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BARBARA L. FREDRICKSENFour quilting shows and a horse-pulling competition crown the weekend full of events celebrating the craft.
Pasco County will be blanketed with quilt shows this weekend, as four large venues display hundreds of quilts and quilted items in Hudson, Holiday, New Port Richey and Dade City.
As a bonus, the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City show will have its first ever horse-pulling competition at 1 p.m. Sunday as part of its "February Farm Festival and Quilt Show".
"These horses are the county champions from all over the Midwest," said Sean Kessler, event coordinator. "The biggest and best (pulling horses) in the United States are coming to Florida." Teams of horses will compete to see which can pull the largest load - 8,000 pounds or more - the farthest and fastest.
Meanwhile, those who enjoy the quieter activities connected with quilting can see art quilts, bed quilts, antique quilts and other quilted items at:
West Pasco Quilters' Guild's "Sew Many Quilts 2004" from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Veterans' Memorial Park, 14333 Hicks Road, Hudson. This show, held every other year, will have more than 300 quilts, including bed quilts, wall hangings, small quilts, clothing and place mats. Many of the items will be for sale.
"We'll have 10 vendors selling fabric, quilting machines, paper piece designs (patterns) and other quilting items," said Carolyn Ulrich, show co-chairman.
A highlight of the show is a monologue by champion quilter Teddy Pruett, Lawdy, Miz Mamie, the Yankees is Comin', at 1 p.m. Sunday. The monologue is about the Southern woman, her quilts and the hardships and sacrifices made during the Civil War, as told by letters, diaries and newspaper accounts of the period.
Pruett's work is also on exhibit at two other venues in Pasco during this quilt extravaganza. She is an American Quilters' Society and certified quilt appraiser and will give written appraisals of quilts for $30, oral evaluations for $5 on Sunday.
Strollers are not allowed. The Tea Room Cafe will have sandwiches and soft drinks for sale. There will also be a boutique selling small quilted items, "Look and Learn" demonstrations and fashion shows of quilted items.
Admission to the show is $5 for adults, $3 for ages 11 and younger.
Pioneer Florida Museum & Village "February Farm Festival and Quilt Show," at the museum off U.S. 301 a mile north of Dade City. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The show will have hundreds of quilts for show and/or sale, fashion shows, and quilts, dolls and clothing from the Hoffman Challenge competition.
Quilter Helga Curtis will present a lecture on restoring quilts at 1 p.m. both days. A large exhibit from Cole's Country Cottage, originally from Granville, N.Y., will include items for sale.
All of the museum's buildings will open for tours. The large barn will have rows of quilts on exhibit. There will be food and drinks for sale.
On Sunday, the Southern Draft Horse Association's Horse-Pulling Championship will be at 1 p.m. U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite will open the event. More than 30 teams of horses - 15 in the lightweight division, 15 in the heavyweight - will compete for prizes and "bragging rights," said Kessler. Many of these teams will compete at the Florida State Fair next week, he said.
Admission is $6 for adults, $2 for students.
Pasco Arts Center, 5744 Moog Road, Holiday, will have special weekend hours for the show, "Beyond the Bed: State of the Art Quilts," according to executive director Marj Golub. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
The center's exhibit of art quilts will continue through Feb. 21.
Admission is free.
Pasco-Hernando Community College's Pottberg Library, 10230 Ridge Road, New Port Richey, is exhibiting the other half of the "Beyond the Bed: State of the Art Quilt" show through Feb. 22. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Admission is free.