2017 RUMC Quilt Show

Quilting not just a Southern thing

New York native Karen Schutt to be featured at upcoming Quilt Show

By John Underwood / john@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 1/18/17

By John Underwood

john@gulfcoastmedia.com

ROBERTSDALE — Many would consider quilting a Southern tradition, but for New York native Karen Schutt, her quilting journey began while living in …

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2017 RUMC Quilt Show

Quilting not just a Southern thing

New York native Karen Schutt to be featured at upcoming Quilt Show

Posted

By John Underwood

john@gulfcoastmedia.com

ROBERTSDALE — Many would consider quilting a Southern tradition, but for New York native Karen Schutt, her quilting journey began while living in New Hampshire.

A native of the Syracuse area of central New York, Schutt traveled the country with her husband of 51 years, Bill, who worked on submarines in the Navy. They were stationed in Dover, New Hampshire, when she says she got bitten by the quilting bug.

“I had friends who were quilters, so I took a beginning quilting class and I was hooked,” said Schutt, who will be featured during the upcoming Quilt Show, Feb. 2-4 at the Robertsdale United Methodist Church.

That was in 1986 and she has been quilting ever since.

After taking the class in New Hampshire, Schutt said, she joined the local group, known as the Cocheco Quilt Club. She also had a friend who owned a quilt shop, and worked there for a time, making and selling quilts.

Eventually, she said, it was her oldest son, a retired Navy pilot, who would help her get from the cold of New England to the warmth of Pace, Florida.

“(NAS Pensacola) was one of the places he was stationed and one of the places we visited,” she said. “When my husband retired I told him that I was tired of being cold and wanted to move where it’s warm. We liked the Pensacola area and we were able to move down here.”

It was a friend she knew from quilting, Joann Joy, who has also been a featured quilter at the Robertsdale show, who would get her to make the short drive from Florida to Baldwin County.

“A group of ladies would meet once a month at her home (in Silverhill), so I started coming over for that,” she said. She would later join the Stitch-N-Friends quilting group, which meets every month at the George P. Thames Senior Center in Robertsdale.

Schutt describes herself as a “sewer” rather than a “quilter.”

“I’m not really a designer,” she said. “I don’t try to reinvent the wheel. I find patterns that I like and I like to sew.”

While she did many of her quilts in the early days by hand, she said, she has friends who own machines that can help her finish her quilts.

Whether hand-made or machine sewn, original or not, Schutt can certainly be called prolific.

“I really never counted how many quilts I’ve made,” said the mother of two, who has seven grandchildren. “I know that all of my grandchildren have two or three quilts that I made for them, along with my sons and their wives. I have over 100 quilts that I can bring to the quilt show, if there’s room for them all, and I’ve probably given away or sold at least that many through the years.”

You can check out Schutt’s display, along with over 300 handmade quilts creatively displayed with antiques and collectibles, at the show, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, Feb. 2-4 at RUMC , 22220 Alabama 59 in Robertsdale.

Vendors will be on hand with lots of quilting supplies including patterns, kits, machines, fabrics, needles and notions.

Soup, salad and dessert will be served, cost of $7 per plate, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with musical entertainment provided during lunch.

Stitch-N-Friends has also donated an opportunity quilt to be raffled off during the show. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5. Drawing for the quilt will be held at 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Quilt Show.

For more information contact Betty Gwaltney, 251-947-5354, Nancy Blackmon, 251-947-4146, call the church office at 251-947-4602, email office@robertsdaleumc.com or visit robertsdaleumc.com on the Web.