Wisconsin native Jean Beisenstein said her husband jokes that they ended up in Tumbling Shoals 19 years ago because she saw a little quilt shop up the road.
“I’ve probably been quilting for about 25 years. I was not serious about it till I got down here,” she said. “I’ve just always found [quilts] fascinating. It’s such an achievement when you get this quilt together and see what it looks like. It just thrills me to death.”
Beisenstein is co-founder of the Daisy Patch Quilters Club in Heber Springs, which is sponsoring its biggest quilt show to date. The show will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in two buildings at the Cleburne County Fairgrounds in Heber Springs. The club planned the show to coincide with Springfest at Spring Park.
She said more than 100 quilts are expected to be on display in two buildings at the fairgrounds, including a section of antique quilts.
“I don’t know how old, but we’ll see what turns up,” she said, laughing.
“We’ve got some really wonderful educational exhibits,” she said, including some with sewing-related collections.
A lot of history will be available, in addition to just displays of beautiful quilts, she said.
Beisenstein said she probably has at least a dozen quilts at her home. She’s made them for her children and grandchildren and is working on one now for one of her daughters.
The Daisy Patch Quilters Club has made quilts for Margie’s Haven House in Heber Springs, the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch in Batesville, nursing homes and foster children. Members have also sewn pillowcases for Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
“This group has done so many charitable things; I can’t begin to tell you. It makes me so proud,” she said.
Beisenstein said the club got a grant last year for $500, which helped, because it costs $50 to $100 to make each quilt that the group donates.
She and the club’s co-founder, who has since moved, started the club about 17 years ago.
“At first, we had maybe half a dozen members at the most; I think we’ve got a little over 50 now. They’re very, very talented ladies,” Beisenstein said.
One of those is Gerry Shipley, who said she has known Beisenstein for about eight years.
“She is always such a happy person, a very infectious personality. She just kind of builds you up, makes you feel like you can do anything,” Shipley said. “Jean has some really neat ideas; she’s just a joy to be around. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t wait for you to call her. … She just jumps right in.”
Beisenstein didn’t learn the art of quilting at her mother’s knee.
“She barely sewed,” Beisenstein said. “Years ago, a friend of mine was a teacher, and she taught quilting classes at night through a local high school in Wisconsin.”
The 75-year-old Beisenstein said her family lived in Milwaukee, then moved into northern Wisconsin, where her parents bought a resort.
“I loved it up there,” she said. They split their time between the two locations. “By the time I was in late grade school, I was back in Milwaukee,” she said.
She married young — she and her husband, Neil, are in their 59th year together. After they married, they bought a farm in Hartford, Wisconsin, where they raised their children, along with a big garden and cattle. They also had horses and were active in the 4-H Club. Beisenstein said they gave disabled children pony rides at their house after school through the 4-H Club and let the students fish in their pond.
“It was a real rewarding time,” she said.
Beisenstein, an avid reader, worked as a library aide for several years at her children’s school. Now she works once a month at the Friends of Library used bookstore in Heber Springs.
“I worked at a local restaurant, too. I had many little jobs when my kids were growing up,” she said.
She said when the family lived in Wisconsin, she had a big garden, and that fueled her desire to know more about plants. She became a Master Gardener about 10 years ago.
“Right now, we’re working on our spring plant sale,” she said. Beisenstein and a friend maintain the plants at the Visitors Center in Heber Springs, “pull weeds, fertilize,” she said. “I’ve always loved flowers,” she said, and the deck of her home is a perfect place to display them.
Beisenstein raves about the weather and the people in Arkansas.
“We’ve met so many wonderful people in Arkansas; we truly love it. We mainly moved down here to get out of the snow in Wisconsin. We got real tired of the cold and snow,” she said.
The couple had vacationed in Hot Springs through the years, but they found Greers Ferry Lake and decided to move there, instead.
“We really wanted to be on the lake — we’re right across from the [Greers Ferry] dam. We really fell in love with this area.”
And that little quilt shop up the road didn’t hurt.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.