Bonham, Texas – Bonham’s Third annual Quilt Hop soon will be hopping again with exhibits in eight different locations.  This year’s event will be held on Saturday, July 28 from 9:00 – 4:30.  One of this year’s destinations is the Bonham Creative Arts Center.  The excitement is building around town for this year’s presentation of quilts by pattern maker Shirley Fowlkes Stevenson.  The gallery will feature sample quilts that Mrs. Stevenson made to market her quilt patterns at quilt shows all over the United States.  There will also be many more of Shirley’s prize-winning quilts on display in the front two galleries of the Creative Arts Center. One quilt was in the Paducah, Kentucky quilt show this spring and one Shirley will be entering in the Houston show.

This year the Creative Art Center will have available for sale, of a quilt book entitled Lone Stars III, A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011 in which Shirley has three quilts featured.  Shirley will be signing books purchased from the Art Center during part of the day on July 28.  The cover of Lone Stars III displays a quilt by Shirley, entitled Starry Night.  The geometric designed pattern incorporates colors that are very popular in today’s décor.  This quilt was inspired by Shirley’s childhood memories of placing a quilt in the yard and laying on it to watch the nighttime sky.

The other two quilts featured in this book have been on display at the Creative Arts Center during previous Quilt Hops. Shown first in the book is the exquisite hand appliquéd and embroidered, Captain John Files Tom quilt.  It commemorates the life of Shirley’s great-grandfather, and his contributions to Texas History.  This show-stopping quilt has won several Best of Show awards.  One of the blocks features Tom, who did not own a pair of shoes or socks, wearing pink wool stockings given to him by a girl who gave away her new pink stockings so he could go to war.

Featured third is a quilt entitled Pulse Star. This is a quilt that uses light and dark fabrics in the points of the star, which can cause the viewer to feel that the star is pulsating.  Again this original designed quilt has won multiple awards in Kentucky and Pennsylvania quilt shows.