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Exhibit proves men have equal flair for quilting

"Man Made," a display of quilts by artists nationwide, shows off the art form's ability to break from women only.

DUNEDIN - He loves camping.

He likes to watch college basketball.

And his wife does the cooking.

But Miles Fairchild does have a hobby that taps into his feminine side: quilting.

"I like it because it relaxes me," said Fairchild, 79, who lives in Palmer Lake, Colo. "I give them to young people who are just getting married. I make quilts for new babies. I hang them on the wall. I put them on the bed."

Fairchild is part of a small but growing number of men who are choosing fabric as their medium of choice. His work, along with several other male artists, will be showcased at the Dunedin Fine Art Center in an exhibit called "Man Made."

"Man Made," which debuted last year, was developed by the Museum of the American Quilter's Society in Paducah,Ky. The display includes work from 18 contemporary quilt artists from across the country. And while none of them is from Florida, quiltmaking is indeed breaking gender stereotypes.

"Men making quilts is not unheard of," said David Shankweiler, director of public relations and exhibits for the art center. "Some of these are very traditional. Then there are others that seem much more like a painting.

"They take very bold steps away from the traditional quilts, yet they are still using stitching and fabric to do it."

Back in colonial days, it was women who would gather Saturday afternoons for a quilting bee. They would exchange recipes and gossip while cutting and sewing patterns to make blankets, bedspreads and sweaters. The husbands would work in the fields and come inside only when it was time for dinner.

These days, quilting is solitary, even for women. And they are doing it more out of self-expression and personal enjoyment than necessity.

"You're isolated, you're concentrating, and you're repeating," said Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, a quilt artist from Lexington, Ky. "It can be therapeutic."

Sandoval, 62, who has been quilting since 1976, has one in the exhibit he calls Millennium Portal No. 6. He designed the quilt as a portal on a spaceship and used bold and pastel colors to represent the planets.

It represents the future, he said.

"What distinguishes me is I work with 20th century recyclable material," said Sandoval, who is a professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. "That's different than working with cotton fabric or working with velvet. My piece also has some shiny materials. Sometimes they're hidden until you move, and then they appear."

As one of the creators of "Man Made," Gerald Roy acknowledges that more men are becoming quilt artists. But he said men have been quilting all along.

"Most of the men that were in quiltmaking in the 19th century were probably closet quilters," said Roy, 65, who lives in Warner, N.H. "Because sewing was traditionally a woman's craft, I don't think it was ever publicized."

Perhaps that's what is going on in Pinellas County.

There are 60 members in Quilters' Crossing, a north Pinellas County quilters' group. Not one is a man.

"We had one man come to one meeting," said Mary Lou Mielke, a member of the quilting group. "I guess he was intimidated by the women because he never came back.

"It's kind of unusual to have a show of all quilts that were made by men. You really think about it as a woman's type of activity. I guess there are quite a few men interested."

Fairchild said he was introduced to quilting when he was 8 years old, and a woman down the street showed him how. When he was 14, he moved to an Amish community in northern Indiana, where he watched moms and grandmas quilt.

He uses neckties to make his own quilts.

Each 12-inch square takes 12 to 20 hours. One quilt has about 90 squares.

"I'm working on one right now," he said. "I watch the news at 5 p.m., and then for about two hours, I'll do a quilt. Or a pillow. Or I'll do something with my hands. Now that I'm retired, this is what I enjoy doing."

- Megan Scott can be reached at 727 445-4167 or at mscott@sptimes.com

The Dunedin Fine Art Center presents "Man Made," designed to showcase male contemporary quilt artists from across the country. The exhibition will open with a free reception for members and the public from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and will run through Aug. 6. The center is at 1143 Michigan Blvd. For more information, call 298-3322.