Meet our Chair Person - Mariëtte Venter

My thirty-year quilting yourney.

WOW, when I started quilting 1989 I never thought that it would last this long. 

I was introduced to quilting by my dear friend Rina Bredenkamp who attended the Quilt festival in Bloemfontein. She came back to Bultfontein and got a few of us together to start quilting. My daughter was about six months old and went to all meetings in the carrycot.  We started off by doing Candle-Wick work. So that Christmas all the ladies in my family got a candle-wick something.

Like most quilters I started on traditional work e.g. applique and a sampler. This sampler nearly killed me, I found it very boring and hated the idea of all making the same thing in different colours. So, it was never finished. As also I never finished my hexagons. Luckily, I could sell it at one of our meetings. We learned lots of techniques and I carried on being a quilter. As I finished a quilt it was given away. So, I do not have many quilts in my own home.  This quilting group in Bultfontein was like a second home. We attended festivals and just enjoyed everything that Oranje Quilters' guild offered. We had a quilt show at my house in 2002 and even had the Country Life magazine visit us on that day. Since then we had 3 more successful exhibitions in the country.

I also joined another group called the Aunt Beckeys in Bloemfontein. Here Griet Lombard was our leader, inspiration and teacher. What the privilege to go there twice a month doing more freehand quilting, machine embroidery and hand embroidery. We were such a jolly group and was always on the move, buying fabric where there was a sale. It was also the time of overprints. It was just fun. Time spent there was always so inspiring and I would go home with a head full of too many ideas and too little time. But under the eye of Griet we made wonderful quilts.

I was taught meandering on a big bed quilt by Paul Schutte when he came to Bloemfontein. One of my best ever classes. Then Elaine Barnard came to visit in Bultfontein and she taught us her faces and I made a lot of little quilts with faces. She taught me so many things that weekend so once again I had sooooo many ideas in my head.

At festivals I did classes that challenged me. I was always out of my comfort zone but also enjoyed it very much and learned so much. So I did classes with Rosaly Dace, Elaine Barnard and Odette Tolsdorf and a few others to learn more techniques, use of color etc.  My friend Trienie Krugel taught me wonderful quilting techniques and she taught me about ironing. So, these people formed me as a quilter.

We the Tolbos quilters had the privilege to make a swop quilt in 1997 with a group of ladies, the Jolly Stitchers from Messiah Village, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, America. I cannot even recall how this came about. They made the Texas lone star and we made a wall-hanging with Ndebele woman on. The biggest privilege was when I could give them the quilt myself at the pensioners home where they all lived.

I have been a seamstress since the age of 14 when I made my first dress, but never knew that needlework of all kinds would be my passion in life.  And that I would make so many quilts in my life. I did not even know about quilting then. I teach young girls the basics when we do craft classes and I also teach the new beginners in our group.  I enjoy how they develop and get all excited about their quilts.

During the 30 years of quilting I have been the homegroup leader for Tolbos quilters far too long. I have been the chairlady of Oranje Quilters' Guild 3 or 4 times. So, it is a privilege to be in the chair on our 30th birthday. We are going to have party the whole year round with lots of fun challenges happening. We are a small guild in the Free State South Africa, but such nice and enthusiastic quilters. I enjoy this job thoroughly and hope to be an inspiration to new quilters.