Rookie quiltmaker’s work popular favorite in City Hall exhibit

Sean C. Morgan

Beth Suhr came to the craft of quiltmaking very late, but her work has been an almost instant hit.

Based on votes by visitors to the Fiber Arts Show in the lobby of City Hall, Suhr’s quilt “Window to Grapes” is the People’s Choice Award winner for the exhibit.

The art show is the second displayed by the SHOCASE Public Arts Committee, and it features a variety of fiber media, from quilts to cross stitch.

The show went on display in January and will remain on display through April 7.

The show features 27 physical pieces from Sweet Home artists. The Sweet Home Art Quilters also provided a looping video presentation featuring more than 100 quilts, made for queen and double beds, that are too large to be physically displayed.

The People’s Choice Award is given based on votes by members of the public who visit the art show. In this case, it went to a quilt that features two bunches of grapes viewed through a window.

“It’s one of the first ones I ever did,” Suhr said. “Personally, I’m a perfectionist to a point. I see all the imperfections.”

Suhr said she’s been quilting for just over a year. She started quilting after she retired from working as an applications trainer with a California company. She trained people how to use radiation therapy equipment and related computer applications.

She has lived in Sweet Home for a little more than 10 years.

Quilting isn’t her first foray into the fiber arts.

“We learned how to sew from my mother-in-law more than 10 years ago,” Suhr said. “I liked making clothes. I said at one time, I would never make a quilt – a lot of work I don’t want to do.”

However, as she learned more about quilting, that changed her mind. It’s not just putting little squares together and there’s a lot more to it than she thought, Suhr said

She started with a table runner and thought, “OK, I can do that.”

She spent time on YouTube and at a quilt shop learning more about it, Suhr said. “I love that people want to share their knowledge.”

“Window to Grapes” is what is called an applique quilt, Suhr said. In that process, pieces with a sticky back are attached to fabric, cut out then sewn together.

Suhr said she made three or four quilts last year, one of her own design while the others were based on patterns. Even those had her touch.

“I have a tendency to go left,” Suhr said. “I don’t usually follow directions, so I’m comfortable with going outside the box.”

In addition to quilting and sewing, Suhr has enjoyed photography for years. She has dabbled in painting but claims she isn’t good at it. She also has painted on glass. She plays piano, although not often any more.

“I think to me, it’s (art) an outlet,” Suhr said. “It actually makes you think more creatively. It allows you to see what you can do. You don’t know if you don’t try.”

It’s also stress relief, she said. “It actually calms me,” and whatever it is bothering her, “I don’t think about it.”

Suhr said her parents helped her appreciate the arts. Her father was a musician. Her mother made jewelry.

It’s hard to appreciate art “until you know” how it’s done, Suhr said, and watching her parents gave her that insight, the hours and skill that people put into their art.

Her mother got her into macramé as a child, Suhr said, and then Suhr tried her hand at cross stitch.

Suhr said her favorite pieces in the show include a cross stitch by Sherral Tucker, “Love, Peace and Harmony;” a quilt by Peggy Schroeder, “Snickers;” and an additional quilt by Schroeder depicting the Queen Mary cruise liner visible through a ship’s portal.

Suhr thinks “Snickers” was a lot of work, especially if she is correct in that it was modeled based on a photo of a cat.

That’s the same thing that gives her an appreciation for the pieces on display throughout the gallery – “just knowing how much work goes into these,” she said.

She is happy to see the space dedicated to the arts. Before the new City Hall opened in August, she said she had sent an email to SHOCASE suggesting the development of a gallery space for local artists. That’s when she learned that there were plans to display local art at City Hall.

“That’s awesome because there are so many people in Sweet Home that do a lot of different types of art,” Suhr said.

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