Cultural center displays coats, miniature quilts

By Jenny Jones
Senior Writer

Quilting is not just a hobby for Steve Patch; it's a way of educating.

Patch, a third grade teacher at Burnett Creek Elementary School, is a member of the Common Threads Quilt Guild.

As a member of the guild, Patch is part of an art exhibit, "The Wonderful World of Doll and Miniature Quilts," that is on display at the Wells Community Cultural Center.

The exhibit, which opened Friday, will be available for observation Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. until Oct. 7. It features miniature quilts with a variety of traditional and modern themes.

In addition to displaying his traditional-style quilt, Patch has used his interest in quilting as a way to teach his students patience.

"(The students make their own mini-quilts,) and they just put 'I love Mom' on them, and we give them to the mothers for Mother's Day," Patch said.

For the past seven years, Patch has incorporated his hobby into his class schedule. This year, however, Patch is putting a new twist on the assignment. The students will make a nine-patch quilt for every unit they study; then at the end of the year, they will attach all their unit quilts together to make one large quilt, Patch said.

Patch has not only changed the class assignment this year, he, along with the other third grade teachers, transformed the hallway into Third Street. Patch's classroom, which houses an antique sewing machine, is named, "Patchwork, Quilts and Bears."

Quilts are not the only types of artwork being displayed at the Wells Center. The Fiber Art Guild has coats on display as part of the "Glorious Coats: Warmth for Body and Soul" exhibit.

Similar to the quilt guild, the fiber guild consists of local members who have an interest in artwork. Vicki Bollock, a member of the fiber guild, created a Kimono out of a combination of scrap pieces of fabrics and portions of vintage Kimono fabrics.

"It's the type of coat you'd wear out for the evening," Bollock said.

Bollock is not the only artist who chose to create a Kimono; Anita Krug also took this direction when she designed her dyed silk Kimono with matching dress.

Krug's Kimono features hand-sewn beads, butterfly appliques and golden yarns. The coat's accenting turquoise dress, which is also made of dyed silk, was intended to be a solid colored dress. But when Krug had trouble matching the turquoise fabrics of the dress and coat, she decided to sew together all of the test squares she had used in her attempts to match the turquoise trim of the Kimono.

"Sometimes a mistake makes it even more interesting," said Krug.

Evidently, visitors at the exhibits' opening night thought the works were interesting as well. "The clothes were great," said Janet Smith, a Lafayette resident. Etti Idarms, a West Lafayette resident, agrees also. "(Art) is something to be encouraged in this town," said, Idarms.

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