PAYSON — Creating quilts isn't just for the silver-haired set anymore.
The Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center's annual Quilt Show will begin June 17 with a new category for quilters under 18. Among the entrants is 11-year-old Paige Simmons, who is entering for the first time.
"I like to try new things," Paige said.
Her colorful entry is a 50-by-60-inch quilt she made with the assistance of her mother, Stacy Simmons, who has been quilting for 10 years.
"It's a patchwork quilt made of some leftover fabric," Paige said.
"Every year we've had just a handful (of youth entrants)," said show chairwoman Konda Luckau.
So this year, organizers created the youth category to encourage more entries from that group.
"We've contacted the school home economics classes and 4-H groups," Luckau said.
Also assisting is Jackenzie Jensen, 15, who helped her grandmother, Pat Seeman, get baby quilts ready for volunteers to tie. They are donated to Mountain View Hospital.
"She pinned them together, and I sewed," Jackenzie said.
This year's show promises an invigorating start, organizers say, with a one-mile quilt walk. The walk starts at 8:30 a.m. June 26, at the Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center, 10 N. 600 East. Participants will walk to Payson Memorial Park, then to Morganson's Quilt Shop and back to the Peteetneet. Advance entry fee is $5; same-day registration will be $10.
The free show will run through July 1.
Featured also are quilting demonstrations, a children's coloring activity with artist Dawnalyn Hall and a new challenge fabric category in which quilters have a year to complete a quilt for the 2011 event. Participants may purchase the fabrics at the show, which also includes next year's entry fee.
To enter this year's show, quilters may pick up entry forms at the Peteetneet, Payson City Library, Payson city offices, Gracie Lou's, Morganson Custom Frames and Sew Forth, and Morris Quilting on Historic Main Street.
The sign-up sheet for the June 26 quilting classes must be postmarked by June 12, organizers say, and mailed to Peteetneet Academy or dropped off at the academy between June 14 and June 23.
Entry forms, quilting class sign-up sheets and show schedules are available on the show's website, www.moosequilts.com/quiltshow.
For more information, contact Luckau at 801-465-9892 or Dona Brian at 801-465-4940. To volunteer, contact Lanay Brinkerhoff at 801-465-4720.
e-mail: rodger@desnews.com