Subject of Square: The Front Door of the Tuck Museum

Quilter’s Name: Patt Walker

Background on subject: This square depicts the front door of the Hampton Historical Museum. This door is a portal to our shared history - providing its entrants with knowledge and understanding of the backgrounds of the people and places that have played significant roles in building this community.

Why you chose this subject: I had never done a quilt square before or quilting of any kind really, but I was delighted to be asked to participate in this project. By the time I got involved many subjects had already been chosen by other sewers. The suggestion to depict the Front Door seemed like a great idea and one I thought I could manage.

Thoughts on your representation/design/color choices/etc.: I thought this would be a pretty easy design to pull off, but it turned out to be quite challenging for me. I chose to make it realistic as possible. The experienced quilters in the project gave me many ideas, fabrics, techniques which in turn gave me a basis to build on. I loved the idea of folding the fabric to provide the 3-D effect of the wooden siding.

What you hope this quilt will mean for the people who see it: For those who work behind this door, the goal is to continue to move Hampton forward by educating our members, residents and guests about our past, with care, concern and vision for the needs and wants of the residents of our town, and the visitors who frequent our area. I hope the quilt will invite its viewers not only to learn more about our town’s past, but encourage them to get involved with the Museum and help preserve the history we are all building every day.