CAMANO ISLAND — Hundreds of quilt enthusiasts are expected to attend the free Quilts on the Beach event Saturday at Cama Beach State Park.
More than 50 bed-sized quilts from among the park’s collection are to be displayed and offered for sale.
The fifth annual open-air quilt show is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 26 at the park, 1880 S. West Camano Drive.
The colorful quilts are the work of the Cama Beach Quilters, about 25 women who for about a dozen years have voluntarily supplied quilts for the cabins at the state park.
Cama Beach, once a private fishing resort, makes use of the original beach-side cabins. The handmade quilts give the cabins a homey feel, said group leader Pam Fredericksen.
This year, Cama Beach Quilters made 33 new quilts and logged 11,000 hours of volunteer time, Fredericksen said.
The quilts are donated to the state so that the park can keep around 220 quilts on hand, with about half of those in use in the rental cabins. Each year some of the cabin quilts are rotated out or repaired by the quilt group.
Originally, the quilters provided the tops and bottoms of hundreds quilts and the state bought the batting and paid for long-arm quilting to sew the tops, batting and bottoms together. When state money no longer was available, the quilt group began raising funds to have the quilts finished, Fredericksen said.
Money raised from sales of quilts goes to pay for long-arm quilting by a Stanwood professional. This past year, the long-arm fee was about $3,300, Fredericksen said.
In addition to the quilt display, the group plans to offer for sale a number of small quilts, table décor pieces, tote bags and other quilted and fabric art items.
A queen-sized quilt titled “Fly Away Home” will be raffled by the Cama Beach Foundation for $1 per ticket. Raffle proceeds benefit park activities.
The Cama Center will have displays of quilt-related activities such as flower pounding, scrap quilting, and sewing of nine-patch blocks. Antique quilts and other interesting bed coverings will be displayed during periodic turn-downs on a display bed in the center.
Also at the park, the Center for Wooden Boats, the Cama Beach Foundation Store and the Cama Cafe will be open.
Shuttle service will be available from the parking lots above the beach. A state parks Discover Pass, available that day at the Welcome Center, is required for parking.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
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