CANBY HERALD

AURORA -- Quilts, made of colorful scraps of fabric, served many functions in colony life: As door covers, window coverings, and, most importantly, in keeping colonists warm.

Not only did quilts keep colonists and pioneers alike warm, they also were passed down through generations, along with the skills of how to make them.

That historical art of quilting was passed on to three students in the Kraus House at the Old Aurora Colony Museum on July 22 to 25, during quilt camp.

Quilt camp allows children to learn the art of quilting as well as learn the history and present uses for quilts. All the participants picked out their own fabric, making their quilts unique. Bryan Mayer of Baker City was excited to make his quilt with blue and silver fabric, which had glow in the dark designs on it. He took the class while visiting his mother, who lives in Aurora.

Jessie Turner, a resident of southeast Portland, was the instructor for the quilting class. "I'm really having fun," she said. "I have made quilts in the past, none too fancy. But I have a lot of experience sewing."

Turner became acquainted with the Aurora Colony Museum after helping a friend at the Stauffer-Will farm a few years ago. She said she really enjoyed the town of Aurora and was happy to come back and teach the art of quilting.

During the four-day class -- held from 9 a.m. to noon -- students completed many steps to make a lap size quilt. On day one, students cut the fabric into squares and sewed many of them together. Day two was marked by sewing the squares into rows and sewing the rows together. On day three, they put together the quilt with the backing and batting, tied them together and sewed their names and the year on them. Day four, they completed the quilt by sewing the binding on.

As they learned to quilt, the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, laughing and smiling, but also concentrating very hard on what they were doing. Not only did the three students learn the art of quilting, but also how to fix problems that arose.

Brianne Wilson, 11, of Beaverton learned how to take her seams out of the fabric, after mistakenly sewing the pieces together backwards. She learned how to line up the squares properly and sew them together again. Wilson's grandmother, who lives in Aurora, signed her up for the class. Wilson said she had fun learning to quilt.

Turner received assistance with the class from her niece, Natasha Mead. Mead made her quilt the day before, so the students would know what they were doing each day. "I'll probably have my own business doing this," said Mead jokingly about all the quilts she was making.