Quilt show returns to Fiesta

The upcoming 53rd Annual Pioneer Harvest Fiesta, which begins Thursday evening with a downtown parade, will include a returning favorite -- a quilt show.

Area residents who are interested in participating in the quilt show may bring quilts to the Myers Building at the Bourbon County Fairgournds between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday for display and viewing by the public, according to event organizer Jackie Warren.

The quilt show will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with a presentation by local resident Bernita Hill, who will talk about the history of quilts. At 1 p.m. Saturday, attendees will learn the craft of tatting with Erie resident Jeannette Harris, who has returned this year due to popular demand, according to Warren.

A new booth at the quilt show this year will be Bob's Shop from Pittsburg. The booth will have racks of many different types of quilts on display. Another booth will feature local residents Jan Hoffman and Diane Combs demonstrating their handiwork. Judy Renard, the owner of Country Cupboard, 12 N. Main St., will have a booth featuring several items from her store.

Erica Skouby, the owner of the Nine Patch Quilt Shop in Nevada, Mo., will demonstrate fabric weaving. Skouby will also have additional items from her shop.

Also on Saturday, local resident Nancy Swanwick will have handmade quilts on display, and local resident Karen Gull will demonstrate machine embroidery and how to make a very quick quilt.

On Sunday, local resident Barbara Wood will demonstrate how to do appliqué quilting. Area residents will display their handiwork each day of the show for visitors to admire and obtain new ideas, Warren said.

The quilt show will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. Each exhibitor will receive a 2009 Pioneer Harvest Fiesta collector button, which allows admission each day during the three-day Pioneer Harvest Fiesta and the bean feed on Friday, Warren said.

For more information on the quilt show, call Warren at (620) 223-9638.

The Pioneer Harvest Fiesta is scheduled to take place Friday-Sunday at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds. The event will feature a wide collection of early 20th century tractors, gas and steam engines, and other agricultural equipment on display, as well as live demonstrations of antique farm equipment and other tools and implements from the early 1900s.

The festival also includes a parade, a bean feed, food and live entertainment, a draft horse pulling contest, a variety of tractor pulling contests, a model train display, vendors, arts and crafts booths and other events and exhibits.

For more information about the festival, call Allen Warren at (620) 224-7761.