Staff writer
Trudy Hein of Hillsboro started working on her first quilt when she was 2-years-old. Now at the ripe old age of 6, she is an accomplished seamstress and the owner of the grand champion open class quilt at the 2012 Marion County Fair.
“It was kinda hard to stitch it all together, especially when you have big pieces to work with,” Hein said on Tuesday. “My grandma helped me with the hard parts.”
Hein, whose grandmother is Susan Hein, also of Hillsboro, set a goal of finishing her quilt in time to exhibit it at the Marion County fair this year.
“She was very happy when it was all done,” Susan said. “But she was just thrilled when she won a grand champion ribbon with it.”
The intergenerational Hein quilting team pieced together a queen size, shaded blue, “Trip Around the World” pattern quilt.
“I did the cutting,” Susan said. “Trudy sewed every stitch.”
Susan said she often watched her grandchildren and quilting with them was something they all enjoyed.
“She only worked on it when it was her idea here,” Susan said. “It was just something we enjoyed doing together. I hope it is a life-long skill she will retain forever.”
Trudy has an older sister, Malorie, who also completed a quilt with their grandmother. Her brother and younger sister are in the beginning stages of working on their quilts.
“I’ve already picked out fabric for my next quilt,” Trudy said. “I’m going to make a ‘Wizard of Oz’ quilt next.”
Trudy’s parents are Kerry and Rachel Hein of Hillsboro. She may be the youngest grand champion quilter in Marion County Fair history.