A collection of quilts and rolling pins titled “Needles & Pins” will be the featured exhibit beginning March 5 at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The exhibit will open at noon on March 5 as a part of the 2011 Celebrate ABAC festivities and will lead up to the American Legacy Quilt Show, “Pieces of Your Life”, which will take place in Tifton on April 8-10. “I can't think of a better way to welcome our alumni to campus during Celebrate ABAC and to showcase our new Gallery at the Museum,” Polly Huff, exhibit coordinator from the ABAC Arts Connection, said.

The “Needles & Pins” exhibit will be open from March 5 through April 12, Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Classes and group tours are welcome. To arrange a private tour, contact Huff at (229) 386-3849 or phuff@abac.edu. Huff said the ancient art of quilting originated in Africa. It came to North America via European settlers. Quilt-making became a way for people from all walks of life to express their creativity with fabric, needles, and threads and to provide a warm covering for their families.

“Whether made of the most expensive fabric or humble feed sack cloth, quilts bring history to life and tell a story like no other art form can,” Huff said. “From an old farmhouse quilt made from scraps or old clothes to a complicated contemporary work of art created to celebrate a special occasion, both are equally treasured and equally meaningful.”

Huff said “Needles & Pins” features an incredible collection of antique and modern-day quilts including works of the Wiregrass Quilters Guild, a large group of artisans from throughout South Georgia. The exhibit will also include several contemporary 3-D quilts, a collection of antique quilts on loan from the Hogan Family in Irwinville, and a special, never before exhibited 9/11 Memorial quilt from Jim Tripp of Rochelle.

Also on display will be six never-before-shown quilts dating back to the 1930s. The quilts are on loan to the Gallery from the private collection of ABAC alumnus and Gallery supporter C. L. Morehead, Jr., from Athens. Along with the quilts, the Gallery at the Museum will exhibit three private collections of antique rolling pins made of glass, marble, various types of wood, chrome, ceramic, and plastic.

“Rolling pins have been around for centuries,” Huff said. “The material used in the making of each pin is often a sign of the time and place of its creation. Glass pins were used in early Victorian kitchens, metal ones mark the 1920s, and ceramic ones date back to the 17th century. Wooden rolling pins are the oldest and most commonly used.” The three rolling pin collections on display are on loan to the Museum Gallery thanks to the generosity of Kim Bridges, wife of ABAC President David Bridges; artist and collector Brenda Rose, and Museum of Agriculture educational coordinator Theresa Clemens. The collections represent pins from the states of Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Alabama, Michigan, and Georgia. Some of the pins were passed down for several generations, and one came from England.

“Needles and Pins will take you back hundreds of years through stories of love, marriage, family, patriotism, and fashion,” Huff said. “Quilts stitched by hand a hundred years ago from old feedsacks will be displayed next to ultra-modern creations made of the most luxurious fabrics and using the latest technology. I promise you a stunning experience as you walk through this exhibit.”

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