Kilcullen quilter from the Oregon Trail

Kilcullen is a long way from the Oregon Trail, but one of the great traditions from that fabled part of America's Old West has found its way to this little mid-Kildare town.


Quilting is just 'massive' in Oregon, according to Katie Sheehan (centre above with a group from the first quilting workshop in The Cottonwood Tree), who moved here from there more than a decade ago. She believes it was established there by the families making the long and dangerous trek from the middle states of the young US to new lives in the West. And, thanks to the recent arrival of The Cottonwood Tree haberdashery in Kilcullen, set up by Rose O'Donoghue, Katie has both found a local source for materials as well as a place where she can pass on her quilting skills.

"When I walked into the shop my eyes lit up," she says. "Rose spotted that and asked me did I know anyone who could teach quilting and I raised my hand immediately."

A notice in the shop's window brought an 'overwhelming' response, and the result was the first of what will be a series of classes in the craft.

Quilting today is both an art form and a functional craft, and Katie's interest is very much in the latter area. "I was raised in a farming family in Michigan, where the winters are very cold and the first quilts I knew were those owned by my grandparents."

These were 'crazy quilts', so called because they were made typically from men's old woolen suits, recycling at its best. "They were made up of patches upon patches upon patches," Katie recalls, and says she will be doing a crazy quilt class in the near future because of the interest shown by the local women who came to her recent introductory session.

There are almost as many shades to quilting as there are patches used in the craft, including the Amish tradition as practised by the Pennsylvania Quakers, the modern interest as an art for showing in galleries ("and sometimes selling for thousands of dollars"), and the 'heirloom' quilts which have come down through generations, often carrying their own little mysteries.

"I have one which I cherish dearly. It was bought in a St Vincent de Paul shop in Oregon, and is made up of about 11 squares, each with the name of a woman picked out by each of them with their own needles and thread. I believe it came from Kentucky, but I would love to know the story behind it."

It is likely to be a form of 'friendship' quilt, made up by the friends of a woman going to get married. Katie is about to make her own heirloom quilt for her new daughter-in-law, which she hopes will be something to pass on to their children and beyond.

In the modern world of central heating and European-style duvets, does quilting have a place? "Yes, though mostly decorative. People use the skills to make wall hangings, table runners, and pillow covers. Though I usually replace my duvet with a quilt for the summer, so they are for me still very own functional."

Katie sees her role as a teacher mainly in bringing out the creativity of her pupils in how to judge fabrics, their tones and how they will go well together. "For must people it starts with a love of fabrics and then trying to do something with them."

Most ordinary fabric shops don't have the kind of materials which are special to quilting, and Katie used to have to acquire her own supplies from sources such as the annual Crafts Council Show at the RDS in Dublin. Now that there is a local source, perhaps Kilcullen is on the trail towards becoming the quilting capital of Leinster?

Brian Byrne.

This article was first published on the Kilcullen page of the Kildare Nationalist.