Sam Rayburn Museum Gears Up for the 2014 Bonham Quilt Hop

Bonham Quilt Hop: July 25–26, 2014

Sam Rayburn Museum Gears up for the 2014 Bonham Quilt Hop

Briscoe Center’s Rayburn Museum Has Two Exhibits on Display

The Sam Rayburn Museum, a division of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, is gearing up for participation in the 2014 Bonham Quilt Hop. The Rayburn Museum will share two exhibits based on the Center’s Winedale Quilt Collection: Quilts That Helped Us Heal and Seeing Double.

Quilts That Helped Us Heal features quilts that began as 139 blocks made in Japan and finished into 40 quilts by quiltmakers in the San Antonio area. This collaborative project began at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, only weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As part of this three-year project, the Texas quiltmakers wrote about what working with the blocks from Japan and finishing the quilts meant to them. Their sentiments, quoted in the exhibition labels, capture the healing power of quiltmaking in response to tragedy.

Seeing Double showcases pairs of quilts based on the same pattern but constructed years apart. Certain quilt patterns have always attracted quiltmakers, such as mosaic quilts based on pieced hexagons, which have been made for more than 200 years in the United States. Pairings invite comparison—of fabrics selected, of needlework proficiency, and of contrasting interpretations of patterns.

Seeing Double will be displayed at the Sam Rayburn Museum, 800 W. Sam Rayburn Drive. Quilts That Helped Us Heal will be displayed at the Bonham Visitor Center, 327 N. Main. Both exhibits will be open on Friday, July 25, from 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 26, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The Rayburn Museum will also host the quilt hop’s opening reception, on Friday, July 25 from 5 – 7 p.m.

The 2014 Bonham Quilt Hop offers the chance to see hundreds of beautiful quilts and interesting quilt demonstrations. Additionally there will be fun and games, and many vendors will be on hand to sell quilts and fabric-related items. Free shuttle bus service to all locations will be provided on Saturday, courtesy of TAPS. For more information, please contact the Sam Rayburn Museum at 903-583-2455.

In February 2014, an expanded version of Seeing Double will be on view at the Briscoe Center’s Winedale Historical Complex, located four miles northeast of Round Top at 3738 FM 2712 (off FM 1457). For more information, please contact the Winedale Historical Complex at 979-278-3530.