National Preservation Month’s “History Lives Here” will take place in May
Friday Harbor, WA. The Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Island Historical Societies are collaborating on an exciting project for History Lives Here month in May, 2014. The central theme will be quilts as carriers of community and women’s history. The museums are putting together exhibits and programs that feature historic and contemporary quilts, with an emphasis on signature quilts.
The Lopez Island Historical Museum will feature several programs and a special signature quilt exhibit from May 9 through May 17. Orcas will exhibit their quilt collection from May 9 through June 23and will host a featured speaker at the Museum on May 11. San Juan will exhibit select examples from their quilt collection from May 9 through May 18. All exhibits and programs will be open to the public.
The Western Washington Quilt Study Group has scheduled their annual meeting in San Juan County to coincide with these special exhibits. The three-day event (May 16-18) will include trips to Orcas Island and Friday Harbor to see the quilts hanging at each island’s historical museum.
In addition to the special exhibits, two collectors from the Mid-West will be sharing examples from their collections of early 19th-century antique quilts from the U.S., Great Britain and France, along with the exciting stories that accompany them. These quilts have never been exhibited on the West Coast.
Other events will include a Bed Turning at The Quilt Cabin on Lopez, a discussion of two early 20th century quilt designers by quilt historian and past-president of The Quilters Hall of Fame, Karen Alexander; and a program on quilt conservation and restoration by professional quilt restorer Anne Dawson of Lopez Island.
