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“Autumn Compass” quilt workshop to be held at Grave Creek Mound Historic Site

8/9/01

The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History’s Grave Creek Mound Historic Site, in cooperation with the West Virginia University Extension Office, will offer an “Autumn Compass” quilt workshop on Wednesday, Aug. 29, from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at the Delf Norona Museum in Moundsville. The three-hour workshop is timed to coincide with the exhibition, “August is for Quilting,” which is on display in the museum’s art gallery.

Sara Madson of Binghamton, N.Y., will lead the workshop. She has been making quilts for more than 20 years and has taught her craft throughout the country since 1983. Her fine hand-quilting techniques have appeared in Quilt International and Quilting Today. Currently, Madson is working on interpreting and reproducing several 19th-century quilts.

Students will begin piecing their quilt blocks during the workshop and will learn about hand and machine piecing, color selections and drafting techniques for the compass. There is an $18 kit fee and the workshop is open to all levels of quiltmakers. Class size is limited so advance registration is required. To register for the “Autumn Compass” workshop, call Grave Creek Mound at (304) 843-4128 or the WVU Extension Office at (304) 843-1170.

In addition to teaching the workshop, Madson is the featured quiltmaker for the “August is for Quilting” exhibition. The show includes 20 quilts; seven of which are full sized, while the rest of the exhibition consists of miniatures and wall hangings. Madson also has included some heirloom quilts in the show, one of which was made by her paternal great-grandmother and another by her maternal grandmother, Anna Laura Bartrug Mathews, who was born in Moundsville in 1875. The exhibition will remain on display through August 31.

Grave Creek Mound Historic Site is one of the largest and most famous of the burial mounds built by the Adena people. A massive undertaking, construction of the mound took place in successive stages from about 250-150 B.C., and required the movement of more than 60,000 tons of earth. The mound and the Delf Norona Museum are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. and are located at 801 Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville. For more information about Grave Creek Mound, the exhibition “August is for Quilting” or the “Autumn Compass” workshop, call Susan Yoho, director of Grave Creek Mound Historic Site.

The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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