Allons Family and Consumers Educators raising money for a local student scholarship through the raffle of a hand-embroidered quilt titled “Barns of Appalachia.”
Allons FCE President Tonya Reeder said the organization increased the scholarship amount to $750 this year due to strong ticket sales. Reeder said the group sells the raffle tickets at local events and elections to fund the annual award for a graduating Overton County senior.
“They raise money, they make a quilt and they sell tickets for it to raise money to do a scholarship for a graduating Overton County senior,” Reeder said. “And… we get a lot of responses just because it’s a scholarship award.”
Reeder said the scholarship recipient is selected each May based on a series of essay questions. Reeder said the winner is announced during an awards night and can use the funds at the school of their choice.
“They fill out essays and answer essay questions and they’re judged and a student is picked from those essays,” Reeder said. “They present them at award night… they present them with a scholarship to wherever they choose to go to school at. It’s given to them.”
Reeder said the “Barns of Appalachia” quilt features hand-pieced fabric and detailed hand-embroidery on every block. Reeder said the project took a year of planning and involved a “quilt day” where multiple members worked together for up to a week to assemble the final product.
“In this particular instance, it was every block was embroidered, so we sent a block home with each individual that was working on that quilt and they embroidered it themselves at their house and then when we came together we put all the blocks together and cut out the fabric, sewed it together,” Reeder said. “So it’s it’s a whole group project.”
Reeder said the Allons FCE is one of two Family Community Education groups in Overton County, alongside a group in Livingston. Reeder said the organization focuses on sharing knowledge of traditional skills such as canning, gardening and bread making.
Once a common practice back in the day, Reeder said she believes the quilting club is seeing a resurgence as people of all ages long for a greater sense of community. Meanwhile homesteading trends like crocheting, gardening and knitting are also making a return among other “dying arts,” according to Reeder.
“Back years ago when it got started, it was a time for women to get together and share canning recipes, gardening recipes, quilting recipes,” Reeder said. “They shared their knowledge with each other and gave them a sense of community fellowship.”
Reeder said the group chose the barn theme because it reflects the farming heritage of the local community.
“We’re a farming community, you know, Appalachian-minded,” Reeder said. “But I just believe it just resonated and it’s a beautiful quilt.”