Nestled on the edge of the Malone Building at the Island County Fairgrounds is a piece of history dating back to The Great Depression. Blocks of fabric originally crafted by a group of Maxwelton women in 1936 were sewn together this year to create the “Friendship Quilt,” one of the many quilts that can be found in the demonstration area of the building over the course of the Whidbey Island Fair held Aug. 4-7.

Kay Jochimsen sewed the quilt together to help her friend, Darlyn McCarty, who owned the blocks for some years. They were originally crafted for McCarty’s grandmother, Christine Francis, and were passed down to Darlyn through her mother, Christy O’Neal. Decorative buttons from the 1920s and 1930s were used to tie the quilt together. Each of the blocks contain vibrant colors and the names of families who lived in the area at the time, including Crawford, Patton, Grubb, Mackie, Herring and Schumacher.

“It’s just awesome, I love this,” said Anita Smith, superintendent of quilting and sewing.

Smith said she found the origin of the fabric to be fascinating. She said that when the depression happened, people could no longer buy clothing. Instead, they would harness fabric from “feedsacks,” which often contained foods like grain, and create clothing for their children. They also used materials lying around their homes. In this case, the fabrics were crafted by members of the Neighbor’s Friend Club, which was established in 1932. The women would meet regularly to work on quilts and catch up on local news. Some of the fabrics were sewn by hand, while others were done by a treadle machine, Smith said.

“When people would make quilts, you would have fabrics that were used in your household,” Smith said. “You had a little bit of your grandmother, your aunt and your mom in that quilt.”

The quilts were a hit on Thursday during the opening day of the fair for Clinton resident Jackie Johnson. She said that while she’s not a quilter herself, she admired the work hanging up in the Malone Building.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Johnson said. “It’s something that I don’t have the time to do, but enjoy.”

Smith said her biggest takeaways from the opening day of the fair were the families who enjoyed coming into the building to view the arts and crafts. She added that people have also been intrigued by the works’ origins.

“There’s people asking a lot of questions, how they work and what they do,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of interaction. Our building is an educational building, so we can try to keep the crafts alive.”

Smith, who also crafts quilts for Whidbey veterans, said there’s plenty of opportunity for people to do hands-on work on Saturday and Sunday. Five workshop sessions will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., each roughly one hour in duration. On Sunday, Smith will lead a workshop on raw edge wool appliqué with a buttonhole stick from noon-2 p.m., followed by freeform basketry led by Danielle Bodine. The final session will be hosted by Smith on lap hand quilting, which will cover the basics of hand quilting.

A veteran quilt sew-a-thon is also scheduled for each day of the fair. Boys, girls, men and women are invited to help make quilts for Whidbey’s veterans, Smith said.