

#224 OUT OF THE BOX
“Out of the Box”, located on the old Walhalla Depot at 211 South College Street in Walhalla, SC, is a “Giant Dahlia” quilt modeled after one made by master quilter Jenny Grobusky of Walhalla. The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail sponsored this block and has donated it to the City of Walhalla in honor of Jenny Grobuski’s contributions to the upstate quilting community and to the communities of Oconee County.
Grobuski gave her version of this classic 20th century pattern an “out of the ordinary” twist by centering its dahlia medallion below, rather than on, the quilt’s mid-line—hence its name, Out of the Box. Jenny said she made this quilt for herself and wanted the entire dahlia to be on the middle of the bed instead of over the pillows where its symmetry would be distorted.
The Giant Dahlia quilt pattern was developed in America sometime in the early half of the 20th century. There are competing claims as to its original designer. One reference attributes the pattern to Hubert ver Mehren of Des Moines, Iowa. Beginning in the mid-20’s, his company called Home Arts Studio sold stamped textiles for embroidery and eventually sold patchwork and medallion quilt patterns. (http://willywonkyquilts.blogspot.com./2016/11/the-giant-dahlia.html). Quilt historian Ginny Beyer notes that the pattern was originally published in 1933 in the Des Moines Register. Finally, it has been suggested that the dahlia pattern may have been inspired by the designs in Rose windows found at the front of churches and cathedrals. (https://amishspirit.com/country-quilts/)
The Giant Dahlia is constructed of sixteen gently curving arcs radiating out from a small Dresden plate center. This complex pattern is not at all typical of traditional quilt piecing. There are no squares or triangles incorporated into the pattern. Instead, each arc is composed of distorted four-sided shapes that look a bit like misshapen squares someone tugged out of alignment. Each side of the shape is a slight convex or concave curve. As the dahlia grows out from the center, the pieces of the arc increase in size proportionally. Even the most experienced quilters find this pattern challenging. Extremely precise piecing is a necessity in order to create a truly spherical completed “dahlia.” Jenny machine pieced and machine quilted “Out of the Box”. This beautifully constructed quilt is a testimony to her exceptional skills as a quilter.
Grobuski is a prolific quilter and her work is distinguished by the vibrancy of its color. “Out of the Box” juxtaposes batiks in warm orange and red-orange against cool aqua, violet, and blue. The medallion is surrounded by a royal blue background and seems to glow as if it’s lit from within. “Out of the Box” won 2nd place in its category at the 2006 Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild show.
Born in Walhalla in 1923, Grobuski lives in the Walhalla community where she worked and raised her five children. Before taking up quilting in 1993, Jenny spent much of her life using her talents as a seamstress. She was instrumental in forming a quilting club in Walhalla called Stitchin’ Friends and was on the steering committee of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail. She has been generous with her time and talents as demonstrated when she organized quilters in 2005 to make quilts for Hurricane Katrina victims. More than 200 quilts were donated to the relief effort.
Grobuski has been an active member of Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild. It is her unique, custom constructed quilt that covers a PT Cruiser outside each of LMQG’s quilt shows. She is a faithful member of St. Francis Catholic Church in Walhalla.
The City of Walhalla chose the old Walhalla Depot as the location for this block because of its historic significance to the city. The depot was built in 1887 by renowned Walhalla builder Otto Kaufmann, whose father John Kaufmann built St. John’s Lutheran Church. According to the Rev. George Shealy’s book Walhalla: The Garden of the Gods, the first train arrived at the new depot at 5 p.m. on November 14, 1887. It was located near the intersection of South Broad and College streets, where the Mountain Lakes Convention & Visitors Bureau and Walhalla Chamber of Commerce building stands today. The depot was given to the City of Walhalla by Norfolk-Southern Railroad Company in 1987 after they discontinued train service to Walhalla. The city moved it to its present site where it now serves as the focal point of the Walhalla Depot Park, also known as Kaufmann Square. For additional information about the Depot and Kaufmann Park visit (http://www.walhalladepot.com/).

#235 Fire and Ice
“Fire and Ice” is the first quilt block chosen by the Pickens County selection committee and financed by the Pickens County A-tax Commission grant to the Pickens County Area Chamber of Commerce. This multi-colored modern quilt graces the building of Domino’s Pizza at 102 East Main Street in downtown Pickens. Domino’s owner Scott Carrick fell in love with it and requested it for his location. The original quilt was made by Seneca quilter Libby Carter. She chose the quilt’s colors because they reminded her of beautiful Upstate South Carolina—the blues of our lakes and waters and the vivid oranges that represent the lovely fall foliage of the mountains. The quilt is primarily composed of batik fabrics. It was longarm quilted in the “Splashing” pattern by Libby’s friend, E. Ann Ewald of Dragonfly Designs. A version of this quilt was featured in the June 2008 edition of McCall’s Quilting. Libby’s placement of the orange batiks against the calmer blues creates a pleasing balance between energy and tranquility.
Carter has been quilting for approximately twenty years but has sewn in one form or another for much of her life. She considers herself a traditional quilter but enjoys all forms of quiltmaking and fabric craft. That is what inspired her to own a quilt shop with her sister for seven and a half years in Georgia before moving to South Carolina. Carter is a member of the Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild.

#236 Rhythm and Hues
“Rhythm and Hues” is located at 112 Main Street, next to the outdoor amphitheater on Rt.183 in downtown Pickens. It was funded by an A-tax grant written by Kim Smagala, director of the Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce. According to Kim, “Rhythm and Hues” was chosen because it captured the essence of the Pickens community with its outdoor musical amphitheater and its vibrant Young Appalachian Musicians Program.
“Rhythm and Hues” is the unique creation of art quilter Jean Wachs. This quilt was made in 2016 for the Lake & Mountain Quilters Guild Show whose theme was “Symphony of Quilts.” Wachs said music has always been an important part of her life. Since she played the guitar when she was younger, it seemed like the perfect subject for the show. She used a clip art image which she enlarged, then modified, adding vibrant color and design to portray the music she imagined coming from the guitar.
All of the fabrics used in the quilt were 100% cotton, either batiks or hand dyed. Each piece was fused in place, then appliqued and quilted using free motion on her domestic machine. She sculpted copper wire to form the bridge, rayon gimp thread for the strings and small metal hooks for the tuning pegs. Wachs’ strong color composition of red, blue, yellow and green imbue the quilt with intense energy. The colors practically dance from the quilt.
“Rhythm and Hues” won first place at the quilt show in the pictorial category. It was not listed as being for sale, but during the show a lady called Wachs, inquiring about purchasing it. She eventually sold it to the woman, following a commitment to exhibit it with the art group Thread Heads at the Belton Art Center a few months later.
Wachs began sewing when she was in high school but did not take up quilting until 2006. Although she has done some traditional quilting, art quilting for wall display is her passion. In recent years, her focus has been on portrait and pictorial compositions.
For further information call 864/723-6603 or visit (www.uhqt.org).