Stitched with memories: Quilter honored at Barbour Fair
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PHILIPPI - A quilt that traveled all the way from California to this year’s Barbour County Fair carried with it generations of family members.
Amanda Tenney, who lives in California, created the quilt in memory of her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Ann Tenney, the woman for whom the Barbour County Fair’s annual quilt show is named.
“The inspiration came from a wooden carving in her yard, a bear fishing,” Amanda Tenney said. “That bear is a core memory from visits to her home, making it a meaningful image to bring to life in a quilt as a tribute to her and the quilting she loved so much.”
Amanda Tenney had enjoyed quilting from a young age, but a visit to Mountain State Quilting, the Philippi quilt shop owned by Margaret’s son, Mark Tenney, helped rekindle her interest. And 11 years ago, Margaret alsoAmanda and her husband a handmade quilt as a wedding gift.
“In many ways, her love of quilting helped inspire me to rediscover my own,” Amanda Tenney said. “This piece is dedicated to her, Grandma Tenney, as a small tribute to her passion, her creativity, and the inspiration she passed on.”
Her tribute to Margaret Ann Tenney is the first quilt she has ever entered in a quilt show, making it especially meaningful to be displayed in the show bearing Margaret’s name.
An accomplished lifelong quilter whose work earned numerous ribbons and awards over the years, Margaret Ann Tenney had a great passion and joy for quilting. The Margaret Ann Tenney Quilt Show was named in her honor to help ensure that passion continues to be celebrated and shared with future generations.
Today, her son’s Mountain State Quilting continues as a family-owned Philippi quilt shop, preserving a piece of her legacy while encouraging other quilters to share the work, stories and traditions behind their own quilts.
Visitors walking through the Margaret Ann Tenney Quilt Show at the Barbour County Fair this year can enjoy the passion and joy of many local quilters. The Fair will continue today through Saturday at the Barbour County Fairgrounds in Philippi.
Photo courtesy of Mountain State Quilting
Amanda Tenney of California created this quilt in memory of her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Ann Tenney, and mailed the quilt from California to the Barbour County Fair.