Grinter Quilt Show’s 40th anniversary coming up April 29-30

Guest speaker planned for event

by Mary Rupert

For 40 years, a small circle of women have quilted to help raise funds for Grinter Place. This year, on April 29 and 30, they will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Grinter Quilt Show.

From 50 to 60 quilts or more are expected to be entered in the quilt show sponsored by the Grinter Place Quilters. Most come from the surrounding community, said Leslie Brillhart, who is in charge of the quilt show.

About 10 to 12 people meet every Tuesday to work on quilts, she said. The group does hand-quilting for other people, with all proceeds going to Grinter Place, and it makes one quilt top a year for an “opportunity quilt” for Grinter Place. That quilt is a fundraiser for the Friends of Grinter and will be given away in January 2017 at the group’s annual meeting, she said.

Through the years the Grinter Quilters have provided new drapes and curtains at Grinter House.

The current opportunity quilt is an Amish-style quilt, she said. It has a black background and uses a bear paws pattern, with different bright colors for the bear paws, she added. This quilt top is partly done and may be on display during the annual quilt show.

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, at Grinter Place Historic site, 78th and K-32, in Kansas City, Kan.

A guest speaker, Vicky Beasley, will attend this year’s Quilt Show.

Beasley is the author of the Scrappy Farmer blog. She will speak at 2 p.m. Friday, April 29, and from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at Grinter House. Her topic will be how to use scraps and how to organize them.

Beasley plans to bring a lot of her quilts to show to those who attend the program, Brillhart said.

While admission to the quilt show in the Grinter Barn is free, admission to the program in the Grinter House will be $3, she added.