“That’s my quilt story”: Two Waltham quilters give a sneak peek ahead of local quilt show

Two Waltham quilters will be featured in an upcoming multi-day quilt show in Needham hosted by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild. Founded in 2013, the group consists of quilters of all ability levels.

“Joining the guild has been a fantastic experience,” said guild member and Waltham resident Susan McKinney, who joined in 2015. “I’ve found my people. I didn’t realize there were other people out there doing what I was doing. I’ve made some great friends.”

At meetings, members share their works in progress, plan events and retreats and help each other through creative conundrums. They’ve made “group quilts” where each member makes a portion of a larger quilt based on a theme. The group also participates in challenges, such as their “Denim Challenge,” where members made quilts with at least 50% recycled denim. 

As part of its mission, the guild makes a point of displaying members’  work in the community. A challenge based on the Dewey Decimal System produced quilts that hung in numerous libraries in the Metro West area. The group also has an exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum, where the quilts will be on display until Sept. 19.

Waltham resident Emily Barr, a guild member since 2023, has a quilt in the museum exhibit called “Engaged, Enraged and Finding Center,” born out of a “How Do You Really Feel?” challenge to make a quilt based on how you were “really feeling” about the state of the world. “That quilt came out of the ‘what-if.’ I was really being inspired by the fabric and how it made me feel,” she explained.

Barr’s “Engaged, Enraged and Finding Center” will join another quilt of hers titled “Figuring It Out” in the guild’s upcoming “Quilts for Today” show in Needham Town Hall. The show will feature 31 quilts from the guild as well as a raffle for a quilt and a sale of quilter’s notions. Half of the raffle proceeds will go to Project Bread. Each quilt will be accompanied by a “quilt story” or artist’s statement explaining the inspiration and process behind the quilt.

McKinney will have two quilts in the show. The first, called “Side-Eye,” is a sewn optical illusion. “I’ve been playing lately with visual things in quilts, like fluorescents and reflections. The center squares [in the quilt blocks] are reflective fabric,” McKinney said of the quilt.

The second quilt is McKinney’s “Divorce Quilt.” During her recent divorce, McKinney used the quilt as an emotional outlet. From far away, viewers can see the words “I am free” emerge from the pieces of fabric. “It ended up being my feelings quilt,” McKinney said, referencing the “How Do You Really Feel?” challenge. “I finished piecing it on the day of my final hearing. That’s my quilt story.”

Barr and McKinney’s works are on display, along with quilts from the rest of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild, at the “Quilts for Today” show in Powers Hall at Needham Town Hall on Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10.