Logan O'Bier
Logan O'Bier, Reedville quilt artist. Her quilts are on display at the Reedville Fishermen's Museum in the lobby and the Walker House.
Hard to believe, but the little girl nicknamed "Chum Queen" grew up to design and piece museum-quality quilts. Each quilt in Logan O'Bier's quilt collection, called Chesapeake Bay Quilts, was inspired by a specific memory of her work and play at the foot of Main Street.
"I really wanted to honor the fishermen, the heritage, my father," said O'Bier.
About 20 quilts and several punchneedle artworks are on display at the Reedville Fishermen's Museum.
One quilt is titled "Crab Pot Buoys." As a child she would would hang her crab buoys up and paint them red. "Ice Cubes" hearkens back to "the boatloads of ice I had to shovel as a kid," she said.
"Fish Net" is an unfinished piece, displayed on one of her father's new fish nets. Some individual strips are pieced, but the pattern is a double diagonal so it takes two hours to sew each seam, she said.
O'Bier, 32, started quilting when she was 6 and selling at age 12. Her quilts and patterns have been featured in magazines since 2013.
Logan O'Bier
Logan O'Bier's quilt, "Crab Buoys."
While she was pursuing that traditional lady-like skill, she was also spending a lot of time on the water. She went crabbing in her great-grandmother's skiff. "I pulled up every pot," she said.
She also worked for her father, Stan, at his dock (the old steamboat wharf), sewed his fish nets, shed softcrabs and shoveled ice to keep the fishermen's catch fresh. Another job was grinding bunkers for chum (bait). Hence the nickname "Chum Queen," affectionately given to her by the fishermen who came to buy bait on the dock.
With many friends and cousins, "It was a place for me to cut up and have fun," she recalled. "I had a fairly magical life growing up."
Now she creates quilts and punchneedle art mostly on commission.
She also restores Civil War-era and early 1900s quilts and creates reproduction quilts using original patterns. For these she uses vintage-looking fabric to resemble the traditional. She grew up learning to appreciate the old ways.
"I love antiques, preserving things that have lasted that long," she said.
Tina McCloud
"Ice Cubes" is displayed alongside a wooden ice chip bucket from the old Heathsville ice plant at the Reedville Fishermen's Museum.
For more information about O'Bier's work, visit www.CuratedAvalon.com.
The museum is at 504 Main Street in Reedville, VA. Hours for April and May are 11am–4pm Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The museum will also be open 1-4pm Sundays from Memorial Day Sunday (May 24) through Labor Day Sunday (September 6).
Admission includes entrance to all museum exhibits: $10 for adults, $5 for seniors (65+) and veterans, free for children 17 and under and free for active duty military members. For more information, call 804-453-6529 or e-mail office@rfmuseum.org.
