BUTTE — It’s the middle of summer so you might not be thinking about wrapping yourself up in a quilt just yet but the artist behind the An Ri Ra Festival quilt that’s on the raffle to raise funds for the annual event says you can hang it on your wall too.
"A lot of people just, I know that the girl who won last year’s has it on her wall - Just to display it. I’m like you can put it on the bed, it’s okay," says Claire Thornburgh, a textile artist based in Butte.
Thornburgh made her first quilt when she was just 19 years old but over the years she has found joy in making her own clothing and just about anything else you can think of.
'I like to say I’ll sew anything except a dishwasher 'cause I haven’t had success with that," says Clarie.
"If there’s a solution to a problem that I can sew, I’ll do that."
Thornburgh says her late friend Monica Evans, the Butte Irish matriarch, got her hooked on the festival. She and her partner would travel to Butte to help Evans set up her booth at the festival.
"She had to move her whole shop up so we'd help her," says Thronburgh.
Four years ago when she and her partner moved to Butte they decided they want to get involved with An Ri Ra. Thornburgh asked how she could help the event and as it turns out sewing is the solution. She was placed in charge of the raffle that raises money for the free event.
"It's a good money-maker for the festival. We think of it as how we keep the festival gate free which I think is really important," says Thornburgh.
She says her quilt made of t-shirts from 20 years of An Ri Ra festivals is unique thanks to a design using diagonal lines that gives piece structure.
"It’s not like a normal t-shirt quilt though. It’s more artistic than that which I think is fun," says Thornburgh.
The annual An Ri Ra Irish festival takes place Aug. 9-11 with various activities from music and dance and even language and ancestry searches at various locations in Uptown Butte. To enter the raffle for the quilt and other items, you can visit Claire at the festival booth in the Original Mineyard.
