The first one, she said, “I wore out completely.”Īfter finishing her first few quilts, Hulett was hooked. She keeps the second one at the site where one of her quilt clubs meets. She uses a sewing machine herself to piece together the sections of her quilts, whether they are hand- or machine-quilted. Instead, one of her fellow quilters does the job using a special sewing machine called a “long-arm quilter.” It can reach to the center of even a bed-size quilt. It involved hours of work, patiently anchoring the layers with needle and thread, one stitch at a time. Hulett hand-quilted those early pieces, and many other quilts she made over the years. She loves having something from her great-grandmother Brown’s own hand. Later, when a cousin found a quilt top stitched together by her great-grandmother, Hulett finished it. If she were to do it again, she said, it would be more technically correct. She’d seen the design in a magazine - a collection of handprints, made by tracing around various family members’ hands, then embroidering them onto a top piece of fabric, layered with fluffy batting and backing material, then stitched together.Īlthough she was pleased with the finished quilt, “I didn’t know what I was doing,” she admitted. Later, she made her first quilt as a gift for her mother-in-law. “All my life I’ve been a proud Spartan,” she said.Īs a young mother, she sewed clothing for her five children - sons Mike, Pat and Ken, and daughters Debbi and Geri. She would later return to Sheridan schools as a special education assistant, a job she held for more than 20 years. She took home economics at Sheridan High School, honing her talents. Hulett, a Sheridan native, learned to sew as a child.
You can make educated guesses about fabrics and styles, Hulett said.ĪLSO: Event will feature antique appraisals, quiltsīut it would be so much better if the quilter had spent a few minutes labeling her creation. Some come with labels that tell her about the maker, the circumstances and the period of time, but many do not. Hulett has seen too many quilts without frequent contributor to quilt-related programs staged by the Sheridan Historical Museum or Yamhill County Historical Society, she often runs into lovely textiles made in the 19th and 20th centuries.
“My goal is that 100 years from now, people will know all about the quilts I do.” “Of course I label my own quilts!” she said. “They call me the ‘label police lady,’” Hulett said, laughing at the gentle teasing of her fellow quilters.Įvery quilt needs a label, she said. But they all have one thing in common - an informative label on the back. Also, I discovered that honed countertops (the more matte, less shiny finish that comes from abrading the stone) can be much more kitchen-friendly.SHERIDAN - Donna Hulett uses different fabrics, different patterns and different colors in each of her quilts.
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