Quilt covers 20 years of dance
Peggy Bobo of Bobo's Bags and Things in North Augusta works on a keepsake quilt she is making in honor of the Ron Jones Academy of Ballet's 20th anniversary performance of The Roar of Love, which will be staged in April at the Bell Auditorium. The quilt is made of the T-shirt designs given to each cast member. Bobo's next project is a quilt for the American Hero program which gives quilts to injured service members.
Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett
Twenty years of memories are being sewn into a keepsake.
Since 1985, the Ron Jones Academy of Dance in Martinez has given annual performances of The Roar of Love, an adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
"This is so meaningful to us," Ron Jones said of a quilt being created for the dance studio by North Augusta's Peggy Bobo. "I think it's just beautiful."
Each year, dancers receive T-shirts to commemorate their involvement with the production. The motif for the T-shirts changes annually, and it is the variety of T-shirts that provides the overall design of the quilt. Much of the 90-inch by 116-inch memory quilt has been put together. The hardest part - the actual quilting of the blanket - still must be done, said Bobo, who operates Bobo's Bags & Things out of her home. The quilt will be completed by April 22, opening night for The Roar of Love, which will be presented at the Bell Auditorium.
Bobo took up sewing a few years ago after watching a home decorating show on television. She wanted to make some pillows to accent her Florida room and discovered she really enjoyed the project.
"Pillows turned into bags and quilts," said Bobo, who is a nurse at University Hospital.
She bought a used sewing machine and started taking sewing lessons. She made the nursery items for her twin granddaughters' room. They are 18 months old. She discovered that a lot of her friends at the hospital also enjoyed sewing, but they didn't have a machine or the space to store all the fabric and odds and ends associated with the craft. She acquired several sewing machines, and people started coming to her for help with their projects. They also wanted to buy the cloth handbags she made.
"I'd much rather teach them to sew one than have them buy one," she said.
In October, after enclosing her garage, Bobo opened her business. She now has plenty of room for people to use her sewing machines. The sewing sessions, which she works around her nursing schedule, are often social gatherings. "Sometimes, we don't get much sewing done," she said.
Of all her sewing projects, Bobo said she likes making quilts the best. After she completes the ballet quilt, she will do one for the America Hero program, which gives quilts to injured military service members.
For more information, call 279-9064.