Published: March 28, 2008 11:31 am            

Quilter ready for national stage

Introducing a newly-widowed friend to quilting was possibly one of the kindest things Pat Leeper has ever done in her life.

“Quilting really helps with grief. It helps fill a void,” Leeper said. “Quilting gave her something else to focus on besides her grief, because you just can’t focus on that all the time. You’ve got to be able to heal and move on, while still cherishing your memories. You can’t live in the past. It’s not good for you.

“Plus, quilting provided companionship for her, right when she needed it the most. Women, unlike men, have a deep need for companionship.”

Making a quilt can be a solitary activity, for those times when people need a bit of alone time. Or, when done in a group, it can be a time of companionship, pattern exchanges and snacks.

Leeper, who is an award-winning quilter, enjoys it so much that she belongs to two quilting clubs. She even hosts a get-together in her own home. A group of her dearest friends sit in her quilting room in cozy chairs, share confidences and laughter, and create treasured quilts.

With all that practice, it’s no wonder Leeper has been selected as a semi-finalist for the 24th Annual AQS Quilt Show and Contest April 23-24 in Paducah, Kent.

There were nearly a thousand entries from all around the world. Leeper’s entry is one of the larger ones. It measures 80 inches by 80 inches. The quilt is a copy of one designed in 1863 that now hangs in the Bennington Museum in Vermont.

“Most quilts come with measurements, but this one didn’t,” she said. “You have to figure out the measurements on your own, which was a real challenge for me.”

She said making a quilt takes many, many hours “But it’s not a selfish hobby. It’s a giving hobby. Every time you make a quilt, somebody will want it.

“And when you want to give someone a gift, a quilt is always appreciated and treasured.”

For years Leeper made quilts and gave them to her family members, keeping very few of them for herself.

But now that daughter Debra White and granddaughter Amanda Wood have taken up quilting, Leeper doesn’t have to make quite so many of them for her grandchildren.

But when her granddaughter, McAlester High School cheerleader Madison Leeper, recently redecorated her bedroom, she said “Granny, I need a new quilt. I need one in a different color.”

And of course Granny said she’d make Madison a new quilt. Leeper said all of her grandchildren appreciate the quilts she has made for them through the years. In fact, they still have the ones she made for them when they were babies.

One grandson, who is 17, recently refused to allow his mother to throw away his tattered, Granny-sewn baby quilt even though she promised to make him another one just like it.

“Madison was so funny with her baby quilt,” Leeper said. “She was just a little bitty girl and she’d get on the golf cart and put the quilt in a basket right beside her.

“Then she put the cat in the basket. It was just the funniest thing to see her do that.”

Leeper said that the stories behind quilts are important and should be preserved. “Take a plain piece of muslin and write the story on it with a permanent marker, then sew that little piece of muslin to the back of the quilt,” she said. “That way the story behind it is never lost. People love their quilts and they love knowing the background story.”

She also recommends joining a quilting club. Locally, the Kiamichi Quilt Guild meets on the second Thursday of each month at the old McAlester High School from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.

“We have so much fun, and we create something that people enjoy and treasure,” Leeper said. “Try it, you just might love it.”

        

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