Residents encouraged to exhibit antique quilts

MISSION — The sixth annual Mission Quilt Show, sponsored by the Winter Texan Times and held each year at the Mission Historical Museum (MHM), will be making a few changes this year.

New competition categories will be added and local residents are being encouraged to participate with either a quilt they have made or with an antique family quilt for a special program.

Under the direction of a new chairwoman with an extensive background in quilt-making, the show will be held in the Mission museum annex building. Quilters from across the Rio Grande Valley are invited to participate. This year’s show begins Jan. 4 and runs through Feb. 4.

Annette Sweet, of the Green Gate Grove Quilting Bee, will be show chairwoman for the event. Sweet, who has an extensive background in quilt-making, will help select experienced quilters to judge the show.

At Sweet’s suggestion, several new competition categories will be added, including wall hanging miniatures (up to 24 inches by 24 inches), miscellaneous (table runners, placemats and other items) and wearable art. The quilts will be judged in two categories this year: hand quilted and machine quilted.

This year’s show will also introduce an antique quilt program. Anyone owning an antique quilt is encouraged to submit the quilt for display along with a history of the quilt. This is a non-competitive category, and the antique quilts will not be displayed with the regular quilt show exhibit. Instead, a special program called “The Turning of the Quilts” will be held Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. where the antique quilts will be displayed and their history told.

On Jan. 27, a special reception honoring the winners in each category of the judged competition will be held at 4 p.m.

Those who wish to submit quilts or other items for display should contact Vernon Weckbacher, MHM archivist/curator, at 956-580-8646. Items for the show will be accepted Dec. 14 through Dec. 23, Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. MHM is closed on Sundays.

Each item should be delivered in a cloth bag with the owner’s name and phone number on the bag. Quilts for the exhibit should be ready to hang with a sleeve for display purposes. Antique quilts brought for the program do not need sleeves.

Under new rules adopted for this year’s show, participants may submit only one item per person for competition, and quilts entered in this show cannot be displayed again in the same show for five years.