In the 19th century, women didn't have the right to vote, could not own property, or write or publish books. But many women of the era expressed their political views through the patterns used in their quilts.
Our speaker this month is Don Beld, a Riverside resident who began quilting in the early 1990s. He now specializes in researching and creating Civil War reproduction quilts in the time honored fashion of hand piercing and hand quilting. Civil War reproductions are modern fabric prints reflecting the look of the mid-19th century, worked into quilt blocks and styles of the period. Mr. Beld will also be displaying examples of his fine handiwork at our meeting.
Beld retired as a psychiatric hospital administrator in the late 1990s. He took up needlework as a way to overcome a fear of flying, and keep his hands busy. He later took a quilting class, and has been creating large sized quilts by hand ever since. Doing everything by hand means he can only make two or three king-size quilts a year, at 600 to 800 hours per quilt.
With an undergraduate degree in history, this time period of fabrics peaked his interest; and he spends much time researching Civil War quilt blocks and why and how they got their names.
Beld is the only male in the Citrus Belt Quilters, a 250-member group. He estimates that about two percent of quilt guild members are men. He has learned through his research that non-European quilt making was done mainly by men. So he doesn't feel quite as odd being a man in a woman-dominated hobby.
Come join us as we learn more about the fabrics, textiles and political statements made through Civil War quilts.
Janet Whaley
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