Gillette is gallery's featured First Friday artist

Liz Gillette has been selected as the First Friday art show at the Ritzville Art Center on Friday, July 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. Gillette plans to display a wide variety of quilts, wall hangings and table runners that she has created in the last 30 years.

Most of Gillette’s artwork is for sale, but some pieces she is bringing for display purposes only, such as her antique quilt squares. Gillette received the old quilt blocks as a gift and discovered they were from the 1800s.

Because of their historic value, Gillette plans to have the crazy quilt blocks on display to help educate visitors to the art center. She also plans to have antique quilts on display to show the difference in artwork and quilting squares throughout the years.

Gillette and her husband, Burt, first moved to Ritzville in 1981 from Hamilton, Mo. Liz, originally from Wisconsin, ran a deli in Hamilton for eight years.

“Burt and I had a hardware store when we moved to Ritzville. We had that for about five years,” said Liz.

After the hardware store, Burt started an antique shop in town that remained popular for many years. Today, the Gillette’s daughter Carly has the same passion for antiques as her father and owns Remember When… antiques in Ritzville.

Liz began quilting a few of years after the couple arrived in Ritzville.

She took classes at The Cellar, which was run by another local artist, Carol Schwisow.

“My salvation when I retired was to have quilting,” said Liz.

Liz had been working at US Bank when she retired in 1999 and set her sights on quilting. She started basic, but she now rotates between hand and machine quilting.

Now 80-years old, Liz still enjoys working with her hands and is proud of her age. She took a break from quilting for about a year, but has regained the passion for the hobby and has become busy creating new patterns.

“I like quilting country and wildlife, like fishing and a moose,” explained Liz as she observed one of her quilts in the art center. “I like country quilting.”

Liz is a member of the Peace by Piece quilt guild in Ritzville and enjoys the friendship between the quilters. She also enjoys donating her wall hangings and table runners to local auctions to help the different organizations raise money.

Liz has donated pillowcases to charities and to serviceman that were on active duty. The donations are a symbol of her support and she enjoys having it as a hobby.

“We always believed we needed to support the hospital, the schools, and the town,” Liz explained about her and Burt’s dedication to the community. “We always tried to go to all the different events, and sporting events, when we knew the kids.”

Another important aspect of Liz’s life is her church, the Zion Philadelphia United Church of Christ. Liz has been a certified deacon for nearly five years and supports the church by also participating in the Daughters of Zion group.

Since Liz has discovered quilting, she has made it an important part of her life. She has hand quilted five quilts in her lifetime; three of them were for her children.

Her three children, Carly, Lonnie and Roland, serve as three of the most influential people in her life. Liz and Burt fell in love with Ritzville and when their children moved further west, Ritzville still remained as a central location.

Liz now enjoys having the time to practice and experiment with her quilting, wall hangings and table runners, and is finding a new passion for the artwork every day.

She enjoys portraying outdoor scenery and landscapes because of the amount of time Burt and her had spent camping during their 60 years of marriage.

“I love art,” said Liz as she looked around the art center where some of her quilts are currently displayed. “I like lots of different varieties of art.”

The First Friday event is sponsored by the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce and celebrates the talent and success of local artists in the area.

The Ritzville Art Center is located at 109 West Main Avenue. For more information about the event, contact the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce at 659-1936.