ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Every size, shape and color you can think of covering walls, pews and even bathrooms…Plus whole rooms devoted to certain themes like babies, gardens and Americana.

Curious?

Then drop by Robertsdale United Methodist Church on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, February 3-5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily for their annual Quilt Show.

Admission is $ 5 and a soup, salad and dessert lunch is $7 and all proceeds from the show go to various mission projects like The Rainbow House, Women’s Medical Care Center, Saving Grace Home for Women, RUMC food pantry and school ministry and the general mission fund. There will also be musical entertainment all three days including RUMC’s own trio, Rosinton UMC bluegrass band and JamN Folks, a dulcimer group.

With over 300 plus quilts to display and antiques to accent the rooms plus vendors selling an assortment of quilting supplies, Mary Barnhill, one of the show coordinators, said there is sure to be something of interest to everyone.

“This is not a judged event and the quilts are not for sale unless the owners specify that. It’s just a chance for the owners to display their work and demonstrate their craft,” Barnhill said.

Held every two years on odd-numbered years and started back in the 1990’s by Peggy Wilcox, a former church member who is a quilter, Barnhill said they were trying to come up with a fundraiser for their women’s group and thought of the quilt show.

“We started out with 150-200 quilts the first year and only held the show on two days but had 800-900 people attend. We were very pleased with the outcome and it has grown every year. We expect to have 1,500-1,800 people come through over the three days,” Barnhill said.

In the Red, White and Blue room, there are quilts of valor representing the branches of the armed services and Barnhill said these quilts are given to members of the branches they represent and there will be a demonstration of how to make borders and quilt pillowcases.

“You are not supposed to store your quilts in plastic bags but in specially made pillowcases to preserve them,” Barnhill said.

There is also a room for the honored quilter Juanita Bohnhoff of Fairhope, who will be talking to people and demonstrating her craft.

However, this quilt show is not exclusively for women. Barnhill said a male participant made a Norman Rockwell-inspired quilt to display. “Everyone thinks it’s just for women but there are more men than you would think that make quilts.:

Setting up for the show and deciding where the quilts go is a challenge in itself, Barnhill said, but they pretty much have it down to a science after all these years.

“We try to categorize them by themes and colors and figure out what rooms they will go in. We have one quilt that dates back to before the Civil War and then others that are early 1900’s. We have three that were made by the great-grandmother, grandmother and mother of the owner. That’s pretty special. Every quilt has a story and tells a story,” Barnhill said.

Hanging the quilts can be a chore too. Barnhill said they take fabric strips and attach them to the quilt and then hang them with fasteners. “It took us from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon to hang them. Some of them are so big and heavy it takes two men and a ladder to move them.”

Vendors who are participating include S.E.A. Quilt Shoppe (Gulf Shores), Quilts by Lucy (Montgomery), The Traveling Quilt Boutique (Montgomery), The Quilting Station (Pace, Florida) and Derrels of Pensacola, who will be offering scissor sharpening services.

For more information, contact Barnhill at (251) 964-5169, Betty Gwaltney at (251) 947-5354 or RUMC at (251) 947-4602.