Inspired by a walking tour of monuments in Washington D.C. on
Memorial Day in 2018, I gradually fabricated a new challenge to
give to my group of quilt–making friends. I invited nine
participants to join me in making five quilts, one for each of the
five major wars in which America was involved in the past 100 or
so years.
Invitations were extended purposely to a group of makers having
diverse styles and differing years of experience who would be
able to interpret the prompt as a personal statement rather than
conform to an expectation. The result, which you will see here in
the exhibit, is representative of how we all can see the same
thing in an entirely unique dimension.
Instructions were few. Each quilt was to measure 24” square and
contain the color “poppy red” somewhere in each quilt. The
prompt was simply the name of the wars. Where relevant,
quilters were encouraged to mention the involvement of their
own family members or friends. Though delayed by the
pandemic, we are excited to finally share our resulting Memorial
Day Quilt Exhibit.
We hope that as you view our work it will lead you to think about
how you see war and how those thoughts may have changed
through the years.
It is particularly touching for us that The Barns Of Rose Hill
extended an offer to host our quilt works for this moment in time
leading up to Memorial Day 2022. Thank you so much to all the
people at the Barns who have worked hard to present
this exhibit.
Finally, what is an exhibit without you, the viewer?
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will spread the word and
return with friends to this wonderful venue.
Dorry Emmer
For the Center Street Cotton Collective

You can reach Barns of Rose Hill  at 540-955-2004 (Noon to 3:00 – Tuesday through Saturday). If you call when our Box Office is closed, please leave a message and we’ll return your call within 24 business hours. All sales are final. Exceptions for special circumstances may be made no later than 24 hours prior to performance