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JACQUE HILBURN
Feature Writer

When it comes to color, Serena Vrnak of Tyler is fearless.

She doesn't shy from unusual color combinations or operate under the assumption neutrals are always necessary.

Ms. Vrnak is not an artist in the conventional sense, preferring needles to brushes and yards of colorful fabric to a tidy white canvas.

"I didn't start quilting until about 2000 or 2001," she said.

It started innocently enough, she said, primarily assembling drapes and table toppers for her daughter, who was attending Texas A&M.

She built up her nerve and started on her first quilt, featuring a flower garden and watering can as a grandmothers' tribute.

Her bold approach to this newfound art form soon proved useful.

"For nine months, I struggled to fix it," she said. "I'm still working on it. This is the third year."

She's crafted other quilts, winning awards in quilt shows held locally and in Waco and Dallas.

"I like the process, the routine involved," she said. "Rather than churning out quilts, I like to take my time."

Quilting may be experiencing new popularity for people such as Ms. Vrnak, but its roots can be traced to the 1700s.

Generations of women have used the craft as a way to express their creativity and produce something functional for their families.

The Quilters Guild of East Texas was launched in 1981 as a way to preserve the heritage of the craft. The group, which started with 33 members, today boasts more than 300 participants.

Its purpose is to preserve the heritage of quilting through education and support of artisans.

Individual group members plan to show off some of their creations during Azalea Quilt Show, set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 28-29 at Harvey Convention Center.

Admission for the "Hats off to Quilting" event is $6 for adults; $5 for seniors and children ages 6-12.

Quilters say patience pays off when it comes to their hobby.

Lucille Aarant of Tyler taught her granddaughter Bridgette Aarant, a sixth grader at Brook Hill School, how to sew, starting with a log cabin design for grandpa.

"She was about in the first grade," Mrs. Aarant said. "She would sew the strips together and she would have to rip, rip, rip it up because it has to be exactly right."

Those early lessons made a lasting impression, Bridgette said.

"There was one strip and I kept making it crooked," she said. "I had to rip and sew that piece about 10 times. It really made me mad. It was very frustrating, but I learned if you just sew it straight it will help a lot. It helped me learn patience."

Bridgette recently completed a Disney-themed quilt, and continues working with her grandmother on a Christmas quilt.

"I've been working on that one for four years," she said.

"She'll get it done," said Mrs. Aarant, who has made about 50 quilts over the past 26 years, mostly as family keepsakes.

"You don't learn quilting overnight," she said. "It takes years to learn. I love it, she loves it. I think she'll be a big quilter some day."

Veteran cross stitcher Denise Tayntor of Jacksonville said she started quilting about six years ago as a way to relax from the stresses of work and wedding planning.

She was instantly hooked.

"I had been using a borrowed sewing machine," said Mrs. Tayntor. "It was horrible. You would press the foot pedal and it would go 100 mph. I used part of my wedding money to buy a sewing machine."

After conquering the mechanical challenges, she needled her mother, Kay Fancher, to join in.

Together they've made quilts for gifts and keepsakes.

"It's a neat thing to do together," said Mrs. Fancher, whose grandmother also quilted. "She had a bedroom with a huge quilting frame in it and all these ladies would come over to help work on it. When I was little, I would play underneath it, like a tent."

Mrs. Fancher recalled her grandmother Beulah Brady, also of Tyler, who was widowed at an early age and raised two boys alone, sitting up at nights, cutting out tiny squares of fabric.

When Mrs. Brady passed away at 96, she made a special effort to leave something special behind.

"Before she died, she gave me some dinnerware and this quilt," said Mrs. Fancher, hugging a delicate, vintage quilt assembled from flour sacks. "It's very special."

The women said Mrs. Brady would have loved the idea they were pursuing her love of quilting.

"If she were alive, she'd probably be right in the middle of it," said Mrs. Fancher.

Creations from guild members will be on display throughout this month's quilt show that will include also rug hooking and embroidery.

The Guild meets at 9:30 a.m. on the second Thursday of each month, occasionally at 6:30 p.m., in the Founders' Center of Pollard United Methodist Church at 3030 New Copeland Road in Tyler.

For more information on the Guild and its activities and programs, contact Guild president Beverly Lusk at 903-839-2210 or visit the Web site at www.qgetx.org.