The Times

Quilts being made today may be tomorrow's history

By ELIZABETH OWEN Staff Writer Irene McLaren grew up in Pittsburgh, Penn., in a house full of quilts. She can still recall the detail in a beautiful red and white patchwork quilt her grandmother made in 1910. "When you're looking at old quilts, you feel like a part of history," she said. "I can see the Pennsylvania-Dutch influence in my grandmother's." Irene, a slim, middle-aged woman who lived in South Dade, conducts a quilting group Thursday afternoons at Sunset Congregational Church. In a few weeks, she will also be teaching basic and advanced quilting classes at the Church. It wasn't until her daughter Linda's 16th birthday, however, that Irene made her first quilt. She used scraps from all the little-girl dresses she had made over the years, and put them together for a gift. After that, her quilting spree continued. She made another one for her son, then began taking classes from Carol Wein at the University of Miami. "I learned how to do things right instead of the hard way," she said. "From the class, I joined a quilting group, because I was looking for an outlet for some of the things I was making." Irene's quilted pillows were so good, in fact, that she began selling them at the "Snail's Pace" in Coconut Grove, an antique shop that only recently closed. There, she was called upon to repair some of the older, damaged quilts that came in, and the practice taught her well. The Thursday afternoon quilting group grew out of a beginning class Irene had taught before. The 16 women who are now in the group wanted to continue quilting in an informal setting. Irene has several theories about why women seem to enjoy the craft so much. "It's an individual expression and a nice, relaxing way to pass the time," she said. "It's often making something pretty out of nothing - and people get so tired of factory-made things. "And there's something unusual I've discovered - I haven't found a quilter yet who isn't a really great cook. Maybe it's all part of the whole domestic atmosphere." The group's oldest quilter is Irene's mother, Ruth Wentzel, who'll be 72 in October, and her youngest protege is Debbie Cortese, 25. Last spring, the group put on a quilt show at the church and displayed 116 quilts, 50 of which dated back before 1900, and a few even before the Civil War. This spring, the quilters plan to have another. Only a few of the quilts are for sale - most are on display - and the money raised goes to the church. Anyone interested in learning to quilt can call Irene at 446-6626 or write her in care of the church: Sunset Congregational Church, 9025 Sunset Dr., Miami.

Photo by ELIZABETH OWEN Sandra Robertson from the Gables, Sally Burke of South Dade ... take great pride in creating beautiful quilts from scraps

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