Commemorates gift of quilt and hooked rug

collection on display at fundraiser Saturday

PICKENS — On Tuesday, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative placed a barn quilt created by the Upstate Heritage Quilt

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative placed a barn quilt created by the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail on the Hagood Community Center on Tuesday.

Trail, on the Hagood Community Center at 129 Schoolhouse Street in Pickens.

It is a painting of the center portion of a “Bicentennial” quilt by the late Mary Granger that was donated to Senior Citizens of Pickens (SCOP) by her husband, Dr. James A. Granger of Brevard.

A barn quilt is a painting of a quilt on a square board that can be placed on the exterior of a building. Granger created and collected an impressive and valuable collection of quilts, hooked rugs, Depression glass, and sewing tools that are now at the Hagood Community Center. The gift also inspired the creation of a Fiber Arts Center at the Hagood Center dedicated to the memory of Mary Granger.

The collection will be on display at the BBQ and music fundraiser Saturday at the Hagood Center. The event is organized and conducted by the Pickens Senior Center. Funds raised at the event will go toward completing the renovation of the Hagood Center (the old Pickens Mill School), which is the home of the Pickens Senior Center. The major part of the renovation will be the old auditorium, which was built in 1929. SCOP hopes to have adequate funding to begin construction by the summer of 2015. When complete, it will be a 150-seat auditorium available for concerts, meetings, lectures and other activities.

The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail, located in Walhalla, started in 2009 and has placed more than 140 barn quilts in Upstate South Carolina.