By Marlee Jackson

Patterned in patches of magenta, crimson, satsuma, royal blue and grassy green cloth, the quilts draped around Betty Gaines Kennedy’s home are almost as colorful as their creator.

“I like new things, but I’m very traditional,” said Kennedy, the rise and fall of her Southern accent punctuated with a smile and laugh. “I’m not way out. I have a little bit of a problem with modern quilts. After all, I’m 89 years old. I can afford to be like that if I want to.”

Chock-full of signature spunk, the Wilcox County dame is proof it’s never too late to learn a new skill.

Kennedy originally tried quilting in the 1970s. Admittedly thin on patience, she soon realized delicate hand stitches weren’t her cup of tea. She set aside the hobby until the early 2000s, when a TV show introduced her to quilting shortcuts.

“I saw this one quilt there, and I wanted it so badly,” she said. “I knew the only way I could have it was to make it myself. After that, the rest is history. I just couldn’t stop.”

Kennedy has stitched nearly 200 quilts since. The busy quilting bee’s Bernina sewing machine steadily hums while zipping through fabric in her porch-turned-sewing-sanctuary. There, natural light illuminates spools of thread, drawers of notions and a closet brimming with her “stash.”

“Quilters have a dictionary of terms, and one of them is your ‘stash,’” she said. “That’s the leftover fabrics from other quilts or fabric you bought. My stash far exceeds my life expectancy.”

Kennedy’s home is tucked behind Gaines Ridge Dinner Club, the iconic restaurant she ran in her family’s antebellum home in Camden for three decades. She passed on the mantle of management to her son, Wes, and his family in 2019.

She’s spent the last five years crafting an increasingly impressive collection of cozy quilts. Those include designs such as Log Cabin; Window Pane; Double Wedding Ring; and the family’s favorite Cherry Basket. Her quilts fall into three color families — hues of brown, contemporary florals and “happy fabrics.”

“My work is a long way from perfect, but I use lots of loud fabric and different colors,” she said. “That helps people kind of zero in and not think too much about the actual sewing.”

One of her handiest shortcuts quickly turns strips of fabric into patchwork blocks. Those strip sets mean Kennedy never sews tiny patches directly onto each other. Instead, she stitches together long strips of varying fabrics. A rotary cutter on a self-healing mat slices through alternating fabrics to create patched strips that are then pieced together to form a design. A spatial ruler, and the adage to measure twice and cut once, keeps patches proportionate. 

“If a mistake can be made, I’ve made it,” she said. “My best friend is my seam ripper.”

Kennedy is honest, prefacing statements about her work with “almost always” or “nearly never.” That’s true of hand-stitching, which she nearly never does, except when adding applique to fabric or sewing a quilt’s binding.

She credits some of her passion to quilt guilds. She’s part of three — one each in Camden, Greenville and Thomasville. At guild meetings, quilters demonstrate new techniques, offer advice and share stories while enjoying fellowship with new friends, Kennedy said. 

“Quilters thrive on affirmation,” she said. “We love to show off our quilts.”

Alabama Farmers Federation sewing competitions offer quilters another chance to display handiwork. Kennedy has entered the machine-stitched quilt contest four times and walked away with three ribbons.

She’s a longtime Federation member whose late husband, Erskine, was a farmer and banker. They raised their three children in nearby Oak Hill, a close-knit community that’s also home to Federation Southwest Area Vice President Jake Harper. Harper said “Mrs. Betty” is a local institution. The community paid tribute to her craft during last year’s Tour of Homes, when her vast collection of quilts was displayed at the Oak Hill Schoolhouse. 

“No one knew she had this many quilts,” said Harper, also the Wilcox County Farmers Federation president. “She’s very dedicated and committed to it. She’s a legend for quilting in Wilcox County.”

While none of Kennedy’s descendants have picked up her quilting gene, the matriarch said that’s OK. She credits her quality of life to quilting, whether she’s making a piece to keep, one for a family member or a quilt that will benefit charity.

Knowing that end owner is key, Kennedy said.

“I have to know ahead of time because I just can’t part with (my quilts),” she said. “So much of me is in one. If I know it’s going to be for sale or given away, I’m OK. I know all along it’s not mine to keep.”