate it, so in 1994 it moved to John F. Kennedy Catholic High School, where the guild met for nearly 30 years.
Guild meetings are now held at Fox Lane High School in Bedford.
“The World of Quilts” shows aim to promote interest in, and encouraging participation in, the art of quilting.
They were held at JFK until 2015, when the shows migrated to the O’Neill Center at Westchester Connecticut State University.
COVID put the kibosh on the show in 2020 and 2021.
In 2022, it moved to SUNY Purchase, but three years later, the show had to go on hiatus due to cost and organizational concerns. Smaller quilt “festivals,” such as the one in Mount Kisco on Oct. 9 and 10 instead took place.
The bigger shows have had several hundred works from traditional and modern to improvisational to fiber arts. There were lectures by nationally known speakers, invitational displays by award-winning quilters, special member exhibits, quilts for sale, raffles, vendors, and sewing demonstrations.
Proceeds from the raffle of a quilt are earmarked for a chosen charity each year and other funds raised support the NSQG’s educational activities.
For more information about NSQG, visit northernstarquilters.com.
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