‘I made this for you’: Local quilt makers honor family, community at the county fair

Becky Carr made her first quilt while expecting her first child. That baby comforter, with an image of Mother Goose holding a gosling under her wing, got her hooked.

Four decades later, she’s made hundreds of quilts.

“Anyone thinking of starting quilting, beware,” Carr said. “It’s an addiction.”

That obsession has landed Carr a business — Sugarloaf Quilting in Poolesville — along with a home full of dozens of quilts and a slew of ribbons from the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair’s arts and crafts contest over the years. She won Best of Show in 2022 and eight prizes this year: five first-place, one second-place and two third-place ribbons.

But, for quilters in the area, county fair ribbons are a small prize compared to the pride of creating beautiful and useful gifts for their community and loved ones.

“I like work that keeps my family warm,” said Kathy Pangaro of Bethesda Quilters. The oldest of 11 children, she has an abundance of loved ones to quilt for.

The Chilly Mall at the annual Montgomery County Fair hosts a wide variety of arts, crafts and food contest entries. Fairgoers can escape the August heat inside the building while perusing elaborately decorated cakes, detailed needlepoint scenes and colorful quilts hanging from the rafters, many adorned with blue, red, yellow, green or white ribbons.

Pangaro was one of several women from the quilt guild who contributed to a quilt on display at the fair. It placed second in its division. In the past, she’s entered several of her own creations. But, as a member of a local quilting guild, Pangaro loves creating and connecting with other textile art enthusiasts.

“It’s just a supportive group of women and just a great way for women to be together,” Pangaro said, noting the group previously included one male member. “This is a very supportive group that enjoys each other. Sometimes they talk too much, but what are you going to do?”

In an era when it’s easy to search the internet for quilt-making tutorials, local quilt artists urge beginners to seek in-person connection and education — the way they learned the craft decades ago.

“We’re welcoming and inclusive — I’m not talking about race and religion; those things are a given,” Pangaro said. “But people that can barely put two stitches together will join and they’ll learn something and have a good time. And we do have people who are doing things that could be hung in the National Gallery [of Art], people that have had things in very big and important exhibits.”

Some quilts are created with the intention of displaying them as works of art and others for donations or personal use. Bethesda Quilters members often make baby quilts to take to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Community of Hope D.C. or the Greater DC Diaper Bank.

“These are people that don’t have the money to go out and buy it. They’re not going to have the baby shower, getting things that are fancy, because life is tough,” Pangaro said. “To give them a baby quilt handmade for them, it gives you a good feeling.”

Carr’s three children own multiple quilts, gifts from their mother for weddings and other life milestones.

Her 10th grandchild is due in a week or two. Their newest family addition will have a quilt waiting upon arrival.

Legacy is a common thread — pun intended — among quilters. They’re carrying on an art passed down from matriarchal figures in their life and using it to create something beautiful that their loved ones can use for decades.

“I want to make sure that, before I shuffle off this mortal coil, everybody will have a quilt with my name on the back saying, ‘I made this for you,’” Pangaro said.