“A Passion for Quilts,” a quilt exhibit is on display at the Ashby (Massachusetts) Public Library.
The quilts are all hand quilted by the late Sylvia Maki Ketonen. The artist was born and grew up in New Ipswich. She moved to Ashby when she married and started collecting great “old” quilts but later embarked on creating her own heirlooms. After retirement she moved to Florida and in 1991 joined the Peace River Quilters Guild.
Her early efforts were primarily pieced quilts but she quicky became enamored with applique. She loved a challenge and the detailed hand quilting and creativity blossomed with applique. No one in the guild can remember a show she entered that she did not win a blue ribbon. Three of those blue ribbons led to Best of Show. All three of these quilts are displayed in the exhibit as well as many more.
She also exhibited at the Southwest Florida Regional Quilt Show and the National Quilt Show in Padukah, Kentucky.
With determination and enthusiasm she rarely missed an opportunity to learn all her life long. She died in 2014 at age 93.
The quilts will be on display through July 21.
Library hours are Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 1 to 8 p.m.; and Saturday, June 25, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.