Epp donates 80-quilt legacy to Missouri Quilt Museum
Quilting has been a big part of Aurora resident Lorna Epp's life for more than 40 years and in that time she has created more than 400 quilts of one kind or another. Realizing that a collection that size was too much for her family to eventually have to deal with, last week she and her husband, Larry made the 260 mile trip from Hamilton County, Nebraska to the town of Hamilton, Mo. to donate 80 of those quilts to the Missouri Quilt Museum.
“At 84 years old, someday we’ll have to downsize,” Epp stated. “The reason I’m doing this now, is so that my family doesn’t have to decide what to do with a collection this large, because it could become a problem. I wanted to do it while I could choose what I was doing when I was deciding.”
Epp, who is the co-founder and president of the Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild, said she has always loved sewing, but he passion for quilting began in the mid-1970s.
“Colors and crafts were always an important part of my life,” Epp said. “I sewed my first skirt at age 11 and always sewed clothing. I learned to crochet at 30, then there were Dip ‘N Drape dolls and other crafts.”
Her interest in quilts began in 1976 during the U.S. Bicentennial when quilts were made for the celebration according to Epp.
“It just happened to attract me,” Epp said. “That’s when I started quilting instead of sewing clothes and quilting is so much easier than sewing clothes. (When you’re) sewing clothes it’s got to fit somebody and quilts you can just make them whatever size you want.”
Three years later, she crafted the first of more than 400 quilts she would make over the next four decades.
“Our oldest son, Loran, was going to be a senior in high school,” she explained. “Surely I needed to make a quilt for this milestone! I designed an original quilt with pictures and patches of his life story.”
Energized by her newfound passion, Epp continued to create quilts for her other three sons and for herself.
“I liked everything about quilting,” Epp said, adding that quilting was all she needed to satisfy her urge to create.
Wanting to share that passion with other quilters, Epp and her friend, Brenda Groelz, co-founded the Nimble Thimble Quilt Guild in 1985.
“We were the first guild in this area,” she explained. “There was no guild in Grand Island, Hastings, York or Central City. We were the first guild, so we had people from all those towns driving to Aurora and we had up to 75 members. Then they all started their own guilds in their counties. So right now we’re like 25 members, which is nice size.”
Through the guild she helped craft Quilts of Valor and charity quilts for NICU babies and later founded the Cottonwood Quilt Guild in Elkhorn with her daughter-in-law Rachele Epp. She has also participated in numerous quilt shows throughout the state.
“I entered quilts at the State Fair in Lincoln and in the County Fair in Aurora,” Epp stated. “I received several nice ribbons for my entrees. One quilt, ‘Prairie Vine’ got Best in County in 2010.”
As her collection slowly grew, Epp at times sold or gifted them to others.
“Early on, I would sell some of my quilt pieces, that was if I thought I could make another one like it,” she explained. “But mostly quilts were given away as gifts to family, friends and visiting guests who received table runners and quilts of all sizes.”
But even after passing along many of her quilts, she recently realized she still had at least 110 of them in her home and realized the time would come when she would need to make some decisions about the collection.
Not wanting the collection to get separated, she researched several quilt museums before discovering the Missouri Quilt Museum located in the small northern Missouri town of Hamilton, home of Missouri Star Quilt Company.
“Fifteen years ago, a family started this and as store fronts emptied in this little town they bought up the stores that emptied, so right now there’s 13 quilt shops in Hamilton and Hamilton’s like 1,500 people and 300 people work (for Missouri Star),” she explained.
Having been in contact with Dakota Redford, the director of the quilt museum, and after seeing what Hamilton offered, she decided it was the perfect home for her quilting legacy.
“It’s kind of the quilting mecca of the U.S.,” Epp commented. “So that’s where my quilt collection is going to go.”
Epp showed two of the quilts she was donating to the museum. One she described as being Americana style and the other was a quilt she made recognizing an anniversary of the building of the Hamilton County Courthouse.
“It was the 105th anniversary of our courthouse I think and it was the 10th anniversary of our quilt guild,” she commented. “So I have 10 leaves on here. This is an original idea that I had.”
Epp has kept a book which inventories all the quilts she has made through the years. She said as she looked through the book which contains the dates she first started the quilts, she noticed she could recall some of them vividly but others she had forgotten about.
“I think I’m a very visual person,” Epp commented. “So if I had a picture of it, I just remembered the whole story. There were just a few of them that were I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t remember you!’”
Epp said after making the journey to Hamilton she plans take a small break from quilting to get reignited with new creativity and she wants to continue to travel with Larry.
Looking back over the years since she help found the quilt guild, Epp says it’s interesting to see how much the hobby has grown.
“When I first became a quilter, quilting was not a big rage like it is today,” Epp commented. “Some people think it’s a dying art, but it’s not a dying art.”
“If you’re interested in quilting, go to a quilt shop and find out when they’re teaching a beginner lesson and take a beginner lesson,” she urged. “My daughter-in-law was good at sewing so if you want to become a quilter—this is what I told her—go to a quilt shop and take some lessons and just learn all the basics.”
With 80 of her creations finding a forever home at Missouri Quilt Museum, Lorna expressed her thanks to her husband for his support.
“I want to thank my loving husband, Larry, for encouraging and supporting me in my quilt journey,” Epp stated. “I could not have done this without his love and blessing. I thank God for blessing me with the gift of creativeness and good health to accomplish what I have done.”