By Karah Wilson

karah@southerntorch.com

COLLINSVILLE, Ala.—Collinsville held its annual Quilt Walk on Sept. 25 and 26. The walk showcased over 300 quilts in different homes and businesses. The event began at the Collinsville Public Library where you could then be transported by a bus to any of the locations. During the walk, a demonstration was held on how to make a memory quilt, hosted by “A Time to Sew,” located in Collinsville, and “Stitches N Stories Quilting,” located in Falkville.

Vanessa “Nessa” Chambers was there representing “A Time to Sew” in the library. She began to sew at a young age, learning from her parents and grandparents. Chambers had a memory quilt, or tee shirt quilt, with her. A memory quilt is a quilt made out of materials such as shirts, jeans, and flannel as long as there are no holes in the fabric and they are stabilized. The quilt being shown won third place in a Geraldine contest. Chambers began “A Time to Sew” in 2003 and was the one to begin the quilt walk after attending one herself in Tennessee in 2002. Chambers picked the library as the organization to start the walk. “I gave the show over to the library in 2006. The first show had over six hundred quilts,” Chambers said. “The quilts are never judged or sold during the show. It is totally different than any other show in Alabama.

The homes and businesses that held the quilts were also called “pattern stops.” This means that guests could stop and pick up a sewing pattern to learn how to make the quilts presented in the business or home. For more information on next year’s walk, contact Jennifer Wilkins at 256-524-2323 or at jencollib@hotmail.com.