Blue Earth’s Quilt EXPO recognized Evie Kabe as its 2022 Featured Quilter. Kabe, above, sits amid a pile of colorful pieces submitted for the Faribault County Fair.

While Evie Kabe was growing up, learning to sew was a routine milestone for young girls.

“All of us, at a certain age, learned to sew on our mothers’ treadle sewing machines,”  she says.

Kabe recalls, chuckling, how her learning was impeded by her rambunctious sister, who enjoyed riding up and down on the treadles while Kabe pumped away to power the machine.

Her mother taught her to sew, but Kabe explored the realms of quilting on her own as a child.

“My mother didn’t quilt. I think it came as a progression from sewing,”  she considers.

Now, years later, the Blue Earth resident’s hobby has grown into a true talent and a treasured skill. And, her years of membership in the Blue Earth Valley Quilters group have only fueled her passion.

Kabe will be recognized for her dedication to the art of quilting at Blue Earth’s 38th annual Quilt EXPO, which will return to Blue Earth Area High School from Aug. 12 to Aug. 14.

The EXPO celebrates a Featured Quilter every year, and the talented local is invited to display a selection of their favorite projects in a special display at the event.

Kabe recalls feeling a wave of disbelief when she received an email from Jan Shaffer announcing she would be honored as this year’s Featured Quilter.

“I sat on it a few weeks,”  Kabe confesses. “I didn’t feel I was up to their standards.”  

Shaffer, who Kabe designates as the “fearless leader”  of the Blue Earth Valley Quilters, assured Kabe she was worthy of the title. Shaffer also reminded her, “It’s always good to get a different take on things.”  

Nonetheless, Kabe is abashed at the honor, referencing the many talented individuals who sew alongside her in the Blue Earth Valley Quilters group.

“There are some very good quilters,”  she says. “(The group) is always a good place to get re-enthused about what you’re doing.”

Kabe has enjoyed finding inspiration among the Blue Earth Valley Quilters since she joined the group roughly a decade ago. She particularly enjoys watching friends block their next creations, crafting unusual color palettes Kabe finds both surprising and delightful.

As Kabe pulls out some of the beautiful pieces she has produced over the years, however, it is clear that she herself is talented at wielding a needle and thread.

One large piece is dotted with sprightly, technicolored pinwheels. A neatly blocked tractor in the quilt’s center serves as a tribute to Kabe’s brother, for whom it was crafted.

Kabe pieced together a smaller piece for her daughter, Paula. It is lined with two orderly rows of houses to commemorate the time Paula spent living in Amsterdam.

Kabe’s favorite project, however, is a sentimental piece – a tribute in textile to her family’s history. The quilt is constructed from handmade doilies which once belonged to her mother and her late husband’s grandmother.

As with any handcrafted project, Kabe’s pieces often take time. So much so that sometimes, she likes to lay a project to rest so she can ‘rediscover’ it, years later, with fresh eyes and fresh ideas.

One of Kabe’s recent projects was finished over the course of nearly two decades. The quilt was finally completed due to Kabe’s latest New Year’s resolution to finish projects she had already begun.

Kabe began blocking this particular quilt in 2004 before laying it away for later. Though she took another peek at it after seven years had passed, Kabe ultimately did not complete the quilt’s last stitch until this year.

Kabe likes to be capricious with her crafting and ‘let things rest,’ as she puts it.

“I don’t always have just one project going,”  she says. “I always have more. They are all in different stages of development.”  

Kabe’s diverse array of crafting-related hobbies easily enables her project-hopping.

“I do all kinds (of crafting),”  she says. Kabe taught herself to knit years ago, and she also enjoys crocheting. She has even dipped her toe into the art of macrame.

Kabe laughs as she contemplates the many projects she has attempted over the years, admitting she has a rash tendency to start with a big project while she is still learning.

Her first knitting project was not a simple scarf, but a full sweater. Her first macrame piece was similarly ambitious: a five-foot long hanging.

“Maybe I’m counting on beginner’s luck,”  she says good-naturedly, adding that her first quilt was a large piece, too.

Kabe does emerge from the world of textiles periodically. She enjoys tending her flower garden and has recently dabbled in the study of her family’s genealogy.

“My husband passed away a few years ago. I’m trying to find time to write down some stories he used to tell,”  she adds.

Whatever the project, Kabe likes to truly immerse herself in it. That is what Kabe enjoys most about quilting: its ability to absorb her completely.

“I feel like I can lose myself in quilting,”  she says. “But, I can find myself in quilting.”  

Primary Election Day is on Tuesday, Aug. 9. One of the contested races involves the election of a commissioner to ...

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