Practice makes perfect quilts

by Deborah Parkhill Mullis

Staff Writer

Quilting is often a tradition handed down from parent to child.

But Jean Cooper, the quilter who won a bue ribbon at the Blooming Arts Festival this year, says she is basically self-taught.

Although her mother quilts, Cooper was married and living away from home before she started to "sit down with patterns."

Cooper learned to quilt by reading books.  However, she admits to occasional consultations with Mom, who is now 85 years old.

In her 10 years of quilting, Coooper seldom entered quilting contests.  In fact, this year's Blooming Arts Festival was only her second time to enter a competition. The first was five years ago when she entered a baby quilt, also at the Blooming Arts Festival.  An actual gift for a baby, it won third place.

"I've just never entered them - I gave them away as gifts.  I was really surprised (to win) because I didn't think my work was that good, " Cooper said.

This year's blue ribbon quilt is somewhat unique because it's a small block pattern called "Snowball." It is more commonly used for baby quilts.  Cooper extended the pattern into a queen-size quilt by adding extra rows of the six-sided six-inch blocks.  It took her more than three months to make all the blocks.

"I started piecing them in November - that's 195 blocks all pieced by hand - and started quilting in February.  I finished the week before the festival," she  said.

An eight-inch border around the edges is the only part of the 108-by-94-inch quilt that is machine-pieced.

The quilt was made as a present for Cooper's sister, who lives in Saint Cloud, Fla.  The bedcover's colors are mauve, white and Williamsburg blue to match the decor of her sister's bedroom.

"I called to tell her about the blue ribbon.  We're taking the  quilt down to her the third week in June," she said.

Originally from Illinois, Cooper came to Union County 10 years ago via New Jersey.  Quilting is much more common in North Carolina than it is in New Jersey, she said.

Quilted wallhangings and baby quilts are among her favorite items to create with needle and thread. However, Cooper also enjoys sewing Batman and Superman costumes for her two grandsons, ages 2 and 4.  Known as "Mimi" to her grandchildren, Cooper has promised to make them "Mimi-quilts," too.

In addition to her personal quilting projects, she has quilted with a group of ladies from First Presbyterian Church for five years.

The  group gives their quilts to different organizations such as Hospice of Union County and First Presbyterian's preschool program, which then sell them to raise money.

"We also raffled some (quilts) when we had our bazaar. The money went to the benevolences giving fund," she added.

Presently, she is working on an "Ohio Star" and plans to enter it in next year's contest.  According to Cooper, her first few quilts were not exactly prize-winning material.

"My  first one - I still have - it's horrible," she said.

But that was years ago.  Obviously, practice made perfect.

(Deborah's story was published by The Enquirer-Journal on May 25, 1993.)