Voice of America Learning Center to host Quilt Exhibition, opens April 3

Works by members of the Mason Ohio Stars Quilt Club are featured in the exhibition PUTTING IT TOGETHER which will open with a free public reception on Sunday, April 3 from 2 to 5 pm at Miami University's Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.

The Learning Center is partnering with The Arts Alliance for this special exhibition which will run through June 7.

The Club was formed in 1990 by a group of student who had taken a quilting class from Edna Cadle of Springboro. Twelve fledgling quilters decided to continue to work together and formed the Mason Ohio Stars Quilt Club which continues to meet at the Mason United Methodist Church.

Over the years the club has made thousands of charity quilts for AIDS infants, Project Linus, veterans, Good Samaritan Hospital's NICU, and for cancer patients. In addition to group projects and learning new techniques, the Club also arranges several field trips each year to attend quilt shows and explore quilt shops around the tri-state area.

As a quilt design, Ohio Star quilts date back to the early 1800s, and saw a resurgence in quilts of the Depression Era of the 1930s. This is the first time that the Learning Center is teaming up with The Arts Alliance. “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to broaden our reach to new audiences,” said Meredith Raffel, who has served as founder and executive director of The Arts Alliance since 2006. “Plus it allows us to showcase the works of these very talented quilters from the Mason area." The pattern was popular among immigrants from Scotland and Ireland, and frequently used by Amish quilters.

The Voice of America Learning Center is located at 7847 VOA Park Drive, at the corner of VOA Park Drive and Cox Road in West Chester. The exhibition may be viewed Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 9 pm, and on Fridays from 9 am to 4 pm.