Barns Of Rose Hill Sees British Invasion With Beatles Quilts
As the opening lyrics to The Beatles’ first truly psychedelic album tell us, “It was twenty years ago today; Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.”
But it’s been more than 50 years since John, Paul, George and Ringo arrived in the U.S. for the first time, to be photographed descending the steps of a jet to the hysterical greetings of more American fans than they anticipated.
More than 70 million Americans watched the Beatles’ first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964. Nearly half the televisions in the country were tuned in. Beatlemania had begun.
That half-century anniversary has been marked by quilters, both nationwide and around the world, in an installation of art quilts on display at the Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville starting Jan. 30.
“Inspired by The Beatles” is a collection of 149 quilts, each illustrating in fabric art the title of a Beatles song.
“It’s really great fun looking through these,” said Elaine Dennison, who organized the show. Each quilt is a 24-inch square. Some are simply stitched and others elaborately decorated with beads, lace and other materials.
By: Maggie Wolff Peterson
Source: The Winchester Star