Linda Eisenhart
SaddleBrooke Friday Quilters have elected Kathy Von Bargen to lead their club in 2020. Kathy’s interest in quilting began with her mother who was a prolific seamstress and hand quilter. Her mother taught her to sew her own clothes but Kathy didn’t take up quilting until 1999 when she and her husband Wally moved from Idaho to SaddleBrooke. With her management career behind her, she began to quilt while developing a keen interest in collecting vintage sewing machines – particularly Featherweights. At one time she owned over twenty-five vintage machines, but now has a lean collection of only seven.
Kathy got involved in the Friday Quilters group when she moved to SaddleBrooke and chaired the club’s bi-annual 2018 Quilt Show. Her aspirations for the club’s 90+ members in 2020 include providing more on-site working sessions and social activities and further developing the club’s relationship with quilters at the Ranch and Sun City. In addition, she’d like to help the club develop its “brand” and to that end has instituted the club’s first logo.
She’d also like to address one of the significant challenges the club currently faces – squeezing in their room during the winter when all of the snowbird members are here.
The club will hold their bi-annual Quilt Show at MountainView Country Club on March 1 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Over 100 traditional and art quilts will be on display along with a boutique and silent auction of especially beautiful handmade items. “Desert Stars,” a quilt made by several club members, will be raffled off to a lucky winner at the conclusion of the show. Proceeds from the raffle are used to help the club support Pima and Pinal county charities including Family First Pregnancy Center, Hayden Senior Center, IMPACT, SaddleBrooke Troop Support, Youth on their Own, Senior Village, Sister Jose Women’s Rescue Shelter, the African Quilt Project, the Humane Society, and SaddleBrooke Pet Rescue.