A collection of historical quilts will make a rare appearance starting today at the White Bluffs Center for Quilting & Fiber Arts in Richland.
The exhibition -- titled The Shea-Prouty Quilt Collection -- is made up of vintage quilts believed to have been made between 1880 and 1920. Also on display with the old quilts will be a collection of vintage sewing machines.
The quilts first arrived in the Tri-Cities in 1943, when Harlan Leslie Shea and his wife Neva Prouty Shea moved here from Montana and Harlan went to work on the Manhattan Project, said Virginia Treadway, the board chair of the museum.
The quilts were all made by Shea's and his wife's families, she added.
Bob Shea of Kennewick inherited the quilt collection from his parents and he and his wife Alice wanted to make sure they were preserved because of their rich history, Treadway said.
"At the White Bluffs Center we regularly meet with families who are looking for information about the date of origin of a quilt and how to care for their family heirlooms," Treadway said.
"All the quilts and textiles in the center's collection are inspected, conserved, photographed and properly stored in archival boxes with acid free tissue. Great care is take to protect these historic quilts and displays are rotated regularly."
Treadway described the five quilts in the collection as: a circa-1890, made of wool, velvet and silk with intricate embroidery; a homespun quilt made in 1880 that's entirely hand-pieced and tied; an 1890-era quilt made of homespun cotton and silk and hand-pieced together; an embroidered, homespun quilt made in 1910; a wool pillow quilt made with silk appliqués and stuffed with feathers.
"The Sheas just announced that two more recently discovered historic quilts also will join the White Bluffs collection of historic quilts and textiles," Treadway said.
The reception starts at 5 p.m. Friday at The White Bluffs Center, 4034 W. Van Giesen St., West Richland. The quilts will remain on display through Aug. 31. Admission is free and all ages welcome.
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