Quilt Faire Will Be Held Today at CSUN

The San Fernando Valley Quilt Assn. will show off its wares, display quilted clothes in a fashion show and auction nearly three dozen of its painstakingly sewn patchwork blankets as part of its 14th annual Quilt Faire today at the Cal State Northridge Student Center.

About 100 quilts--some made entirely by hand--will be displayed, and 32 made by association members will be auctioned.

In past years, prices have ranged from $40 to $700 per quilt, with handmade quilts bringing higher prices, according to Robin Tetef, spokeswoman for the association.

Other handmade arts and crafts will be sold at the fair, and one quilt made by several members will be raffled off to raise money for the association.

In past years about 2,000 people have attended the fair.

Handmade quilts take at least a year and a half to make. Some take nine or 10 years, and others can take generations to complete, Tetef said.

One display quilt, inspired by a quilt-maker’s impression of England’s Houses of Parliament, pictures a montage of crowns in sparkly lame fabric with purple, pink and blue flowers and swirling vines on a red background.

The fair’s oldest quilt is called the Mariner’s Compass. Hand-sewn in Texas in 1850, the quilt depicts 25 green and red compasses on white backgrounds.

The 15-year-old quilt association claims about 350 members, among them a group called Quilters for Others, which donates more than 300 quilts a year to charity causes such as women’s shelters, homes for abused children and clinics that treat AIDS babies.

The quilt fair will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. Admission is $5.