Date: Fri 04-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Lil-Orlowski-quilt-Istanbul

Full Text:

LIL'S INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE QUILT

(with 3 photos)

By Shannon Hicks

Imagine finding yourself in a foreign country, unfamiliar with and unable to

speak that country's language, with nothing but your favorite hobby to use as

a translator between yourself and the countrymen. This is similar to the

experience Lil Orlowski had, when she was in Istanbul recently to teach a

quilting class.

Many people in Newtown and surrounding towns know Lil Orlowski. She has been

teaching seniors at the Southbury Senior Center how to quilt for ten years,

and has been leading adult education quilting courses at Newtown High School

since 1975. It shouldn't be too surprising, then, to find out that the Newtown

resident also happens to work at Chintz N' Prints in Newtown, a fabric/sewing

supply store.

A few months ago, Lil and her friend, Selma Agalar, who has a home in Newtown

and also lives in Istanbul, began talking about quilting in Istanbul. Selma

suggested Lil give a class in the Turkish country, and after a lot of

preparation, that is exactly what took place during the last week of April -

Lil found herself surrounded by 30 very interested quilters who wanted to

learn more about the far-reaching and sometimes very specialized hobby. The

class came in the middle of a three-day trip Lil enjoyed.

"They use a lot of silk fabrics and embroideries," Lil said recently,

reflecting on the three-hour class she conducted. "It was quite intensive."

Language was not a tough barrier to overcome after all, since the regular

quilting teacher of the group, who also happened to be an English teacher,

translated between Lil and her "students."

"A number of people understood and spoke English," she related.

The class began by drafting the hexagon shape, trying the shape in different

arrangements and seeing how many designs could be produced from patterns of

the shape.

As a result of the class, another exciting exchange of ideas is taking place,

this time between Lil's seniors in Southbury and the students she instructed

in Istanbul: an exchange quilt.

The Southbury seniors have been working on individual quilt blocks, each of

their own design and each signed by the creator. The class has produced 15

blocks, which will be sent to the class in Istanbul in about a month.

Meanwhile, the quilters in Istanbul have been working on blocks of their own.

Selma will be bringing the work back with her after she visits her home

country again, but the work will not be reaching Connecticut until the fall as

the quilters are not planning on meeting again until September 4, says Lil.

Lil and the seniors have decided to send their blocks as individuals pieces of

work, rather than connecting them into one quilt. They are hoping that the

blocks from overseas come individually also. That way, quilters can

incorporate the blocks into their own quilts, rather than having one large

quilt to contend with.

Either way, the exchange of quilts - and ideas - has become a real-life lesson

in the simple act of sharing.