Taylor Made: Local quilter featured in upcoming show

“It’s truly overwhelming,” Teakettle Quilting Guild’s 2024 featured quilter Barbara Taylor said. “I never thought that I was good enough, my quilting was good enough, to be a featured quilter, but it’s really an honor.”

Throughout her home, quilts seem to take many forms — hung from blanket ladders, draped over furniture, a small mount alongside the coffee table picture frames, and table runners galore. Taylor’s work room resembles a library of fabric, neat reams stacked and organized, scraps tucked away into their own compartments. Her quilts are equally tidy, perfect straight edges and complementary colors. It’s not a surprise that she describes herself as something of a perfectionist. 

“Sometimes I’ll put something together and take it apart two or three times,” Taylor said. Her quilter friends have told her not to worry so much about the seams coming together exactly or the points touching precisely — “people who don’t quilt don’t look at that, they just look at the overall picture.”

Taylor has been quilting for about 25 years, since she retired and her kids were out of the house. She started by taking a class from a friend at Flathead Electric, where a group of women had been getting together for all kinds of crafts; card making, rosemaling. But after the quilting class, everything else was soon out the window and they became a group of quilters. 

“This whole fabric business is addictive,” Taylor laughed. 

Over time, quilting has become easier with modernized rotary cutters and a variety of patterns available. However, Taylor noted that materials are expensive. One quilt can be $300 or $400. That’s why it’s important to use all of the leftovers. In her grandmother’s day, quilts were made from flour sacks and other available fabrics. 

“I think that that’s the only quilt that I have ever been given, was that from my grandmother,” Taylor said. 

“Giving a quilt as a gift is like giving a piece of your heart, because you’ve put all that love and labor into making a quilt, and when you give it away, that is a treasure, truly a treasure.”

Taylor’s first quilt, a “basic and rustic” four -patch, was given to her niece. Now, her children and grandchildren are outfitted in her patchwork. 

Throughout her quilting career, Taylor has taken many classes, participated in shows and worked with several groups. She makes about two or three quilts a month. Teakettle is an active guild, Taylor said, with new members all the time. Every month during their meeting, quilts are donated and sent off to children’s groups and veterans. The group also sews about 200 schoolbags for new kindergarteners every year. Taylor stays stocked on children’s fabric. 

“It’s fun to be able to just make it and give it,” Taylor said. 

“I think, and I really truly hope, that it’s not a dying art”

While most of the Teakettle Quilting Guild is older women, Taylor sees hope in programs that teach kids to quilt. Several guilds in the valley offer Sew Days for kids, where easy quilt pattern kits are put together and they are taught the craft. 

“When kids get started when they’re younger, I think that’s where our legacy lies, is teaching young people to quilt. It’s fun to see the kids when they do their quilts and show them and they are so proud of what they’ve done.”

Taylor has worked hard to grow her own craft, and describes little improvements such as choice of fabric colors. Quilting takes determination. “Your eye develops… I think it’s not habit, it’s just seeing things in a different way,” she said.

Teakettle Quilt Guild’s 2024 show will take place Saturday, April 20 at Glacier Gateway Elementary School. Admission is free, and participants can see a large display of quilts, vendors, boutiques, and vintage quilts and sewing machines. Freewill donations can be made to the Columbia Falls Food Bank. 

    Leftover fabric from a quilting project serves as a runner for Barbara Taylor’s family photos.
  

    Barbara Taylor shows off her Fourth of July monthly mini quilt.