You might have noticed the fabric ties on the lampposts in downtown Landrum. I joined Ellen Henderson and Shirley Arledge while they were busy sorting colorful fabric pieces, going block to block, decorating the posts. Ellen and Shirley belong to Landrum Quilters and the ties are to remind everyone that the Airing of the Quilts will be happening July 16 on Trade Street next to the Farmers Market.

I’m meeting with Ellen to learn about the quilt airing and to hear the history of the Quilt Trail blocks that hang on many of the buildings around Landrum.

“Airing of quilts goes back to earlier times,” Ellen tells me. “When women were doing spring cleaning and changing the bedding for warmer weather, quilts were hung on the clothesline to air out before being stored for the summer. So we’ve adopted the tradition to show off our many quilts.”

Old, new, and antique quilts will be on display and some will be for sale. Every other year Landrum Quilters holds a quilt show at Landrum Middle School where approximately 1,100 visitors from all over the country come to see the quilts. Then the quilt airing takes place in the opposite year.

Ellen is a quilter but her first foray into quilting was put on hold for many years.

“I started a quilt for my son when he was 11. It wasn’t finished until he was 30,” she laughs. “We moved to Landrum from Columbia and Mary Ruth Brannon helped me complete that quilt, and started me on my second.”

Now Ellen’s busy with Landrum Quilters, which meet in Gowensville once a month.

The quilters have several organizations that they make quilts for. Ellen smiles, “We donate quilts to Ronald McDonald House for seriously ill children whose families are staying at the house near Greenville Memorial Hospital. The Hospice House in Landrum regularly receives lap quilts and neck pillows made by Landrum Quilters members. And members make and donate tote bags and pillow cases for children served by the Hope Center for Children in Spartanburg.”

Another project of Landrum Quilters is the quilt blocks that add character to our downtown and are part of the National Quilt Trail. I’m curious about the history of this effort. Ellen tells me that the official Quilt Trail started in 2001 in Adams County, Ohio. It was the extension of the tradition of painting quilt blocks on barn  sides. Donna Sue Groves wanted to honor her mother, Maxine, who was a noted quilter in the area. She painted a quilt square on her family’s barn in Manchester, Ohio…and the Quilt Trail was born.

The Landrum Quilters first block was the Cardinal design that hangs on the Landrum Middle School.

“We let the students choose from two designs and they also came up with the name, Cardinal Heritage,” she remembers. “Then the city administrator had the city join the project with four blocks for the city. We received a Mary Kessler grant from the Polk County Community Foundation and were able to complete 19 more quilt squares. Now there are 34 blocks in the city and one in Gowensville.” And she adds, “We’re working on more this summer. Watch for blocks going up at the Yellow House, Eclectics, Sissy, Prince Gas, and Rogers Automotive.”

The Airing of the Quilts coincides with the Carolina Shop Hop, which runs from July 15-23. Elaine’s Attic in Landrum is one of 12 participating quilt shops. During the week each shop offers a different quilt block pattern and kit for sale, along with special sales and prizes. As many as 900 quilters from all over the Carolinas have visited the shops in past years.

An international quilting event takes place in the U.S. and Canada called Row By Row.

“It takes place from June to September,” Ellen explains. “Over 1,200 shops participate and each shop offers a free pattern for a row in a quilt. You can go online and find the shops that are part of the experience and a map to see where they’re located.” Quilters can combine the rows to create a unique quilt that reminds them of the fun they had traveling throughout the summer.

Now, I’m not a quilter but an adventure like that makes me wish I was. What fun!

With an estimated 21 million quilters in the world, this heritage art has a promising future. Some websites you might enjoy searching are: landrumquilters.com, carolinashophop.com, rowbyrowexperience.com, barnquiltinfo.com, and quilttrailswnc.org.

Happy quilting!