COLUMBIA, S.C. — Women from a local Lexington quilting group are set up at the South Carolina State Fair teaching visitors how to quilt and members are doing live sewing demonstrations.
Five years ago, Doureen Morse heard about the Thread of Time Quilting Guild.
"I thought, 'Well, I'll just go see what it's about," Morse remembers. "And then I got hooked."
Now, Morse is helping share that love for quilting with others as the guild's president.
"Quilting’s a dying art," she explained. "And you don't see that many young people interested in it. It would be great for young people to get involved in it."
That’s why she and her “quilting sisters” are set up at the State Fair doing live demonstrations. In fact, one of their members entered a few of her own creations in the fair’s art contest.
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Linda Ventresco submitted four creations and all four of them won blue ribbons.
"It's awesome. It's absolutely awesome. I had no idea that I would do that well, but I'm really thrilled that I did," Ventresco told me. "I feel very good. Humble, I don't know. It's kind of humble."
Ventresco is excited to have fairgoers see her hard work.
"Whether you get a ribbon or not, you are proud of your work," she smiled.
From a travel bag to a decorated chair to an octopus quilt, she spent hundreds of hours quilting.
"Quilting is art because you pick the fabrics, you pick the design, and as you go, that develops into something beautiful," Ventresco shared. "Everything is uniquely you."
This art is something Morse hopes to pass on to people at the fair.
"It's important because when you make…you take the time and you make a quilt and you pass it on, it's an heirloom and your family has it for generations and generations," Morse said.
The quilting guild will be set up again at the fair through Thursday in the Moore Building near the rocket.