DEBBIE MUSTIAN / L’Observateur / September 27, 1999

Last weekend, rows and rows of gloriously colorful and creative quilts were hung from the ceiling of the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner to showcase the Eighth biennial Gulf States Quilting Association quilt show.

A group of LaPlace quilters, known as the Quilting Fans, had an impressive showing at the event; 12 of the 28 quilts entered in the show by the group were ribbon winners.

“We did extremely well by taking first, second and honorable mentions,” noted Judy Perilloux, current president of Quilting Fans.

Dorinda Evans, an active member of Quilting Fans, received two first- place awards at the show. Her quilts, “Handkerchief Butterflies” and”Emily’s Audubon Adventure,” both won blue ribbons.

Evans, who also worked as a tour guide during the show that featured 260 quilts, was thrilled with her winnings. Truly, “Emily’s AudubonAdventure” remains one of Evans’ most favorite creations.

“It was inspired by my daughter Emily’s experiences with animals as a volunteer at Audubon Zoo. Every animal tells a story about one of mydaughter’s adventures,” Evans said as she pointed to the zoo animals duplicated in the quilt using geometric shapes.

For example, the pink flamingos in the quilt represent Emily’s instructions for explaining where visitors may located the rest rooms that are near the flamingo exhibit.

Evans, who has been quilting for years, said the animal quilt was a challenge for her.

“I had to figure everything out,” she said. “There was no chart so I had tomake it all fit together.”Of the 28 entries from the LaPlace quilting group, 10 of those belonged to Evans. She also won secondplace for “Wedding Butterflies” and an honorable mention for “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” Perilloux won a second-place award for her quilt”Amazing Grace,” and fellow club member Susan Satterlee won second place for “Go, Girl,” as well as an honorable mention for “Solitude.”Quilting Fan member Doris Calamia won second place for “Garden Gate” and two honorable mentions for “Pinwheels” and “Fireballs.” In addition,members Gwen Douglas, Lynn Matherne and Janet Aubert won second place for “Shared Love.”Another quilt, “Laura, A Creole Plantation,” rounded out the awards for the group by winning an honorable mention. The quilt was created as acommunity group project, and it was truly a group effort. Everyone inQuilting Fans contributed in some way, Perilloux said.

“Each member made two blocks for the quilt,” she noted.

Various members were responsible for choosing the fabric to coincide with the true colors of Laura Plantation, while others were responsible for photographing the home, transferring the picture of the house to the cloth and later assembling the blocks together to form the quilt.

Perilloux said the Quilting Fans pick a special community project to complete once a year. Several members of the group presented the Lauraquilt to Norman Marmillion, general manager of Laura Plantation, earlier this week as a token of appreciation for allowing the Quilting Fans to participate in last fall’s Br’er Rabbit Festival at the plantation.

In addition to being an award-winning quilt, Perilloux said the quilt’s backing is very special, too. When festival visitors walked through theplantation’s entrance, they were asked to sign their names on a large piece of fabric. “We have names from all over the world,” Perilloux said.There are currently 30 members involved with Quilting Fans, and Perilloux said the group has plenty of room for growth.

“We would love to have new members; new members bring new ideas,” she said. “You don’t have to quilt in order to be a Quilting Fan.”In fact, when Perilloux joined the Quilting Fans a few years ago she was not an accomplished quilter.

“I could thread a needle,” she said. “I learned from the ground up withpeople who had knowledge of quilting.”Both Perilloux and Evans agree there’s an increase in the appreciation of quilting.

“Quilting is an American art form,” Evans said. “It died out for a while,but it’s back.””Quilting is coming back in full force, all over again,” Perilloux said.

The Quilting Fans meet on the second Thursday of each month at Woodland Baptist Church on U.S. Highway 51 in LaPlace at 7 p.m. New members arewelcome.

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