the Topeka Methodist Church, where
Doris is a member, built their new fellowship hall, Sue suggested the show
be moved there. At that point Sue was
ready to step back and asked Doris and
Gen to take over. This became known
as the Topeka Quilt Show and continues today. It is now administered and
held at Eden Worship Center annually.
Ironically, this new location is just
about a mile, over the fields, from the
farm where Sue Christner had lived.
Some memorable experiences
from that show include a lady walking
into the show with a clipping from the
Goshen news and cash in hand for one
of the featured quilts that year. It was
a “Seven Sisters” quilt done by Rosalie
Yoder. It sold for around $1,200, the
most expensive quilt sold through
the show at that point. Another time,
a couple came to the show with their
motor home. Several quilts were carried out to the vehicle to try them out
on the bed! The new owners of the
quilt they purchased had wanted to
make sure they bought something that
looked good in their ‘retirement home!’
Her quilt block design “The Topeka Rose” was featured on the front
cover of the Fall/Winter 1991 edition
of “Heritage Country” magazine. The
design came from “The Romance of the
Patchwork Quilt in America” by Carrie
A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger. Doris
was a featured quilter in “The Busy
Quilter’s Survival Guide” by Joyce Livingston. Doris was accidently listed as
being from Topeka, Kansas. Her stories
of life as a quilter are spread throughout the book.
Doris says, “As we got older and
our husbands died, we didn’t have any
young people to help run the show
anymore.” However, she still looks
forward to the bright pink entry form
postcard each year. This year’s entry for
her is called “Oak Leaves and Acorns.”
She purchased a plain top a number
of years ago and did the embroidery.
She kept the floss with it for when she
got around to quilting it in case any
stitches were missed. It turns out the
leftover thread was needed though. “I
didn’t find a single missed stitch when
I quilted it!”
Quilted ... cont. from page 15
established show, Shipshewana decided
to capitalize and use the dates.
Thornburg said, “We thought it
was a good fit because we do different things; the quilters who come to
Shipshewana are not there necessarily
to buy, they make the quilts. They come
to learn more about the art, the craft
of quilting.” Representatives from the
Topeka Quilt Show & Sale were invited
to participate in the “shop hop” planning meetings. Plans were made with
an expectation of 500 attendees, but
around 1,500 showed up.
Shipshewana organizers formed
their own LLC because they wanted
the festival to stand alone. They are
totally separate from the Shipshewana
Retail Merchants Association and the
Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB).
The CVB oversees the “shop hop” which
highlights quilt stores and those offering quilting supplies across the entire
county, not just in Shipshewana.
This year they are expecting over
3,000 people. Andre Yoder, one of the
main organizers, says that quilts are
coming from as far away as Germany
and Spain to be put on display. The
American Bus Association (ABA) has
named the Shipshewana Quilt Festival
one of the top 100 events in the nati on.
There are nine or ten tour buses coming. All the area hotels are filled. Yoder
says that while he doesn’t know how
much larger the Shipshewana event
can grow, the only limitation seems to
be the area infrastructure’s ability to
accommodate the crowd.
The Shipshewana and Topeka
events have been able to complement
one another while keeping competition
to a minimum. Shipshewana’s festival
is about the business of tourism and
the craft of quilting; Topeka provides
a marketing outlet for quilters as well
as generates money for world missions.
Janice Gingerich summed it up this
way, “Shipshewana’s festival has helped
our attendance and our vendors, but
not necessarily our sales because their
folks are quilters who come looking for
ideas, not to buy finished items.”
One wonders what Sue Christner
might have to say if she were here
to see all that has grown out of her
humble beginnings in Honeyville. This
year the Topeka Quilt Show & Sale
celebrates its 38th year as one of the
premier shows and sales in Northern
Indiana. Shipshewana’s Quilt Festival
is rapidly taking its place as one of the
great annual events across America.
Make no mistake; Shipshewana and
Topeka are clearly on the world map as
a quilt lover’s paradise.
The Hometown Treasure · June ‘12 · pg 17