Signature Quilt accepted into collection

Signature Quilt accepted into collection

The Kent Historical Society will formally accept the 2016 Signature Quilt into its permanent collection during its Annual Meeting Sunday, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Kent Town Hall.

The quilt was designed and sewn by the Kent Quilters, a group of 20 local women, who created the beautiful quilt that features 600 signatures of Kent residents that are highlighted by appliques that depict several Kent scenes, as well as a band of curving blue symbolizing the Housatonic River.

The signature quilt project was begun as a way to permanently preserve signatures from full- and part-time Kent residents. It also became a fundraiser for the Historical Society with residents paying $5 to include their signature.

One of aspects of the quilt is that it will capture a look at who was living in the town in 2016 for people in the future looking back at the 21st century. Curator Marge Smith, who is also one of the Kent Quilters, has said that one benefit of signature quilts is that genealogists can use these quilts as a way to determine who lived in a town at a certain period of time.

Jane Zatlin, who is the group coordinator for the Kent Quilters, said the group enjoys working together on community quilts. The completed quilt was displayed in August at the Kent Sidewalk Festival.

The volunteer quilters were able to work with Kent Center School and got all of the students to each sign a muslin square to incorporate the town’s youngest residents into the quilt.