KALONA

Some 200 quilts will fill the exhibition space at this year’s annual Quilt Show & Sale in Kalona, just as they have for the past 52 years. All hand-quilted, the works will be a marvel of color, texture, and technique, just as much textile art as they are practical housewares.

And as always, the selection on offer will be unique to this year, as newly completed quilts will be up for sale for the first time, alongside other antique acquisitions that Quilt Show organizer and Woodin Wheel proprietor Katie Karnes has assembled especially for the event.

A pair of quilts that are especially notable are the creations of Erick Wolfmeyer, an Iowa City-based quiltmaker whose work has been exhibited throughout the U.S., as well as in China and France. His creations, which he says are “a kind of prayer and meditation, an exercise of faith in a theology of art” in his artist statement, are hand quilted by Amish women.

Wolfmeyer quilts haven’t been available at the Quilt Show for the past decade.

“I haven’t had his quilts for close to eight to 10 years,” Karnes estimates. “We had him for a while consistently when he first got started,” she says, some 20-plus years ago.

The quilts, which are priced in the high $2,000’s – about half that of the most expensive quilt to be displayed at the Quilt Show this year – contain over 4,000 pieces. One features a range of soothing grays, the other the burnt jewel tones of autumn, both of which can be easily imagined in restful bedrooms.

It is unknown how many hours went into the construction of Wolfmeyer’s quilts, but Karnes says at least 400 to 500 hours go into a typical full-size quilt. With proper care, they can last a lifetime.

“It depends on how you treat it,” Karnes acknowledges. “We recommend dry cleaning the new ones,” she says, as not everyone has access to large commercial washers. Even then, washers differ; newer ones with less agitation may be kinder to hand-stitched quilts.

Repeated washing, as well as exposure to direct sunlight, can fade a quilt over time, Karnes says, but “they’re made to be enjoyed too, so it’s a compromise.”

Whether one gets to see the Wolfmeyer quilts at the show, which runs Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April 27, depends on when and if they are sold. Once a buyer makes a purchase, the quilt comes down from the show and leaves with the buyer, and a new quilt goes up in its place.

Karnes, who has been regularly involved with the Quilt Show since 1995, interestingly is not a quilter herself.

“I don’t have the time or the patience,” she chuckles. “I am not talented in the sewing area.”

However, “I just fell in love with [quilts],” she says, after taking a summer job in a quilt shop in high school, which she continued to hold through college.

After graduating college, she “worked in the hotel industry for a little bit and decided that was not for me,” then found full-time employment at Woodin Wheel Antiques, Gifts & Quilts in Kalona. In 2003, she and Brenda Herington became its owners, and thus also the organizers of the annual Quilt Show.

Over her tenure with the show and shop, Karnes has seen some changes in the quilting world. Older generations pass their love for quilting, along with their skill, to newer ones. Older quilting patterns get remixed into something fresh.

“The wedding star, for example, is like a new vibe on the wedding ring,” she says, pointing to an example where traditional star and ring patterns are merged. “And there are thousands of variations of the log cabin. It’s always neat to see what [quiltmakers] come up with.”

Quilt lovers also want to see what’s new, and they come to Kalona each year to do so.

“It amazes me sometimes how they find the tiny town of Kalona,” Karnes remarks. People come from all over the country, she has noted. “Some families have been coming for years and years, so it’s kind of their annual fun weekend away.”

The result is a Christmas-like event for the shop and the kickoff to the summer tourism season in Kalona.

Fortunately for Karnes, she doesn’t have to pull all of this off herself; “We have a lot of community help too,” she says, and for that she is grateful. Local clubs, churches, and city staffers help setup and tear down the event at the Kalona YMCA, which is a fairly physical job in which framing made of PVC pipes is built and heavy quilts are hung.

The YMCA provides a spacious venue, so visitors can easily walk around the 200 quilts and take photos if they wish. In addition, an increasing number of vendors are invited to set up booths for the show. This year, Edie Kemp (Norwex), Heather Kemp (PaperPie books), Scentsy, Rick Schickerling (JFH Metal Signs & Fabrication), Cindy’s Nifty Crafts, Batting by the Roll, the Kalona Chamber, and the Kalona Historical Village are all expected to participate.

Admission to the Quilt Show is $6 for those 13 and over, good for all three days of the show. Wristbands will be issued so that visitors can come and go as they please over the weekend.

The 53rd annual Kalona Quilt Show & Sale is not to be missed. Hours are 5-8 p.m. Thursday, April 25, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Friday, April 26, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 27. The show takes place at the Kalona YMCA, 511 C Avenue, Kalona.