One of many World War II quilts in Reich’s collection cites the Pearl Harbor bombing that prompted U.S. entry into the war.
Author and nationally-known quilt expert Sue Reich will give three illustrated talks in Rugby, Tennessee, as Historic Rugby hosts its patriotic-theme Quilt Event on Friday and Saturday, “Wave the Red, White and Blue.”
Ms. Reich, of Connecticut, lectures widely on World War II and will exhibit her quilts from the 1941-45 period in her private collection. Her lecture, “Quiltmaking that saw us through the war years,” will be presented at 2 p.m. Eastern on both days, as well as 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, in the Rebecca Johnson Theatre of Rugby’s Visitor Centre.
Military veterans can attend the two-day event free with identification. Regular admission is $10 for one or both days. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern both days.
Ms. Reich’s talk highlights the war years when women were making quilts for the Red Cross, Bundles for Britain, and their own families. At the same time, many of them were working in the defense industry and planting victory gardens as men fought on the battlefronts.
Her wartime collection has been exhibited at the Quilters Hall of Fame, the New England Quilt Museum and the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. She published two books on quilting in 2007 and was co-author for a third.
Dozens of privately owned quilts from Tennessee, Kentucky and other areas will also be on display during the two days in buildings throughout 1880-founded Rugby. Vendors will be on site with quilt-related merchandise. Rugby’s Harrow Road Café will have British specialties and other menu items available.
The event benefits nonprofit Historic Rugby, which preserves and interprets the settlement founded in 1880 by British author Thomas Hughes and others. Rugby is just off Highway 52 east of Jamestown and north of Crossville.
For lodging and other details about the event, visit www.historicrugby.org or call 423-628-2441.