Animals central to quilter's themes

When Gloria Day was a young girl, she wasn’t allowed to ride the horses on the family spread in Washington. Her parents said they were too dangerous. But Day taught herself to ride when her parents went to town and she had the place to herself.

One day her mother caught her galloping bareback across the pasture. Day’s love for animals has never faltered since, and it shows in her quilts. They feature lions, tigers, horses, buffalo, chickens and bears, just to name a few. The animal theme is persistent in her work.

Day is this year’s featured quilter at the annual Teakettle Quilter Guild’s Quilt Show at the Glacier Gateway Elementary School in Columbia Falls on Saturday, April 20.

Retired, Day said she quilts every day of the week, about four to 10 hours a day. She started quilting about six years ago. Her interest grew after she stopped at a shop in Kalispell.

“I don’t have anything else to do,” she said with a shrug.

Over that time span, Day guesses, she’s made 50 to 60 quilts. A large quilt will take upwards of two months to complete. Her modest Evergreen home is dominated by quilt work.

She has a dedicated sewing room and a large quilting machine in her living room — she has to move the couch to use it.

The walls are adorned with quilts rather than artwork. Day used to be an oil painter, but she gave all her work away to her family. She has five daughters. She does the same with her quilt work.

Being named the featured quilter by the guild was an honor.

“I was shocked,” she said.

Day said she learned after returning from a trip to Washington state to visit family. There are about 80 members in the guild.

Day is particular about her quilts. She’ll stand with the work in front of a mirror until the colors and patterns are right. She tries not to make mistakes. Ripping out sewing is no fun.

She’s had a lot of different jobs as an adult — she worked at schools, drove a school bus and worked at a racehorse track tending and exercising horses. Her daughter was a jockey for 15 years. Now her life is all about quilts.

“I keep after it until I get it right,” she said.

The Teakettle Quilter Guild’s Quilt Show runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.