If you go
› What: Ringgold Quilt Expo› Where: Ringgold Depot, 155 Depot St., Ringgold, Ga.› When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today-Saturday, Aug. 24-26› Admission: $5 per day, $12 weekend pass; $3 raffle ticket› For more information: 706-937-3777
Kathy Graham, owner of It's Sew Time, just moved to Ringgold, Ga., two years ago. But when that city's Downtown Development Association wanted to launch a new event, a quilt show, she volunteered.
The first Ringgold Quilt Expo opens today, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. continuing through Saturday, Aug. 26, in the historic Ringgold Depot. Graham has stitched together a comprehensive overview of the hobby from how-to workshops to quilt appraisals, with a vendors mall and presentations of Quilts of Valor that will honor six area veterans.
"We will have a quilt display with over 100 quilts in the show. There are some truly magnificent quilts here made by people from this area who are loaning the quilts for the weekend," Graham says.
The 14 vendors setting up in the depot include a number of area quilt shops as well as one vendor who sells handmade quilted bags and wallets and another bringing sticky rollers, which quilters use to pick off lint and loose threads from their work.
This "Freedom" quilt, so named for its stars-and-stripes pattern, will be raffled at the Ringgold Quilt Expo."Martelli is bringing cutting tables. They go to the biggest quilt shows in the country," she points out of the visit to Ringgold. "And we will have sewing machines in the vendors mall."
Four of the expo's five workshops have filled; the one remaining open has no size limitation.
"Cindy Morrison is leading a color class on Friday morning, Aug. 25, at 11 a.m. It's $15. It's a lecture teaching people how to put colors together," says Graham. That class will be held in her shop, It's Sew Time, 847 Nashville St. in Ringgold.
One of the most interesting events included in the three-day lineup is a "bed turning," that will be of interest to those who quilt and those who don't but love history. Graham explains that a bed turning involves spreading out a large number of old quilts upon a bed.
"One at a time, they are lifted up and shown to the audience and the story of that quilt is told," she describes.
The bed turning is free and will be held each day of the expo at 10:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. in The Vintage Gathering, 7845 Nashville St., which is next to Graham's shop.
Quilt appraisals will be given today by appointment only. There is a $75 charge for a written appraisal, $25 charge for a consultation with no written documentation. For appointments, call 706-937-3777.
Before the expo concludes, six local veterans will be surprised with the presentation of a Quilt of Valor.
"Quilts of Valor is a quilting organization throughout the country in which people make red, white and blue patriotic quilts. They hold presentations to give them to veterans. We will present two each day this weekend," says Graham.
Another daily event is a 35-minute show, "Quilted Pieces: A Christian Appalachian Musical," that will be performed by Susan Gibson at noon and 1:30 p.m. each day.
Add daily door prizes and mini-demonstrations of quilting techniques to the event and an entertaining, informative outing for quilters is sewn up.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.